September 25th 2022
Chapter 268
Our Season of Campers & Horses
They'd now hosted three rounds of exchange campers, twice for a full year and once for half of one, but already it was getting to be a big part of Sullivan Stables, and for that, seeing their XCs go home was always a bittersweet moment. It might have been even more so this year, if not that one of them was only leaving for a few weeks before returning to become something of a permanent fixture. Donna Devereaux might have thrown a veritable fit if her young protégée – and yes, she had called her that, several times now – would have gone away entirely. But Britt O'Connell had been saying for months how she felt connected to the city, to the ranch, and of course to Donna, and how she would have loved to move here for college. Now she was following through on that plan.
She was headed home to spend time with her family again after being away for nearly a year and only seeing them over the holidays, but by summer's end at the latest she would be back, packed up and ready for her new life. Donna had already offered to take her in, to no one's surprise, but instead she would start off as a fourth roommate to her XC host Kelsey, joining her along with Ava and Olivia. While she'd be gone, her horse would remain at Sullivan Stables. It made no sense to send Sleet back home only to bring him around again. He'd already not been too keen on the first transport. Besides, he was happy where he was, and he would be well taken care of.
He would be without his new pal Ginger, of course, as she would be headed home along with Raj. As much as he'd come for the ranch, same as Britt, he'd come away with so much more. A big sister, a best friend… He would never forget his experience and, true to him, he'd expressed this much to Lucas in many, many words. They would never call Raj Patel speechless, and the notion made Lucas smile whenever he thought of the boy.
And now it was time for the summer campers… They had been doing this long enough now that all of their original kids had aged out, but that was alright. Others had been coming along to become familiar faces, and they kept on coming, year after year. After receiving a bare four campers the first year around, they were up to twenty, enough so that Juliet had taken on a couple other live-in monitors, rather than to hold herself the sole caretaker to all those kids, aged eleven to seventeen. It made for a very crowded house, but she didn't seem to mind it in the slightest. If anything, she had spent the few weeks ahead of their arrival cleaning through her house, setting up the rooms… She'd been eager to receive them.
Now that the kids had arrived, Lucas found himself suddenly wondering what would happen after Juliet retired. He already knew that she would be moving off the property, finding herself someplace smaller, more manageable as she looked on to this new chapter in her life. And when she would go… When she would go, the house would pass on to him, same as the whole of Sullivan Stables would. They weren't about to just go in and start transforming it the moment she was gone, but they still couldn't help but think about it, about what they would do with the house once it was empty. Long ago, Lucas and Maya had talked of turning it into a bed and breakfast, had even come up with a silly jingle for it, and in all likelihood, they would follow through on this plan… while also minding that space would remain for their campers in the summer.
For all that, Lucas couldn't deny that a part of him had considered what it would be like for him and Maya and the girls to live there. This had been his grandmother's house, his grandparents' home, his mother's when she'd been a girl… But then his present home had also been his grandparents' home, and his father's when he'd been a boy… More than that, it had become his and Maya's home, and their girls'… It was the place where they had been engaged, and newlyweds, where they'd become parents… It was a good home, where their girls had grown, where Maya's siblings had been home as well. They had all their neighbors, who created a world around them… There was nowhere that would feel more like home to them… maybe not even Marianne Sullivan's house. He could see, maybe someday… when their girls were grown, and living their lives… They could move out to the ranch house, him and Maya, leave the family home to whichever of the girls they'd give it to. That could be a good compromise, and they loved those. In the meantime… Bed and breakfast, definitely, in due time.
"Lucas!"
He smiled, turning to find, cutting through the mass of arriving families, thirteen-year-old Kimiko dashing toward him, holding a young boy by the hand as he did his best to keep up with her. He had yet to meet him, as their parents had been unable to bring him to escort his sister home the previous summer, but he'd heard all about 'Wolfy.' Kimiko's brother Haru was now six years old, about a handful of years too young to attend the summer camp, still, but Lucas could see in his eyes how fascinated he was by everything he saw. Maybe the reason his parents had not brought him before had been in order to keep him from getting envy for something he couldn't have. He had grown up around horses, same as his sister had done, but nothing to the magnitude of Sullivan Stables, clearly.
"This is my brother," Kimiko pointed as the two of them came to stand before Lucas.
"Yes, I guessed he might be," he chuckled before holding his hand out. "So should I call you Haru or Wolfy?" he smiled to the boy, who smiled back to hear his nickname. He was a bit shy, so he held up one finger. "Haru then, got it," Lucas nodded. "Did you guys get Finch all settled in?"
"I couldn't bring her," Kimiko revealed, disappointment in her voice.
"No? I thought you were…" Lucas frowned. He'd seen to tracking which campers were bringing their horses to the ranch, to ensure that they'd all be seen to once they arrived with them for the summer, and he knew that Kimiko's horse had been on that list.
"When we were going to leave, she wasn't feeling well. The doctor came to see her, and he said she shouldn't travel until they knew what was wrong. So, we took a plane instead of driving, and Haru got to come with us," Kimiko explained. "The doctor said he would let us know what's wrong with Finch, and maybe when she's better they'll bring her here."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Lucas sincerely told her, all the while making a note to get in touch with Finch's doctor. "But I'm really glad to see you both. Did you show him around?"
"Not yet," Kimiko shook her head.
"I'll be taking the families around soon, so don't go too far, yeah? You're on your third year now, you can help me out." Oh, she liked the sound of that very much.
It was impossible not to see how some of the kids had found their way here through their family knowing that this was the ranch which had inspired and in turn become one of the primary shooting locations for Katy's series. This by no means suggested that the kids didn't want to be here, but the tour suddenly had a lot more cameras and phones flashing about. There was nothing there that they weren't supposed to see or photograph, so Lucas let them be.
As they neared the end of the tour – which took them to the dog retreat – the parents and campers were introduced to both Bishop and his daughter Evie. He would be one of those live-in monitors, and for that, he would have his girl with him all summer, swapping schedules with Leona. Kimiko saw this as an in to again try and get her brother to attend camp with her, but it didn't float for very long, much to her disappointment and Haru's as well.
When it was revealed that Bishop would be filling in for him over the next few weeks, the returning campers immediately wanted to know why. They all got to know Lucas like something of a summer big brother, and now he would be gone? He told them he was going on vacation with his family, which was true. He could have told them the whole reason, about what had happened with Maya after Aubrey was born and the effect it had had on them and their girls, but it would have felt out of place. As he assured them, he would be back before they knew it. They would all have a great time while he was away, because Bishop was a lot like him, just a lot taller and built, with a richer complexion… and French.
As much as he would regret not being there for those three weeks that they'd be gone, he didn't regret his decision for a second. He'd be back long before their routine camping trip at the end of the summer camp season, and the arrival of their new XCs, and in the meantime… It would do the family a lot of good, and that was all he needed to know.
If he thought that he'd be the master of all surprises that day, he was wrong. Some of the families had cleared out by the end of the afternoon, leaving the kids to get settled into their rooms. The Matsuoka family was still around, which Lucas figured was for Kimiko and Haru's sake, giving them more time together before they were split for the summer, but it wasn't. They were waiting on visitors, and when they came, Lucas was left to wonder how it had taken two whole summers and the start of a third for him to realize that Kimiko and her brother were cousins to the Farrell kids. Their mother was Haruna Farrell's sister; she'd even named her son in her honor. It was just one of those things where it had never come up in conversation, from any side. They always meant to but never got to it, not until now.
Haru was soon chasing around his cousin Max, who ended up lifting him on to his back for his own bit of horseback riding, which went a long way in getting the boy to access his inner chatterbox. Meanwhile, Kimiko hugged her arms around her cousin Kelsey's neck as the recent graduate returned the embrace. Kimiko wanted to know if Kelsey had her apartment yet – she didn't, but she and her future roommates were working on it – and if she could go see it once it was ready. It would definitely be settled before she went home, so that was a done deal.
"It's making you wish you didn't have to go, isn't it?" Bishop told Lucas as they stood back, watching the reunited family. Evangeline was now running around with Max and Haru.
"Oh, a little bit," Lucas admitted with a laugh. "But they'll be alright until I get back."
"Like you said, you'll be back before you know it." Lucas nodded. This was true, though for his part he planned to enjoy every last second of his trip. It was going to be so hectic with all of them, but that was always going to be the case, and it would never hold them back from showing their daughters the world.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
