November 27th 2022

Chapter 331
Our Pride For A House

Very soon, they would be decorating the Bed & Breakfast, and Lucas had absolutely zero chances of forgetting it. On one side, he had his partner in this project, Marianne, talking to her interior decorator aunt Rosa every chance she got, because clearly, she'd be the one to know what they needed to do. She'd been taking notes in a small notebook she'd bought with her own money around her birthday back in October, sometimes asking Rosa or anyone else she spoke to – like her Granny Mel, whose decorative taste she also looked to – how to spell certain words so she could write them down. It was one way like any other to enrich her vocabulary, right?

On the other side, she had the new manager of the B&B, Cristina Vega, wanting to be involved in this process, too. It wasn't just that this would go and become her house and her son's. If she was going to be involved in this from the very beginning, then she'd want to participate in this step. Lucas appreciated her initiative, especially with how she and Marianne were often in accord. Cristina could see the girl's developing interest in all of this, so anything she'd be looking at, when she'd get to see her, she would show to Marianne, who would sit with her and listen with great interest. If Lucas had ever had any doubts on his choice of a manager, this would have made them disappear.

She understood how important this place was to him, too. He'd given her as much of the history of the ranch as he could – knowing it could well come up in her day to day job – but also of the house itself. He had let himself fully delve into it not as the future sole proprietor of the entire ranch but as Simon and Marianne Sullivan's grandson, Jax Murphy's grandson. He shared memories of when his grandparents had lived in this house, painting a picture with his words of just what it was like, when Marianne the first and Jax were here, the people they were. He wanted her to care for them and the world they had created here as much as he did, like they could have been her grandparents, too, and he was confident that he had achieved this.

Rafael Vega was getting to feel it, too. The boy had been instantly on board with the idea of coming to live here, in the ranch house, on the property. Was there a part of him that would miss his current home when they moved out of there and into this house? Sure. But to look at what he and his mother would get to do in return, he could only be excited. He wanted to know if he would still get to keep his job once he moved into the house. Lucas had told him that yes, of course, he could. He'd also borrowed Juliet's old joke, pointing out how short the commute would be for him between home and work. Plus, he could do some of that working in the Bed & Breakfast, helping his mother where she needed him. He liked this idea, too. Of course, he would want to help his mother.

He also liked how this would connect him even more to the Sullivan name. He knew now that, once upon a time, it had been part of his identity, that it might have been, if his mother hadn't changed her mind about giving him up. Since he and his mother had spent a few days at Michael and Keith's house over the holidays, the two families had started having weekly dinners together. It was a good low stakes way for all of them to be involved in one another's lives, to get to know one another more and see how this peculiar connection would shape up, now that they'd found one another.

The closer they were getting to summer, the less and less Juliet was actually on hand at the ranch. That was just as they had set out for it to happen, and Lucas was doing just fine with it all. By now, he was confident that she could have officially stepped aside entirely, and he would be okay, too. Juliet believed this as well, but she needed this incremental pull back for her own reasons, too. The ranch had been her life for a very long time, and now that she was releasing it, one finger at a time, she was getting to see how much it mattered and how much she would miss it when she was gone. Lucas wasn't about to rush her out. Actually, right about now, he was starting plans on a different project, one to give her a proper send off once she did let that last finger release its hold, leaving the entire weight in his hands.

Just now, if he really thought about it, maybe Lucas didn't mind having Juliet holding on a little while longer. It made it so that, while she still did, he could manage to properly consider the situation with the exchange campers. Right about now they were normally in the process of securing their new XCs for the following school year, and matching them to candidate host families, but after what had happened this year, they had run into some complications.

Was it their fault that Matt Cullen had done what he'd done with Lydia and Lamar? Not in the slightest, and when Matt had come to say his goodbyes before being flown back home to New York, he'd said as much, along with many an apology for how his time at the ranch had come to such a sudden end. He'd loved being there, and he hated that he had caused his own early exit. Was it Michael and Keith's fault for not catching on to what was going on, or Lydia's fault, like she had somehow ensnared Matt into stealing test answers? Not at all, and absolutely not.

But the Cullens had had plenty to say when they were called by the principal and told of their son's suspension. Not only were they upset at the Sullivan-Reyes family, but at Lucas and Sullivan Stables, too, even though they would have had even less of a chance to know what was going to happen or stop it. The ranch had been the opposite of a bad influence on the boy, but then try and tell his parents that. Lucas could understand to some degree how distressing it could be to have to deal with this after having sent their child nearly clear across the country for the past few months, but he didn't see reason to lash out in this way.

Now, with all the dust still not quite settled, after having been displaced by the 'face-off' between the Cullen and Sullivan-Reyes families, there was some concern about the following year and carrying on the XC program. No one was saying that they wanted to cancel it, not at all, but they also didn't want to run the risk of a repeat. Lucas could point out that Lupe was still doing just fine, staying in the exact same house as Matt had done, and that of the eight kids they'd brought along for the program, they had only had the one issue, which had not been perpetrated solely by Matt or even created by his design. He could also point out that this could have been any kid belonging full time to this school, like it could have happened with Matt back at his own school in New York. This was a fluke and should not reflect on the program as a whole.

The school would not refuse to host more XCs, so that was good, although they wanted to have a closer look at who the ranch selected before they'd agree to host them. Just what the criteria would be for someone to be considered acceptable, Lucas didn't know, and frankly he wasn't sure that he liked it. His definition of an appropriate choice might differ from theirs, and if he wanted to pick a kid but they refused them… Lucas would advocate for them as much as he could, but ultimately, if he couldn't pull that off, he'd have some hard choices to make. Would he cross off the kid from his list, or would he try to place them at a different school?

Lucas turned on his heel and made his way toward Donna's studio. He was just about sure that she would be there today, but maybe she hadn't come yet… Maybe she had class this morning…

"Morning, Donna," Lucas tipped his head to the old woman as he came up to find her standing in front of the building, inspecting the state of her flowers. She'd been having disagreements with the landscaping staff, and this part of her space had always been so deeply important to her. It gave an impression to those who came seeking her services.

"Look at this, look," she told him, sweeping her hand in desperation. He didn't see anything wrong, but clearly, she did.

"I will talk to them," he told her, hoping it would appease her for the time being. She huffed. "Is Britt around this morning?" he asked before she could get into it again.

"Mmm?" Donna mumbled, then looked up at him. "Oh, yes, I sent her to find me some equipment," she gestured to the flowers again.

"Donna…" Lucas gave her a look. The last thing they needed was for her to start messing around in there and the landscape team taking offense. "I will talk to them. Please."

"Fine, fine," she sighed before moving to return inside the building. "Only for you, sweetheart. Only for you." Lucas smiled to himself and turned to go and locate Britt O'Connell.

The former XC, as she had wanted, was now attending college here in Austin and working alongside Donna Devereaux after having formed such a bond as they had in the year the now nineteen-year-old had spent among them. She shared an apartment with Olivia Zhu, Ava Nash, and former XC host Kelsey Farrell. Just now, she was still on the hunt for what Donna had asked her to retrieve so that they might fix the flowers outside the dance studio. She was not having a great success, especially as she was having to contend with what could be called her counterpart, another college freshman working here at the ranch… as part of the landscape team. Lucas put an end to this by calling out to Britt, telling her that 'the search was off.' Surprised but also maybe a bit miffed at not having seen whether she'd get the better of Garden Boy, she joined him, and they started walking back toward the studio.

She knew about what had happened with Matt Cullen already. With her coming along to work here after having been an XC herself, she was almost like Lupe and Matt's big sister when they'd come along, and Lucas knew she looked forward to doing the same with whoever came in the following years. This was all the more reason for him to talk to her about this current 'issue' they were having, looking to the next year's campers. She didn't want the program to be in jeopardy either nor did she feel any different than Lucas did over the potential restrictions on the choice.

"Would you mind helping me look at who we're considering?" Lucas asked, and Britt barely had to say a word; her face said it all. Of course, she would. "Great. Are you here all day, or…"

"I have to leave in an hour," she replied. "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow sounds great," Lucas agreed. They would find their campers, just as they'd always done. He believed in those kids. He even believed in Matt Cullen, still, despite what he'd done. He might have tried to get him to come back, to start over, but he didn't have much hope for anyone signing off on this, least of all his parents. Maybe they could work something out in a few years, not unlike Britt, after he was through with high school and able to decide…

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners