Jennifer sat on the sofa of Jonathan's penthouse living room, her feet curled underneath her and her laptop balanced on the curve of her knee.
"What're you up to, Miss Edwards? Want some coffee or something?" Max asked, coming into the room.
"Coffee would be great, Max, thank you," she answered. "And please join me. I could use your opinion on this."
The apartment, like so many modern spaces, was an open concept. So Max could be in the kitchen behind the counter and Jennifer could see him and still talk to him from the sofa. It was particularly nice since Jennifer didn't have another job yet after moving to LA and Jonathan did have to go into the office for a few hours each day, though he seemed to be spending more time in the office than she might have expected when they got together in London. She and Jonathan were inseparable when he wasn't at work, so Jennifer was enjoying the opportunity to get to know Max away from Jonathan while her fiancé was busy at the office. The three of them seemed to be getting along really well so far, but Jennifer was still the outsider in this home that belonged to Jonathan and Max. She hoped asking for Max's help with her little project might do more to bridge the gap.
Max ground the coffee and used the French press; apparently he had gone from instant coffee to basic drip to now getting quite fancy with his coffee making skills. Jennifer was glad to benefit from his curious spirit.
"So what're you so busy with?" Max asked as he brought coffee and mugs.
"Well, to make a long story short, Jonathan and I talked back in London about maybe having some land somewhere. Last night, he brought up the subject again. We discussed it a little more and we were thinking about getting a ranch somewhere and some animals. So I've been looking around at what might be available. There's two so far that might be good. Here, take a look," she said, passing the laptop over to him. "There's this one in Colorado and then this other one in Wyoming."
Max read over the two listings she had up in different tabs on Aorta. He grunted and hummed as he looked them over. Eventually he shared an opinion. "This Wyoming one looks big but seems like it would be hard to get out there. There's not much of a town there. And Wyoming is…"
Jennifer hummed in agreement. "Not the ideal political landscape." That wasn't really something she really knew about Max. Man that age with that background, one might make assumptions about his worldview. But of course, Max was the man who taught Jonathan how to be a good man, and Jonathan was the best man there ever was. That was in large part thanks to Max, she was sure.
Max switched to the other tab. "The Colorado one is more expensive but I like the look of that house. That's just my two cents," he said with a shrug.
Happily, Jennifer had been thinking along the same lines. Money was no object now that she was going to be Mrs. Jonathan Hart—not that Jennifer had really ever had to worry about money for most of her life, thanks to Pa and his family's money that had sustained them all for the last three generations—but Jennifer did not enjoy spending for the sake of it. Her parents had instilled in her a sense of restraint with money that had served her well. She never wanted for any necessity, and she never worried about missing out on things or needing to have anything too fancy.
Buying a ranch was certainly more of an extravagance than Jennifer would normally indulge in but there was something about this prospect of building a life with Jonathan that had her a little more indulgent than usual. There were so many adventures to be had, so much to explore and enjoy, and they were going to do it together.
Part of that, too, was building a home and a family together. Jennifer and Jonathan and Max were already starting to be a little family, and the penthouse was gorgeous and the height of technological advancement with the smart systems and automated everything, but it wasn't their home. Jonathan's and Max's, maybe, but certainly not Jennifer's. She hadn't been here long, but it still felt like she was just a trusted, comfortable visitor. Maybe this ranch could be home for all of them. They could keep the penthouse for when they needed to be in California and use the ranch as home base. They could get horses and maybe some cattle.
And they could maybe do that in Colorado. She'd have to talk to Jonathan. He might be a little surprised that she found something she liked in about twelve hours of them having the conversation. But knowing that Max was on board with this one over Wyoming was certainly encouraging, and Jennifer thought—hoped—that Jonathan would trust her judgment on this.