Chapter 15

Heath looked down at his wife sleeping. Their day playing tourist had gone perfectly. Debbie was worn out from all the walking, but she’d loved looking at the home and possessions of The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Denver’s own survivor of the Titanic sinking. Heath had enjoyed seeing the house as well, and getting a close look at the architecture of the nineteenth century. He marveled at the house as a whole, but the detailed woodwork on the staircase had really inspired him. He wanted to build houses like this or even restore them to their glory. That’s why he enjoyed working for Mike so much. He specialized in restoring or renovating historic buildings in a way that didn’t remove the charm and beauty of their original design. It was why he was so glad Harry had him help renovate the old homestead from B&B to a larger luxury Inn. The new additions didn’t look any more modern than the original house had.

Then they’d gone to the aquarium and both Heath and Debbie got a surprise. The tickets the hotel’s Concierge had gotten were VIP tickets, and allowed them to get up close and personal with some of the animals in the zoo part of the building. Debbie had a ball getting to hold and pet the otter and Serval. He’d loved watching her face as she got to do those special things. He’d also seen the way she was starting to get tired by the end of the tour. So he’d gathered her up and brought her back to the hotel. He’d had to carry her into the room and put her to bed as she fell asleep the moment he started driving.

He left her to rest as he arranged dinner for them and picked out a movie for them to curl up and watch together. He was still amazed at how close they had grown just in a few days. While part of him knew they were still in their honeymoon phase, hell they were still on their actual honeymoon, he felt like they had been together for a lifetime. He’d always heard his grandmother talk about how her married life had been, but he thought it was just normal female exaggeration until now. Finally he understood what she’d been saying. It also made Harry’s actions the last few months make more sense. He’d never understood how his serious, workaholic brother could suddenly turn nighttime management over to him and actually leave the property. But now he understood Harry had something more important to put his energy into. A new priority as it were, his wife. It had given Harry the courage to finally stand up to their father and Heath understood now. If Hal made him choose between Debbie and the family, he’d choose Debbie every single time hands down.

After arranging a late dinner and finding the most romantic movie that the pay-per-view had listed, he went into the bedroom and checked on Debbie. Then he went to his bag and pulled out his sketchpad and pencils and sat in a chair where he could keep an eye on her, and started working on plans for renovating the cottage into a family home. He added two large rooms on the first floor, a library/office for his use with space for a drafting table as well as project boards and bookshelves for pleasure as well as study. Then the other first floor addition was a music conservatory for Debbie. He envisioned a space where she could play and others could listen, as well as a place where she could write and practice. He had a purchase that he’d need to make and had no idea how long it would take to get the renovation and expansion done, or how long what he wanted would take to find. He knew who could help him and he’d call in a bit and see if she could work on finding what he wanted.

Then he flipped the page and started planning an upstairs expansion, adding on to the two bedrooms and two baths already up there. He put in four more bedrooms and two more baths. All set up in the Jack and Jill style with each two bedrooms sharing a bath between them. That would give them six bedrooms total. And almost double the square footage of the cottage. He knew that if he had time, Mike would be the perfect contractor for the project. Unlike his brother, this didn’t need to happen right away. He’d wait a year or two before starting on it. Right now the two bedrooms were all they needed.