“I brought you breakfast,” I said, pointing at the box and the drink tray I’d set on the side table near the door.
“You’re an angel,” she said, and I handed her the drink that was hers.
“Mama, it’s time to go,” Preston said, tugging on his mother’s shirt.
“Sorry, I’ll be back in a few.”
“Bye, My Kenna,” Preston said, and another woman in a tank top and yoga pants came out from the kitchen to give Preston a hug and a kiss. Piper’s fiancée.
“You have the best day,” she said to Preston.
“What if it’s not the best day?” Preston asked.
“Then we try again tomorrow,” McKenna said, running her fingers through Preston’s hair.
They bustled out and McKenna said hello to me and helped me bring everything into the kitchen. Walking through the place was like walking into a show home. It looked like it had been staged to sell, but I had the feeling it just always looked like that.
The vibe was very similar to what I wanted to achieve for my own place, with lots of blues and neutrals and some nautical touches. It was a little more modern and whiter than I liked, but it was still good to see everything laid out in a finished space.
“Thanks so much for breakfast,” McKenna said, sipping her matcha latte.
“Sure. I figure the least I could do was feed you since I’ll be bugging you all day.”
“You’re not bugging us, I promise,” McKenna said. A simple silver band that had a carved design on it decorated the ring finger of her left hand.
The front door opened, and Natalie arrived, smiling as she saw me with McKenna.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Here you go,” I said, handing her a latte. We waited for Piper to return before digging into the donuts.
“Who did you want to hang with first?” Natalie asked.
“Whatever is easiest,” I said.
“You can sit in on one of our meetings and maybe hang with McKenna for the afternoon?” Piper said. She had an aura of a woman in control.
“Sounds great,” I said.
By lunchtime, I knew I didn’t want to work in any kind of branding or marketing. Well, at least not the kind that Piper and Natalie were doing. No offense to them, but it wasn’t something I could see myself ever getting passionate about. Just thinking about all the emails and having to learn design and video production and editing and the ins and outs of every social media platform and all that made my head spin. I’d done projects like that in college and I’d hated every minute of it.
I really had decided that I wanted to pursue something I had a natural aptitude for and that was not my skillset. Sure, I had my own social media pages, but that was a whole other thing.
McKenna gave me a free energizing meditation session in the afternoon, and I sat in the corner out of the range of the camera and watched as she filmed a yoga class for her online customers. She also taught private classes and gave group classes at the beach and now at the Honeysuckle Inn.
“That was awesome,” I said when she’d finished. McKenna’s body was so graceful. I knew I’d never be able to do anything like that, but she had spent years working on her craft, so that was to be expected.
“Thanks,” she said, and I followed her into the upstairs office so she could edit the video and then record the voiceover to get the video online.
She explained everything as she did it, and I took it all in.
“If you need any help with figuring your path out, I’m happy to do some meditation work. I’ve found that sometimes, when I’m struggling with a decision, letting it go is the best way to come to a decision.”
That sounded really nice, but I didn’t want to impose, but I told her I’d let her know.
They forced me to stay for dinner and I had another fabulous meal. Natalie said goodbye to me and told me she’d say hello to Em, and that I should come over to their house for dinner on Friday.
“I feel like everyone is always feeding me,” I said with a laugh as I sat down in the dining room with Piper, Preston, and McKenna.
“It all evens out eventually. You’ll just have everyone over when you can,” McKenna said, leaning over to cut Preston’s steak for him.
“I can’t wait to have a working kitchen,” I said. “I can’t decide what I want to make first. I feel like it should be something epic, but it will probably only be a grilled cheese or something.”
“Nothing wrong with grilled cheese,” Piper said.
“Mama, can I have a grilled cheese?” Preston asked.
“You have the dinner right in front of you, my son. Do you not want that?” she asked.
Preston looked down at his plate and thought about that.