Chapter 37 #2
“I figured you might need some new gear when you’re ready to start working on the ranch,” she said. “I mean, I know now you’re just lounging in hot tubs and ordering room service, so—”
Cash burst out laughing. “Yeah, that’s what I’m doing all day,” he said, though she wasn’t exactly that far off. He sobered and looked at her with all seriousness. “You’re coming out tomorrow, right?”
“Yes,” she said.
“And you’ll bring the Care Bears?” he asked.
“If I must.”
“You must,” he said.
“You still have one more present.” She nodded to it, her eyebrows raised.
Yes, he did, but he took a moment to press a kiss to Lark’s lips. “And you’re coming to the New Year’s Eve party too, right?”
“Yes,” she said.
“The whole family will be there,” Cash said.
“They were all at Thanksgiving too.”
“Yeah, but we’re different now, aren’t we?”
She didn’t argue with him, and he turned his attention to the fourth and final gift.
It was fairly heavy, and as he started to open it, she said, “You won’t need this for a while, but I figured you could store it at your daddy’s house until you move onto the ranch.”
He looked up at her, his curiosity burning through him. “What won’t I need for a while?”
“Just open it,” Lark said, and she seemed very nervous. That kicked Cash’s anxiety up a notch too, but he kept going.
He opened it to a cardboard box without any identifying marks, and when he opened that, he pulled out a plastic container that said Hot Tub Maintenance Kit.
He read the words out loud and then looked at Lark. “What is this?”
“It’s a bit of a spoiler for your parents’ gift,” she said. “We went in on it together, and this is my contribution.”
He looked back at the kit and unsnapped the lid. Sure enough, it had pH testing strips, bromine tabs, and an all-in-one cleaner that should take the rust out of the water and remove the scaliness…on the hard surfaces of a hot tub.
Since he’d been living at the McClellans’ and using their hot tub, he’d learned how to take care of one.
“I don’t own a hot tub,” he said.
“Don’t you?” Lark tilted her head and grinned at him. “Spoiler alert: Your daddy and Faith got you a hot tub for Christmas. I told them I’d fix you up with all the accessories.”
He sat there and stared at her. “They bought me a hot tub?”
“Yes, sir,” she said. “And since I know your birthday is in February, you’ll be getting a few more things from me that go with it. They might be boring, and I apologize for that, but again, you’re quite difficult to buy for.”
“I can’t believe this,” he said, awe spiraling through him. “Whose idea was this?”
“Mine,” Lark said simply.
He blinked, trying to keep up. “When did you talk to my daddy?”
“Last week.” She swallowed. “I may have snuck into the master bedroom while you were asleep and got his number off your phone.”
Cash’s eyebrows went up. “You did what now?”
“I didn’t do anything else,” she said quickly. “But I texted him and we talked about it, and I’m hoping it will make up for me kicking you out of the house.”
“Lark, you didn’t kick me out of the house.”
She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a card. “I called Carmen at the cement factory,” she said. “She’s going to send a guy out to Cousins Creek in the New Year so you can pick a place for your hot tub pad.”
He took the card from her and looked back at the chemical cleaning kit. “This is unbelievable,” he said. He had mourned the loss of the hot tub here at the McClellans’, but he hadn’t even thought about putting one at Cousins Creek. “Thank you so much.”
“I just know how much you love the hot tub,” she said. “And well, I can’t afford to get you one. Your Daddy was more than willing, though.”
Cash’s emotion surged, and he reached for Lark and drew her into his chest. “You are my favorite person,” he said, because he wanted her to know the depth of his feelings, but he wasn’t quite brave enough to say I love you yet.
Lark held him for several long seconds, and then she said, “All right, let’s get wrapped up what you need for your siblings so we’re ready to go when the time comes.”
Cash parked in his Daddy’s driveway and got out quickly to get the door for Helen. “Hold onto me, ma’am,” he said. “It’s a little bit icy right here in the driveway.” His father had cleared the rest of the walkway, but Cash steadied Helen as she got out of his tall truck.
“You’re here!” Celeste called from the front porch, and Cash smiled over to her.
“We’re comin’ in,” he said. “Did you close the door?”
Cash turned toward the front door just as he heard his Daddy growl, “Why is this door always open?” He too appeared on the front porch. He wore a dark pair of jeans just like Cash’s and a Christmas sweater in red and green checkers.
“Wow,” Cash said, laughing. “Look how festive you are.”
“Oh, you know how Faith is,” Daddy said with a smile. “She wants us to be nicely dressed on Christmas.”
Cash did know, which was why he currently wore a navy blue button-down shirt with long sleeves and a front pocket. Lark had showered, and she wore jeans and a light blue sweater with a white puffy cat on the front.
“Daddy, this is Lark’s grandmother, Helen,” Cash said as he waited patiently for Helen to go up the front steps one at a time.
“It’s so great to meet you, ma’am,” Daddy said, easily adopting his charming rodeo cowboy persona. “We’re glad you could join us this year.”
“Thank you so much for having me,” Helen said, and Cash passed her to Daddy when they reached the porch. Daddy started talking to her about where she lived and her cats before they’d even made it through the wide front door.
Lark joined him at the top of the steps, and he sighed. “I don’t see my grandmother’s car.”
“Maybe they went and picked her up,” Lark suggested.
“Maybe,” Cash said, though he’d never known his parents to do that before.
“Can someone close the door, please?” Daddy called, and Cash smiled as he took Lark’s hand and entered the house.
Inside, it smelled like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and a real wood fire. Cash entered the back of the house to roaring flames in the hearth and two racks of cookies sitting on the counter.
“Wow. You guys have been busy,” he said, taking in Celeste and Grace in their cute little aprons.
“Look at the aprons Momma sewed for us,” Celeste said, and she struck a pose just like a model on a catwalk.
“Yeah, I see ‘em,” Cash said.
“There’s one for you too,” Momma said. “Right here.” Faith picked up the square of neatly folded fabric on the end of the counter. “I figured you were due for a new one.”
“He is,” Lark said. “I’ve seen his, and it’s pretty ragged.”
Cash took the apron from her and unfolded it. Momma had made it out of blue and green fabric, some with whales and some with tropical leaves. He grinned. “Trying to make me feel bad about living in Wyoming in the winter, aren’t you?”
Momma laughed. “It was on clearance,” she said. “I guess no one wanted the tropical fabric.”
“It’s great.” Cash stepped into her and gave her a hug. “Thank you so much, Momma.”
“Can we do ornaments now?” Celeste asked.
“Yes,” Daddy said. “Let’s do ornaments, and then we’ll eat, and we can do the rest of our gifts after dinner.”
“Daddy, I don’t want to wait until after dinner,” Grace complained.
“Well, then you won’t get any gifts at all,” Daddy said, without missing a beat.
Lark had carried in Cash’s bag of gifts, and he took it from her and moved into the living room, where a great big Christmas tree waited. It was clear the kids had opened most of their gifts already, as toys and books, family games, and movies sat in the windowsill and on the coffee table.
“We just got a few silly things,” he said to Celeste.
“My gift to you is awesome,” she said, and Cash wished he had the confidence of an eight-year-old.
“Grandma Carrie’s not here,” he said.
His father met his eyes. “No, she couldn’t make it.” But he was not telling the truth. Cash looked over to Faith, and she wore a nervous look in her eye too.
“That’s too bad,” Cash said, though he didn’t actually think so. “I’ll have to take Lark to meet her another time.”
Daddy nodded, and Cash reached into the bag to get out the Christmas ornament he’d made for Faith and Daddy that year. They always simply wrapped them in a paper towel, and he got it out and rolled it around in his palm.
Faith said, “Get your ornaments, girls,” and they ran off down the hall to their bedrooms to do that.
Cash handed the ornament to Lark and went to put the other presents under the tree. When he turned around, he found Tyrone standing there with two ornaments wrapped in paper towels, one in each hand.
“Have you got your ornament, bud?” he asked.
Tyrone up both hands and said, “Mine for Momma, Daddy,” and a bunch of other words that Cash couldn’t quite make out.
“That’s right, bud. We’re going to give them to Momma and Daddy.”
Celeste and Grace returned to the living room, and they all sat down on the couch.
“All right, hand them all to me,” Cash said, taking charge. He took the paper towel-wrapped ornaments from everyone, and with all four of them in his possession, he extended them out to Daddy and Momma. “Maybe you could do two each,” he said.
His got handed to his father, and once they’d left his hands, he couldn’t do anything else about it. Momma unwrapped one of the ornaments and grinned at the paddle board.
“I made that one,” Grace said. “Because we got those new paddle boards this year, and it was so fun to go out onto the lake with them.”
“Yeah, that’s awesome,” Daddy said, taking in the pink and yellow paint on the paddle board that could only be four or five inches long. “This is perfect, buggy.”
He stood up and put it on the tree while Momma unwrapped the next ornament. She held it up for everyone to see, and Cash smiled at the very lifelike rendition of his family’s Irish setter.
“That one’s mine,” Celeste said. “Because Hollis had to have that surgery this year, and I thought we could remember her on our tree every year.”
“Oh, that’s very nice,” Momma said, and she handed the ornament to Daddy to hang.
Tyrone started to climb up on the couch but couldn’t quite make it, and Cash grabbed onto him and hauled him into his lap. “You sit by me, buddy. Daddy’s gonna open your ornament next.”
Tyrone sagged back into Cash the way he always did, as the kid was like a big sack of potatoes and he loved cuddling. Cash could admit he did too, and maybe it was a male Young family thing.
Sure enough, Daddy sat down on the hearth and unwrapped Ty’s ornament. It looked about like a four-year-old had made it, and it was of what looked to be a miniature riding lawn mower. Daddy looked up, and all eyes moved to Tyrone.
“Why’d you make that, bud?” Cash asked, tilting his head to look at his much-younger brother.
“I ride Daddy the lawn mower,” Tyrone said. “And we go vrrrrroom!”
Daddy laughed. “Yeah, you’ve been riding with me on the lawn mower. This is great, baby-boy.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Tyrone’s head, and then handed the ornament to Faith to put on the tree.
“That just leaves Cash,” Daddy said, and he threw Cash a look before he opened the ornament.
Lark linked her arm through his, and he liked the way her hand looked in the crook of his elbow while he held Tyrone in his arms. It felt so homey and so domestic—everything Cash had been missing in his life.
He wanted this. He wanted a family and strong traditions and people he could say anything to, who he could riddle through problems and mistakes, and who would love him no matter what.
Daddy unrolled the paper towel to reveal a Welcome to Coral Canyon sign—an exact replica of the one that sat on the highway on the west side of town, welcoming everyone who came through Coral Canyon on their way from Jackson Hole.
Daddy looked up, waiting for the explanation.
“I thought it was a pretty big deal that I moved home this year,” Cash said. “And bought a house, and made plans to stay.” He looked at Lark and then his momma. “This is what I want—to be close to family, get married, and maybe have my own family, right here in Coral Canyon.”
“It’s perfect, Cash,” Momma said.
“Yeah, sure is,” Daddy said, and Cash nodded and looked over to Lark.
She reached up and wiped her eyes quickly, and then grinned at him. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her temple, and she whispered, “It sure is nice to have a home, isn’t it?”
She had called the two of them home before, and Cash didn’t truly understand until that moment, but Lark really craved having a home.
“Yeah,” he said. “It sure is.”
He wanted to be the one to provide that experience for her, and he hoped he’d be able to build a relationship with her that continued to feel like home, as well as a physical place that could become their home.