Lark laughed and shook her head. “Dubai chocolate is like buying gold. That stuff is so expensive.”
“I know,” Cash said. “But it’s so good, right?”
“Yeah, it’s good.”
He had two more gifts to go, and he opened the third one, which was roughly the size of a shoe box. In fact, when he got the paper off, itwasa shoe box from the Boot Barn in Coral Canyon.
“What have we got here?” he asked, because the box had not been heavy enough to actually contain a pair of cowboy boots. He’d never had someone buy him a pair of those anyway, not even his own father.
He opened the lid and nestled among at least a half-dozen wadded-up pieces of tissue paper sat a gift card for the Boot Barn.
“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 saidHot 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?”
