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 govrrrrroom!”
Daddy laughed. “Yeah, you’ve been riding with me on the lawn mower. This is great, baby-boy.” He leaned over andpressed 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 aWelcome to Coral Canyonsign—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 themhomebefore, 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 becometheirhome.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-EIGHT
Lark rode the elevator to the ninth floor, her backpack with her swimming suit and a few toiletries feeling heavy. She wasn’t sure why, as she and Cash had had a wonderful Christmas together, both at her house, privately, and then with his family at his parents’ place. His grandmother had not come, and that had spared Cash a lot of anxiety.
She walked down the hall and knocked on Cash’s door. Cora had programmed it with a code, so he didn’t have to have a key, but he had not shared that with Lark. It didn’t matter, because he was expecting her, and he opened the door only a couple of seconds later.
“Hey, Songbird,” he said.
Lark grinned at him.
“Come on in.” He stepped back and welcomed her to the suite she’d seen only once before.
“Did you get your hot tub picked out?” Lark asked.
“Sure did,” Cash said. “And, more importantly, I got everything we need for our movie-watching afternoon.” He indicated the desk, which held a tin of her favorite popcorn combo—cheddar cheese and caramel—Dubai chocolate bars,and red licorice. And surely, he had his favorite root beer in the fridge.
“Let me take your bag,” he said. “Or you can just drop it right there next to the couch.”
“I brought nicer clothes for the steakhouse,” she said, as he’d told her he had reservations for them, and then they’d be hot tubbing after-hours.
“What did you want to watch?” Cash asked, and he picked up the TV remote.
