His uncle only smiled, and then, before Lark knew it, an entire army of children came clamoring up to Cash, all yelling his name.
“My daddy said you’d help me on the bull,” one of them said.
“That’s what my daddy said too,” another one said.
“So will you, Cash?”a third little boy asked. “Will you help us with the bull?”
“My daddy said I can’t ride it unless you help me.”
Boys and girls, most of them under the age of twelve, swarmed Cash, practically knocking Lark out of the way. He laughed and held out both hands. “You guys. You guys,” he said. “Let me breathe. This is all news to me.”
He looked over to the couch area where no less than five of his uncles sat with their wives, drinks in their hands and carefree smiles on their faces. No wonder Gabe was doing so fine. He got to sit back and drink lemonade and hot apple cider while Cash handled all the kids.
He didn’t seem to mind at all as he said, “Yeah, let’s go check it out. Now, Uncle Luke is in charge of this bull, so we have to do whatever he says. Let’s go see which one of you can ride.” He looked over to Lark, his eyes filled with joy as they crinkled along the outer edges. “You’ll be okay, honey? Do you want to come ride the bull?”
“Absolutely not,” Lark said, and she laughed as she shook her head no.
Cash herded all the children over to the mechanical bull, and she stood there next to the platter of deviled eggs she’d helped him make and fell all the way in love with him.
It felt absolutely wonderful.
Hours later,after they’d chatted with Rachel and Cole and got the details of their wedding, and Cash had taken every niece and nephew on the mechanical bull who wanted to—somemultiple times—his uncle Tex got up on a chair with a microphone in his hand.
“Most of us know what’s coming next, but we do have a couple of new people with us this year, so I’m going to turn the mic over to Momma so she can get everybody up to speed.”
Lark found it fascinating that they needed a mic at their family party, but she basked in the goodness and warmth of the Youngs and how readily they’d folded her into them.
Cash’s grandmother took the mic, seemingly made of only smiles. “When Jerry and I were raising the boys, we didn’t have very much money. We had to find inexpensive ways to keep them entertained, and on New Year’s Eve, we still had all of our Christmas decorations up, and we teased them with this song.”
Lark gazed around at the glowing yellow tea lights hanging from the rafters in the furniture store and the Christmas tree still standing decorated next to Guest Services. Everything still felt festive and warm, and Lark smiled as she focused back on Cecily Young.
“The song plays, and it’s almost a call and echo,” she said. “But you’re going to want to be next to your significant other, because this is a kissing song.”
Whatever Lark had expected her to say, it wasnotthat. She looked twenty yards away to where Cash stood with some of his younger cousins and holding his four-year-old brother, Tyrone, in his arms. He immediately searched for her, his eyes meeting hers a moment later, and he strode over to the living room area and set Tyrone on the couch, saying something to him before he came over to Lark.
The music started before he’d reached her, and it almost sounded like a polka song; definitely nothing Lark had heard in this century. It only seemed to be music, and quite clownish at that.
Then, after a certain stanza in the music, Cecily Young yelled into the mic, “It’s halfway to kissing time! Time to kiss again!”
The Youngs all cheered, and Lark grinned as she watched the brothers high-five and the women in the family simply shake their heads at their cowboys. She looked over to Cash, her eyes wide.
“A kissing song?” she yelled.
“I don’t come to this,” he said. “I don’t know anything about this.”
Lark recognized a repeat in the music, and when it was time for Cecily to yell again, everyone in the room joined her.
“It’s halfway to kissing time! Time to kiss again!”
“This is where you grab onto your partner and give him a big fat smooch,” Cecily yelled, and Lark watched as the other couples in the room did exactly that. She’d had no idea that families acted like this. Her proper mother would be horrified, but Lark loved the energy and vibrancy of this family, this party, this song.
The music turned familiar again, and this time, Cash’s uncles started gathering their kids around them, telling them instructions, and when it was time, everyone yelled again, “It’s halfway to kissing time! Time to kiss again!”
Cash grabbed onto Lark and pulled her into him. He kissed her, his smile against hers, there for a moment, and both of them dissolving into laughter afterward.
She held onto him like she needed him to stand as the song calmed into something slower and more romantic. Cash took her into his arms, and Lark closed her eyes to block out the other couples, his uncles, his aunts, his grown cousins who were married or dating, everyone.
She simply focused on being held by Cash, and the warm touch of his breath against her collarbone, and the welcome weight of his hands on her back. She looked up and found he’dcreated a private bubble with the brim of his cowboy hat, and as pure adoration swept through her, she said, “I love you, Cash Young.”
