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“We love you too,” she says, and we end the call.
After setting my phone down, I get up and clean the kitchen. Since Everleigh cooked, it’s the least I could do—something that’s become our little tradition. If she cooks, I clean up, and vice versa.
As soon as I move to the plate of extra bacon, Sassy’s at my feet. “You can have one if you keep it a secret,” I whisper.
She does this spin-around trick Everleigh taught her, and I cave. She gobbles it up quickly, not leaving a trace behind.
A minute later, Everleigh walks into the kitchen with wet hair. She has on some different clothes, but I’m sure she’ll change again before we head to her grandparents’ this evening. “You’re already finished chattin’?”
“Yeah, Annie had to go do mom stuff,” I say over my shoulder as she moves into the living room, towel drying her hair.
“She’s awesome. I was serious ’bout her coming to visit sometime. Maybe we can capture her and make her move here too?”
I snort-laugh. “She’d love Lawton Ridge, but I dunno about her living here. I think that’d take some bribing since she’s settled in Wyoming and has a stable job at the hospital.”
“Oh, she’s a nurse?” Everleigh asks.
“Yep. She is, and a damn good one at that. She got her CNA before Scarlett was born and worked part-time through nursing school while being a single mom.”
“Wow, your sister is a badass,” Everleigh says, genuinely impressed.
A smile meets my lips. “She really is.”
For more reasons than one.
“Well, I’m convinced that if she came here, she’d never wanna leave. It’s an amazing town to raise kids. Also, I’ve heard the school nurse could be retiring soon.”
From the kitchen, I tilt my head at her. “Seriously?”
“Yep, so who knows what could happen if she moved here.” She looks at the shiny wrapping paper and grins. “Are you ready to open presents now?”
“Of course,” I say, wiping my hands on a dish towel. We sit on the floor in front of the tree, and I feel like a kid again. Everleigh hands me one and then opens one herself.
I chuckle. “You bought yourself gifts?”
“Yep! The hard part was waiting until today. I buy myself little gifts all year long, then I wrap them up and keep them in my closet. The night before Christmas, I put them under the tree and try to remember what the hell I bought.” She shakes the box as I rip off the snowflake paper from my bag.
I reach my hand inside and pull out a baseball cap. “Oh wow. I love this.”
I shake it out a bit and put it on my head.
“I noticed you didn’t have one and most men like to wear them, so I figured you needed one.”
“Well, thank you. It’s great.”
“And it looks sexy as hell on you.” She waggles her brows, then holds up a necklace. “I totally forgot ’bout this!”
The way she surprises herself makes me laugh, but also, it’s so like her. Everleigh makes no apologies for enjoying herself.
We exchange a few more gifts. She gushes over the fuzzy socks I got her. Then she opens the snarky coffee mug and six-month wine club subscription, which she claims it’ll be for the both of us to drink during our TV shows.
“Wow, you know me so well, Archer.” She looks at the things I bought her, then flashes me a grateful smile. “I love it all so much, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She hands me another box, and inside is a framed photo of Sassy. The next has a winter coat because apparently mine didn’t look warm. After all the gifts under the tree are unwrapped, and the living room is a mess, I stand.
“Hold on. I have one more thing for you,” I tell her.
