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“I would say three to five,” Reese sighed.
“I would shut up, or else you aren’t going to be getting that motor I was looking at online for Christmas. Trust me, Kid, you are going to want that motor.”
“Cash,” Reese playfully swatted him, still looking at her ring. “It is his birthday. If you wanted to go upstairs, you should have kept to tradition. Dinner, cake, and then presents. It is your fault this time.”
“Jesus,” Cash shook his head. “Alright, cake it is.”
Pulling down the garage door, Cash locked the car away for the night. He launched into a discussion with Mav and Pappy about moving it to its own bay in the garage as they crossed the street. Pappy and Mav headed into the house, but Cash stopped Reese before she got to the door.
“I love you, Beautiful,” he told her again, dragging her into a kiss that promised of things to come.
“Hmm, I love you too.”
“Let’s go have cake. It is probably bad to make the kid do the dishes on his birthday, right?”
“Yeah, that would be bad,” Reese agreed.
“I am going to eat all the cake,” Mav shouted from the kitchen.
“You do, and I will make you push that thing all the way across town to the garage,” Cash called back.
Reese laughed as she walked into the kitchen. Pappy was putting candles in the cake, and Mav tormented Cash. Her men were all here. Somedays Reese wanted to pull her hair out from the amount of testosterone floating in the air, but today, her heart was full.
Mav pulled Cash back over to drool on his birthday present for a few more minutes before bed when the cake plate was licked clean. Reese wasn’t at all sure Mav wasn’t going to end up sleeping in his car. As excited as he was, it wouldn’t matter to him what had made its home in the seats while it was parked in a barn. They would be sharing their home with him for the night.
Pappy shooed her out of the kitchen, promising to do the dishes while she soaked in the tub. Reese decided to take him up on his offer. It wasn’t every day someone offered to do the clean-up for her. Dumping the bubbles into the water, she stared at her ring. Sighing happily, she sank down into the fragrant sudsy water and let it work its magic.
She knew they would have their ups and downs, but there was no one else she would rather share them with than the man across the street drooling on Mav’s birthday present with him. They were going to have to have a discussion soon about the house. One would think that when you hire a contractor to do renovations and add an addition, you would run it by the homeowner first. Reese was dumbfounded when the man showed up to take some measurements last week. After getting the contractor to spill his secret deal with Cash, she allowed him to take all the measurements he needed while she stewed.
Reese decided to wait Cash out. She was interested to see how he would explain a construction crew showing up at her house. It wasn’t like she was opposed to the idea of a new kitchen. With their combined income, the upgrades were very doable.
Before the man could leave, he showed the proposed plans to her. A master on the first floor for Pappy and a smaller master on the second floor for them were already on the drawing. Her heart filled with love for Cash for thinking to make her life easier. She would still make him sweat whenever he decided to tell her because who does something like that without consulting their other half first?
“My favorite granddaughter,” Pappy’s worried voice came from outside the door.
“Your only granddaughter,” Reese suppressed a groan. She had a feeling her bubble bath was coming to an end even though the water was hot enough to create steam.
“I know you just got in the tub, but girlie, the sink sprang a leak. There is water shooting all over the kitchen. Do you know where the shut-off valve is?”
Reese let the groan out she held in as she got out of the tub. “I have no idea if there is one inside, but there is one outside. I am coming.”
“Bring towels,” Pappy instructed. “All the towels.”
Reese dried quickly, snatching all the towels in the cupboard. In the kitchen, she found Pappy on his hands and knees. His head was peering inside the cabinet with water spraying throughout the kitchen like a wayward fountain. Dropping the towels, Reese clutched her stomach, doubling over as her uncontrolled laughter filled the air. Wiping her eyes, she saw Pappy staring at her, grumbling something under his breath, soaked to the skin. One look at her, and he started laughing too.
This is what life looks like, she thought to herself as she stumbled out the door to the shut-off. Turning the knob on the side of the house, she stood in the cool evening air. Interrupted moments of bliss with the man who stole your heart, the trials of surviving parenting, a few calls to come to the police station, and unconditional love mixed with a crisis or two thrown in just for good measure.
Smiling, she headed back inside to deal with the water in the kitchen. What was an extra towel or twenty in the wash? Reese’s heart overflowed much like the kitchen sink as she walked back inside. Cash and Mav must have come in the kitchen door because they were getting almost as wet as Pappy. Mav had her mop chasing the current across the floor. Cash had a box of plumbing fittings from who knows where. He and Pappy were attempting to piece together the spigot. She stopped to watch her men. Yeah, they were all hers. Her life, her love, and her dreams all lived in a little house on the edge of town. The one that was finally going to shine like a new penny or at the very least washed from the inside out. Nothing got better than that.
