In Tune (Red Bird Trail Trilogy Book 3) (14 page)

Both of them gave her their full attention. “How about we get one big gift? You know, a family present?”

They were quiet for a moment as they rolled the idea around in their heads. She could see them thinking of the pros and cons. Finally, Remy spoke up.

“Can we get a TV? The one we have kind of sucks.”

Both of them laughed. “Dude.” Cash playfully glared. “A TV is a TV; you’re lucky we have one. When I was younger, we didn’t.”

“We
barely
have one, it’s so small,” Remy argued.

“He does kind of have a point,” Harper agreed with the youngest of their family. “It is pretty damn small.”

Cash looked back and forth between the two of them, wondering if this was really want they wanted. “You both want to buy a TV? Are you absolutely sure?”

“Yes!” Remy shouted.

“I’m good with it if you are.” Harper looked up to him for the final answer.

“Alright, then I guess tomorrow we go TV shopping.”

Immediately Remy jumped up. “How big of a TV can we get? How much money can we spend?”

Harper disentangled herself from Cash and reached under the couch, pulling their money box out. “Let’s count it out and see.”

“Harper, are you sure?” Cash asked her quietly. “You did something much more personal for this money than I did. Are you sure you want to waste it on a TV.”

“It’s not a waste,” she was quick to defend the idea. “It’s our form of entertainment. This is where we convene as a group, and it’s a babysitter for Remy when we’re both busy with studying or whatever else we may be doing. This is a small price to pay, and I’m happy to pay it.”

Finally, he accepted her answer. Grabbing the money out of the box, he began counting it out. He was surprised when he realized they had $550. “That should get us a decent TV.” He grinned up at Remy. Happy that he was happy, proud that Remy was going to have the kind of childhood Cash had dreamed of and never gotten.

“Can we go tomorrow?” he asked, excitement making his voice loud.

“We will.” Cash nodded. “And we’ll pick it out as a family. We all have to agree on it.”

Harper watched him put the money back in the box and shove it back under the couch. Who would have thought in a little apartment, with barely enough furniture to fill it, in the not-so-nice part of town, with the bare essentials in the fridge, she would have found her happiness. And it was truly the happiest she’d ever been.

‡
Chapter Twenty-Two

“W
here are we
going?” Harper asked, her curiosity piqued.

She had been in the living room, contemplating with Remy about how they would be moving the furniture around in order to accommodate the new TV they had purchased, when he grabbed her hands, told Remy to mind Natalie, and they’d left.

Harper hadn’t had any idea that Natalie had even been coming over, but Natalie had smiled widely and waved goodbye to them.

“Would you stop?” he chuckled as she tried to peek out from the blindfold he’d placed over her eyes.

“I don’t do surprises well.” She huffed, folding her arms over her chest.

“No shit?” Cash’s voice was dry with humor as he slowed the car at a red light.

“C’mon, Cash, please?”

“No,” he was adamant. “I never get to surprise you with anything, so I’m doing it today. You can thank Natalie later.”

Harper bit her bottom lip and did as she was told, hoping that biting her lip would make the sassiness she wanted to give him go away. He seemed to be very excited about whatever it was he was doing for her.

“I’m going to sit over here and mind my own business.” She primly crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap.

Cash couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. “You do that, sweet thang. Sit over there and mind your own business.”

*

Harper was pretty
sure she was going to kill him when they got to their destination. As they were driving to the undisclosed location, he would take his hand off the gearshift and run it up and down her thigh, or at a stop light he would grasp hold of the ends of her hair, and tug lightly.

“Cash.” She let out an exasperated breath. “Stop.”

“Okay, okay.” He laughed. “I’ll stop.”

She was glad when he finally did leave her alone, and she tried to figure out exactly where they were going. She listened as they traveled but couldn’t tell where they were.

“Can you not give me a little hint?” Harper asked again, turning to face him in the seat even though she couldn’t see him.

“Damn, woman. Yes. We’re here, anyway.”

She clapped her hands, excited they had finally made it to wherever it was they were going. She gasped when he took the blindfold off and she realized they were at the town square, less than ten minutes from their apartment.

“Did you drive all around so that I would have no idea?” She giggled, taking in the lights that decorated the trees, the red bows that wound around the lampposts. Even thought it was early evening, it was dark already, and there weren’t a lot of people around because it was cold.

“Yeah.” He ducked his head and then smiled. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, consider me surprised.” She unbuckled her seatbelt. “C’mon, let’s go walk.”

They met at the front of the car and grabbed hands before going to the square’s perimeter of stores and window shopping. It was fun to look in the stores and imagine what it would be like to afford some of the things there.

“This would be a great place for a bakery.” She stopped him, pulling on his hand. “There’s nothing down here like it, and hopefully people would be window shopping like we are.”

“One day,” Cash told her. “One day all of our dreams will come true.”

*

“You want a
hot chocolate?” Cash asked as they continued their walk around the square.

“Is this like a date?” she asked as she reached up and kissed his cheek.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “This is that date we keep planning on taking but can never afford to.”

“This is perfect,” she told him as she took hold of the hot chocolate that he handed her. “Let’s sit over here while I drink this.”

He had a seat and pulled her close to him, putting his arm around her shoulder. It was one of those moments where he realized how much he loved her, one of those moments where he knew this was where he was supposed to be. “Is it good?” he asked as she cupped it in her hands and blew on it before taking a sip.

“Sooo good! I think they used real chocolate. Want a sip?”

He nodded then leaned in so he could share in the drink. They sat in a comfortable silence, loving the fact that they could do this. Nobody needed anything from them, he didn’t have to be at work, she didn’t have to be at work, they were able to just be together. Clearing his throat, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box.

“I know we said that we weren’t doing gifts for one another. That the TV is our Christmas gift to each other, but I wanted to get you something. It’s not much.” He shrugged. “I can’t afford much, but I hope you like it.”

Harper hesitantly grabbed the box out of Cash’s hand. “What did you do?”

“Trust me, babe. It’s not huge, but I think you’re gonna like it.”

Her hands shook as she opened the box. Looking inside, she gasped. There, nestled against tissue paper, was a Christmas ornament that read “Our First Christmas”. “Cash, it’s gorgeous,” she breathed. And it was; it was silver and had their names and the date engraved on it. “This is too much.”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “I’m glad I was able to give it to you and hopefully officially call you my girlfriend?”

Leaning over, she giggled before kissing him softly. “I would love to be your girlfriend. It’s perfect.”

And for them, it was.

‡
Chapter Twenty-Three

“H
ow’d you do?”
Harper asked Cash as they met in the hallway of the school. They had both just taken their finals, both hoping that they would have the grades they needed to continue.

“Aced that bitch.” He slung his arm around her neck and pulled her close. “He graded it while we were still in there. This was the only one I was worried about. The rest I know I passed.”

She wished she had his confidence. “I’m worried.”