“Gross,” Luca moaned from the back seat. “You guysaregoing to be all mushy-gushy all the time, aren’t you?”
I laughed against Cope’s mouth. “You’d better believe it.”
“I guess the pool is worth it,” Luca mumbled, scratching Gretzky behind the ear.
Cope chuckled and shut off the engine. “Well, I’ve got a few other surprises. Maybe that’ll make itmoreworth it.”
Luca’s eyes lit. “I love surprises!”
He was out of the SUV before I had the chance to chastise him, Gretzky bounding after him. I had no choice but to follow. Cope punched in the door code and led us inside. I heard a commotion from the kitchen, where I knew a catering company was preparing for the team barbeque here this afternoon, but Cope pointed to the stairs. “This way.”
Luca ran up them two at a time, Gretzky charging ahead of him before they both stopped on the landing to wait for us. “Where now?”
Cope’s lips twitched. “Let’s check out your room.”
Luca took off running down the hall. Before I could ask Cope anything, I heard Luca’s squeal of delight and then, “No freaking way!”
I glanced up at Cope in question. He just wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me against him. “It was time he really had his own room.”
We paused in the doorway, and I gaped. The room had been transformed into a little boy paradise. Against the far wall were bunk beds with bedding covered in hockey icons. There was a desk with bookshelves in the corner. The shelves were full of Luca’s favorite books.
The wall closest to the door had what almost looked like a mural of hockey players braced for the start of play, but I realized they werestickers, one on either side of an even larger TV. In front of it were beanbag chairs and a massive gaming setup below it.
Luca ran to Cope, hurling himself at him. Cope caught him easily, and Luca flung his arms around Cope’s neck. “This is the best thing ever! Thank you!”
“I had way too much fun picking it all out,” Cope said, hugging him back. “We’re gonna get you some signed jerseys for that wall, too.”
Luca wiggled free, racing around the room to check everything out in detail, Gretzky sniffing alongside him. I turned to Cope, my eyes burning. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“I’m not done yet, Warrior.”
“I’m not sure I can handle anything else,” I murmured.
Cope slid his fingers through mine. “My girl can handle anything.”
He tugged me into the hallway and back to the landing at the top of the stairs. He guided me toward the huge picture window that overlooked the backyard, pond, and wilderness area.
“Look right over there.” He pointed to a grove of aspen trees. In the middle was an array of six beehives. “I know you love tending those bees of yours. Having fresh honey to bake with. So, I wanted you to have some hives here, too.”
My eyes started to water, the tears sliding down my cheeks. “You got me bees?”
Cope pulled me against him. “You know I’d do anything to make you happy. I want this to be your home. We can decide if we want a place in Seattle, too, or if I’ll commute on my time off. Linc already said he’d loan me his plane if we want Sparrow Falls to still be our home during the season.”
“Cope,” I choked out.
“There’s one more thing.”
“I can’t take one more thing.”
Cope brushed his lips across mine. “Yes, you can.” He reached down, grabbing what looked like some rolled-up papers. “I had Shep draw up some plans for a commercial kitchen right here on the property.”
I sucked in a breath. It was too much. All of it. My body felt like it might explode from happiness, from all the care Cope was pouring out over me and Luca.
He unrolled the papers. “We can tweak them however you want. It’ll go on the other side of the garage. That way, you don’t have to drive so early in the morning or late at night. You can prepare everything you want here and transport it in the van I ordered.”
“Cope.”
His gaze moved to my face. “Too much?” I flung myself at him much like my son had done, and he caught me with anoomph. “Not too much?”
