Page 10 of Sweet Music (Sugarville Grove #7)
CASH
C ash thought about Bella Wood all the way back to the farm.
There were a million other things he knew his mind should be on, like what he was going to say to the boy, how he was going to tell his parents what was going on, and how long he could possibly put off his national tour to get to know his son.
But somehow, he kept getting caught on the memory of the girl’s serious brown eyes, and the lightning flash that had gone through him the second his hand touched hers.
There was a tingling in his veins and his foot wanted to tap on the gas pedal, almost like back in the days when he was writing songs and couldn’t sit still until he got alone with his guitar to put them down.
But that was probably just wishful thinking. He hadn’t had days like that in a long time.
You’re just distracting yourself by thinking about the girl, so you don’t have to think about talking to Mom and Dad .
And the truth of it was that he was going to be home any minute, and he still had no idea how to broach the subject with them.
But Mom had book club later today, and knowing Dad, he’d stop by the feed shop to chew the fat with the boys sooner than later.
And the fact that Tripp already knew told him that the rest of his siblings probably did as well.
His brothers might not spill the beans, but Allie was especially bad at keeping secrets.
The window for Cash to tell his parents about things himself before someone showed them that video was closing quickly.
As he pulled down the driveway toward the stone farmhouse, he spotted Dad’s truck, thankfully still parked out front. They hadn’t gone anywhere just yet.
He parked and hopped out into the cold, bright sunlight, mesmerized for a second by the way it glittered on the snowy trees that lined the drive. He was tempted to stop and drink in the familiar sight that he hadn’t seen in so long.
Stop that, he scolded himself. No more dillydallying. Go inside.
He jogged up the steps and opened the front door.
“Shoes,” his parents called from the back of the house.
He kicked off his boots in a hurry and headed back to the kitchen, determined to tell them everything before he lost his nerve.
The family photos on the wall along the way seemed to taunt him, now that he knew there was a missing face that should have been here with all the others…
When he reached the kitchen, he was glad to find that it was just Mom and Dad, working on lunch. With the whole family living on the farm, and Mom and Dad’s place at the heart of it, it was kind of a miracle to find them alone.
“Son,” Dad said warmly, holding out an arm.
Dad had this nice way of doing that ever since Cash was about twelve. He would hold out that arm in a way that you could wave to him, high-five him, or collapse into his chest, depending on how grown-up you were feeling at the moment.
Cash probably surprised him when he went in for the hug today. And even after all these years, the reassuring strength of his dad’s arms around him and the light scent of his aftershave made Cash feel braver.
Could my hug make Cody feel like that one day?
“I have to tell you both something,” he said as he pulled back.
“Of course,” Mom said, setting down the knife she was using to chop vegetables and wiping her hands on her apron.
But suddenly, he wasn’t sure what to say.
“What’s on your mind, son?” Dad asked.
“I’ve tried to live in a way you two could be proud of,” Cash said. “I sing good old-fashioned music. And I don’t party, not anymore at least. I put most of my earnings aside for a rainy day. And I make sure my crew is paid well and taken care of.”
“We are very proud,” Mom said.
Dad nodded, listening.
“When I first broke out though, I was kind of going through a hard time,” he heard himself admit. “It doesn’t make sense, I know that. All my dreams were coming true.”
“I, remember,” Dad said matter-of-factly. “We figured you were going through some kind of breakup.”
Cash blinked at him, stunned that his father could be so observant. Or maybe he had just been a lot more obvious than he’d thought at the time.
“It wasn’t really a breakup,” Cash said. “Not exactly. But I guess it was something like that. Anyway, in those early days I did a few things I’m not proud of. And it’s time for me to make one of them right.”
“What do you mean?” Mom asked.
Cash slid his phone out of his pocket, figuring the boy could do a better job of explaining than he could.
“Look at this,” he said, navigating to the video, and then letting it play.
“That’s Bella Wood’s boy,” Mom said. “I don’t see what… oh… ”
They all listened to the rest of the song in silence, and when it looped back to the beginning, they watched it again.
“Oh, Cash,” Mom said, pulling him close after their second watch. “This is incredible. And can you believe that he’s right here in town?”
Dad stayed silent.
“I promise you that I didn’t know,” Cash said, pulling back to look his father in the eye. “If I had, I would have been there for him and his mother from the very beginning. You can look at the timestamp on that video if you want to see how fast I hightailed it out here as soon as I saw this.”
Dad nodded, his eyes meeting Cash’s again, understanding on his face.
Relief flooded through him. A lot of people were going to think he’d abandoned a mother and child, but if his parents believed him and Tripp did too, then he knew he would find a way to get through this personally, whether his public image survived or not.
If only Bella believed me…
That would be nice, but the only person whose feelings really mattered was Cody Wood.
“Bella is going to talk to him after school,” Cash said. “And if he agrees to it, then I’ll get to see him tonight.”
“Of course he’ll want to see you,” Mom said. “He plays so beautifully. He’s obviously been hoping to grow up just like you.”
Her words hit him hard, and he felt his eyes prickling.
“Now, let’s figure out what you should bring with you,” she said, letting go of him to pace the kitchen.
“Well, the important thing is going to be support,” Cash said. “I can basically hand Bella a blank check for anything he needs.”
“ Charles Cash Lawrence ,” Mom said sternly.
“That’s not what I meant. Of course you’ll provide for the boy, that part goes without saying.
But you need to bring him something personal.
Something that shows him you want to know him and you want him to know you—something that makes him understand that he’s part of this family. ”
“Oh,” Cash said, overwhelmed at how obviously right she was. “Right. Thank God for you, Mom.”
“I’m just going to whip up a batch of lemon squares,” she told him. “They were your favorite when you were a teen, so he should have some right away.”
“Great,” Cash said. “Did you, uh, happen to keep any of my old stuff?”
He felt a guilty pang that he hadn’t even bothered to come home and help out when Mom and Dad moved from the big green Victorian over here to the house that used to belong to his grandparents.
“Of course,” Mom said right away. “We put it over at your place. It’s waiting right there for you, for whenever you decided to come home. I went over there while you were out this morning and aired everything out and made up the bed for you.”
“My place?” he echoed.
“You always liked the purple house,” Dad chuckled. “Reminded you of that guitarist you loved.”
“Prince,” Cash breathed. “But wait, the house is really mine?”
“We don’t have renters here,” Mom said firmly. “This is family land.”
“Amazing,” Cash said.
“Well, you can go on over and find Cody something after lunch,” Mom told him. “Something that lets him see he matters to you.”
The front door opened, and they all yelled out shoes together.
The next thing he knew, his brothers Tripp and Zane were tromping in, joking about something going on with the cows.
As the house filled with laughter and friendly voices, Cash felt happy and sad all at once. After all, this big, boisterous family was the boy’s birthright, and he hadn’t been here all this time to enjoy it.
On the other hand, Cash was going to get to introduce him to it now, as long as the kid gave him the chance.
I’m going to figure this out. Whatever it takes.