Page 12 of Sweet Music (Sugarville Grove #7)

CASH

C ash sat on the sofa beside the boy, trying to stay calm on the outside while his heart pounded in his chest as he held out the last of his gifts.

This whole situation was so strange. He was grateful to his mom all over again for making sure he brought some things for the boy, if for no other reason than to give him something to do other than grab him and hug him hard, which he was pretty sure wasn’t allowed to do, at least not yet.

He was hoping the notebook wasn’t a stupid gift. It really was a part of himself. Those lyrics and notes were the closest thing he’d ever come to keeping a diary. If Cody wanted to get to know Cash from back in the days before he was some kind of rock star, the answers were in those pages.

But Cody gazed back at him, his dark eyes filled with uncertainty.

“Really?” he asked after a moment .

“I want you to have it,” Cash told him, nodding.

Cody didn’t say more, but he did take the notebook and practically curl himself around it. He began paging through it immediately, smiling at the doodles in the margins.

That’s my son, Cash thought to himself in wonder.

“‘Snowstorm Rock,’” Cody murmured to himself.

That had been Cash’s first big hit, and he still closed most of his concerts with it. It was an upbeat, country-rock song about getting snowed in at a party and having nothing to do but dance all night.

“Do you have a notebook?” Cash asked.

“Huh?” Cody said, looking up.

“Where did you write down the words to your song?” he asked.

“Oh, just on my phone,” Cody said shrugging.

That checked out. The songwriters of tomorrow wouldn’t be showing off any lyrics hastily scrawled on cocktail napkins or envelopes.

“It’s a really good song,” Cash told him honestly.

“Thanks,” Cody said.

There was a horrible, awkward moment of silence as Cash tried desperately to figure out if he should start apologizing to the boy for not being around and providing for him, or if he should try to tell a dad joke or something.

He opened his mouth without a plan, praying that he’d think of something good to say if he just started talking. But a high-pitched beeping sounded from the kitchen before he could speak .

“The pretzels,” Bella squeaked, dashing into the kitchen.

Cash was on his feet in a heartbeat with Cody at his heels. The kitchen was tiny, and rapidly filling with smoke. The sound of the alarm was much louder up close.

Bella opened the oven and reached for the tray of blackened pretzels inside.

“ Wait,” Cash yelled, grabbing the potholder off the counter and tossing it to her.

“Right,” she said, grabbing it out of the air before pulling the ruined pretzels out.

“You would have burned yourself,” Cody pointed out.

“Yeah, I guess I’m a little nervous,” she said with an embarrassed smile, and Cash had no kind of mental oven mitt to keep the beauty of it from searing right into his memory. “What are you going to do?”

What was it about this woman that kept snagging in his mind? She seemed almost familiar.

But everything was moving too fast to dwell on that weird thought. Bella dumped the pretzels in the trash, and then handed over the potholder and baking sheet to Cody, who opened up a window and used it to waft the smoke outside while the alarm beeped on.

“How can I help?” Cash offered.

“No need,” she said, dragging a kitchen chair over to the smoke detector on the ceiling. “Just hang on a sec.”

Cash moved to her without thinking, placing a hand on her hip to steady her as she reached up to silence the thing.

Just like when he’d touched her hand at the diner today, he felt a sort of shot of electricity jolting through him. And his foot was suddenly tapping of its own accord, like music was trying to bubble up out of him to the rhythm of the smoke alarm.

What’s happening to me?

A second later, the assault of sound stopped.

“Okay, whew,” Bella said, brushing her hands off on her long skirt.

When he offered her his hand, she shook her head and hopped down, and he wondered if she felt it too—the strange magic every time they touched.

“Well, I guess that was one way to break the tension,” Bella joked lightly. “I’m glad you brought a snack, Cash. Because I just ruined the one I was working on.”

“Soft pretzels are overrated anyway,” Cash teased.

“You take that back,” she said right away.

Cody started chuckling, and for a moment Cash felt like maybe this was all going to work out somehow—like this could really be his son or they could really be a family.

The three of them finished cleaning up the kitchen and went back to the living room, and he could feel the weird awkwardness trying to rush back in.

“Hey, Cody,” Cash said in a flash of inspiration. “Would you play me your song? I’ve only heard the part that’s on the video.”

“Sure,” Cody said, perking up. “Hang on.”

He disappeared down the small hallway, leaving Cash alone with Bella.

“He’s such a nice boy,” Cash said softly. “You’re doing an amazing job with him. ”

Bella scowled at him, but he had a feeling that she was probably just trying not to smile. Now that he had met the boy, he honestly kind of liked how fiercely Bella protected him.

Cody was back a second later, looking more relaxed just having the guitar in his hands. Cash felt a pang of sympathy. He had been the same at Cody’s age—honestly, he was still more comfortable with a guitar between him and the world.

The instrument itself was a cheap but serviceable, entry-level acoustic. Cash made a mental note to bring over some good strings for the boy to use on it while he looked around for an ideal replacement guitar for him.

The moment Cody sat again, his foot started tapping and he started noodling around, tuning the thing and just sort of having fun with it at the same time. It made Cash smile to see the playful relationship the boy had with his instrument.

This isn’t some kid who was forced to take lessons. He would be playing no matter what.

Though he could tell by Cody’s fingering technique that someone was clearly teaching him. He stole a glance over at Bella, who was smiling proudly at her young charge.

“He takes lessons?” he asked quietly.

“In Burlington, twice a week,” she said, nodding.

“It shows,” he told her, nodding appreciatively.

His respect for her was growing by the minute. She was a single, working woman and a new guardian to this boy, yet she still made time to drive him to Burlington twice a week to follow his passion.

As the guitar slipped into tune, Cody’s fooling around melted into the chord progression for “City Boy Blues.”

“Yesssss,” Cash said, tapping his foot along with the rhythm.

Cody grinned, eyes still on the guitar, and Cash suddenly heard the missing harmonies in his mind. He wished like anything that he had his guitar with him so they could jam.

Well, he had the next best thing. Cash almost always had a harmonica or two on him at all times, even if he rarely got a chance to play one these days. He pulled his trusty blues harp out of his pocket and held it up. It matched the key Cody was already playing in, which Cash took as a sign.

“Okay for me to join you?” he asked.

The chrome of the harmonica winked in the light, and Cody’s eyes lit up and he nodded, looking pleased.

Cash grabbed the empty wooden crate he’d brought with him, flipped it over on the floor, and then sat on it. As Cody led into the song, Cash held the harp with one hand, and drummed along to the beat on the crate with the other.

The kid was even more dynamic in person than in the video. Cash watched and listened through one verse and the chorus before adding the harmonica’s notes to the song when Cody started the second verse.

Cody seemed to light up from within the moment they were playing together, and Cash felt his heart throb helplessly.

We’re just the same, he thought to himself. I can’t believe I missed the first fifteen years of this .

When they hit the chorus again, Cash leapt to his feet just as Cody did the same and the two of them riffed off the progression, the guitar calling and the harmonica answering for a long time before Cody finally closed out the song with a fluttering strum ending with a hard slap on the guitar’s body.

There was an instant of silence, and then they were both laughing, and Bella was on her feet applauding.

“That was so cool,” Cody said.

“Chills,” Bella said, rolling up the sleeve of her sweater. “I literally have chills.”

“Can we do one of yours now?” Cody asked excitedly, turning to Cash.

No matter what else happened, Cash knew that as long as he lived, he would treasure the memory of the light in the boy’s eyes in that moment.

“Of course,” Cash told him. “Which one do you want to do first?”

They had played for what felt like five minutes, but had to be at least an hour or two before Bella took a frozen pizza out of the oven and they took a break to eat.

During the quiet time, there was a tentative knock on the door and Bella opened it to reveal an older couple.

“We’re not complaining,” the man said. “But it sounded like you had some live music going and we just wanted to say hello.”

“I’m so sorry,” Bella said, looking stricken.

“Nonsense, dear,” the lady told her. “It’s not that late yet, and you know we love music. Our granddaughter sent us that wonderful video of your boy. We thought maybe it was him.”

Bella glanced over her shoulder and Cash looked to Cody, who nodded.

“Do you want to come in?” Bella asked the couple. “That was Cody playing, and we have a visitor too.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” the lady said. “Is that who I think it is?”

“This is my dad, Mrs. Waters,” Cody said. “Dad, this is Mr. and Mrs. Waters.”

My dad…

Cash felt a wave of emotion so strong that it took all he had just to smile and nod to Mr. and Mrs. Waters. They introduced themselves all around, and Cash and Cody gave another performance of “City Boy Blues” for them.

After that Mr. Waters requested “Blue Suede Shoes” and he even took a turn with the harmonica while Cody sang and Cash played his son’s guitar.

“Well, we’d better let you get to it,” Mrs. Waters said, hoisting herself out of her chair. “But this was so much fun.”

“We’ll do it again sometime,” Cash told her, shaking Mr. Waters’s hand.

“It’s a school night,” Bella reminded Cody. “So you’ll have to get ready for bed too.”

She walked their guests to the door as Cash handed Cody back the guitar.

“Thanks for letting me play,” Cash said.

“Sure,” the boy said with a shrug and a shy half-smile .

“I’m going to talk with your aunt real fast after you head to bed,” Cash told him. “But thank you so much for letting me hang out a little. If it’s okay with you and with her, I’d like to see you again as soon as possible.”

“Sure,” Cody said. “Yeah. That would be good.”

There was another awkward second where Cash wasn’t sure how the kid would want to say goodbye. Cash held out his hand, but Cody went in for a real hug.

It was a quick one, but Cash relished the moment of having his son in his arms for the first time.

“See you soon,” Cody said as he let go.

“Definitely,” Cash told him.

As Cody headed back to his room, Cash realized that Bella had been watching them.