Page 29 of Sweet Music (Sugarville Grove #7)

BELLA

A bout a half hour later, Bella was deep in thought as Cash’s truck bumped over the planks of the covered bridge on the way to the farm.

“Listen, I hope you like this surprise,” Cash said.

They had decided to stop home to grab all the cookies Bella had made plus an overnight bag, since it was snowing harder now, and Cody was determined to spend Christmas morning on the farm. He’d spent most of the ride over looking at Cash like he was a superhero.

And, as far as Bella was concerned, he was a superhero.

All the way here, Cash had kept them entertained with tales about his bandmates and the stuff they wanted to do after the holidays. They were all planning to come back to Sugarville Grove to get in some writing and recording time, as soon as Cash had his home studio up and running .

While Cash and Cody talked, Bella let the events of the day wash over her. She had put Cody up front, telling them it was so they could catch up, but mostly because she was feeling overcome by emotion.

It was difficult for her to process that the two men weren’t related. As she watched them talk and laugh, she couldn’t help noticing the expressions and body language they shared.

It’s probably because he grew up watching Cash’s videos.

And now that she was looking for it, Cody also did have a decent resemblance to Harper’s ex-fiancé, who must be his actual biological father.

Bella honestly couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought about that before.

She wondered for a moment if Harper had known the real truth, and decided that she probably had.

Harper’s ex was awful, and everyone knew it. Telling Cody that Cash was his father had probably been Harper’s attempt to give him a dad who had a reason not to be around. And as long as she never did a paternity test, no one would have ever really known for sure.

It also meant Cash had been telling the truth this whole time—Harper had never even tried to reach out to him, that was just another part of the story she’d invented for Cody.

It was the kind of leave things to the universe behavior that Bella herself was terrible at, but that was Harper through and through.

She had been confident enough to assume that she wouldn’t need a man around.

And after what happened with her ex, and then Cash acting so strangely after their time together…

well, Bella couldn’t exactly blame her for wanting to raise her boy herself .

And what a good job she had done. Cody was an angel. He struggled some, but that was natural in his situation.

And now he has a rock star for a dad, even if it’s not by blood.

Bella smiled all the way down to her soul.

Cash Law was a better, more complicated man than she had given him credit for.

Could he handle the truth about me?

For the first time, she was starting to think that maybe he could.

The boys got quiet as they pulled down the drive to the farm and passed the stone farmhouse where Cash’s parents lived.

By the time they got to the purple house, it seemed like Cash was feeling nervous.

That was endearing, because the man normally had no shortage of confidence. She figured that whatever he was planning to surprise Cody with must really mean something to him.

“Okay,” Cash said, clearing his throat as he parked the truck. “Let’s go.”

He hopped out and appeared at Bella’s door before she even had her seatbelt off, offering her a hand to help her down.

“Thank you,” she said, trying to ignore the butterflies in her chest at the warmth of his big hand wrapped around hers.

The three of them headed up the porch steps together.

“Open up,” Cash said to Cody, gesturing to his front door.

Cody smiled and moved to the door.

“ Don’t panic,” Cash whispered to Bella. “This is kind of a gift for you both. I’ll explain in a minute.”

Cody opened the front door and a bolt of wheat-colored lighting flashed out onto the porch, circling him and nearly knocking him over.

“Carl,” Cody cried, crouching on the icy porch floor to embrace the big dog.

“Oh, Cash,” Bella breathed. “We can’t…”

“I know,” Cash said right away. “You don’t have room for this guy in that little apartment of yours. That’s why I want you to take this house. You and Cody can live here, and Carl, of course. Mom and Dad said I can have a room at their place.”

“We couldn’t,” she said, thunderstruck that he would even offer.

“Well, you’re definitely going to need a place with a yard now that you have a dog,” Cash said. “So if you don’t like this house, then we’ll find another one. But I want to do something to make his life better, and I’m tired of you telling me no.”

She wanted to rebel at the firm note in his voice, but with her eyes on Cody, who was hugging the big dog and looking so happy he could cry, it was hard to remember why she hadn’t wanted to accept help in the first place. After all, it wasn’t for her. It was for this boy who had her whole heart.

“I thought he might like to live on the farm near his cousins,” Cash said softly. “We had so much fun out here growing up, and it’s not so far from town.”

“Okay,” Bella heard herself say.

“Okay?” Cash echoed.

“Yes,” she said. “Thank you. I know he’ll love being here. But…”

“But what?” he asked.

“Will your parents care?” she asked him. “About that thing you tore up today?”

“They won’t,” he said. “If we even tell them. That will be up to Cody.”

Bella nodded slowly, impressed that somehow Cash had already thought all of this through.

“Let’s go inside,” he said to Cody. “I want to show you your room. And I think Carl probably wants his lunch.”

“Come on, Carl,” Cody said to the big animal.

“Can you believe his name is Carl?” Bella asked Cash, shaking her head in wonder. “Like Carl Perkins? You always said he was one of your biggest influences.”

“I can, actually,” Cash chuckled. “When I stopped in at the shelter and they told me, I figured it was fate.”

“You saw Cody’s posts?” Bella guessed.

Cash nodded and gave her a crooked smile that made her heart melt.

Together, they went inside, and Cash gave them a tour of what she couldn’t believe was her new home.

A few hours later, Bella stood in the doorway of Cody’s new room.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

Carl was curled up on the bed beside Cody, taking up more than half the space, but the boy didn’t seem to care. The two of them looked like they were in heaven at the end of their long and exciting day.

“Really good,” Cody said. “Kind of… surprised, I guess.”

“Me too,” Bella told him.

“But it’s all a good surprise,” Cody said. “He’s kind of amazing.”

She smiled, knowing he meant Cash.

“Yeah, he is, isn’t he?” she said.

“You’ve got a pretty good fish on the line,” Cody said. “Maybe you should finally reel him in.”

“What do you mean?” Bella asked, knowing full well what he meant, but not exactly how Cody could be so certain.

“He likes you,” Cody said, shrugging. “It’s pretty obvious. I think it’s cool.”

“Really?” Bella asked. “Isn’t there enough going on here?”

“ Less isn’t more ,” Cody said, quoting his mom. “ More is more. ”

“She got that from a movie,” Bella said, smiling.

“And the movie was based on a book,” Cody told her. “And it’s also true.”

“I know,” Bella said, nodding.

“At least keep an open mind?” Cody said.

“I will,” she told him. “You’re an amazing person yourself, Cody. You know that, right?”

He looked down at the dog and ran his hand through the thick, golden fur. Carl groaned appreciatively and rolled onto his back, as if to offer his belly for consideration.

“You’re such a good boy, Carl,” Cody said, scratching him on the belly.

“Sleep well,” Bella told them both.

“Hey, Aunt Bella,” Cody said, just as she reached the door.

“Yes?” she said, turning back to him.

“I’m sorry I scared you today,” he said, his eyes solemn. “I promise I won’t do that again.”

“Thank you, Cody,” she told him. “Hopefully you know now that there are a lot of people who have your back. There’s no need to think about running when you’ve got your pack to lean on.”

He grinned at her, and she ran over impulsively and kissed the top of his head.

“Good night,” she told him.

“Good night,” he said softly.

On the way down the stairs, she thought about what she had told him and realized it applied to herself too.

She had been panicking today, but the Sugarville Grove police force had been out immediately when she needed help, and Cash had deployed his connections.

She hadn’t had to look any further before finding Cody, but if she’d had to, she knew the grandma crew at the library would have been there for her, along with a town full of people she’d known all her life.

“Hey,” Cash said softly when she reached the living room.

Though the house itself was a dusky lavender on the outside, it was old-fashioned and traditional on the inside. There was a very cozy and lumpy sofa in the living room across from the stone fireplace.

But Cash was sitting on the carpet in front of the fire, looking more handsome than ever with the dancing flames lighting up the angles of his face.

Don’t think about that, she told herself. You have to come clean with him.

“I was just thinking,” he asked as she lowered herself to the floor beside him. “What did you mean on the phone earlier, when you said I’m not the kind of guy who sticks around?”

“I meant what I said,” she told him honestly. “I know you don’t always stick around.”

The hurt expression on his face tugged at her heart. But he deserved honesty.

“How could you know that about me?” he asked. “I’ve only been here a few weeks. You don’t really know me at all. I might not be perfect, but I’ve tried hard to be there for Cody.”

“But I do know you,” she told him, looking down at her hands.

“I know your favorite color is forest green. I know your favorite dessert is strawberry shortcake. I know when you’re lying awake at night, you worry about your family and what will happen to the farm if your brothers don’t take over, and to calm yourself down, you think about how old the stars are…

And I know you disappeared when I needed you most.”

“You can’t…” he whispered.

“It was so many years ago,” she said, shaking her head. “You probably don’t remember some silly girl you met online. ”

“ Jane,” he breathed.

“I never got over it when you disappeared on me,” she told him. “No matter how much time passed.”

She finally ventured a look up at him, and the expression on his face was one of wonder and sadness.

“They got rid of my social media,” he said quietly. “When they signed me, the record company publicist just deleted it all without even telling me what she was doing. And by the time I got back onto Riffs, you were just gone. I messaged you from a new profile, but you never responded.”

“No,” she whispered.

“Yes,” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I still check the app sometimes, hoping I’ll hear from you.”

His fingers slid and tapped on the screen before he handed it over and she began to read.

rockboy7:

sweet jane, it’s farmboy7

i’m so sorry I was gone for a few weeks - i’ve missed you so much

i need to tell you everything now, even though you might not want to hear it

my real name is charles and i’m from the same county as you, believe it or not, but i was never in the orchestra all-stars

i disappeared for a bit because the unthinkable happened - my band took off!

they got rid of all my socials and sent me on tour, but i finally had a chance to come back on and let you know

you don’t have to tell me who you are if you don’t want to

but I want you to know that i’m cash law

yeah i know, i used to say i didn’t like cash

i just didn’t want you to guess

and, well, at times i do feel like a second rate elvis impersonator

you made my day that time you said cash law has his own sound

but i knew i was in love with you a long time before that

anyway, i hope you can forgive me - for disappearing on you, and for telling you my real name - and also for not telling it to you sooner

When Bella finished, she read it again, her heart racing.

“I never saw this,” she said. “I was on the app for a while after you left, but I never thought to look for new message requests. You were the only person on there that I ever wanted to talk to.”

“I said I would leave you a ticket for all my shows,” he said, his voice deeper now with emotion. “So, when I saw a girl wearing a county All-Stars Orchestra shirt at the Burlington concert, I was sure it was you.”

“Harper was wearing my shirt,” Bella realized out loud .

“It’s the only reason I did what I did,” Cash said. “Spending time with you this month, for the first time I thought I might finally be getting over Sweet Jane, but I wasn’t—it was just that I’d found you without knowing it. You’re the only one for me. You always have been.”

Her heart was aching with love, but it was better to look the truth in the face.

“Tell that to the girl whose name you got tattooed on your chest,” she joked sadly.

Cash’s dark eyes stayed on hers as his hands moved to his shirt.

As she watched, he unbuttoned his flannel and then pulled it open to reveal the name tattooed over his heart.

Sweet Jane

“Cash,” she murmured.

“It’s you,” he whispered back, shaking his head in disbelief. “It’s really you.”

This time, when he reached out to cup her cheek, she kept her eyes open, drinking in the sight of him.

He took her hand in his other hand and put it over his chest, so that she could trace the letters of the only name he had known her by.

His chest was so warm, and the steady pounding of his heart under her hand was the most reassuring thing in the world.

If she had ever thought he couldn’t love a plain girl like her, she knew now she was wrong. The love in his eyes and the thunder of his heart were undeniable.

“No more secrets,” he whispered to her. “And no more leaving.”

She nodded.

Cash leaned in to kiss her and she could feel his heartbeat crashing under her hand, telling her that he was hers and she was his.

Forever.