Page 6 of Sweet Music (Sugarville Grove #7)

BELLA

B ella walked down Maple Street to the library, drinking in the sights of Sugarville Grove preparing for the holidays.

Pine boughs and twinkle lights hung from the pavilion in the park, and the shops were adorned with their own decorations and lights. Though it was a bright, crisp morning, she was pretty sure she could taste snow on the air.

The idea of spending a lifetime in the same town where you grew up might seem boring to some people.

But Bella rejoiced in all the traditions, even the tiny ones, like watching the town crew drop grass seed in the park in springtime, or hearing the laughter of the boys over at the fire station washing and waxing the trucks with the help of the kids from the local community camp in the days before the Fourth of July parade.

She smiled every time she saw the green fliers stuck in the shop doors, asking for help with the food drive in late fall, or the shop owners with their ladders putting up pine boughs and holly for Christmas.

Each marked the beginning of a new season, as the little town changed its summer roses for the glorious colors of fall, and its snow-dressed peaks back to green mountains once again in the springtime.

Bella couldn’t imagine being bored in a place like this, or ever wanting to leave.

It’s safe here, a little voice in the back of her head pointed out. And you’re a creature of habit.

Well, there was nothing wrong with that.

And it turned out that her nephew needed her, so she was doubly glad she hadn’t moved far away or gotten married and had kids of her own years ago.

Cody did need her, and when she looked at it from that perspective, she was pretty sure her whole life had been leading up to this moment where she was completely free to help him heal and find a way to face a future without his mom.

He’d been having a really good morning today, as far as she could tell.

His nose was in his phone a lot, but that was pretty typical.

It was the way the corners of his mouth were tugging up just a little, like he wanted to smile, and the nervous tap of his hand on his thigh at the breakfast table that told her he was excited to go to school today.

It made her so happy that she had to fight not to let it show and possibly make him self-conscious.

If she was honest, she was feeling a little proud of herself for taking him to his lesson and encouraging him to record his song. Maybe that had helped give him the confidence he seemed to be feeling today, even if no one ever saw the video.

But more likely he was just having a good day . The child psychologist she’d talked to said he would have good days and bad days, and the goal was to see him having more good ones over time.

Bella could relate. She had good days and bad days herself over Harper’s passing, and Harper wasn’t her mother.

When she pushed in the door to the library, Evelyn Proctor, the head librarian gave her a friendly wave from behind the circulation desk. Two of the library volunteers were also behind the desk with her, and they were all leaned over someone’s phone.

“Good morning, Bella,” Evelyn said. “Your nephew is so talented.”

“Is that… are you looking at his video?” Bella asked, amazed.

“Oh, yes,” Judy Bunting put in, her eyes looking larger than usual behind her glasses. “But dear, is it true, what they’re saying?”

“What do you mean?” Bella asked.

“Never mind about that,” Evelyn said firmly. “He has a real gift. Did he really write that song himself?”

“My granddaughter sent it to me first thing this morning,” Lois Abraham said, nodding. “We are so impressed.”

“Yes, he wrote the song,” Bella said, nodding and feeling really proud of Cody.

She headed up to the children’s section and set her bag and coat in her tiny office. On the way back out, she bumped into one of her regulars, LeeAnne, with her little daughter, Ava.

“Good morning, LeeAnne,” Bella said. “Can I help you two find anything special today?”

Ava ran right for the bin of books Bella had read at the last toddler library time, and Bella smiled at the sight.

“Your nephew is amazing,” LeeAnne murmured. “I mean we heard him practicing in your office that one day, but now I get it.”

“Thank you,” Bella said, not exactly sure what the now I get it was referring to.

“Sure,” LeeAnne said. “Oh, Ava, don’t dump the bin, honey.”

LeeAnne dashed over to her daughter and sat on the floor to look at books with her, leaving Bella to her own thoughts once again.

The music teacher certainly hadn’t been kidding about those hashtags. It seemed like everyone in town had seen the video.

Is that what Cody was happy about this morning?

It was an interesting idea. She hoped his classmates would be excited for him about the song. It was definitely a great way for them to get to know him better without him having to put himself out there in person.

Bella set to work scanning the picture book section for good books for the volunteers to read this week. This was one of her favorite tasks, and she lost herself to it almost immediately. She had about a dozen books tucked in the crook of her arm when she heard someone approach.

“Hi, Bella,” Evelyn said. “This young man is here to see you.”

Bella glanced up, and her breath caught in her throat.

It can’t be…

But she would have known the man anywhere—the tall form and broad shoulders, the too-long dark hair, the piercing, dark eyes, with a gaze so intense it was almost hypnotic…

“It’s Cash Lawrence,” Evelyn said brightly. “Isn’t that amazing?”

The books she’d been holding dropped from Bella’s arms and scattered around her feet as she stared up at the ghost in front of her.

“Hey,” he said with a gentle smile.

It was probably just the usual charismatic grin he used for strangers, the one the online articles gushed over and called his heartbreaker smile. But it still twisted her stomach in knots and sent her pulse pounding frantically in her ears.

While she stood there, shocked, Cash Law knelt at her feet and began gathering up the books.

Get it together, Bella.

“No,” she heard herself say loudly and clearly. “You have no right to be here.”

He glanced up at her. The heartbreaker smile was gone, replaced by an expression that looked almost like pain.

You have no idea what pain is, Mr. Rock Star.

“You have to leave,” she told him. “Right now.”

It wasn’t until the scandalized murmurs of the library patrons registered in her ears that Bella realized she had just yelled at a guest—a celebrity guest—in the middle of the children’s section.

The thought of it had her feet moving toward her office before she even made the conscious decision to flee. She was glad she knew the shelves well enough to walk them in her sleep, because her vision was blurring with tears that took all her force of will to hold back.

When she finally made it to her office, she closed the door behind her and sank to her seat, dragging in a careful breath and refusing to let herself cry.

I just yelled at someone, and I left all those beautiful children’s books spread across the floor.

But somehow, all she could see was his dark eyes.

And no matter how much she didn’t want to think about the past, Bella’s mind travelled back…