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 handat 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.
