“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 androlled 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 traditionalon 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 ontoRiffs,you were justgone.I messaged you from a new profile, but you never responded.”
“No,” she whispered.
