Page 64 of Hidden Truths

Cal shrugs. “I always kind of liked the idea of becoming stars after we die. Belle and I used to lie in the grass at night and point to where we thought our grandparents were in the sky. It’s an idea that planted itself in our heads after she made me watch The Princess and the Frog.”

“I think I like that.”

“Come on. Let’s go get our girl,” Cal says, pulling on my hand. I follow him, still in shock.

I might not be ready yet, but I could really get used to his idea of our future.

Later that night, Cal and I are snuggled on the couch watching Talladega Nights and eating popcorn. He pauses it and looks at me like he has a question but doesn’t want to actually ask it out loud.

“What’s the deal with your mom?” he finally asks slowly.

I snort. “Were you afraid to ask that question?”

“You saw my mom. You’ve never mentioned yours. So, honestly, yeah. What if she’s worse?” Cal says, throwing his hands up defensively.

I just laugh and shake my head. “She very well could be. I have no idea. I’ve never met her.”

Cal looks puzzled for a moment. “But you’re so good with Cora.”

Now it’s my turn to be confused. “Yes. And?”

He shakes his head. “I guess I just thought people learned to be maternal from their mom.”

“A lot of people do, I guess. Is that where you learned to be good with Cora?” I ask, knowing the answer definitively after today.

Cal just laughs. “Touché.”

“My dad has always been enough for me. My mom got pregnant right after my parents got married. She didn’t want me, but my dad begged her to have me. Said he would take full responsibility and never come after her for anything. I think he even paid her off, but he won’t admit that to me.” I shrug. “But my dad never made me feel like I was missing something. There were definitely moments when I was a kid, seeing other littlegirls with their moms, that I would get sad. As an adult, though? I can never thank him enough for the way he loved me and made sure I was always his priority.”

Cal’s eyes are glassy from tears he hasn’t let fall. “I worry about that. With Cora.”

I move myself into his lap and wrap my arms around his neck. “You are more than enough for her, Cal. Plus, look at the support system she has around her. She has so much love around her that she won’t know what to do with it.” I kiss him on his cheek. “Cora’s going to be fine.”

A look passes over his face that I can’t identify. His lips are on mine, quickly making me forget about it.

“I talked to the guys,” Cal says, pulling away from the kiss. I pout, that’s not where I thought this was going. He just laughs. “I know. I just wanted to mention this to you before Mav talks to Jo.”

I pull back even more so I can see his face. He has my attention, and judging by the smirk on his face, he knows it.

“We want you and Jo to do the podcast, and we want you to start with Ezra.”

I almost fall off his lap. He has to grab my waist to keep me there. “What?” I ask, making sure I heard him.

Cal’s smile is sad. “With it looking a lot more likely that Ezra is actually dead,” I watch his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows, “we need all the help we can get. Your dad already agreed to sorting through all the tips that are bound to come in.”

“But . . .” I say. But what? I have no words.

“And it has to be you, Firecracker. You’re close enough to this case to do Ezra justice and removed just enough to keep a logical head when people start sending you their opinions.” Cal makes sure my eyes are on his before he continues. “You see things others don’t, baby. You knew you had to look into that gardenwhen even your dad had dismissed it. You might be the only one we would ever trust with this.”

I mull it over for a minute. “How is that going to work? You’re going on tour soon. Won’t that bring the kind of attention to your shows that you wanted to avoid? What about the podcast? We don’t even have a name for it since we shelved the idea. Can I even do that from the road? I’m not leaving you and Cora, so don’t even suggest that.” Cal kisses me to stop my rambling.

“The tour starts in August, baby.”

I count on my fingers, not trusting my brain not to fail me right now. “That’s two months away.”

“The album comes out in July,” Cal offers.

“Right. It’s June right now. So we have time to figure this out before all the chaos of the album and then not much time between the album and the tour. So really, Jo and I need to figure this out now.”

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