Page 53 of Finding Home

“Lim.”

“Led Zepp-e-lin.”

“Leh Boopoodah!”

Caleb howls with laughter from the depths of his belly, as I do the same. Since there’s no reason for me to remain in the doorway any longer, I drift into the room and take a seat on the couch to watch the show.

“I’m going to teach you all about Led Zeppelin, and other bands too, including my own,” Caleb says to Raine. “And when you’re old enough, you’ll come on tour with Dadda and play a song for the crowd. Would you like that?”

“Yeah!” Raine shouts, even though she has no idea what the fuck any of it means.

When the Led Zeppelin song ends, Raine bops around on Caleb’s lap, screaming, “Again!”

“Again?” Caleb says excitedly. “Okay, cutie. You’re the boss. We’ll play our song again.”

Raine cheers.

“Only this time, now that you’re all warmed up, you have to let loose and really go for it, okay? Don’t hold back.” He presses a button, and the same song starts again, followed by another round of encouragement and instruction from Caleb.

“That’s it,” Caleb says. “Feelthe music in your soul. Let it move you.”

“She’s definitely letting the music move her,” I joke. As far as I can tell, Raine’s banging her drumstick, willy nilly. Most definitelynotto the beat of the song. But she’s absolutely giving it her all.

“Right?” Caleb says proudly. “The kid’s a damned prodigy.”

“Adangprodigy,” I correct. “Darnprodigy. Flippin’. Freakin’.”

“Oh yeah. Sorry.” Caleb grimaces, making me giggle at his adorableness.

Eventually, the song reaches its homestretch again, for the second time, and the singer begins repeating a refrain about the unexpected love he’s found. As he sings, it hits me I’m feeling exactly what he’s crooning about:love. For Raine. For Claudia. For my parents.And for Caleb, too.For the obvious effort he’s been exerting today. For the unexpected tenderness and pride he’s showing toward Raine. And most of all, for the email he sent to my beloved Claudia, begging to meet his daughter, mere months after her birth.

Nobody’s perfect. The man fucked up. But now I know, at least he tried to fix his mistake, much earlier than previously known. Not because Raine had been orphaned. Not because he’d received a demand letter from Ralph Beaumont. Not to save thirty grand a month. But simply because he desperatelywantedto right his past wrongs and forge a relationship with his baby.

To be clear, I’m not fallingin lovewith Caleb in this moment, obviously. I’m simply feelinglove for him,thanks to our shared love of Raine. It’s important for me to remember that, so I won’t confuse the feelings gripping mefor something else. Yes, I desperately want to kiss Caleb. Also, to rip his clothes off and make him groan out my name again, only this time into my ear. But the fact remains?—

“Look, Auntie Aubbey!” Raine calls out, ripping me from my lascivious thoughts. “I play drums with Dadda!”

I clear my throat, hoping my lustful thoughts aren’t written all over my face. “Yes, you are. You’re great at this!”

“Of course, she is. She’smykid.”

I can barely look at him. The lust I’m feeling is too intense. “Rainey, did you know your daddy is one of the most famous drummers in the world?”

Raine gasps and her blue eyes widen. “Heis?”

“People pay lots of money to see your daddy playing his drums.”

Raine stops drumming and frowns. “I don’t have money.”

Caleb and I both crack up.

“Don’t you worry, Shortcake,” Caleb says. “You’ve got a lifetime backstage pass.”

As Raine processes that confusing word salad, my eyes lock with Caleb’s. It’d be foolish to let myself fall for someone like Caleb. He’s told me, explicitly, he doesn’t know how to love. He lets everyone down. He cheated on his only girlfriend.

And yet, sitting here now, I can’t deny it: I’m falling hard for this man, whether it’s a downright foolish thing to do or not.

Chapter 20

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