Page 23 of Sweet Music
“Nothing like an early start,” he said, waving to Tara, who rushed right over.
Suddenly, a chocolate shake sounded really good to Bella.
“Tara, love,” Cash said. “Can we split a chocolate shake?”
“Of course,” Tara told him, blushing just a little. “Coming right up.”
She hurried off and Cash turned back to Bella.
“You know what’s wrong with that music section of yours?” he asked, instead of going back to their argument.
“You’re not in it,” she sighed. “You already said.”
“No,” he told her. “Not at all. I’ve already got more attention on me than I know what to do with. You should definitely keep the focus on everyone else, especially the smaller guys who are still local.”
“Okay,” she said, sort of surprised.
“No, the problem is that the tribute is one-way,” he said. “You’ve got all the bands you know about, but there’s no place for people to share what they love about the local music scene. Something like that would be really cool.”
Bella blinked at him in surprise. She hated to admit it, but that was actually a pretty good idea.
“You just think they’ll put you on there, don’t you?” she said, narrowing her eyes.
He laughed with abandon, and it was such a happy sound that it caught her off guard.
She scolded herself for it, but in that moment, she couldn’t help noticing how handsome he was, and how his laughter had everyone else in the restaurant smiling and chuckling along with him, even though none of them even knew what he was laughing about.
Before she could think of what to say next, Tara came up with a huge tray covered in their breakfast, beverages, and the chocolate shake in a metal canister with two glasses.
Bella realized that she had been picturing them both leaning over with their straws in the same glass, and was surprised at the hint of disappointment she felt that they wouldn’t be.
Cash grabbed the tin and poured out the shakes, and when he stuck straws in them and handed her one, she took a sip. The cold, chocolatey goodness filled her mouth and she hummed her approval before taking another sip.
“Diner shakes are always the best,” Cash declared, taking a long pull of his.
With the feast in front of them and the sweet chocolate rush making quick work of her mood, Bella couldn’t help relaxing a little.
People can change,she reminded herself.Maybe he’s not so bad now. Maybe he really is sorry that he wasn’t here.
But none of that mattered, because it was all going to be up to Cody. All she could do was hope that Cash didn’t let him down. And that was going to take more than a nice smile and some chocolate shakes.
“Listen,” she said. “I’ll talk to Cody afterschool today. But I’m not sure this is going to be good for him, and I’m going to be honest with him about that.”
“Really?” Cash asked, the hope in his eyes feeling like a punch to her chest.
“Yes,” she said. “This is his decision.”
Cash swallowed hard, clearly holding back some emotion, and she felt another tug of empathy for the big man.
“Bella,” he said softly, reaching across the table and placing his hand over hers. “I’m really glad you reconsidered.”
His hand was big and warm. And his long fingers had rough callouses, just on the fingertips—so different from the hands of the farm boys and laborers in town. These were the hands of an artist, hands that coaxed out the music that made people cry and fall in love.
Bella felt a shiver of electricity go through her, but she wasn’t sure why.
It doesn’t matter why,she told herself.You can’t feel anything for Cash Law, absolutely not.
9
