Page 5 of Sweet Music
Ever since Cody had come to live with her six months ago, she’d gotten a lot better about putting something wholesome in the crock before leaving in the mornings. It was so much better than the cold cereal orpeanut butter sandwiches she used to eat over the sink at the end of a long day. She even got a kick out of trying new recipes she found online or got from people at work. This one was personally guaranteed by theGrandmas Without Bordersto be a crowd-pleaser, and Bella figured a hungry teenager was pretty close to a crowd.
She lifted the lid now and found that sure enough, the pork shoulder she’d put in this morning along with a bottle of Dr. Pepper was soft and ready to be made into pulled pork sandwiches.
“Oh wow,” Cody said appreciatively.
“I can’t believe this worked,” Bella said. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up, and I’ll have dinner ready when you get back.”
He nodded and headed back to his room, and Bella was thankful all over again that she’d taken this apartment with the extra room instead of the studio she had also looked at years ago.
The second bedroom here was really more of a nook, but it was plenty for her. When she found out that Cody would be living with her, she had moved her stuff into the extra room and bought a paper screen to serve as a door. He seemed satisfied with her old bedroom, which had its own closet and a real door.
Bella was on the lookout for a slightly bigger place, but that was a challenge on her budget, so she mostly just focused on feeling grateful that what they had could work for as long as it had to. It was a sweet, cozy little place—just right for two people—and it was close to everything in the little town. Once Cody had anestablished friend group, he was going to love being able to walk to the diner, the park, and the pizza shop.
She washed up, and then got out the rolls and barbecue sauce before making a quick salad. By the time Cody came back in, she had their food plated and on the table.
“Mmm,” Cody said.
She smiled. It was high praise coming from a distracted teen.
“Let’s hope it tastes as good as it smells,” she said.
They ate in friendly silence for a while. When Cody finished his sandwich, Bella offered him another.
“Sure,” he said. “That would be great.”
She got up and took his plate, grabbing a roll and getting started with his second sandwich.
“I think I’m going to do it,” he told her the moment her back was turned.
This was typical. She had learned not to turn back around and try to make eye contact the way she would have liked for someone to do for her when she was speaking. Cody preferred to talk to her when her eyes and hands were on something else—driving, cooking, knitting—what it was didn’t matter, only that she was occupied.
It reminded her of when she used to volunteer at an animal shelter back in college. They told her to bring a book, sit in the corner of the cage, and not look at the dog or pay it any mind at all. And even though it sounded silly, it was always the fastest way to have a scared puppy curled up on her lap.
Never thought I’d be using that skill on my nephew.
She nodded in response to what Cody had said, but didn’t reply, giving him room to work it all out. She wanted to ask him why he wanted to do it, if he was just doing it to please his teacher, if he felt scared of putting himself out there, and about a million more things.
But the best way to draw Cody out was to let him decide what to tell her.
“Bill says my playing is ready,” Cody said thoughtfully after a moment. “And mostly I just think it would be kind of fun.”
Victory.
“That sounds really good,” she told him lightly. “What do you think you’ll play?”
She put his plate back in front of him and then grabbed her own, deciding to serve herself a bit more salad to see if he would talk a little more. Once he got going, it wouldn’t really matter if she wasn’t as occupied.
“I can’t decide,” he said. “I was thinking a cover of one of my dad’s songs, but I’ve been working on something of my own.”
Her knee-jerk reaction was to tell him he should obviously play his own song, but she bit her tongue hard.
“What are you working on?” she asked him instead as she sat back down at the table.
“Want to hear it?” he asked, his eyes flashing to hers and lit up with excitement.
“Of course,” she said. “Definitely.”
He moved to get up, but then his gaze dragged across the table.
