Page 77 of Sweet Music
“I’ve always got room for one more,” Tripp said, arching a brow before he cracked up. “Sorry, man, you know I would never. Bella, I’m just having a little fun with my brother. I know I can’t compete with Cash when it comes to you.”
“Darn right you can’t,” Cash said, nodding in apleased way.
“One thing I still don’t get,” Tripp said, looking puzzled. “Why does the tattoo say Sweet Jane? Shouldn’t it say Sweet Bella?”
“That was my username,” Bella explained. “No one used their real name on the site where we met, so that’s how he knew me.”
“Sure, but why Sweet Jane?” Tripp asked.
“It’s a song by The Velvet Underground,” Maggie said on her way past with a tray of cookies. “But Bella’s name was probably more of a reference to the Cowboy Junkies cover from nineteen eighty-eight.”
“Nice, Mom,” Cash said, looking impressed.
“What, you think you got all that interest in music out of thin air?” his mother teased him.
The other adult kids laughed, and Bella smiled and enjoyed the gentle banter among the family members. Shedidlove that Cowboy Junkies cover.
But she had also named herself Sweet Jane because she knew what she was—a sweet girl, and a plain Jane—not the kind of woman who belonged in the indie music crowd.
At least she hadn’t thought so before, no matter what Harper told her, or what she tried to tell herself. But these days, she was starting to think maybe she’d gotten it wrong all along, and she might just belong right at the heart of the scene.
“Did you sleep okay?” Cash asked her quietly.
She nodded, feeling a pang of guilt. She had slept at the purple house in the room next to Cody’s while Cash had come back here to sleep in his parents’ guest room.
After their scorching fireside kiss, she’d actually been relieved when he headed out. The last thing she wanted was for either of them to be tempted to do anything out of character, or be in a situation where Cody had to wonder about it.
“You?” she asked.
“Of course,” he told her. “I always sleep like a dog.”
He looked over at Carl, who was completely out now, not even panting. The elderly dog had practically melted into Cody’s lap. But Cody gave Cash a questioning look, and when Cash nodded, he eased Carl’s golden head to the floor and scrambled up.
“Give me a second,” Cash said. “I’ll be right back.”
The two of them disappeared down the hall toward the living room, and she smiled as she looked after them. They might not be blood-related, but they had such a bond that they seemed to move like one entity sometimes.
“They’re amazing together,” Allie said, smiling over at Bella. “I’m so glad you all found each other.”
“Me too,” Bella said, smiling.
Cash had come by this morning to pick them up, and he’d sat Cody down to talk to him before bringing them back to his parents’ house.
He’d said they could tell the family about the paperwork, or not, Cody’s choice, but that he had to correct one thing he’d said the day before.
“I didn’t mean to make it sound like a biological dad doesn’t matter,” Cash said softly. “And if you want to find yours, I’ll help you with that.”
Bella had heldher breath.
“Nah,” Cody had said right away. “Maybe someday. But I think having one dad is enough for now.”
She had fought back her tears when she watched the two of them embrace after that, and she smiled now at the memory.
But the rest of the table had suddenly gone quiet.
She turned to see that Cash and Cody were headed back in, each with an acoustic guitar.
“Bella,” Cash said, his deep voice sending a happy little shiver down her back. “Cody and I have something for you.”
