Page 16 of Sing Me Home
Until Millie shrieked like a hawk, yanking me back to the present.
Charlie laughed, her nose nipping mine. She pressed my earpiece, turning off the mic. “Is that your girlfriend?”
A laugh came out, cracked and unsteady. “Ex-girlfriend, thanks to you. I missed you, cuz.”
“I missed you too.”
I looked into her eyes and for the first time, I realized they were different. Darker, sadder, missing the warmth that used to be there.
I tipped my forehead against hers. “Thanks for saving me.”
“I owe you, Cash,” she said so low I almost missed it. “You saved me every day for the last year.”
five
Charlie
That kiss in Hawaii changed everything. He was no longer the Cash from my childhood who got embarrassed whenever I teased him. Or who glanced away if I caught him watching. My cheeks hadn’t stopped blazing since the moment he saw me on stage—and it was all because of the way he was looking at me. Smoldering better than Flynn Rider ever could.
My gaze flashed sideways to see if he was still doing it. Yup. Thirty feet away, he held my stare, no shame, even though he was surrounded by half a dozen college-aged girls, four of our guy cousins, and my brother Theo. Cash hadn’t let me out of his sight since the moment I’d walked into it.
Even here in Honeyville, with cars spewing gas fumes as they exited the gigantic parking lot, it still smelled like home. I squeezed my eyes shut and inhaled. Humidity and fresh-cut grass. Most people hate humidity, but after not experiencing it for so long, it felt like a warm blanket wrapped around my entire body.
Mom tipped my chin, forcing eye contact. “Hey, why are you so skinny?”
I tugged my chin loose and jerked my eyes downward, landing on her pregnant belly. It felt like a punch to the stomach. Mom was pregnant again. At thirty-eight. “Another baby, huh?”
“A girl.” Mom’s smile was soft. “A happy accident.” Great. She’d be another blond-haired, blue-eyed reminder that I didn’t belong in this perfect family. I was just a kid my Mom got by default when my biological dad sexually assaulted her.
I looked at Ashton, my adopted dad, from whom my three half-siblings had inherited their Scandinavian genes. “Happy accident?”
He chuckled under his breath. “Don’t worry.” He winked. “There won’t be any more of those. I took care of that.”
“Charlie,” Mom said, ducking to force eye contact again. “Why are you so thin?”
Ashton slid his arm around her waist and pressed a kiss into her hair. “Let’s let her be tonight,” he said gently. “She’s here now and she’s not going anywhere, right?” His eyebrow raised in question.
I chewed my bottom lip. “Right.” Where would I go? I was flat broke and too tired to run.
“I’m so happy you’re home,” Mom said. Though they hadn’t asked, they had to be wondering where Lorne was. Mom had glanced at my ring finger half a dozen times since I arrived. “Let’s run by Chick-fil-A on the way home. Get you a twelve-count nugget meal and a cookies and cream shake. How does that sound?”
My gaze skittered to Cash again, still watching me. “I’m going to ride home with the guys,” I said in a hush. I didn’t want to hurt her. But I couldn’t ride the hour home in the van with them, dodging the question-grenades she would undoubtedly lob at me the entire way. “I want to spend some time with Theo. They said we’re stopping at Five Guys.”
“You can’t all fit in the same car,” Mom protested. “We’ll come to Five Guys too.”
“Actually.” Dad chuckled. “Liam switched cars with Holden and Christy. They’re riding home in the minivan. Just like old times.” My cousins and I had taken many road trips in that van. Midnight McDonald’s runs, floating down the river, going to Uncle Ford’s beach house in Sandbridge. Dad squeezed Mom against him. “Let her go. We’ll see her at the house.”
They wouldn’t, but I wasn’t going to tell them that right then. Mom was struggling enough.
Dad kissed my forehead, his scratchy beard instantly taking me back to my childhood. “Do you need some money for food?” He already had his wallet out.
“Yeah,” I whispered, curling my shoulders in, hating myself a little. I was twenty-four years old, I shouldn’t be borrowing money from my parents. “I’ll pay you back. Gramps said he’d hire me to muck out stalls.”
Dad shivered like that was offensive. “You don’t need to pay me back. Stop that nonsense.” He shoved twenty dollars into my hand.
“Sweetie.” Mom smoothed a hand over my cheek. “You don’t need to exhaust yourself. Give it a few days.”
But I shook my head. “I need to work.” I couldn’t sit still. I didn’t deserve rest.
