Page 82 of Sing Me Home
I reached down to pick up her bag.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Dad said. “Not so fast. First, we’re going to address the matter of my dinghy.”
twenty-eight
Charlie
Cash greeted me every day with a standard, “There’s my beautiful girl.” But the next line varied, trying every which way to get me to confess who was responsible for my mutilated abdomen. “Are you ready to tell me who’s about to have an unfortunate accident involving a rattlesnake and a locked trunk?” Or “Are you ready to tell me who I need to invite on an all-expenses-paid trip to the bottom of the lake right next to the dinghy?” Or “Who do I need to invite on an exciting new adventure called ‘learning to breathe through a straw?’”
It was slightly funny, a tad terrifying, and completely overwhelming. For the first time in my life, a man loved me so much that he just might sacrifice himself to right all my wrongs. Which was why he could never, ever find out.
Exactly one week after we got together, he stopped asking. Maybe he’d finally accepted that trying to pry answers from me was a lost cause. I wasn’t sure. I just knew I was enjoying the temporary ceasefire.
As I waited for Cash to pick me up, I sat in a rocking chair on my parents’ porch, holding baby Cate. She was sleeping soundly, arms bent by her head, full and content on Mom’s milk. I couldn’t get enough of her. Her smell, her coos, her little dimple that was appearing and disappearing right now as she sucked on her binky. Her smiles when she had gas. It was still too early for her to give real smiles but Mom assured me they’d be here fast. I wanted to make sure I was someone she smiled for, so I held her every chance I got.
Jane was in the adjacent rocking chair, scrolling on my phone since she wasn’t allowed to have one until her next birthday.
“What?” Her mouth fell open like she’d just learned something scandalous. “There is no way!”
Cate jerked at the noise.
“Shhh.” I smiled at Jane.
“Look,” she whispered. Then she shoved the phone three inches from my face.
I gripped her wrist and moved it back. When my eyes focused, my own mouth fell open. Because there was a reel—sound off, captions on—of Millie, on the red carpet of some movie premiere, on the arm of a movie star whose name I couldn’t recall. Millie held her hand out and showed off…
“She’s engaged?” I yelped.
“Doubtful,” Jane said with a snort. “Not for real anyway. Don’t you see what she’s doing?
“She’s in cahoots with…whoever that is to get that Opal and Ivy deal. What is it with this woman and diamonds?”
Jane rocked back in her chair. “Opal and Ivy said they won’t touch her with a ten-foot pole. They didn’t like what she did to you on the Nate Midnight Show. They’re actually a pretty classy company. But yeah.” Her fingernails trilled against the armrests. “It’s rumored she’s been trying to get a deal with Lumina Gems.”
“Hmm. They’re not as good as Opal and Ivy, but go for what you want, I guess.”
Jane huffed. “How can you be so generous? She tried to ruin you on national TV.”
Just then, Cash’s Beamer popped over the hill. I gestured at him. “BecauseIgot the guy.”
Janie beamed. “Yeah, you did. And you weren’t even trying to.” She sighed. “Teach me your ways.”
“Anytime, sis.” I scooped Cate up—her little bum wiggling as she stretched—and laid her in Jane’s arms.
“Tell the truth.” Jane gave me serious side-eye. “You’re going to stop on the way to make out.”
I cackled. “I sure hope so.” Then I winked. “He’s a really good kisser.”
“Lucky. But also weird. You’re dating our cousin.”
“Your cousin.” I booped her on the nose. “My…” I thought about it for a second. “Not-cousin.” At least one good thing came from not having Dupree blood running through my veins. “You’ll find your Cash, Janie. Just give it some time.”
I skipped down the stairs as Cash’s car came to a stop. He hopped out, met me at the passenger side door, and pulled me in for a kiss.
His eyes twinkled. “There’s my beautiful girl.”
“Hey you.” I smiled.
