Love Song [Instrumental] (Hidden Springs #1)

31. Chapter Thirty-one

Chapter Thirty-one

Callie watched Danny as he bounded up the hill from the summer house, shaking her head. Now that he knew she would be in town for two more days, he had grand plans to write another song before she left. Ambitious, perhaps, but not impossible. Before too long he would be giving her a run for her money on the songwriting front.

She had decided to roll with this lucky break, to stick around for a few more days and return to Nashville with Zeke. If things continued to go as well as they had yesterday afternoon, she might have herself a recording contract before she got back to Nashville. As Brian had pointed out, you don’t blow a connection like that.

If she had used this family connection when they were first starting out, it would have felt like cheating, but she had spent the last decade paying her dues and felt no need to pay them again. Besides, it wasn’t as if Zeke would sign a deal with a no-talent hack simply as a favor to an old friend. Her father’s influence had gotten her a hearing. Everything else was up to her.

The biggest surprise of the last twenty-four hours was how light she felt now that she was truly free of Brian. Yesterday’s meeting with Kat had only confirmed what she already knew: It was time to leave. The prospect of success had amplified Brian’s need for control, turning an annoying quirk into a disturbing affliction. If she had to promise up and down not to sue for the rights to her songs—songs that she never wanted to sing again anyway—in order to be rid of him, then she’d happily sign as many copies of the damn documents as they needed.

She picked her way through a few familiar tunes, not quite ready to go back up to the house. There was something about playing music with her bare feet up on the wicker table and staring out over the lake. More than anything it made her want to play all the old favorites, work her way through all those layers of memories, until she surfaced again in the present. Here at the lake her life felt deep and rich in a way that new experiences and new places never could. She had been pondering this richness for weeks now, and she had come to the conclusion that she needed to spend time here, in between all the other demands her career might place on her. And if she was going to be spending more time here, she would be running into Adam over and over again.

The thought made her smile.

Adam might not be ready to imagine a family with one vagabond for a parent, but she could. Given time, and patience, she fully intended to change his mind. Today, for example, she would drop by to give him an update on Danny’s progress. He had asked for updates, after all. And if she happened to be wearing a particularly attractive sundress, maybe a little makeup, and had freshly painted toes, well, that would just be a happy coincidence. If Danny happened to learn that there were freshly baked cookies at Dora’s house, he might decide to run right over and beg for one. And then, if Dora—by chance—needed Danny’s help in the garden all afternoon, well then Adam would just have to deal with Callie all by himself.

Her smile widened. He didn’t stand a chance.

Adam sat alone at the kitchen table, staring into his cup of coffee and wishing it held some answers. Of course it didn’t. There were no easy answers to this dilemma. He and Danny needed stability and commitment. Callie needed the freedom to grow. There was no way that he would cage her, but he wasn’t willing to compromise either. If it were just him, maybe things would be different, but he had Danny to consider.

Danny startled him by banging through the kitchen door, guitar case thudding against the doorframe.

“How was your last lesson?” Adam kept his voice neutral, his expression clear. No need to involve Danny in his personal drama. He would simply be grateful that Danny had managed to squeeze in one last lesson before Callie left today.

“Awesome. And it wasn’t the last one.”

“What?” Adam clamped down on the surge of irrational hope. He had no reason to believe that Callie had changed her mind.

“Two more days,” called Danny as he disappeared down the hall.

Adam groaned silently and rubbed his forehead. This was like ripping the bandage off slowly. The longer it took, the more it hurt. He needed her to go already. Instead she lingered, torturing him.

By the time Danny returned to the kitchen Adam had collected himself and was pulling out Danny’s favorite cereal, a bowl, a spoon, the milk. The normal business of breakfast occupied them for a few minutes, but all too soon, Danny was chomping away, and Adam found himself unable to fill the silence.

“You don’t have to be sad, you know,” said Danny through a mouthful of cereal. The comment took Adam by surprise.

“About what? ”

“About Callie leaving. It’s not like she’ll be gone forever.”

Adam smiled sadly.

“I know.”

“She said she would be able to visit a lot.”

Would the torture never end?

“That’s nice.”

“Maybe one time she could do a sleepover.”

Adam choked on his coffee.

“What’s that again?”

“A sleepover. You know, when somebody spends the night at your house?”

“Right. I know what a sleepover is. I just…never thought about it.”

“It would be awesome. We could play music until late, and then play again first thing in the morning. And we could all have breakfast together.” Danny finally swallowed so that he was speaking with a clear mouth. “We would be almost like a family.”

Adam tried to imagine how his brother would want him to respond. Evan, if you’re out there somewhere, I could really use a hand.

“It would be nice,” he agreed cautiously. “But it would also be hard because we couldn’t be a real family forever. Eventually she would have to go away again.”

“But she would come back,” Danny countered.

“True. But families are supposed to be together all the time. Not just sometimes.”

Danny snickered. “Who told you that?”

“I just know,” said Adam defensively. Some truths were self-evident. This one he had learned the hard way. Evan? A little help here…

“Maybe that was true when you were a kid,” said Danny. Adam could almost hear the unspoken ‘in the olden days.’ “These days families are weird. Some have one parent. Some have extras, if they’re divorced. Sometimes both parents work, sometimes just the mom or just the dad. Carol Lee’s mom is a pilot, and she goes away all the time, but she always comes back.” Danny shrugged. “My mom says that love makes a family, nothing else. I mean ‘said.’ She said. She used to say that.”

Danny ducked his head and took a huge bite of cereal. Adam couldn’t speak, and not just because he didn’t have the words. There would be no getting past the giant lump in his throat. Danny was right. It was as if Lainey had whispered the words in Danny’s ear just when Adam needed to hear them. She had thrown him a lifeline when he was drowning. He wouldn’t let her down. He wouldn’t let Evan down.

“You’re right.” Adam cleared his throat and said it again. “Your mom was right.”

Danny looked up at him, so small and so resilient.

“I love Callie, you know,” said Adam. Saying it out loud made him feel lightheaded, but the words needed to be said. It was time for truth-telling. “But I’ve always believed that a family should be together. She needs to travel a lot for her work, and I didn’t think that would make for a strong family.”

“Well, that’s dumb,” said Danny.

Adam laughed. “Yeah, well, I’m a little slow sometimes.”

“My Dad said that his parents—your parents—were around all the time, but that they did a really bad job of being parents.”

Adam slumped back in his chair. “He talked to you about that?”

Danny nodded, oblivious to his uncle’s surprise.

“What else did he say?” asked Adam, still reeling.

“Just that he learned a lot from them being bad parents. He learned to do the opposite.” Danny shrugged. “I guess it worked, because we had a good family.” He gave Adam a hard look. “You love Callie, right?”

“I just said so,” replied Adam cautiously .

“Well, me too,” said Danny.

“I figured.”

“Well, then, I think she should marry us. I think we should be a family.”

“I agree,” said Adam, matching Danny’s serious tone.

“You do?” Danny had been gearing up for a fight.

“I do.”

“Then let’s go ask her,” said Danny, standing up. “What are we waiting for?”

Adam fought a smile.

“Don’t you have school or something?”

“It’s Memorial Day, remember?”

“Right.”

“Come on,” repeated Danny, tugging on Adam’s arm to get him to stand up. “What if she decides to marry somebody else while we’re sitting here?”

“I don’t think it works that way,” said Adam, laughing as he let Danny pull him out of his chair.

“Fine, I’ll go ask her myself.” Danny marched right out the back door.

“Wait for me,” called Adam, still laughing.

Thanks, man, he thought. And you can stop laughing your ass off now.

Callie continued to work her way through the old songs until she heard the slap of sandals on the flagstone path. She turned to see Danny racing toward the screen door, with Adam not far behind.

“Danny, wait for me,” called Adam, but Danny either didn’t hear him or chose not to listen. He burst into the summer house and skidded to a stop.

“We have something important to ask you,” he announced .

Adam jogged the last few yards and followed Danny inside. Callie pulled the guitar strap over her head and laid aside the instrument, very curious to find out what was going on.

“Danny, I’d like to—” began Adam.

Danny plunked himself down on one knee. Callie’s eyes widened, but she didn’t interrupt.

“—speak to Callie alone for a moment.”

Danny crossed his arms, which looked ridiculous when combined with his one-kneed stance.

“I’m a part of this family, too, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Adam sighed and rubbed his forehead. Callie suppressed a smile. If they were butting heads now, she could only imagine what things would be like in five years.

“Fine, but I get to do the talking.”

“Unless you say it wrong. Then I get to talk.”

“Deal.”

Adam cleared his throat. Danny uncrossed his arms. When Adam didn’t start talking immediately, Danny gave him a threatening look.

“Okay, okay. I’m trying to think of the right words.”

Danny sighed dramatically. Callie bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

“Danny and I were talking this morning about families.”

“And love,” added Danny.

This time it was Adam giving the threatening look.

“And love,” he agreed. “Danny pointed out that love makes a family. Nothing else.”

“Nothing else,” echoed Danny.

Callie’s eyes swam with tears, but she blinked them back.

“You’re supposed to get down on your knee,” whispered Danny to Adam. Adam closed his eyes briefly, then got down on one knee, reaching out to clasp Callie’s hand.

“We were talking about love,” said Adam.

“And families,” said Danny .

“Love and families. And we realized that we want you to be a part of our family.”

“Because we love you.” Danny proclaimed the logical conclusion, but Adam was still stumbling through the words.

“We love you.” He cleared his throat. “I love you,” he said, his gaze strong and clear. “You complete us. You make us a family, even if you can’t be here every day.”

Callie lost the battle with the tears, which spilled over and rolled down her cheeks. She swiped them away, but Danny had already seen them. He jumped up.

“We did it wrong. She’s not supposed to cry. You forgot to say the married part.”

Adam laughed, and Callie laughed, cried, and hiccupped all at the same time. Danny grabbed her other hand.

“Will you marry us?” he asked, scared and serious.

She tugged her hands free and wrapped her arms around him.

“Of course I will,” she whispered.

When she let go, he stood back, beaming with pride, as Adam pulled Callie to her feet and into his arms. He leaned his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes.

“Will you really take us on?” he asked, his voice gruff.

“In a heartbeat.”