Sing Me Home (Seddledowne Two: Finding Home #1)

Chapter 1 – Hawaii—Fall Break, his Freshman Year of College

one

Cash

Hawaii—Fall Break, his Freshman Year of College

T he idea that I needed a bachelor’s degree to cut an album was ridiculous. Dad could launch my music career with one push of the record button. Ronny Don, our family’s agent, had been pressuring him to do just that. But no—Dad insisted on gatekeeping. Like a framed piece of paper could keep me from spiraling into addiction, the way he once had.

I scowled, watching the palm trees fly by.

“The pressure is intense and you’re not ready for it,” Dad said as he steered our car onto the street of our Airbnb.

I sat up taller, scanning all the rental cars parked in the driveway and along the curb.

My family had left this morning at the crack of dawn to spend the entire day filming a Salt Theory Swimwear photo shoot. Which was slightly annoying since this was an extended Dupree family vacation . So while I’d spent my entire day not vacationing, my cousins filled their hours zip-lining and eating shaved ice without me.

And Charlie was still a no-show.

There’d been a ticket with her name on it. A whole room in the house, empty and waiting. I kept pretending I didn’t care but deep down, it’s all I thought about. Every morning I’d looked for her. Every time the front door opened, I hoped it was her. I kept checking my phone like an idiot, hoping for a text. Just something .

No new cars were parked on the street.

“My professors are idiots,” I grumbled, releasing some of my frustration with my words. “You’d hate them, Dad.”

Mom said nothing, but gave me a look in the rearview mirror that said plenty. We’re in Hawaii for crying out loud. Can you please be happy?

But I couldn’t. Not without Charlie here. I was a rain cloud, drenching everyone around me with negativity. Every day she didn’t show felt like she was choosing to stay away from us. From me.

“You might be right,” Dad said evenly as he put the car in park. “But you need to live some life before you jump into music full-time.”

My gaze slid to the house when the front door opened. My cousin Griffin bounded down the front steps, his normally pale cheeks burned like a lobster, his red hair poking up at the crown. He was wearing a mischievous smirk that I knew all too well. Something was happening inside.

I rolled the window down.

His green eyes were bigger than I’d ever seen them as he poked his head into the car. “Charlie’s here,” he said like it was scandalous.

“Charlie’s here?” I sat up with a jerk and hopped out of the car.

It was stupid how happy I felt. Especially with how cranky I’d been thirty seconds ago. I sprang up the front stairs like a deer and bounded inside behind Griff.

We only had three days left of our week-long vacation. Then we’d board Dad’s private jet back to Virginia. Last night, lying in bed unable to sleep, I’d told myself to forget about her, and not just for the trip. Just be done with this ridiculous crush once and for all. If she couldn’t be bothered to come to Hawaii of all places, then she obviously didn’t miss me as much as I’d missed her.

Yeah, that all flew out the window as soon as Griffin said her name.

The house was quiet. “Where is everybody?” I asked him as we jogged through the foyer.

Uncle Ashton’s booming voice answered from the basement. “I cannot believe you! Showing up here like this?”

“Holy crap,” I whispered. “He’s ticked. What’s going on?”

“You’ll see.” Griff laughed.

I trailed him down the stairs. When we rounded the corner, it felt like someone had jammed their fist in my gut. In the last fifteen seconds, from the car to here, I’d gotten my hopes up. Like way up. Walks along the beach, late-night swims in the pool. After everyone fell asleep, I’d play my guitar and Charlie would sing with me.

It wasn’t that far-fetched. We weren’t blood relatives—just two kids raised like family on Clean Slate Ranch. There were plenty of nights when we’d hung out, messing around, watching movies, writing goofy songs together.

But none of my vivid fifteen-second fantasies involved him .

Charlie—whose hair was braided in cornrows—was standing next to a guy who looked like Sid from Toy Story grew up and became a failed SoundCloud rapper. Wide-leg jeans hung off his butt showcasing dirty SpongeBob underwear, greasy black hair, and enough zits to convince me he’d never heard of benzoyl peroxide.

Maybe he’s a homeless guy she picked up on the beach and she wants us to give him a place to shower. Maybe a meal. Hey, it was the most generous thought I could come up with.

But then his hand slipped around her waist and another invisible punch hit me in the ribs. They were together ?

No. There was no way someone as classy as Charlie would be with him. Then again, she’d let somebody do that to her hair.

“Have you lost your mind?” Ashton yelled.

Charlie’s eyes were wide. Her mouth opened, closed, and opened again. But wisely, no words came out.

“She has!” Tally answered for her. “She absolutely has. There’s no other explanation!”

What was happening? Sure, her hair and this guy were questionable life choices, but they didn’t warrant this kind of vitriol.

But then I smelled it. Just faintly. Sweet, grassy, and a touch skunky.

“Why does it smell like weed in here?” I hissed to my cousin Liam.

He tipped his head toward the guy Charlie was with.

Sure enough, Captain McSaggyBritches looked like he was floating. Pupils blown, giggling under his breath like he’d just been told the world’s funniest joke. Not reading the room at all.

“You drop out of school! Take off to Africa.” Ashton—a retired English Professor—shuddered like he couldn’t believe his kid had done that. “Then you show up late to a family vacation with this announcement and expect us to be happy about it?”

“What announcement?” I whispered to Griffin on my other side, laughing into his fist.

Liam wasn’t laughing at all. He looked like he was going to be sick. “I’m sorry, man.”

My hands curled into fists, nails cutting into my palms. Liam knew. Once, when we were fifteen, he’d asked me. Said it was obvious how I felt about Charlie and promised not to tell anyone. He’d kept his word. Somehow Griff had never figured it out.

“You’ve known him for three weeks!” Ashton shouted, red-faced, a vein trying to explode from his neck. “And you got married by an African safari guide?”

I didn’t even hear the next line because my entire body jerked at the word married . It couldn’t be true. Charlie had done some dumb crap in her life, but…marry this guy? I dared to look at her left hand, certain I must’ve misunderstood. A small silver band on her ring finger cut deeper than any words ever could. The matching ring on his left hand only twisted the knife.

My heart tried to hurl itself into my throat and choke me out of disbelief. “Y-you got married?” My voice cracked for the first time in three years.

Charlie’s head swiveled on her shoulders like an owl. At the sight of me, her big brown eyes grew even bigger. She hadn’t even known I was in the room.

“You’re an idiot ,” slipped out of my mouth before I knew it. But the hurt it caused her felt good. So I kept going. “Like seriously. You might be the dumbest person I know.”

Liam groaned.

It was mean. But you know what was meaner? Her marrying this tool. She was supposed to marry me . In like five years. But still. Me , not this joker. Live on the ranch together. Sing love songs every evening—she’d hit the melody and I’d take the harmony. Name our kids after Texas towns like Dallas, Abilene, and Bailey. How could she not know that with every fiber of her being? I’d known since before my hormones kicked in.

In a split second, her expression turned from hurt to downright murderous. “Cash!” Mom yelled from somewhere behind me. “Not okay!”

She was right.

I didn’t care.

Charlie’s face flamed and her eyes turned into twin blowtorches, cranked to max. I always could get under her skin like no one else.

“Excuse me?” She walked over and snapped right in my face. “Who do you think you are, calling me an idiot?”

“I’m obviously smarter than you.” I snorted. “I know I wouldn’t drop out of college and come home married to this .” I gestured at her husband who stared up at the ceiling fan like it was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen.

Her face turned even redder. “Shut up, Dollar Bill!” she screamed. “You don’t know any?—”

I scoffed, waved her away, turned, and strode across the room. I couldn’t stand there for another second. I was going to punch something if I didn’t leave right now. Or start crying.

My entire family was open-mouthed. Mom gave me a sad smile as if to say it’s going to be okay. But her eyes told the truth. She had as much regret as me.

Throughout high school, I’d wanted to confess my feelings to Charlie. Mom told me to wait. She wanted me to make sure that my feelings were going to last. We were all Duprees, even if Charlie and Theo had been adopted by Ashton when he married Tally. And our families were neighbors. If Charlie didn’t feel the same, it could cause some weirdness between everyone.

So I’d waited.

Apparently, too long.

I opened the sliding glass door, shut it behind me, and walked toward the pool, forcing my lungs to slow down, tears burning my eyes.

Three seconds later, I heard the door open again. I turned to see Charlie coming out wearing a glower that said she was going to fry me.

I rolled my eyes. Bring it on.

She slammed the door shut so hard I thought it might come off the tracks. “What is your problem? You just embarrassed me in front of Lorne!”

“Lorne?” I guffawed. “You married a guy named Lorne? Who wears SpongeBob undies and whose hair is greasy enough to lube an entire tractor? Bro doesn’t even know how to shower, he’s in there gawking at the ceiling fan like he’s wondering how it’s flying without wings, and you think he can support you as a husband?”

I bent over, laughing. I’d hate myself later. But right now, it felt good. She’d hurt me, coming here, married to someone else. Hurt me worse than any of my words were going to hurt her.

Her eyes turned down, ashamed and angry. “It’s none of your business.”

How could she say that? If it was anyone’s business, it was mine.

“Was your goal to find a man whose only job requirement is ‘must have access to Wi-Fi and a PlayStation’?” I tilted my head like I was genuinely trying to figure out how she’d become this dumb. “Seriously, blink twice if you’re being held hostage by the Dollar Store Post Malone. It’s the only rational explanation for any of this.”

Without warning, she reached out and popped me in the side of the head.“Stop acting like a jerk.”

My nostrils flared and my eyes narrowed, but it was all a cover for the emotional landmines that kept detonating inside of me. In a few minutes, I’d be nothing but ruins. In pure desperation, I snapped, “You can’t stick with anything anyway. C rafts, c ollege…” I enunciated the C sounds. “You know, anything that takes serious c ommitment. You’ll be divorced in a year.”

“Take that back!” she yelled, a tear slipping onto her cheek.

No. She needed a wake-up call before she destroyed her entire life. I propped my hands on my hips. “Not until you admit you’re an idiot!”

“I hate you!” She stomped her foot. “You’re the worst cousin ever!” She sobbed, tears flooding her cheeks.

The word cousin felt like the most hateful swear word in existence coming out of her mouth.

“How many times do I have to tell you, I’m not your stupid cousin ?” I shouted.

My refusal to admit we were cousins—because we weren’t, technically—always drove her crazy. But today? Her entire body vibrated with fury. Her glare shifted from a smoldering ember to a raging wildfire. And her neck was splotchy, which meant she was about to murder me.

I took a large step away from her to give us a little distance.

Her jaw clamped and her head tipped to the sky. Then she roared, lunged, and shoved me.

Crap! How’d I get so close to the pool?

I teetered, my arms flailing, trying to grasp…anything. There! My fingers fisted around the bottom of her shirt. But it wasn’t enough and I fell sideways, taking her with me.

The splash wasn’t that surprising. If anything, it felt good. I was still in my swim trunks from the photo shoot. It was the fact that she’d pushed me in that shocked me.

I burst through the surface, sputtering. “What the?—”

She dove for me, fists flying. Thankfully, my arms were longer than hers. Just enough that I could hold her by the shoulders and none of her blows landed. It was comical that she thought she could do any kind of damage. She had twigs for arms.

The more I held her off, the angrier she got. So finally, I stepped out of the way, letting her fall face-first into the water. I shoved my hair out of my eyes and laughed. I had to release the tension somehow.

When she came up, she was standing in the shallow end. The water hit at her waist. Her tank top clung to every curve, her pale blue bra visible through the thin white fabric. The heaving of her lungs, only exaggerated… everything .

Man, was this heaven or hell? She was so beautiful.

Right then, my mom’s voice echoed in my head, Eyes up top!

Too late. Charlie gasped. I’d been caught.

My gaze slid up, locking with hers. We stared at each other for a few seconds, everything shifting between us in a single moment.

She looked at the house like maybe she should go. If I thought that’s what she really wanted—that she couldn’t see me as anything other than her cousin—I’d get out of her way. But if there was ever a time when I needed to take a chance, this was it. I stood my ground, unashamed.

When she looked at me again, her expression was curious, and full of…hope? Did she feel the same about me that I’d always felt about her? I didn’t have the luxury of waiting to find out. She needed to hear the words that had been choking me out since I was thirteen.

“I’m not your cousin, Charlie,” I breathed. “Not even close.”

Her head tilted to the side and her eyes burned, looking at me the way I’d always wanted her to.

It was all I needed to know.

I grabbed her waist and pulled her against me. My mouth crashed over hers before she knew what was happening. She let out a shocked yelp. I swallowed it and kissed her harder.

I didn’t know how long I had before she’d knee me in the groin, so I had to make this good. A kiss that burned itself into her bones. A kiss so full of love that she’d daydream about it for years to come.

To my utter shock, instead of ending my chances at fatherhood, she let out a soft moan and wove her arms around my neck. Then she relaxed against me, her mouth moving with mine.

YES!

A united cheer erupted from inside the basement and I couldn’t help it, I smiled against her lips. Griffin’s mind was probably blown. But it sounded like the rest of them were celebrating a long-awaited event.

My smile only lasted a second before Charlie tugged at the back of my hair, demanding all my attention. Every part of me obeyed. After all these years, my lips were finally on hers. It was sweet and intoxicating and better than any fantasy I’d ever conjured in my mind. And let me tell you, I’d conjured plenty.

Her fingers dug into my neck, needy and desperate. I tightened one arm around her waist, our bodies locking together. Man, we fit. We fit so good. Just like I knew we would.

My other hand came up and cupped her beautiful face. My thumb brushed over her cheek and it was as soft as I’d always imagined. Silky and supple. Delicate like a rose petal. She murmured her approval and rewarded me by deepening the kiss even more, her tongue chasing mine.

My feet might’ve been glued to the bottom of that pool but my heart was soaring through the warm, Hawaiian sky—yet somehow still tightly, protectively wound around hers. This is what I’d been waiting for, for so long.

This was the beginning of us.

But then the sliding door opened and an unfamiliar voice interrupted, “Hey, buddy! Get your hands off her!”

Charlie went stiff and started to pull away.

“No,” I whispered, holding her in place. “Stay with me.” I kissed her again. But she clamped her lips closed and shook her head. I had no choice but to let her go. Her idiot husband had killed the moment.

Husband.

My head gave a little shake and I finally remembered. Holy crap. I just kissed a married woman. My face twisted in shock.

Charlie stepped back, horrified. I fixed my expression so she’d know I didn’t regret it. Mostly. Not the kissing part at least. Just the part where she got married before I kissed her.

“Charlie.” I reached for her. The words choose me died in my throat as her husband peered down at us like he was ready to take a swing.

Charlie’s eyes grew wider, panic-stricken. She was embarrassed that she’d kissed me back. If that wasn’t enough of a blow to the ego, she topped it off by shoving me. Hard.

My knees gave out and the water covered me. Too addled and devastated to do anything but sink, I let gravity pull me to the bottom of the fiberglass pool.

I lay there staring up at the sunlight, my heart cracking in two. Finally, when my lungs screamed for air, I pushed off the floor. By the time I got to the surface, Charlie was already out of the pool, her husband’s arm around her waist, guiding her into the house.

As I watched them disappear inside, I told myself not to panic. I could play the long game. I was good at waiting. And when she realized she wanted this, I’d be here, arms open, ready to love her the way she deserved. Because she would realize it. That guy could not be her forever.

After that kiss, there was no doubt.

It wouldn’t be long now.