Chapter 29
twenty-nine
Cash
W e were at James and Theo’s house getting ready for a Hand and Foot Tournament. Though, I wasn’t sure it actually qualified as a real house. It had four walls, mostly-working plumbing, and a roof—but scaffolding still covered one wall where they were fixing the ceiling. Hammers, paint cans, three kinds of saws, and random tools cluttered the room. They didn’t own any real furniture—just rusty folding chairs and a plastic card table they’d swiped from Silas and Lemon’s basement.
There were four of us shuffling from the sheer number of cards it took to play with nine people—one more deck than the number of people playing. Charlie was so dang adorable. Every time she shuffled, her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth. I rested my knee against hers as I tapped my stack of cards against the table top before letting them riffle together, the satisfying ch-ch-chk filling the air.
Griffin couldn’t stop shaking his head every time he looked at Bowen. “Just…ridiculous.” He slumped back in his seat. “Why? Like for what purpose other than pissing Mom and Dad off would you do that to yourself?”
I couldn’t stop staring either. Bowen had gone that very day and gotten himself a ‘vertical brow piercing’ over his left eye.
Wearing a green dealer’s visor, he let his cards fly in a shuffle that said he spent way too much time playing poker at college when he should’ve been studying.
“I have my reasons.”
Something in the air seemed to crackle as Maggie adjusted awkwardly in her seat.
Charlie and I shared a look.
“Have Lemon and Silas seen it?” I asked.
“No.” James chuckled, his arm around Sage’s shoulder. “Bowen’s too afraid to go home.”
“I am not.” Bowen pressed his lips together, but the lie was written all over his face. If Silas were my dad and I showed up with that, I’d be scared too. But unlike Bowen, I would never do that to myself.
“All he needs now is to paint his nails black,” Griffin mumbled.
“I like it,” Charlie said cheerfully. “The piercing and the man bun together.”She made a chef’s kiss gesture. “You’ve got moody and mysterious down to a science.”
I stared at Charlie, horrified, until she looked at me.
She giggled and whispered, her mouth to my ear, “Just trying to make him feel better. Don’t you ever defile your beautiful face like that.”
“Thank you, Chuck.” Bowen offered her a fist bump. She reached across the table to bump him back. “And there will be no nail painting. I’m not emo. I’m just doing my own thing.” He clicked his tongue. “Besides, chicks dig eyebrow piercings.”
“Chicks?” Maggie bristled. “They’ll ‘dig’ it until they hear you call them that. Then that’ll be the end of it.”
Theo kept glancing at the TV set up on a tray table off to the side.
“Why are you watching The Truth Is —on mute—while we’re playing cards?” I asked. The Truth Is was an entertainment news show that prided itself on getting to the truth of any topic, show, or celebrity gossip. But it didn’t seem like something Theo would watch.
Theo was too busy reading the captions to respond.
James chuckled again. “It’s rumored that they’re airing a segment on the new season of Star Trek tonight.”
“Ahh,” Charlie and I said at the same time. Theo always had been and always would be a diehard Trekkie, thanks to Ashton.
“Cards in,” Theo said, attention back on us. He wore a dealer’s hat identical to Bowen’s—they’d gotten them in a two-pack. Then he opened and closed his fingers, beckoning for us to hand them over.
As soon as we slid the cards across the table, Charlie’s and my hands found each other, resting on my thigh.
“Looks like Liam finally arrived,” James said, angling his chair toward the window. His brows lifted. “And he brought a date.”
“Shocker.” Charlie snickered next to me.
The front door opened and Liam’s eyes were wide with a warning that we better not embarrass him. He may as well have painted a target on his chest. He held a brunette’s hand as he led her inside.
“What up, William!” Theo called, irritating him straight outta the gate. Nothing annoyed Liam more than being called by his full name.
“Billy’s in the house!” Bowen hooted. Except for that.
“Really?” Liam’s nostrils flared but he laughed and introduced Ella to everyone. A ‘vanilla’ girl if I ever saw one. All perfect skin, and neutral-toned clothes.
“This one won’t stick around,” Charlie whispered.
“Yup.”
Liam always picked up girls like this, but they weren’t exciting enough for his taste. Deep down, Liam wanted someone who challenged him, not stroked his ego. He hadn’t figured it out yet but the rest of us had.
“Hi, Ella,” Charlie said with a smile. Everyone else followed.
Ella waved as she and Liam sat down at the table.
“W-wow,” Liam sputtered at Bowen. “What’s going on up here?” He scratched his eyebrow. “You install a grab handle for me or what?” He made a playful swipe at it.
“Back. Off.” Bowen smacked his hand. “Don’t be a hater.”
“Of that?” Liam guffawed. “Dude, it looks like a tiny dumbbell for caterpillars.”
“I dunno,” Ella said. “I kind of like it.”
Bowen preened.
Liam recoiled, squinting at her like she’d just asked how many home runs a touchdown is worth. Then he turned to Bowen. “I can’t wait to see Granny’s reaction. Twenty bucks she tells him he’s bound for the fiery pits.”
“Enough about my piercing. Clearly you’re all jealous.” Bowen slapped the table. “Let’s go. It’s time to play.”
“Uh, Charlie?” Sage’s usually timid voice broke through the noise. “She’s talking about you.” She pointed at the TV.
Charlie’s name flashed across the screen and Theo scrambled to turn up the volume.
Cassidy Forrest, the host of The Truth Is smiled at the camera. “Who doesn’t love a little Dupree family drama?”
“Me,” Bowen said. “I don’t.”
Theo shushed him.
Charlie was a ramrod next to me, her fingernails digging into my knee.
Cassidy rubbed her hands together the way she always did right before she sent some celebrity spiraling into complete and utter ruin with nothing more than a well placed rumor and a wicked little smirk. “A month ago, Millie Schneider, former girlfriend of Cash Dupree, went on the Breaking Curfew with Nate Midnight Show , feathers ruffled at being traded in for ‘Cash’s favorite cousin, who’s technically not his cousin. At all,’” she quoted Dad’s words from the concert verbatim. “And it got people curious—and by people I mean us here at The Truth Is .” She turned and a different camera took over. “Charlie Dupree is the daughter of Tally Dupree and stepdaughter of Ashton Dupree, the minds behind Spy vs. Sigh, niece of Ford Dupree.” She let out a low whistle. “Now that is a family tree.”
Griffin huffed. “They left out Blue.”
The show cut to a hospital room where a woman with long brown hair lay motionless, hooked up to a ventilator. My fingers balled, nails cutting into my palm. I squinted, sure the video was doctored because it looked like…
“Charlie?” Theo choked. “Is that you?”
James, the official shusher of the evening, did his job, aggressively scowling Theo into silence.
But it wasn’t the Charlie sitting next to me. TV Charlie was pale and lifeless, a breathing tube taped to her mouth. Her hair was matted to her forehead, her arms limp at her sides. The picture was grainy, probably taken on someone’s phone.
If it really was Charlie, someone had sat on that picture for a very long time.
The camera cut back to Cassidy. “ The Truth Is went undercover to learn the truth and boy did we ever. Turns out Millie was wrong. Charlie Dupree isn’t an addict and she didn’t spend time in rehab.”
“Dang,” Theo said. “She just cleared her name.”
But Charlie was only tensing more.
Cassidy continued, “But Millie was right too. Charlie Dupree has secrets.” Cassidy walked toward the camera. “Turns out Charlie Dupree was admitted to a Las Vegas hospital as a Jane Doe after a violent acid attack left her in critical condition. She spent two weeks in the ICU, fighting for her life while her family had no idea where she was.”
Fighting for her life ?
“Acid attack?” Theo’s words sounded strangled.
James waved his words away as Cassidy went on. “Sources confirm that Charlie suffered third-degree burns to her abdomen, leading to severe shock and systemic complications. Due to the extent of her injuries, doctors placed her in a medically induced coma to stabilize her condition and manage her pain. She remained on a ventilator for several days as her body fought to recover.”
Charlie yanked her hand free and hugged herself like she wished she could shrink down small enough to slip through the cracks in the hardwood. No doubt, if she wasn’t wedged in between me, James, and the table, she would’ve made a break for the door.
I’d figured out a few common sense things since Charlie revealed her secret to me. Like she must’ve been in the hospital for a long while, had months of doctor’s visits, suffered excruciating pain. But never—not once—had I entertained the thought that she’d come anywhere close to dying.
My eyelids fluttered rapidly. She’d gone through all of that without us ever knowing?
“Charlie?” Theo asked, horrified. Everyone else stared at her in shocked silence.
Her gaze darted around the room as if looking for an escape.
I wrapped my arms around her, letting her know that wouldn’t be happening. She stiffened and pushed against my chest, trying to break free.
“No,” I whispered, one hand rubbing the back of her neck. “No more running. No more doing it alone. It’s you and me from now on, remember?”
She tensed for a few more seconds. Then she crumbled against me, her face buried against my neck.
Cassidy was still rambling on, “According to sources, the victim was discovered in a Las Vegas pool hall, collapsed near the entrance. An employee on duty called 911 after witnessing the attack.”
Cassidy looked right into the camera with the expression she wore just before she passed judgment. “The truth is… maybe Charlie Dupree didn’t want to be found. Or maybe the Duprees didn’t care enough to go searching.”
Griffin snorted like those were the most outlandish words ever spoken. They were. We’d searched high and low. Dad and Ashton had even flown to Charlie’s last known whereabouts, searching for her—Salt Lake City. They came back empty handed.
Cassidy chewed her bottom lip as if in thought and batted her lashes. “The truth is, maybe Charlie wasn’t some innocent little country girl. Maybe she was running a con, and it finally caught up with her.”
Cassidy sighed. “The truth is maybe she didn’t want to be found because she didn’t want to explain what she was doing in a Vegas pool hall, alone, with no ID. Maybe she had secrets she couldn’t afford to let the Duprees dig up.” Cassidy let out a little sigh. “The truth is there’s still so much to uncover here folks. This is just the beginning.” It cut to commercial.
“None of that is truth,” Bowen scoffed. “It’s all speculation. Somebody needs to give that lady a lesson on using grammar correctly.”
Theo launched out of his seat, his eyes burning with barely restrained fury. “Is that why you disappeared?” When Charlie didn’t answer—only whimpered—his eyes flashed to me. “Did you know?”
“I knew she had an acid burn on her stomach. I found out a few weeks ago.”
Everyone’s eyes dropped to Charlie’s stomach. She shrank back as if they could actually see through her shirt.
Theo’s expression was a storm cloud ready to crack open. “So it is true?”
I pulled her tighter against me.
She nodded.
“You’re going to tell us right now,” he hissed. “Who did this? Why? When?” His hands balled into fists but there were tears in his eyes. “Every. Single. Detail.”
“You’re scaring her,” Maggie said.
He was scaring more than Charlie. Sage had her shirt pulled up to her nose and Ella was half hiding behind Liam, probably wondering what kind of family she’d entangled herself with.
“Everybody out,” I said, commanding but calm. “Everyone but Theo.”
But my cousins sat there, unmoving.
“No,” Griffin said. “She’s our Charlie too.”
“We deserve to know as much as you do,” Liam said.
Bowen looked stunned, pupils dilated, rubbing his fingers over his mouth.
James reached over and squeezed her leg. “We love you. All of us. You can tell us the truth.”
“You know what?” Maggie said, pushing back from the table. “Sage, Ella, and I are going to run to Food Lion.” She snapped her fingers. “We needed more chips and salsa anyway, right?” She looked at Griffin.
Maggie looked at Sage and Ella. “And we won’t say a word,” she instructed, her tone making it clear this was not a request.
Griffin held out his car keys. “Here. And grab her a king-size Twix,” he said under his breath. Those were Charlie’s favorite.
They hurried out the front door.
I eased Charlie onto my knee and she gladly came. Then I wrapped my arms around her, cocooning her as much as I could while not blocking her from the others.
Theo, who’d been pacing, shook out his hands and switched seats with James. “Tell us what happened,” he said, impressively calm. Calmer than me. I was shaking, so angry and overwhelmed. I tried to slow my breathing. She needed me right now. I could lose my crap later.
She turned in my arms, her back against my chest, and I hated that I couldn’t see her face. I felt her lungs lift and fall a few times in the silence, as if gearing up. Then she began. “Lorne?—”
“I knew that bastard was responsible!” Theo spat.
My sentiments exactly.
“Oh my gosh,” Charlie’s laugh was bitter. “I’ll never get it out if you stop me after every word.”
“No more talking,” James ordered, pointing his finger accusingly at Theo. “Just like during graduation where you hold your applause till the end.” Then he turned it on the rest of us. “We speak when spoken to.” He gestured at Charlie. “The floor is all yours.”
“Thank you, James.” She blew her breath out in a long O. “Lorne had some addictions.” She shook her head. “But the worst one was…” She froze for a few seconds, her heart pounding so hard it echoed in my chest. “Porn,” she said with an exhale.
It felt like someone had taken an ax to my heart. How could he have a porn addiction when he was married to the most beautiful girl in the world?
“Freaking perv,” Bowen hissed.
“Lorne the porn addict,” Liam said with a disgusted snort. “It’s like his parents saw it coming.”
James snapped his fingers. “Quiet.”
“I’m telling you that because it’s important to the story,” she said, voice trembling. “It wasn’t your basic porn addiction—lying in bed, scrolling on his phone. It was hardcore. Pay per view subscriptions, OnlyFans, he couldn’t keep a job because he kept getting caught at work.” She exhaled slowly. “He blew every dollar he ever got. And every dollar I got too. I didn’t know before, because as we all know, I married him way too fast.” Was that why she wanted to wait so long for us to get married? She’d known me her whole life though. “He couldn’t hide it for long but he was very good at hiding the fact that he was in serious debt. I didn’t even know until a couple of weeks before everything went down.” She paused and I could feel her tense up even more. “He borrowed money from a loan shark. One day, he told me everything and begged me to sell my 4Runner so he could pay him off. He said that if he didn’t pay him, the guy would rough him up. Maybe worse.”
“I wish they had,” Theo bit out.
“Shh.” James ordered.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Theo.” Charlie’s voice was louder, braver, but still quavering. She held her hands up, needing a second of calm before continuing. “So I sold my 4Runner, bought a beater, and gave him the difference. He told me that he’d paid the guy off. But he must not have because a week or so later, I’m walking home from work—since my beater had already broken down,” her voice was tight, “—when I get a text from Lorne that just says 911 . I find his location and grab an Uber with money we didn’t have, and beg the driver to go as fast as he can. It’s a pool hall in a really sketchy part of town. I run inside and he’s getting his face kicked in by a couple of guys. So…” But the words caught in her throat. She leaned into my chest like she needed me to carry some of the weight. So I held her closer, wishing I could take even a little of it away. “I get between them thinking they won’t hit a woman. But…I was wrong.” The words sounded like they were torn from her throat.
“So he calls you down there,” Bowen says, ignoring James’s glare. “Basically luring you into his mess.”
“Pretty much,” she said.
“Lorne wouldn’t let that happen though,” Theo spat. “He protected you. You were just a casualty in the fallout, right?”
James pounded the table. “Let her talk.”
“No.” She shook her head. “He let me take it for him. My last memory is me lying on the floor as he ran out the door. Then I passed out. When I woke up, I was in the ICU.”
“He left you to die?” Griffin’s voice cracked.
Theo erupted from his seat again. I would’ve been up too—pacing and plotting my revenge—if Charlie hadn’t been in my lap. “I’m going to kick his?—”
“No!” Charlie almost yelled. “That’s why I didn’t tell you. Any of you. The last thing I need is you going to jail because you can’t keep your masculinity in check.”
“So that’s why you didn’t call us?” I whispered. I’d meant it to come out at normal volume but my throat was thick and scratchy.
She adjusted to look at me, her eyes turned down. “There were a lot of reasons and most of them had more to do with how I felt about myself than you all.”
“Why did you stay with him?” Griffin asked. “When you found out about his addiction?”
“We were married,” she said like that should’ve been answer enough. Hearing those words come from her lips felt like I’d been shanked in the gut. Lorne had the woman I’d wanted and he treated her like dirt under his boot. “And I felt like it was God’s punishment for hitching myself to someone so ridiculous. And I was embarrassed. None of you supported me in that decision and I didn’t want to give you the satisfaction of saying ‘I told you so.’”
Just then, our phones started going off.
“Mom and Dad saw,” Griffin said.
Charlie hopped up and walked over to Theo who was wearing a line in the floor, tearing at his hair like he was going out of his mind. She pulled him into a hug and he curled around her, his tears falling unchecked.
I could barely breathe. Couldn’t fathom how anyone could treat her that way. I’d acted tough, tossing out threats whenever I asked who’d done this to her. But in my mind, I’d reconciled myself to the fact that the acid burn was work related or a freak accident. Anything else was too horrifying to accept.
I pulled my cell from my pocket. There was a text from my dad.
The Headliner
I don’t know if you saw The Truth Is tonight but don’t let Charlie watch it.
Too late.
The Headliner
Is it true? Was that her in the hospital bed?
I gave his question a thumbs up and pocketed my phone, ignoring his subsequent messages.
As I sat there, listening to everyone process out loud, I struggled to process inwardly. All I kept thinking was, what if that had been the end and I’d never gotten the chance to love her?
Images flashed through my mind, picturing what it must’ve felt like, how terrified she had to have been. Her husband leaving her for dead. Before I could stop it, my chest tightened and my heart pounded out of control. I recognized the feeling from Hawaii. I gasped for air, gulping the panic down, but it wouldn’t subside.
“Cash,” Liam said. “Hey, are you okay?”
I wasn’t. I tipped my head back, trying to get a bigger breath.
“He’s dripping sweat,” Griffin said.
Charlie and Theo turned to look at me.
I shot up from my seat, jogged across the room, and stepped outside. When I got to the porch, I dunked my head between my knees.
The screen door creaked open behind me. “Hey,” Charlie said, her hand on my back. “Cash.” She rubbed circles over my shoulder blades. “He’s having a panic attack,” she said to someone. “I’ve got it.” The door banged shut.
She crouched in front of me so I could see her face. “Five things you can see. Tell me.” When I didn’t answer, she tried again, urgency creeping in. “Five things. Come on.”
“Y-your b-brown eyes.” My favorite eyes.
Though they looked terrified, those eyes smiled. “That’s one.”
“Your freckles.”
“That’s two.”
“Your nose. Y-your lips. Your l-lashes,” I finished the assignment even as I fought for air.
“They didn’t all have to be about me,” she laughed lightly.
I was completely undone by this woman. Even in the grip of a full-blown panic attack, all I wanted was to love her—to stand by her, to protect her from anything that could ever hurt her again. But right now, everything was flipped. I was a wreck—and she was my anchor.
My fingers dug into my knees, my stomach tight. “I-it’s always a-all about y-you.”
“Cash,” she said softly. "Four things you can touch.”
I shook my head. I just needed to touch her . If only I could lift my hand.
“Can you tell me what you’re afraid of?” she asked.
“You c-could’ve died,” I breathed, a tear slipping out.
Her hands cupped my face and she wiped it away. “But I didn’t. I came home to you. I’m your miracle, remember?”
She was right. She was my miracle and she was right here. Not in a pool hall or a hospital or in bed next to Lorne. She was here . With me.
Acknowledging that, my heart began to slow.
My knees buckled and she met me on the ground. She settled behind me, her back against the siding, pulling me into the steady warmth of her chest, her legs framing mine. Then she smoothed my hair off my drenched forehead and began to sing.
I was lost in the dark, too far to be found
Running from ghosts, too heavy to drown
But somewhere out there, you were singing for me
A melody carried on the Virginia breeze
It was the last song in her notebook. The one she’d titled, ‘Sing Me Home.’
She pressed a kiss into my hair and continued,
You sang me home, through the midnight rain
Through the ache and the echoes, through the fear and the pain
Didn’t know where I was, but you still held on
And somehow your voice led me back to where I belong
I closed my eyes and let her voice calm me. Though it was all I could do to whisper, when she got to the bridge, I joined in,
Every chord was a promise, every lyric a light
And I followed the sound all the way through the night
Everything was calm now. My heart, my lungs, my head.
Now I’m standing right here, no more running alone
You didn’t let go, and you sang me home
Then she added another line.
Thank you for singing me home.
“You’re welcome,” I whispered. “Thank you for coming home.”
As her words dissolved into the night, headlights sliced across the yard. Ashton’s truck skidded to a stop, gravel spraying.
Charlie sighed. “Here comes the cavalry. They must’ve driven a hundred miles an hour to get here that fast.”
Her parents jumped out, meeting at the front bumper. Ashton took Tally’s hand as they jogged toward the house like the acid attack had just happened moments ago.
“Charlie!” Tally cried literal tears, dropping down next to us. “We just saw.”
“Mom, I’m fine,” Charlie said, smoothing my hair off my face.
Ashton knelt down slowly, looking completely shook. But then he noticed me. “Cash, are you all right?”
I nodded.
“He had a panic attack,” Charlie said.
I tried to sit up. “I’m okay.”
“No. You stay right here,” Charlie soothed, pulling me against her.
Tally sobbed against Charlie’s shoulder. Ashton was on our other side, eyes welling.
“I’m okay, guys,” she said. “I know it feels fresh to you but it was over a year ago.”
That made Tally cry harder. “I should’ve been there. Why didn’t you have someone call me?”
“Well,” Charlie said with a gentle laugh. “I was kind of in a medically induced coma.”
But we all knew that’s not what Tally was asking. Why, when she woke up, didn’t she tell us? Let us be there for her? Help her heal?
Ashton tried to stifle a sob unsuccessfully, his shoulders shaking with the effort.
“Dad,” Charlie said gently. “I’m okay.” She pressed a hand against his beard. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve called. I should have. But I really am okay.”
Here we were, falling apart all around her, and she was the strong one, buoying us all up. But Charlie always had been stronger than she knew.
Just then, Uncle Silas’s truck came screeching to a stop in front of the house, followed by Mom and Dad from the opposite direction. Anna and Blue were right behind them, with Granny and Gramps bringing up the rear.
“Oh my gosh.” Charlie laughed, but the sound cracked halfway out of her throat.
“And you thought we might not want you after we found out,” I chuckled.
She let out a massive exhale as she shook her head. “Yeah, I was pretty stupid.”
Lemon and Silas jogged up to the house. Lemon dropped to her knees next to Tally. “Oh, you sweet girl.” She cupped Charlie’s cheek. “How could someone do that to you?”
Silas strode up the steps, his posture relaxed but his eyes burning. He looked at Charlie with a longing that said he’d fight the world for her. We’d add him to the army.
The screen door groaned open. I glanced up to see Bowen stepping out—but he was looking backward over his shoulder. “Cash, the guys wanna know if we’re flying or driving to Florida to find Lorne.”
He was trying to be funny. Maybe.
But then his head turned forward and he saw his parents. A startled cuss word shot out of his mouth when Silas’s gaze locked on him.
Silas’s expression darkened. “Bowen!” he barked. “What the hell did you do to your eyebrow?”