Page 23 of Taking Root

Chapter Eleven

Danny hadn’t felt this good in years.

They’d chatted the entire time over burgers at Ferry Way until the sun set. His wry humor with a splash of self-deprecation made her laugh like no one else managed to, and even though she avoided talk of the past, being able to chat about how much she hated bouncing through all these other cities was like ripping a Band-Aid off. And when he suggested going to Riverfront Park afterwards? She vaulted back to seventeen when her world was filled with open horizons.

Danny strode across the parking lot to where Adrian had just pulled in, and she settled against the side of his still-warm Mustang.

“Got to drive a little quicker if you want to beat me here, babe,” Danny teased as he got out of his car. Her heart already raced from being in this too-familiar place, and the sight of him sent it careening faster. His jaw was so defined it could cut glass, and a seductive knowing lingered in his deep blue eyes. Like always, he dressed so classy she felt like she’d tossed on a trash bag. This time he wore trim jeans hugging powerful thighs and a black button-down with the first couple of buttons flicked open. Even with his thick, dark hair combed back, unruly strands brushed across his forehead, and her fingers itched to touch.

“I’ll stick with my grandma driving, thanks,” he drawled.

She slipped her hand in his, even knowing how mere touch drove her crazy and how each step they took together felt like they walked toward a destination. The stars above winked at them, silver studs on a blue velvet canvas.

“This place looks the same,” she breathed, soaking in the gentle flow of the river ahead of them and the streetlamps casting their soft citrine beams onto the concrete. He tightened his grip on her hand, and she resisted the urge to sink against him.

“Not much has changed around here,” he murmured, glancing up to the skies.

Except she had.

All the comforts of a small Southern town still existed in the fringes of Charleston, but Danny had traveled from one end of the coast to the other. She’d learned a vigilance few of the citizens of Hanahan would ever understand, that Sammy Peterson, the girl who’d grown up here wouldn’t. Even Riverfront Park didn’t contain the lazy ease she once loved about it.

“I’d say quite a lot has changed,” Danny said, giving Adrian a once-over as they strolled toward the narrow boardwalk traveling along the riverside. He cracked a confident grin that reminded her of the track star from high school. However, time deepened the colors of his painting, refined the strokes until details that had been forming back then made the piece shine. “I mean if someone told me you’d be saving lives back in high school…well, maybe I still would’ve expected it. You constantly tried to save mine.”

Her voice hushed with the gravity that descended between them. It was a truth she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge, but she remembered. On the bad days with her family, when Dad had been retreating, when Mom started sensing something off and the bruises and cuts appeared…Adrian didn’t push, but he must’ve known something was wrong. He made himself available whenever possible, cracking dumb jokes about Miss Brittany’s ancient reading choices in English class or sitting with her after school at the park as she rambled about nothing and sprawled her legs in the grass to bask in the sunshine.

Adrian’s eyes met hers, and his look was a sentence if she ever saw one. A look like that made her wish she could be someone else. As if she really was her persona, Danielle Reynolds, gardener to the wealthy who could stay here as long as she wanted. Who could plant a seed between them and give it time to grow into something amazing.

That she’d be around long enough to see her flowers bloom.

“You have no idea what you did to me back then,” he responded, breaking into the cloud of despondency threatening to smother her. “I would’ve done anything to see you smile. You radiated this warmth that had half the guys in school smitten.”

Danny bumped shoulders with him as they strolled across the meadow. “Bullshit. I was the awkward smart girl in high school who couldn’t believe you even talked to me. I spent most of my time befriending books instead of people, because I preferred to deal with them than the shit going on at home.”

They both grew quiet. Her home life had always been forbidden territory, a conversation she’d avoided even back then. While a couple folks strolled through the grassy field, few crowded around the park, not like they would on a concert night. Those had been her least favorite nights here, filled with noise, crowds, and most of the time music she hated. She liked this place during the in-between, as if the contrast of having all those people evacuate made the hush that spread through it even more resonant.

The moment her Vans settled onto the weathered planks of the boardwalk, she drowned in memories. The sweet crispness of Cooper River threaded up to her, and she drank it in.

Danny spun around to face him, letting go of his hand. “I remember walking this stretch with you so often, just wishing you’d kiss me.”

They’d danced around each other back then, charged glances, lingering looks, and so many moments where she thought they’d take that next step. Neither of them had dated anyone, and no one dared come between them back then. They’d moved at the pace of this river, a slow, tentative, exploring thing, as if even back then they realized the profound impact they had on each other.

But they never got the chance. She made a discovery she couldn’t step back from, and that very day the life she’d known ceased.

Adrian closed the distance between them until she leaned against the rail and draped her arms around his shoulders.

“I wanted to kiss you every single day,” he murmured, his lips a whisper from hers. “I was just afraid of breaking the spell.”

She smirked. “And what one would that be?”

He shook his head, the flicker of sadness in his blue eyes making her chest tighten. “Not so fast, Reynolds. If I unleash that side of me, I won’t be able to stuff it away again.”

He didn’t need to say anything more, because she already knew. She’d seen forever reflected in his eyes the moment they reconnected, and no amount of pretense at light and easy would erase the gravity of what existed between them.

Instead, she focused on the heat from his body and the way he pressed against her. How he enveloped her and made her feel safe for a few blessed moments. He still wore the pendant she’d bought him all those years ago, the silver teardrop, and the moonlight glided across the curve. Danny sank into the present of being here with him, of his salt and cedar scent, because she’d need the memories on the road ahead.

“Kiss me now?” she asked, her voice coming out soft, tremulous. A lump formed in her throat as he nodded in response.

Her arms were twined around his neck, his hands on her waist, and his lips brushed hers, the lightest touch, as if they’d been transported back in time to all those years ago. And Danny surrendered. She kissed him back, drinking in the taste of him, the scent of him, the heat like it was the first time. Like this was the inevitable collision after months of awkward flirting and teenage adoration. As if years hadn’t separated and changed them.

He cupped the back of her neck, drawing her deeper into the kiss. Danny’s knees trembled, the headiness of the way they crashed together muddling her mind. She memorized the feel of his lips, the breaths punctuating the air between them, and the bursts of heat as their tongues slipped inside. She leaned against the wooden beams of the pier, the railing the only thing holding her upright as the grain dug in through her shirt.

Adrian pulled away, and a small noise of protest escaped her. He grinned in response. “I feel like I’ve been waiting a lifetime for that kiss.”

He didn’t offer more, and she didn’t ask. The first kiss might’ve been fueled from attraction, the heady exploration driving them. However, this one—this one whispered promises of something real, something lasting.

Something that would inevitably break both their hearts.

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