Page 81 of The Two Last Moments

“We can’t jump to conclusions,” Danny says. “Don’t assume you did something wrong.” He’s still gripping the back of my neck, but the rest of me keeps shaking. I’m going to be sick.

I swallow down what I’m feeling, all the shame and dismay, before speaking again.

“Will you tell us right away if you find out anything more?” I ask Rex.

“Of course. I’ll let you both know.” He gets up, shakes both our hands, and excuses himself.

“We knew it might be bad news,” Danny murmurs.

“Bad news?” I’ve been trying to hold back my disgust, but now it’s all spilling out. “Danny, I got kicked out of volunteering because I stole from people whocouldn’t leave their homes. What kind of person does that? What kind of personam I?”

“You were accused of something. That’s all. Doesn’t mean it’s true.”

“But—”

“No.”

He barks the word, as if he’s laying down the law. I scoff. “You don’t even know what I was about to say.”

“I didn’t need to. You were doubting yourself, going to those same dark places again. You said you wanted to keep searching for Travis, and I went along with it, but I’ve changed my mind. It’shurting you. And I’m not okay with it.”

“My past is tied up with your uncle, and—”

“And my uncle has been in Southern California for at least the past six months, if not longer. Heleft. He could’ve come back to us. But he chose not to. You know who did come to West Oaks?You.” He raises a finger to my lips when I try to open them. “You’ve done more for Nina in the past weeks than my uncle has in years. We all have shit in our pasts. What matters isnow.”

Danny holds my face in his hands and nudges our foreheads together. Pinning me right there. In the present. Like the two of us are all that matters.

“Maybe you don’t remember your life from before six weeks ago, but you know who you are now.Iknow who you are. Nothing that Rex told us changed how I feel about you. And you know what? I’m done looking for Travis. I don’t give ashitabout finding him.”

He’s speaking so intensely, so passionately, that I feel the vibrations in his hands where he’s touching me.

“But what about Nina?”

“If finding Travis means hurting you, there’s no question about what she’ll want to do. I don’t care about the past. Not if it will take you away from me.” Danny pulls me to him, my head against his chest, and I listen to his heartbeat. “I just want to hold on to you.”

Guilt is eating me alive. I was supposed to do this for Nina. But it’s one thing to choose the hard path when it’s abstract. Another when the terrible facts are laid out in front of me.

“I want to hold on to you, too,” I say.

“Then we will. I’ll tell Rex we’re not interested in knowing more. We’redone.”

29

Lark insists she doesn’t want to leave the Pink House yet, so I go through the motions of catching up with my friends. But I’ve got her in the corner of my eye.

I swing by the grill to say hi to Aiden, clapping him on the back. “Food smells great.”

“Thanks. You look happy.” He’s scowling, but I don’t take it personally.

“I am.” Hard to believe, but it’s true.

This past week with Lark, my reluctance to keep searching for my uncle has only grown. I’d told Lark I would help her with it. We’d do it together. And I tried to follow through. But then we get the first bit of news from Rex, and it upsets Lark this much? No. I’m not playing along anymore.

I’m at peace with my decision about Travis. If I have to choose between finding my uncle and protecting Lark, there’s no contest. I’m going to discuss it with Nina because this is her decision too, but I’m confident in what she’ll say.

When I first met Lark, I was so determined to heal her. Put her pieces back together. But she’s not broken. Took me a minute, but I finally got that through my head. She doesn’t need her old memories if they’re just going to drag her down.

If I could, I’d scrub my brain of the bad shit, too. Who wouldn’t?

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