Page 116 of Wonderstruck

Patty smiled sadly when she caught where we were looking. “They were good people. Loved Rory more than anything.” We both caught the sniffle that left her, and if we’d blinked we would’ve missed the way she swatted her cheeks. “Gets me so angry when I think about how much was taken from that girl.” I looked to Patty, pride weaved between her smile lines. “But she’s strong, though, that one. Brave as anything.” She nodded at us, her smile still intact. “Just like you two rascals.”

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

“You know Rory?” Daisy asked cautiously, hereyes darting between Patty and me.

Patty chuckled. “Known her since she couldwalk. Her parents owned the cottage on Cotton Drive. She’s sweet as can be. Haven’t seen much of her since she and Arnold moved to New York after losing Aurelia, but she was home for the summer. For the funeral.”

I closed my eyes, remembering that day.

God, she looked so sad. So hopeless.So un-like the girl I knew now.

I sucked in a breath before looking back over atPatty, her eyes studying us. “Why do you ask?”

Daisy’s gaze flicked to me, and I knew she couldsee the panic on my face. Before I could stop her, she said, “I live with her. I mean… we met last year at college and we’re… really good friends. Finn’s…” She paused for effect, a wicked grin spreading across her face. “Finn’s in love with her.”

My heart stopped. “Daisy,” Imuttered, nudging her arm.

“What?” she said, rolling her eyes.“It's not like it's a secret.”

Patty looked between us, clearly amused but alsocurious. “You…” The word stumbled out of her as she collected herself, drying the corners of her eyes. “You know Aurora?”

We both nodded.

Her chest sank, a sigh that was coated in reliefmingling with the November breeze. “Wow. Okay.” The sun wasn’t shining nearly as bright as her smile was. “You know, I think that’s the best news I’ve heard all year.” Her head shook. “I’m just happy she has people, friends, and knowing it's you two?” Her eyes rolled gleefully. “I’m going have a good sleep tonight, let me tell you.”

I wondered if Rory knew how much love this townand its people held for her?If she didn’t, then I couldn’t wait to tell her.

AsPatty tugged at the seams of her coat, pullingthe pink fabric tighter, she looked at me, her eyes studying me in a way they never had before. Not even when I was seven and she caught me taking a sunflower from one of her displays to take home to Mom. “And whether you’re in love with her or not, that girl has been through a lot. So hurry up and make up your mind, boy.” She took a few paces towards me and placed her palm on my shoulder. “Although, if that dreamy look in your eyes tells me anything, it's that you already have.”

“Oh, he definitely has,” Daisy added.

Patty smiled up a me. “Then tell her.” She took astep back before I could react, craning her neck up to the sky. “Goodness, I better get going before I’m caught in the rain. You kids have a nice visit. And tell Rory I said hello, would you?”

“We will,” Daisy said quickly, tugging on mysleeve. “Come on, Finn.”

We didn’t speak again until we reached Mom’s grave. The headstone was simple—just her name and the dates—but it still hit me like a punch to the gut every time I saw it. And just like the walk here, we rarely saidanything whilst we were here. It didn’t feel needed. We spoke about her enough when we weren’t herethat some odd part of me felt as though she was still around.

It helped that Daisy carried a lot of mom in herself. I saw that even if she didn’t. In the way she spoke to me, in the way she was with her friends. The little details she put into her songs, the lyrics that sounded like something mom would say.Her spiritwas alive, and coming here was just areminder that no matter what, it always would be.

“I can’t believe she knows Rory,” Daisy said atlast, her voice soft but laced with a teasing edge that didn’t quite mask the seriousness underneath.

I sighed, dragging a hand through my hair. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“No kidding.” She straightened and perched onthe edge of the wooden bench near the grave, her eyes sharp as they found mine. “So… just to be clear, you’re not in love with Rory? Or you are?”

I groaned, dropping my head back. “Daisy, comeon.”

“What?” She held up her hands, feigninginnocence. “It’s a valid question.”

I sat down beside her, my gaze fixed on the ground. “It’s not that simple.”

She let out a snort, the kind that carried moretruth than humour. “It’sexactlythat simple, Finn. Either you’re in love with her, or you’re not.”

“It’s complicated,” I muttered, my voice quieter now, as if saying it too loudly might crack something inside me. “I… I screwed up. I panicked last year. I didn’t know how to handle it, so I ran. Then when she got hurt last month, sure I sat with her in the hospital but before that? Everything in me was screaming to run. Again. And then…” My throat tightened, the weight of everything I’d done—and hadn’t done—pressing down on my chest.

“Of course I’m in love with her. I knew I couldfall in love with her the second I saw her. But I don’t know if she feels the same. Not anymore.” I turned to her, desperation leaking into my voice. “If someone did that to you—hurt you but then tried like hell to make things right, to prove you’re the only thing that makes them feel whole—what would you do?”

Daisy’s expression softened, before she shrugged. “I could say I’d forgive them in a heartbeat, because I know that’s probably what you want to hear. But the truth is, I don’t know. I don’t know what Rory’s thinking. Yeah, we talk, the girls talk to her, but only she can decide if she’s ready to put her heart on the line again.”

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