Page 63 of Daydreams & Doughnut Cake

‘He made it to the top at last!’ said Jackie, smiling through her tears.

We took it in turns to scatter the ashes and the breeze carried them away, up into the endless blue sky. Then Danny cracked open the fizz and as a few clouds gathered overhead, we sat on the grass and toasted Mark and talked about our most precious memories of him.

On the way down, a light rain began to fall. Clare and Danny were chatting, and I found myself walking with Jackie.

It could have been awkward. But she squeezed my hand and said, ‘I’m really happy for you and Danny. You make a great couple.’

Tears sprang to my eyes. ‘Do you really mean that?’

She nodded, smiling. ‘Danny showed me the letter Mark left for him. I think Mark would be happy as well, the way things have turned out.’ She paused. ‘Let’s not be strangers anymore, Rosie?’

I nodded, unable to speak because my heart was so full at that moment. The tears I’d been holding back finally spilled over, but there was a lot of joy mixed in with the sadness.

Then Danny dropped back, and Jackie gave my hand another squeeze and walked on with Clare.

‘Glad you did it?’ Danny asked, looping his arm around me.

‘Yes.’ I smiled up at him. ‘And the best part was doing it with you.’

We stopped and kissed deeply, and when we broke apart, I gasped when I saw that a rainbow had appeared in the sky.

It seemed fitting, somehow . . .

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