Page 31 of Ghost Note

“Nice.” He nodded. “I’m surprised your mum and dad let you leave home so soon. Diane always said she’d keep you there until you were thirty.”

“Things changed. Time went on and the things they wanted for me… changed.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because it’s true.”

That was all he was getting from me. I wasn’t about to sit here and admit how hollow and empty I’d become when he left. I didn’t need to feed his ego and let him know that Mum and Dad had forced me to become more independent because they’d seen how much relying on someone had destroyed me. Especially when they, too, had thought that Danny would never hurt their daughter that way.

“How did you find out where I lived?” I asked, trying to change direction.

“It’s Hope Cove. Even if people weren’t willing to tell me everything I needed to know, which they were, all I’d have to do is walk up and down the streets until I found you.”

“You’d have done that?” I scowled.

“Yep.”

“Why?”

“Since I got back, this place is… fuck, it’s its own planet, isn’t it? It’s like nowhere else. One foot on these familiar streets and suddenly I’d travelled back a decade. I was the young kid chasing a pretty girl around. Do you remember those times? Us… just two kids, goofing around…”

“Goofing around?” I raised a brow, insulted by the casual reference to what had been the love of my obviously boring life.

“You know what I mean. No worries. No expectations. No—”

“If you’re here to walk down memory lane, you may as well leave now. I’m not willing to be a part of that conversation.”

I picked up the glass again and threw more wine down my throat, gasping when I dropped it back to the table and carefully wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

“In fact,” I breathed, “maybe this is a really bad idea.”

Danny’s body stiffened, and he leaned forward, pushing his hand along the surface of the table until it stopped midway between us. “I still have minutes…” he said quietly.

“Then use them because once they’re over, they’re over. You’re not getting any more.”

His eyes searched mine. “I know you’re in there, Daisy, and I know this hard version of you is because of me. I’m so fucking sorry about that.”

“You’re…sorry?”

“More than you will ever know.”

I stared at him, trying to think of something to say in return.

Fuck you. Go to Hell. Screw yourself, Daniel Silver. I hate you.

All the things I’d dreamed of spitting at him were lost the moment laughter bubbled in my chest. The quiet kind at first until my body shook, and tears pooled in my eyes. Before long, my laughter was actual noise, and I sat there unable to control myself, while Danny looked up in confusion.

“He’s sorry,” I said to no one, and I lifted my wine glass to drain what was left of it. It was refilled a few seconds later, and I took another sip, clinging onto alcohol as my sanity slipped.

“Why is that funny?” he eventually asked.

“Apologising for ruining my life is hilarious.” A noise I’d never made before bubbled from behind my glass when I pressed it against my lips and drank more…

And more…

And more…

Until my head felt as dizzy as my heart.

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