Page 49 of Ghost Note

Without another word, Danny winked and drove off, leaving me to watch the back end of his white Scirocco disappearing down our windy, country roads until his lights went out of view.

“What if I don’t hate you at all?” I whispered to the ghost of him. “What do I do with myself then, Danny, huh?”

* * *

The next day, I woke to an early morning call from Gina who was, when you cut down to the truth of it, hunting for gossip. Some of the locals had seen me in the passenger seat, leaving Hope Cove with Danny, and word had spread quite quickly.

Didn’t it always?

After being backed into a corner, I gave her the bare bones of what had happened, leaving out Atley House or the tears that were shed by both of us.

“So, he was there, after all,” Gina said.

“He had to be. There were just some things he knew that Florence wouldn’t have been able to tell him—things he noticed.”

“Wow. How do you feel about it?”

“I’m happy he did the right thing, even if he could have done… more… I guess.” I winced at the accusation. As a young woman who still had both her parents, I had no right to play the moral police over someone who had lost theirs, and that had never been clearer than when looking up into Danny’s sad eyes the afternoon before. “Listen, I’ve got to go. It’s Monday, and it’s sunny. The shop will be rammed soon.”

“Don’t forget we have The Cove Festival on Sunday, too.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” I groaned.

The Cove Festival was the annual tribute to the pirates that used to pass through this little cove and use it as a smuggler’s bay. What had once been a scandal was now being celebrated, if only jovially. It was the only big event we threw around here, and even then, it was mainly full of locals and a few people who wandered down from Salcombe and Bantham by foot. Harbour beach would be filled with fancy-dressed pirates, and a small stage set up like an old ship that had been cut straight down the middle.

Danny used to love that event every year.

Now, it was just another day at work filled with tourists and trinkets, but it made Gina and me quite a lot of money, so who were we to complain?

After ending the call with Gina, and assuring her I had the shop under control, I went back into the stock room and tried to ignore the memories of Danny and I kissing on the floor in there. I was pulling out a basket filled with silver bracelets when the bell chimed above the door, and I pushed back through the seashell curtain.

I saw the little boy first, followed by his adoring mother who was wearing denim shorts and a black T-shirt that showed off her toned, tanned arms.

Jules and Corey.

Jules scooped the cute boy up in her arms, and he wrapped his legs around her waist and held up a small fluffy bunny he’d picked up from the first shelf in the shop. I watched the love between them pour free, and when Jules caught my eye, I smiled my welcome. She was beautiful. Her short, black hair was swept to one side, and she didn’t look like she was wearing a dot of makeup on her fresh skin.

“Daisy, right?” she said with a smile, walking over to the counter I stood behind, clutching a basket under my arm.

“Right. Hi.” I squinted down at her, not wanting her to know I not only recognised her but that I remembered her name, too. “And you are?”

“Julia. But everyone calls me Jules.”

“That’s right. You were outside the Harbour & Hope the other day when…”

“… when Danny wasn’t enough of a gentleman to introduce us properly.” She laughed, hitching Corey up on her waist. “That’s right. I’m so sorry about that. I saw you, and I was caught a little off guard. We’ve heard a lot about you over the years.” My face fell, and Jules stepped closer. “All good, don’t worry. In fact, so good that I probably acted a little starstruck, which is weird for me considering my occupation and who my partner is.”

“Starstruck?” My brows pulled together, but only briefly as Corey looked my way and smiled a beaming smile I couldn’t resist.

“Like I said, we’ve heard a lot about you. When someone speaks about someone with such… reverence, you start to believe they can’t be real. You know what I mean?”

“I guess.”

Reverence.

The thought of Danny speaking about me at all while on the train to stardom was surprising enough, but to hear that the words he’d spoken were in reverence threw me off. How can you revere someone you walked away from so easily? How can you worship what you chose to leave?

Placing the basket on the counter, I tucked my long hair behind my ears and began to shuffle through the packets of delicate bracelets to unwrap them. It kept my eyes down and my hands busy.

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