Page 6 of Ghost Note

“You got a little crush on Ben, Gigi?”

“He’s the most eligible bachelor around here. Who hasn’t got a crush on him?”

Me, I wanted to say, but I held it back.

I was attracted to Ben, sure. I loved the way he flattered me. I enjoyed the way he took my hand in his. The sex was always amazing. But there was something missing. A small void I couldn’t fill, not even with the hottest guy in town on my arm.

“Is he taking you anywhere nice tonight?” she asked, sensing something shift in my mood. Gina was amazing like that. She had a sixth, seventh, and eighth sense, all which told her when things were off and to move the conversation along.

“We’re eating Italian.”

“Ah. You’re going to Sandros.”

“Yup. Again.” I widened my eyes. “Ben sure loves his pasta.”

“You haven’t told him that you hate the garlic stuff yet? He must be amazing between the sheets if you’re putting up with that.”

“He’s everything a girl could want in a man.” I smiled up at her. He was, and there wasn’t much more I could say to that.

After Danny left Hope Cove five years ago, everything about who I had been crumbled, falling like broken bricks that had once been a solid wall. It had taken a while for me to stand up and brush myself off, but with the help of my job, Gina, and Ben’s attention, I’d dragged myself there like a zombie corpse eventually.

Gina leaned over the counter. “Now say that like you mean it.”

“He’s everything a girl could want in a man,” I repeated, somewhat amused.

Her eyes searched mine before she reached up to grip my chin and shake it gently. “One day. One day, I’ll see that spark back in those pretty blue eyes again.”

My lips parted to protest and tell her everything was more than fine, but her phone cut me off before I’d even begun, the ringing and vibrating of it on the countertop making both of us straighten up. Gina answered, her usual greeting ofWhat’s up?replaced with something a little more formal.

“Hey, Aunt Vera. You okay?”

Vera Swinton wasn’t really Gina’s aunt, but she’d been a family friend of theirs for a long time who had been a source of comfort for her and Jackson after the senseless tragedy.

The look on Gina’s face dropped slowly as she listened to Vera. Discomfort rested in her eyes, and I stood taller, watching her expression as she said nothing to whatever Vera had to say. I didn’t need Gina’s sixth sense to know something was wrong, and when my friend looked up at me and stared into my eyes, I knew it was something I wasn’t going to like.

“I’m so sorry,” Gina said quietly to Vera. “When did it happen? This morning? My goodness. I understand. Anything Jax or I can do to help with the funeral, just let me know.”Funeral?“And I’m so sorry for your loss. Flo was a great lady. She’ll be missed.”

Flo?

There was only one Flo we both knew around here, and that was…

“Jesus Christ,” Gina said as she ended the call and dropped the phone to the counter. She looked up at me, her expression unreadable. “That’s not the kind of call anyone likes to take.”

“Is that who I think it is?” I asked, too cautiously. “Is it Florence…”

“... Silver. Yeah.”

“Danny’s grandma,” we whispered together.

My eyes fell to the papers between us that now seemed to hold no urgency since a woman who I’d grown up around had somehow passed away.

“I’m so sorry, Dais. Are you okay?”

My head shook of its own accord, and when I caught Gina’s eyes again, I could barely see her through the light coating of unshed tears I was clinging onto. “What happened?”

“First, tell me you’re okay.”

“No, I’m not okay, G. Florence has died. The woman I spent six years around. The lady who made sure to check up on me when Danny and I split. The one person he had left. She wasn’t even that old. How did this…? When did she…? What…?”

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