Page 95 of Ghost Note

Danny’s hands went up in surrender, and she pushed forward, making him step back.

I had no idea what passed between them. The only thing I knew with any certainty was that Gina was giving one hundred percent to Danny. There was foot-stamping, and her arms flew in every direction, gesticulating to make her point. Eventually, when it all became too much, Gina’s tears began to fall, and I couldn’t let them carry on like this.

I loved them both too much.

I made it to the end of my pathway before I heard Gina shout out words that couldn’t be missed.

“And you weren’t there!” she cried at the top of her voice. “For them, or for me!”

My hand flew to my chest, and I froze, just as Danny stepped forward and enveloped Gina in his arms, capturing her in a hold she couldn’t fight, even though she tried. Her body writhed in his for only a few seconds before her shoulders sagged, and her head fell onto his shoulder. Her eyes scrunched together, and even though it was obvious she thought she shouldn’t want to do it, eventually, her arms came up against his back, and Gina held onto Danny in return.

I had no idea what he was saying to her as he held her in his arms. All I could see were the tears pouring free from Gina as she clung to him as though her life depended on it, occasionally nodding, while Danny held her head in place, his hand running over her blue hair with love. Danny’s grip on her was unrelenting, and he rocked her from side to side. Time seemed to pass slowly, with me caught up in a movie that was their real life. I couldn’t look away.

Apparently, neither could my neighbour. I hadn’t noticed Mrs Doyle’s head poking out from her front door until it was too late. I’d never once been rude to her in my time living there, but when she did a double-take and caught me staring, I scowled and waved my hand for her to get back inside.

This didn’t concern any of Hope Cove.

It didn’t even concern me.

Danny had hurt so many people when he left, but those people, like me, were only just beginning to realise that the reason it had hurt so much was because there had been so much love between them and him in the first place.

There still was.

It just happened to be buried between five years of dirt and mistakes, and I hoped, for each of our sakes, that we could be strong enough to dig down deep and revive what has once been so alive.

Thirty-Two

“Ihave a lot of people to say sorry to.”

Danny sat on the edge of my bed, while I was resting up against the headboard, not knowing what to say after he’d returned to my house and led me back upstairs. He’d told me a little about what had passed between Gina and him and how she’d been upset at his lack of contact or help with the funerals after everything had happened. I didn’t want or need to know the finer details. That was their private conversation, and it tore me up inside to get involved. There’d been so much pain stored up over five years, and now it was spilling out from every angle, it was a lot to deal with.

I couldn’t believe it had been less than a week ago since life had been so… stale. I’d been with Ben…. sort of… and Danny had been living his best life with Front Row Frogs. Now, here we were, reopening old wounds and dealing with the fallout.

“I have two days left,” he said, focused on his hands that were twisting together in his lap. Danny glanced at me. “As much as I’d love to spend them curled up in bed beside you, there’s a lot of stuff I need to put right before I go.”

Go.

The thought of him leaving hurt my chest, so I sucked in a breath only to release it slowly with a nod of my head. “I understand. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“There is one thing. I need to deal with Mum and Dad’s house. I have to go back there. Rip off that band-aid. Confront some ghosts I’ve been pretending I didn’t need to deal with yet.”

“Oh…” My eyes widened, not expecting that.

“I’d like you with me—if you think you could manage it—”

“I’ll be there.”

Crawling over the mattress, I fit in place behind him, wrapping my arms around his neck and dropping my cheek to his shoulder. Danny reached up, gripping my wrists and pulling me closer.

“What if I don’t deserve everyone’s forgiveness, Zee?”

“That’s not your choice to make. It’s up to us how we move on. It’s up to us how we go forward. You need to forgive yourself, too.”

“I’m working on that. Can you do something for me, though? Promise me you’ll live your best life, no matter what that means for everyone else. No matter who thinks you’re crazy or not. Promise me you’ll do what makes you happy in the end.”

“Why are you asking that of me?”

“Just promise me, Daisy.”

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