by Ashlee Price
Chapter Thirty-Two
Noah
The door in front of me finally opens after my third knock.
Dani appears in the doorway in a shirt and denim shorts, her hair wet from a shower. Her eyes grow wide as they meet mine.
“Noah?”
I hand her the bouquet of flowers I’m holding. “For you.”
“Thanks.” She takes the flowers, smells them, and then opens the door wider. “Come in.”
I step inside the house. It’s not as big as mine, but it’s cozy. At least, it looks like it would be cozy if there were more pieces of furniture and decor.
“I’m sorry about the place,” Dani says as she places the flowers in a vase on the kitchen counter. “I’m selling the house.”
I look at her in surprise. “You are?”
“Yeah.”
I look down at my feet. “Are you moving in with Kaleb now?”
“No, silly. Kaleb and I aren’t a couple anymore. I’m moving to Switzerland.”
“Switzerland?”
“To join my sister and her family there. I might get a job there, too. Who knows? I might stay there for good.”
My heart sinks. She’s leaving?
“Please sit down.” Dani sits on the couch. “Can I get you anything?”
I shake my head and sit down.
“This is surprising, seeing you outside your house,” she tells me.
“Well, I found out about what happened to you at Mr. Davis’ house, so I’ve been mustering the courage to come here and see how you were.”
“That’s brave of you.” Dani smiles as she reaches for my hand. “I really appreciate it, but as you can see, I’m okay.”
“And you’re leaving,” I blurt out the words.
Dani sighs. “Hey. We can still talk, okay? You can still call me. We’ll still be friends.”
“You know I’m bad with phone calls.”
“Then you’ll just have to learn to get better,” she says.
I fall silent.
She squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry, Noah, but I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to be with my family, but I’ll never forget you.” She touches my cheek. “I’ll always be your friend.”
“Can I come with you?” I ask her suddenly.
Dani chuckles. “I’m sure you can come visit me.”
“Or maybe I’ll live there,” I say. “I’ve heard the scenery is good for writing and painting. Besides, you told me to see the world.”
“I did,” she admits. “You know where else the scenery is good for writing and painting? Japan. You should go there.”
I shrug. “Maybe I’ll travel.”
Dani’s eyebrows furrow. “Noah Takahashi, is that you? The same guy who wouldn’t leave his house wants to travel?”
I shrug. “Now sounds as good a time to try it as any.”
Besides, I have a reason to travel now. I want to be with Dani.
I don’t want to be left behind ever again.
“Why don’t we travel together?” I suggest.
She smiles. “I’ll consider it.”
I feel my spirits lift.
“After all, if you don’t travel with me, I might get lost,” I tell her.
“Yeah.” Dani touches her chin. “Or you might get swindled. Or mugged. Are you sure you want to travel?”
I chuckle. “I thought you told me to…”
“See the world, I know,” she finishes my sentence. “But maybe it’s not a good idea right now. Maybe you should try getting out of the house for a while first.”
“I’ll be fine,” I tell her. “As long as I have you.”
I tuck a strand of hair behind her cheek and she smiles softly.
“When are you leaving?” I ask her.
“In two weeks,” Dani answers. “I still have a few things left to do.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Reilly
“Dani.” I give her a hug as soon as she walks in through the door.
She pats my back and smiles. “I know you’re busy with filming starting soon and all, but I won’t take long.”
I snort. “Stop it. You know I’m never too busy for you.”
I lead her down the hall to the living room.
“Really?”
I frown. “I know I’ve had a habit of ignoring you and taking you for granted.”
She nods. “Yeah, you have.”
“But it won’t happen anymore.”
“Because?”
I turn to her. “Because I’m not a jerk anymore. Because you’ve taught me not to be.”
“Hmm.”
I sit on the couch and gesture for Dani to take a seat. As she does, I notice her bare finger.
“You’re not wearing your ring,” I point out.
“No.” Dani rubs her right hand over her left. “After all, Kaleb and I aren’t engaged anymore.”
My eyebrows crease. “You’re not?”
“No.”
I tap my fingers on my lap. “Interesting.”
“It is?”
“I mean that it hasn’t been reported yet.”
“Yeah. I think Kaleb and Tom are still thinking of a way to break it to the media, so… please don’t tell anyone about it?”
“Sure. Anyway, I’d rather people talk about Black Solstice than you and Kaleb.”
“Yeah.” She nods, then falls silent.
Slowly, her lips curve into a grin.
“What is it?” I ask her curiously.
“It just occurred to me that you’re the first person I told about the proposed engagement,” Dani tells me. “And again, you’re one of the first people to know it’s over.”
“Well, that’s because we’re friends, aren’t we?” I say.
Now that she isn’t pretending to be engaged anymore, I start to wonder if maybe we can be more than friends. And I’m not just talking about becoming friends with benefits.
That was my mistake the first time. It’s not happening again.
“So what are your plans?” I ask her. “Are you going back to teaching yoga? Because I need a yoga instructor.”
“Maybe,” Dani answers. “Who knows if the Swiss need yoga instructors?”
I narrow my eyes at her. “The Swiss?”
“I’m going to Switzerland to be with my sister and her family,” Dani informs me.
I suppress a frown. I definitely didn’t see that coming.
“Well, I guess it’s good that you’re going to be with them again,” I force myself to say.
“Yeah. I miss them.”
I want to say I’ll miss her, but I don’t.
“Is this Danielle?” my mother interrupts as she walks into the living room.
“Dani,” I correct her.
Dani stands up and faces my mother. “Good morning, Mrs. Evans.”
“Please call me Jackie.” She places her hands on Dani’s arms and presses her cheek to hers. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Oh.” Dani looks confused.
“Your hair is so beautiful.” My mother runs her fingers through it. “Has it always been this color?”
“Yes.”
“You and I should go to a salon together some time,” she says. “I know someone who can…”
“Mom,” I interrupt. “Dani and I are talking.”
She looks at me. “Oh. Well, I’ll leave the two of you alone, then.”
She walks out of the room.
Dani sits down. “What just happened? I thought your mother hated me.”
“Not anymore,” I answer. “I told her about how you helped catch the woman who was trying to blackmail her. Now she thinks you’re alright.”
Her eyebrows arch. “Olivia was trying to blackmail you, too?”
“Yup. She didn’t want Hector’s movie to be made, and I guess she heard we were going to be in it, and she didn’t want us to be.”
“Yeah.” Dani nods. “She had a few screws loose.”
“I’d say more than a few, which is why they’re prob
ably going to let her walk.”
“Well, as long as she leaves me alone and never gets to hold a gun again, that’s fine with me. And I think Hector will make sure of that.”
I look at her. “I never knew you and Hector were close. I was surprised when I found you at his house.”
“I was his yoga instructor, too, after all.”
“Who would have thought Hector Davis was doing yoga. And who would have thought your former clients would be working together, huh?”
Dani shrugs. “Life is full of coincidences.”
But is this really one of those?
She stands up. “I better go. I still have stuff to pack and all.”
“Sure.”
I walk her to the door but drag my feet, my footsteps the only sound I make. I want to talk to her some more before I can no longer do so. But what do I tell her? All I can think of to say is that I don’t want her to go, and I can’t say that.
We reach the door and she turns around.
“So I guess this is it,” she says before pursing her lips.
Strange. We haven’t known each other long, and yet I feel like we’ve come so far. But is this really as far as we go?
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back to watch the premiere of your movie.”
I look at her. “You will?”
“Yeah. I look forward to it.”
I smile. “I have to work harder, then.”
“You already work hard enough.”
Suddenly, an idea comes to mind.
“When you come back after this movie, how about you and I hang out at the beach, hmm?”
Dani nods. “Sounds good.”
“Good.”
I can’t think of anything else to say, and she glances at the door.
“I really have to go,” she says. “Take care.”
“You too.”
I stand there as she takes that final step towards the door, but as she reaches for the doorknob, something seizes me and I grab her. I pull her into my arms and kiss her.
She doesn’t kiss me back, and afterwards she looks at me with eyes wide in surprise.
“Sorry,” I mumble as I put my hands down.
“Goodbye,” she whispers.
Then she’s out the door.
I let out a sigh as I lean on the wall.
Goodbye, Dani.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Dani
“What time is your flight again?” Cora asks me over the speakers of my phone, which is sitting on the coffee table while I’m trying to pack the rest of my stuff into my last suitcase.
Trying is the key word.
I’ve been taking things out and putting them back in again, filling all the corners and putting small things inside bigger things, and I still have a pile of stuff that’s not in my suitcase.
And I’ve been at this for nearly an hour now.
“Dani? Are you there?”
“My flight is at one in the afternoon,” I tell her as I start emptying my suitcase again. “Sorry. I’m having a hard time packing. How did you do this so well?”
“Well, I was just thinking about how getting to Switzerland was the most important thing. With that mindset, it was easy to know which things I didn’t really need and discard them.”
I take out one of the blocks I use for my yoga. “You think I don’t need my yoga block?”
“Dani! Don’t tell me you’re bringing your yoga pillow, too.”
“I was thinking of carrying that,” I confess.
“Leave the yoga stuff,” Cora tells me.
I frown. “You brought your needles.”
“Because they’re not heavy and they’re harder to find. You can get your stuff here.”
I pause. “I can?”
“Yes. I saw a yoga shop just the other day.”
I toss aside the yoga block. “So it’s not all chocolate and watch shops there, huh?”
Cora chuckles. “You’ll love it here.”
“I know I will.” I pick up my phone and sit on the couch. “My favorite people are there, after all. How’s Zeke?”
“Good. He seems to be able to move around better now. Everyone’s just taking such good care of him.”
And I know why.
“Are you sure you want to come here, though? You know you don’t have to.”
I sit back. “What do you mean I don’t have to?”
“You deserve a life of your own, Dani, a family of your own.”
I shrug. “Who’s to say I won’t find it there?”
“I just… feel like you’re coming here because you’re running away from something. Are you?”
Am I?
“I won’t ask what really happened between you and Kaleb Wilson…”
“I can explain it to you once I get there.”
“Nor will I ask how you got a million dollars so quickly, or what you did to make the doctors suddenly treat Zeke like some star, because I know it must be your doing.”
So she knows.
“I just want to make sure that you’re not in trouble.”
“I’m not in trouble, Cora,” I assure her as I sit up. “Geez. What did you think? That I’m running away from the law or something?”
“Also, I want to make sure that this is really what you want. It’s not that I don’t want you here with me and the kids. I do.”
“You don’t sound like it,” I mutter.
“But I just feel like you coming here is settling.”
I lean forward. “What does that mean?”
“You’ve always been looking for something. If you come here, I feel like you’re giving up on your search.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Weren’t you the one who told me to sit back and savor what’s there?”
“Yes, I did, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since Zeke got sick. I keep thinking about the things he should have done, the things I should have taken the time to do with him. See, you have to make time for life. You have to make the moments. You have to make the chances, even if it means fighting for those chances. Sometimes, you have to fight in order to live.”
I let out a sigh and sit back. “Now you’re getting deep.”
“I just want you to live,” Cora says. “Don’t wait for your purpose. Create your purpose. And no matter what anyone else says, live for that purpose.”
I take a deep breath. “I really do want to go there, you know.”
“Because you can’t think of anything you want more.”
I pause.
Something I want more? What would that be?
Without warning, Kaleb’s face appears in my head. And the ring he’s given me. And Noah with all his books and his art. And sweet Reilly and how that idea of going to a beach with him sounds really nice. And Hector, who made me realize I wanted things without knowing them, who somehow made me stronger and braver even though he was trying to teach me submission.
A part of me wants to stay here with them, with all of them.
But do I want that more? I can’t say.
“Don’t just come here because of me,” Cora goes on. “Or because you don’t have a reason to stay there. Come here because you have a reason to come here, or stay there if you have a reason to stay there.”
I scratch my head. “You’re confusing me, you know.”
“That’s good.”
“What?”
“That means you’re thinking. That means you’re not really sold on coming here.”
I roll my eyes. “You know what? I’m going there. I’m going to Switzerland. End of discussion.”
“Are you talking to me or yourself?”
“You,” I tell her. “I’m on the phone with you, right?”
“If you say so.”
“I’m going there, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Okay.”
“I…”
I stop as my stomach cramps suddenly and turns.
“Dani?”
“I have to go. My stomach’s
acting up. Must be all the excitement.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll see you soon. Love you.”
“Love you.”
As soon as I hang up, I run to the bathroom. I go straight to the toilet, gripping the seat as I throw up.
Afterwards, I flush the toilet, wash my mouth and sit on the rug to catch my breath.
What was that? Was it something I ate? What did I eat?
I can’t think of anything unusual I’ve eaten lately, so I conclude that it must really be the excitement of the trip getting to me.
No biggie.
Or so I think until my stomach turns again and I have to throw up a second time. And a third. And a fourth.
What the hell is wrong with me?
~
“You’re not sick,” Dr. Robinson, a dark-skinned woman in her forties with curly hair like Diana Ross, tells me as she clasps her hands on her desk.
I close my eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
“At least, you’re not suffering from a serious disease.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “But I’m suffering from a disease?”
“Not a disease.” She hands me a piece of paper.
I look at it but make no sense of it.
“This is the results of my blood test?” I ask her.
“Yes.” Dr. Robinson nods. “And it says that you’re positive.”
My eyebrows rise. “Positive?”
For what?
“You’re pregnant, Ms. Hoffman,” Dr. Robinson announces.
I look at the piece of paper that has suddenly taken on a different meaning with wide eyes.
What?
“I’d say ‘congratulations’, but I’ve learned that some of my patients don’t like to hear that, at least not immediately after receiving this type of news, especially if they’re not expecting it, and I can see that you weren’t. I’ll just say take a deep breath and find out what it means, and in the meantime, I’ll prescribe you some vitamins.”
I shake my head. I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant?
“When you’re ready, you can come back here and we can give you a more thorough prenatal check-up.”
Prenatal. Oh my god.
“Danielle?”
I look at her.
“Did you hear what I just said?”
“I think.”
She hands me a piece of paper. “Here’s your prescription.”
“Thank you.”
I stare at it as well. Like the blood test, it doesn’t make any sense.