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Getting another rental car here in town had cost a lot, but it was needed especially now that Tommy no longer was staying at the cottage.
I hadn’t seen either Tommy or Danielle in two days and missing them both was driving me insane. They were my family. Long before Tommy and I had anything, I had considered him family, and even though Danielle wasn’t exactly speaking to her dad at the moment, I knew she cared about him deeply.
I hurt her,I thought, and judging from the look in Tommy’s eyes when we spoke last, I hurt him too with my words. I waited around the inn’s reception desk for a while, hoping Danielle would show up, but when she didn’t, I drove off into town and decided to head back to Belly Rows.
When I pulled into a parking spot by the roadside, I noticed a little crowd had gathered in front of the shop, and I could hear the lovely sound of a guitar.
Danielle,I thought, then jumped out of my car and locked it.
I hurried toward the sound of the guitar, and I realized it was Danielle playing when I got close. She was playing ‘Take Me Home’, and I began singing along even before I made my way to the front.
“Oh sweet Dallas take me home; oh sweet Dallas make me pure. There’s a hole in my heart that you make whole, oh sweet Dallas …”
Danielle’s finger froze on the strings as I began to sing louder, and she looked at me for a long time, her gaze unflinching. My lips formed a tight line and I prayed she wouldn’t just get up and leave. not with all these people watching.
After a long minute, she played again, and I released a deep sigh before moving to her side to pick up the mic from its stand and continue with my singing.
We sang the entire song then she played some more before the crowd dispersed. A smile crept to my lips as I remembered Danielle and me playing like this in front of Belly Rows many times in the past.
When the crowd finally dispersed and it was just me and Danielle, I spoke up. “Danny I’m so sorry about the other day, I ….”
“Don’t talk to me, Leah. I’m not speaking to you,” she said as she gathered her guitar and boxed up her mic. “I came here to get some apple pie and Cherry said she had missed us playing so I decided to do one for the house.”
“Danielle, just hear me out,” I continued as she rose to her feet and pulled her luggage with her. “Please just … I don’t want to lose you, please.”
“You should have thought of that before screwing my dad.”
The harshness of her tone made me worry. It didn’t seem like she would forgive me soon enough, and I couldn’t bear the thought of that.
“I didn’t expect my best friend to do that. I thought you were my people, Leah, but clearly, you’re not.”
“I didn’t mean for this to happen … Any of it, and trust me, I tried to fight it, I did, but then it just happened, and I just couldn’t stop.”
Danielle was walking away to her car now, but I was determined not to let her leave like that. I followed suit and caught up with her before she got to her car.
She tried to open the door, but I stopped her. “You’ve got to listen to me, Danielle,” I yelled to get her attention. Danielle was bull-headed but that didn’t mean that I would let her leave like this.Not until we sort this out.
“Why?” she yelled back.
“Because we’re sisters, and we don’t ice each other out … We never have, and we never will.”
Danielle’s gaze softened after I said the words, and I saw her shoulders slump.
“I’m sorry Danielle … I really am.”
Danielle shook her head and tears misted her eyes. “Do you regret it?”
Her question shocked me, and I couldn’t bring up the answer she probably wanted to hear because I knew that would be a lie. I didn’t regret being with Tommy or the times we’d spent together so far.
If anything, I wanted more of that … More of him.but I know it’s wrong and you can’t have that.
“The fact that you can’t answer means your apology means nothing.”
Danielle shoved me away, got in her car, and drove off while I stood there. I watched her car leave until it was out of sight, then I turned and walked into Belly Rows to get something to eat.
Later that night, while I sat on the front porch alone, Danielle’s car pulled up on the side curb and she stepped out. She walked toward the cottage while holding two guitars and I rose to my feet once she got to me.
“I bought you this guitar on my way here because I thought you would need it,” she said to me before handing it over. “I still think you need it.”
