Chapter 6

Back in her room, Minnow finally breathes.

The effort of pretending leaves her exhausted. Every smile, every polite answer, every reassuring glance costs more than she has left to give.

She crosses to the bookshelf and pulls down an old photo album before climbing onto the bed. Lying on her stomach, she opens it across the quilt.

The first pages are filled with photographs of her and Saylor beneath the liquidambar tree by the lake. In the earliest ones they can't be more than ten years old, covered in dirt, missing teeth and grinning like the world belongs to them.

A smile finds her.

They look...

Carefree. Untouched.

She brushes her fingertips across one of the photographs.

That girl laughs without thinking. She trusts everyone. She believes bad things happen to other people.

The smile slowly fades.

That girl is gone.

Her phone chimes beside her. For one hopeful second she thinks it's Saylor.

Instead, Chad's name appears across the screen.

"Oh no..."

She stares at it for a moment before answering.

"Hello?"

"There you are." His voice is warm as always. "I've been trying to call you all week."

"I've been sick."

The lie comes easily now.

"Worse than last week?"

She gives a quiet cough.

"I think I'm finally getting over it."

"I'm glad."

Silence settles between them.

"So..." he says eventually. "Does this mean I'll get to see you soon?"

Minnow closes her eyes.

She already knows what she has to say, but it doesn't make it easier.

"I don't think I can see you anymore."

She searches for words that don't seem to exist.

"I just..." She swallows. "I can't be close to anyone right now."

Silence settles between them.

It isn't fair.

Chad has been patient. Gentle. He has never once made her feel uncomfortable.

But even the thought of another date, of sitting across from him, letting him hold her hand, kissing him goodbye, or letting him get close enough to touch her, makes something inside her recoil.

She doesn't understand why.

She only knows she can't do it.

"You didn't do anything wrong," she says quietly. "You've been nothing but kind to me."

"Then what happened?"

She doesn't know how to answer.

"I need to be alone," she whispers.

He lets out a slow breath.

"I wish you'd told me sooner."

"I know."

"I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for."

The kindness in his voice makes it hurt even more.

"Take care of yourself, Minnow."

"You too."

The line goes dead.

Minnow lowers the phone onto the bed and stares at it for several seconds before the tears finally come. She curls into herself, burying her face in the pillow as quiet sobs shake through her.

It's not Chad she's crying for.

Not really.

It's the life she keeps watching disappear piece by piece.

Eventually, the tears stop.

She wipes her face with the sleeve of her jumper before wandering over to the bay window.

Outside, the afternoon is already beginning to fade. The rooftops glow softly beneath the lowering sun.

Her stomach rumbles.

She sighs.

Even eating feels exhausting.

Opening the wardrobe, she reaches for the oversized cardigan Ariella and Henry gave her years ago. Bright patches of colour cover the knitted wool, each square slightly different from the last.

Dovie hated it immediately.

Minnow loved it for exactly the same reason.

Wrapped inside it, she slips quietly downstairs.

The kitchen is warm with the smell of fresh bread and coffee. Someone has left a tray of cinnamon scrolls to cool beside the window.

She wanders slowly between the benches, gathering whatever she thinks she might actually manage.

Two buttered bread rolls. A couple of cinnamon scrolls. An apple. Coffee in her favourite mug.

Balancing everything carefully, she lets herself out into the gardens.

The evening air greets her immediately, cool against her face.

The cold stone path presses through her socks as she walks.

The garden stretches around the mansion in perfect symmetry. Circular hedges, trimmed roses and winding paths have all been planned to the smallest detail.

Everything has its place...

except one crooked little apple tree.

Years ago the gardener had wanted to remove it.

Minnow had refused.

Henry had helped her carry a weathered wooden bench beneath its branches, and ever since, it had belonged to her.

She sets the basket down before reaching up to light the little lantern hanging from one of the lower branches.

The candle flickers to life, casting a warm golden glow through the leaves.

From here she can see all of Oakheart Ridge.

People wander along the streets below. Shops close for the evening. Lights begin appearing one by one in the windows.

Life goes on.

As though nothing has happened.

Footsteps crunch softly behind her.

She turns.

Henry smiles as he steps into the fading light, his greying hair glowing silver beneath the evening sun. There is something about him that has always made her feel safe.

Perhaps it's the gentleness in his eyes.

Or perhaps it's simply the feeling that he has lived long enough to understand that some pain cannot be fixed.

"Evening, Miss Minnow."

"Hi."

He lowers himself onto the bench beside her with a quiet sigh.

Neither of them speaks for a while.

Minnow glances sideways at him.

There was once more laughter in his eyes before his daughter disappeared.

Nobody speaks about her anymore. Not in this house. Not anywhere.

"What's troubling you?" Henry asks eventually.

She looks at him.

"You only come out here when something's weighing on your heart."

She smiles faintly.

"Is it really that obvious?"

"Only to people who know you."

She looks back across the town.

"I'm nervous about Saturday."

"The birthday party?"

She nods.

Henry chuckles softly.

"I'd be nervous too. Half the town will be coming."

"You're not helping."

"I wasn't trying to."

She laughs.

Just a little.

He smiles into his coffee.

"Worrying doesn't take away tomorrow's troubles."

He glances towards her.

"It only steals today's peace."

Minnow lets the words settle.

Henry always seems to know exactly what she needs to hear.

Neither of them speaks again.

Together, they watch the last of the daylight disappear beyond Oakheart Ridge as windows begin glowing across the town below.

For a little while...

the silence doesn't feel quite so lonely.