“Holy shitballs, it’s just like a Scooby-Doo ending,” Dusty cackles in delight next to me.
Not exactly, I think to myself, my cheeks colouring at the language coming out of the old woman.
“I’ll take it from here,” Maddie tells Danny as he passes Edith to the waiting officers. “I’ll ride with them back to the station and get her booked in.” She turns to me and winks. “Tristan.”
I offer her a warm smile as they head out of the room, then turn my attention to Danny and the man standing next to him.
“Who’s the sexy side of beef?” Dusty eyes him in appreciation. “He’s like the super-hot version of Columbo.”
I’m not even sure there can be a super-hot version of Columbo, I want to say, but I can’t, not out loud, although as the words fall from Dusty’s mouth, I swear I see the stranger's mouth curve slightly.
She’s right about one thing though—he is sexy. There’s a scar running from the corner of his eye down his cheek, but it doesn’t in any way detract from his handsome face. In fact, it would make him look somewhat dangerous and even intimidating if not for his relaxed body language, the playful amusement dancing in his eyes, and the soft curve of his mouth which wrinkles that scar.
“Tristan,” Danny says, drawing my attention, “this is my friend, Sam Stone, from back home.”
“It's nice to meet you.” I offer my hand.
“Likewise.” He grasps my hand and I smile at his accent, so like Danny’s but a few degrees lower.
“Are you okay?” I ask as he removes the handkerchief from his temple and I see a smear of blood.
“I’m fine.” He shakes his head with a rueful smile. “Although I don’t know what she had in her handbag. That thing felt like it was filled with bricks. My ma used to say all a woman’s secrets were hidden in her handbag. Bit worried as to what a black widow killer would be carting around in hers.”
I stare at him for several long moments, dropping my hand as his words shift something in my mind. I turn to Mrs Abernathy, who’s hovering alongside Dusty, and my gaze drops to the bag clutched tightly in her bony claw-like hands. The same bag she’s been trying to give to me and Dusty for days.
Like Dusty, finding the killer and solving Delores’ murder wasn’t enough. Even when unable to directly communicate with us, she’s been trying to tell us all along what she needed to resolve her unfinished business and be free from the death cycle she’s locked in, first by humming the Ella Fitzgerald song and then by telling us Beau’s name, but the one thing she’s been adamant about is that we take her bag from her… The very bag she’d been clutching when her body was discovered lying in her bed in the care home, I realise with a jolt.
My gaze shoots to Dusty and I can see in her eyes that she’s come to the same conclusion.
“Delores, honey.” Dusty smiles at her gently. “Shall I take that for you?” She holds out her hand and Mrs Abernathy stares at it for a moment before offering her the bag.
Dusty wraps her fingers around the handle as Mrs Abernathy drops her hand, but seconds later the bag disappears from Dusty’s hand and reappears in Mrs Abernathy’s.
For a second I’m reminded of when Dusty stood in my kitchen locked in a death cycle of her own, unable to change anything about her physical appearance. To demonstrate this to me the first time when I didn’t understand, she flicked her one remaining shoe at me across the room. Only instead of hitting me in the head as its trajectory would have suggested, it simply reappeared back on her foot. It must be the same with Mrs Abernathy’s bag. Which means whatever she’s trying to show us we can’t access… unless…
“Tristan, are you okay?” Danny asks in concern. “You kind of zoned out.”
“I-I’m fine.” I shoot another fleeting glance at Dusty as she takes Mrs Abernathy’s hand, but as I turn back I notice that Sam’s eyes are fixed on Dusty.
“Oh my god, can he see me?” Dusty whispers. “He’s looking right at me.”
“Tristan,” Danny says again, drawing my gaze away.
“I think I’ll just go and check everyone’s okay, see if they need a hand cleaning up,” Sam says to Danny. “Tristan, it was nice to meet you.” His gaze flicks to Mrs Abernathy and his mouth curves. “I have a feeling you’re a fascinating person to get to know.”
Before I can say anything, he turns and walks away, grabbing a toppled chair and setting it upright before helping a young woman nearby pick up some broken crockery. Pulling my gaze away from him, my stomach rolls over and not in a good way, more in a slightly nauseous,I feel like I’ve done something wrong, kind of way. Danny’s watching me with worried eyes, his expression somewhere between confused and hurt.
“Tris, what’s going on?” he asks quietly. “You've been acting strange for a while now, and I don’t know… you seem to be pulling away. Did I do something wrong? Did I push you too fast when I asked if you wanted to move in together?”
“No.” I rush forward, taking his face in my hands, not caring who’s watching. “No, please don’t think that.” I press my lips to his, kissing him softly. “I love you, Danny. I love you so much I could spend the rest of my life telling you that and it still wouldn’t be enough times.” I pull back enough to stare into his eyes. “I want to live with you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You haven’t pressured or rushed me into anything. I can’t wait to go flat hunting with you, to find a home that’s going to be just ours. I know it sounds crazy, but I really want to go pick out curtains with you and a new set of plates and maybe one of those funny soap dispensers for the bathroom. I want to do all of those things to make it our home. Not yours, not mine… ours.”
“Then why–”
“Have I been acting so weird lately?” I breathe heavily and close my eyes, knowing that the time has come. If Danny and I are going to have any kind of future together, I have to tell him the truth about me, even if it makes me sound completely crazy. But not here, not like this. “There are some things I have to tell you.” I trace my fingertips along his jaw. “And I will. I’ll tell you everything but”—I glance at Mrs Abernathy—“there’s something really important I need to do first. Will you trust me?”
He studies me silently, his eyes searching my face, and I feel utterly stripped bare and not in a sexy,I’m about to have a mind-blowing orgasm,way. Finally, he nods and I can tell that, although he believes I love him, he’s holding a part of himself back and I don’t want that. I don’t want anything to come between us ever, especially not this, it wouldn’t be fair. I have to believe we can figure this out and come out stronger.
Because it would be the ultimate irony if that fateful night so many months ago gave me both Danny and my gift but meant I could only have one at the expense of the other.
