“They’re not enough,” I say, choking on the words.
She shakes her head. “Nothing was ever going to feel like enough. But I won’t just be in the sky, Hannah. I’ll bein people’s cars and their bedrooms. In their heads. They’ll sing my name. I’ll fill stadiums and travel all over the world. Everyone will know how much I was loved.”
Tears fall fast down my face. “I would do anything to keep you. You know that, right? If there was any chance to get you back for real, I’d never stop trying.”
“Yeah.” Her thumbs rub my knees. “That was kind of the problem, sis.”
“What, that I love you so much?” I shake with the force of my crying. I want so badly to press my forehead into hers and ask her to hug me, even though I’m the big sister, the one who used to do the comforting.
“Hey,” she whispers. “I want you to know something. I want you to believe it so deeply it’s the last thing you think about before you fall asleep. And when it’s your turn to go, I want you to take it with you.”
The sun has erupted into blazing red. The warmth of the light touches my face. “What?”
“Every second I spent on earth,” she says, “I knew how much you loved me. It shaped who I was.”
I press my face into my hands. “How am I supposed to do this without you?”
“I don’t know.” She shakes her head. “But you’ll find a way.”
“Ginny.” I know she’s only a memory, a projection, but it doesn’t matter. “I will love and miss you forever.”
“I know.” She closes her eyes. “Wherever I am, I can feel it.”
She starts to rise. I lunge for her legs. “No—please. Not yet.”
“Shh,” she says. “It has to happen sometime.” She climbs to her feet. “One more thing.”
I can barely keep my eyes on her, she glows so brightly from the sun.
“You were the best big sister.” She takes a step away. “And I’ll see you again one day. Until then, I release you.”
Ginny walks down the beach. The light from the sinking sun illuminates her as she moves. Soon, she’s nothing but a dark figure limned in light. I get to my feet, shielding my eyes to watch her.
When she’s so far away I can barely see, Ginny turns and waves.
My hand covers my mouth.
She steps into the horizon.
Chapter 60
E! NewsCoverage of the Sixty-Seventh Annual Grammys (Sunday, February 2, 2025)
A woman with long dark hair and glowing skin, wearing a champagne ball gown, stands on the red carpet holding a microphone labeled with a giantE!Behind her, a wall of people held at bay by a red velvet rope yell and cheer. The crowd is mostly young women, though there are some older women and young men scattered throughout. They wear the same white T-shirt, printed with the image of a young woman with blond hair, freckles, and eyes as blue as the ocean. In the image, the young woman stares out into the distance, a smile on her face, hair blowing in the breeze. Above it, black block letters spell outPatron Saint Virginia.
EVA FERNANDEZ:Welcome to the sixty-seventh annual Grammy award preshow celebration, coming to you live from outside the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. I’m your host, Eva Fernandez, reporting from the red carpet. We’ll get to the fashion, but first, I have some special friends here with me tonight.
Fernandez turns to the crowd.
FERNANDEZ: Say hi to everyone watching at home!
The crowd screams and waves, lifting handmade cardboard signs that say things like “It’s All for You, Virginia”and “Please Haunt Me for the Rest of My Life.”
FERNANDEZ:Two weeks ago, Grammy newcomers the Future Saints released a statement announcing they would be disband-ing following tonight’s award show appearance. The band cited “personal reasons” for their split and asked for privacy moving forward. Of course, the statement follows less than three months after lead singer Hannah Cortland’s frightening near-death experience at Miramar Beach and subsequent enrollment in a recovery center. While many music insiders have been bemoaning the demise of the band, something else rather unusual has happened.
Fernandez turns to smile at the people behind thevelvet rope.
FERNANDEZ:As you can see, behind me hundreds of people line the sidewalks, filling the area outside the Crypto.com Arena in support of the Saints. Since the news of their disbanding, the hashtag #PatronSaintVirginia has trended across social media, with fans responding to the announcement by planning a myriad of ways to support them.
