Charlie Landon had her future worked out until her mother died in a freak shark attack. Her father uproots their lives in favour of moving back to his small town in America. Charlie meets Percy and Noah who unknowingly turn her life upside down. Bot...
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LAST INTRODUCTION
Saturday the 25th of November
Noah laces his fingers through mine as we walk down the bricked pathway. The garden is beautifully tended to which almost fools you into forgetting this is a graveyard and there's bodies rotting beneath the surface.
We find her gravestone among a line of others and I place a bouquet of wildflowers beside it. Noah wraps his arm around my waist and kisses my temple.
"You would have loved her." I bite my lip to keep the tears at bay. "She was down to earth, strong and never cared about what people said. She'd want me to follow my heart, wherever that takes me."
"Would she like me?" Noah cheekily smiles, but there's a glint of vulnerability.
"Because you make me happy, yes. She'd be the one to stop my father from shooting you. I don't know who's going to do it now." I chuckle.
Noah's body goes ridged.
"Would he actually shoot me?"
"He'd at least threaten you with it. If you mention football, he'll instantly love you more than me, his only daughter."
"I'll keep that in mind for the future."
We fall into a silence which I don't know how to feel about. I lean on Noah's shoulder and he squeezes me closer. I miss her so damn much.
Tears trickle down my cheek and I brush them away with the back of my hand. Noah pulls me to his chest and I snuggle into the crook of his warm neck. I inhale his sweet scent; chamomile and peppermint.
"She's with you every day."
"I know." I frown.
He rubs my back and I take a couple of deep breathes.
"We should go."
"We don't need to rush."
"Maddison and Percy are waiting."
"Charlie." He frowns.
"It's just a stone and if anything, I'm sure she'd rather watch me in the ocean shredding it on the waves than standing in front of a stone crying on your shoulder."
"You don't have to bottle it up and pretend you're okay. You can cry, Charlie. We can stay for as long as you want. Maddison and Percy will understand."
His words hit me like a wave in a stormy ocean. Tears pour down my cheeks and my body shakes. Noah holds me tighter and continues to rub my back.
I don't know how long we stand there for but his t-shirt is soaked from my tears.
