Page 102 of The Ghost of You

He looks into my eyes and I can see the love he has for me in them but he doesn’t say the words. And I don’t need him to say those words for me to be happy. I know he feels them. And I also know they are some of the hardest words for him to say. Just as hard as it is for me to say.

Instead he kisses me with a reverence I have never felt from him before. And I know this is how he is telling me he loves me too.

* * *

Jessica’s engagementparty is exhausting. Nearly half the town is here and every last one of them is asking me every question in the book.

Luckily, I have Noah by my side and he manages to field questions about Kyle and refocus the energy on my sister.

I tell him I need to step outside for a minute to get fresh air. He is about to tell me he will come with when old Miss Betty sweeps him away.

I laugh as I walk out of the country club and sit on the steps leading to the building. I breathe deep as I find the peace I never thought I would find from coming home.

Everything that Kyle did falls away. Looking back, I see he wasn’t the one. He was never one hundred percent committed to us. The memories of all the fights we had while making music make me realize that it was never his future or his path.

I can hate him all I want for cheating on me but it doesn’t change the fact he did. He ruined a good thing. But instead of wallowing in self-pity over it, I see it as a stepping-stone to the path I am on now.

Because unlike Kyle, Noah supports me in everything. He encourages me to take chances. To be the woman I thought I could be. To live the dreams I’ve always had.

I stand up and turn to go back inside when a voice stops me.

“What is it about you?”

I turn and look at Becca as she stands on the sidewalk. She looks tired, sallow. Like she hasn’t slept in years and the burden of family has weighed her down. Where she used to be the perfect girl, the desire of so many, with her perfect blonde hair and perfect body and perfect life. Now she looks rundown.

“Becca. What are you doing here?” I take a step toward her to give her a hug but she steps back. “We haven’t seen each other in years! No hug?”

“You weren’t supposed to come back here.”

I scrunch my brows at her. “What do you mean?”

“You never wanted to come back.” She hisses.

“I changed my mind, Becs. I missed my parents, my sister. I had to be here for her. I finally found the courage to be here for her.”

She snorts at me and mutters something about a perfect life.

“I asked Jess why she didn’t invite you but she wouldn’t tell me. I thought it was strange she wouldn’t invite my best friend. But you are acting weird.”

She walks up the steps, anger in her eyes. “I saw you in there. I saw you with your new boyfriend. Why Anna? Why do they all love you? What do you have that I don’t?”

The anger in her eyes turns wild and I take a step backward out of fear. “What are you talking about?”

“Everyone in there is so happy you are back. That you finally came home. But what makes you so special? You ran from this place. Everyone should hate you. But no, they still love you. Even as you come back here skinnier than you’ve ever been. Is that all it took? Losing a little bit of weight and you are no longer Fat Anna Banana?”

“What the hell, Becca? What is wrong with you?” This isn’t my best friend. This is a parasite of the girl I knew.

She laughs as she looks at me. “What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you? Do you really think he is going to love you forever? What about when you gain all that weight back? I doubt he will love you then. You are nothing special.”

“What are you talking about Becca?” I am so confused. It almost sounds like she is jealous of me. But why? She has the perfect life with her perfect husband and her perfect family. And she has never spoken this way to me before.

“You don’t get it.”

I shake my head as I take another step back. “No, I don’t.”

“You had it all and you threw it—”

“Mom!” a little boy screeches as he runs down the sidewalk. “I know you told me to stay put at the park but these big kids came and I gots scared.”

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