Page 114 of Wonderstruck

He smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.“But don’t go slacking on me now, Greene. The second I’m back I wanna see what you’ve been working on.”

“I’m gonna nail my triple,” I said, trying to lightenthe mood. “You’ll probably get a dozen videos of them by the end of the week.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” he said, his smilesoftening.

For a moment, it felt like the world had shrunkdown to just us, the fire casting shadows on the walls, the quiet wrapping around us like a blanket.

“You should go back up to her,” Finn said gently,though he didn’t let go of me right away. “I’ll wait for the others.”

“Thank you,” I said, standing on my toes to kisshim.

He held me a little tighter before letting me go, and I climbed the stairs, feeling the weight of the night settle over me again.

But, perched at the end of Cora’s bed, I drifted offthinking about what I’d tell him when he got back, and never had the words ‘I love you’ been so easy to imagine confessing.

chapter thirty

her and home were starting to feel similar

Montana always knew how to quiet the chaos in my head. The city had its charms, sure, but New York was constant noise—sirens, car horns, the steady hum of a million lives crammed into one place. Montana was different. It was wide open, calm. The pine trees felt like sentinels, and the mountains stood like guards against the world. Out here, it was just me, the dirt under my boots, and the sky.

Daisy walked a little ahead of me, her blonde hair tied back in a loose braid, held by a red gingham bow. She always said Montana was her anchor too, though she’d never admit it in as many words.

She saved those for her songs.

We didn’t talk much on these walks come to think of it—it was one ofthose unspoken agreements we had. Thanksgiving tradition. Just us, the woods, and the path to Mom's grave.

My eyes were trained on Daisy as she threw herhead over her shoulder, just enough for me to hear her. “What do you miss most about Honeywood when we’re not here?”

Sometimes I forgot how similar our minds were. Whatever was floating around mine was almost exactly floating around hers.

The thought made me smile.

I picked up my pace enough so I was walking beside her, the cuffs of my boots hitting my jeans. “Everything, I guess. Grandpa. The town. Howclear the air is.” My eyes fell to the bouquet of daisies in her hand. “How come?”

I watched her shrug. “I’ve just been thinking about being here. Ever since being back this summer, this is the only place I’ve wanted to be.” She shook her head, brushing some tiny, tight curls from her face before wrapping her free arm over the waistband of her overalls. “I’ve just missed it.”

A corner of my mouth peaked as I stared into thetop of her head. “I would have thought all that band practice would’ve taken your mind off it.”

She turned her head up to me, her brows arched. “We’re called ‘TheBitteroots’ because two out of three of us are from Montana. And Bodhi is barely over the state line into Wyoming. So somehow practice always ends with us talking about home in some way.”

A laugh tumbled out of me. “What is it with this place? It's like there's some kind of magic portal thatjust connects everyone here.”

Her eyes widened, the rays of sun darting betweenthe trees lighting up her face. “Right? It’s like that thing when people say that you’re realistically only two people away from your celebrity crush. Somehow all the people we know have always been afew people away.” Her hand flails. “Well, expect Cora and Tristan. Although I’m sure they’ve probably crossed paths at some point.”

“Probably.”

The early chatter from the crickets took the leadfor a second, as we came out of the woods and down the picket-lined path that led to the cemetery. It wasn’t until the sun went from yellow to golden, when we saw the first row of headstones, that Daisy turned to me.“Speaking of, did you ever ask Rory about that day you thought you saw her?”

I nodded at her, the memory of me finding herthat first day back at Liberty, cursing in French right outside her class, flooding my thoughts. “I did, but she said it wasn’t her.”

But it was. We both knew it.

I’d recognise the way she made my heart beatwhen she looked at me anywhere.

I hadn’t thought to chase her up about it. There were more pressing things to deal with that day. Like that scared, almost lost look in her eye. The cursing.Everything that made her unrecognisable.

My thoughts halt as Daisy smiled up at me. “How are things going withyou two?”

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