Page 57

Claire

Now

“I can’t believe you guys are really leaving,” Kyan says as he stands, his arms open as he leans in to give me a hug.

We’re back in the kitchen of his Sydney house, where we’ve been staying the last few days, and which seems to look even more grandiose following our accommodations in Jagged Rock.

“It’s been so nice having you here, even with everything that’s happened. ”

“Come on, Kyan.” Adrien walks over, blocking our hug and pressing her hand on his shoulder, lightly pushing him back into his wheelchair. “You know you shouldn’t be standing. You’ll rip out your stitches.”

As fate would have it, Kyan was recovering from his stab wound in the same hospital that I was rushed to following the crash. Or maybe it wasn’t fate as much as it was the biggest/only hospital within two hundred miles of Jagged Rock.

It had been touch and go, he explained to us later.

He’d lost a lot of blood during the ambulance ride to the hospital and had been rushed into surgery immediately upon arrival.

Randy’s knife had punctured one of his kidneys, which the doctors had removed before they’d sewn him up.

Life would be a bit different, they’d advised him.

Less alcohol, healthier food, and more moderate exercise.

But he’d survive.

He recounted the stabbing to the others in the hospital, which Declan then passed onto me.

Kyan had gone to the parking lot to take a call when he spotted the slashed tires on our rental cars—the ones Josh was responsible for.

Unfortunately, at that same time, Randy had come out for a smoke break.

Kyan launched himself on him, accusing him of slashing the tires.

One thing led to another, and Randy retaliated, screaming at Kyan about how privileged and arrogant we all were, how we’d ruined his life.

And before Kyan knew what was happening, before he had a chance to defend himself, Randy pulled out a pocketknife and shoved it into Kyan’s stomach.

Randy fled immediately after that, leaving Kyan to bleed out.

Declan also relayed how Luke, Ellery, and Adrien had received the wildfire evacuation notice early on the morning I’d gotten in the car with Josh.

With no other choice for transportation, they’d decided to pile into Luke’s beat-up hatchback with only a prayer that it would make it to Tilloborra, where they could be in relative safety and visit Kyan in the hospital.

Just as they were coming to our rooms to wake us, Declan burst through the doors of the Royal Hotel, explaining how I’d left the Inn with Josh in a car he didn’t recognize, heading to God knows where.

Declan knew something was wrong, call it intuition or whatever, but it was enough to convince the others.

When Declan told me this part in the story, I couldn’t help but tear up, thinking of how they chose to save me even after everything.

There were so many directions Josh and I could have headed in, but they figured we would be heading away from the wildfires, so they scanned the windows for any sign of me or Josh as they drove.

They stopped at the same gas station we had to check if there had been any sightings.

They spoke to the cashier, who pointed them in the direction we had headed.

It only took a few more minutes for them to come across the wrecked car, to spot Josh’s hands around my throat.

Thankfully, Luke wasn’t burned in the explosion; the force of the blast propelled him away. But he broke his wrist in the fall. A small injury in the scheme of things, but one I’ll never be able to fully repay him for.

“Can’t you guys stay just a few days longer?” he says now, a plaster cast affixed to his forearm, his signature kind smile adorning his face.

Luke came back to Sydney with us. He is taking everything that happened as a sign.

After nearly a century of operations, he realized that it was time to say goodbye to the Royal Hotel.

It had run its course, he explained to us, and he’d paid his dues.

It was time to stop living just to defy others and time for him to go after what he wanted.

He was going to move to Sydney, use the money from the sale of the hotel to finance the purchase of a small bar in Darlinghurst, where he could revive Daisy Dukes and return to the life he was supposed to be living.

After everything he’d done for us, Kyan insisted Luke stay with him as he sorted out his new life.

Although, that would mean that Kyan would now have two houseguests.

Adrien has also decided to stay in Sydney.

Being back with Kyan made her realize how unhappy she was with her life in South Africa, how trapped and apathetic she’d become with a career and husband she didn’t love.

She hasn’t called her father yet—she is planning on doing so after we all leave—but she knows what she’ll tell him.

She is an adult, and she has the right to live her own life.

To do what she wants, to love whom she wants.

She’s already spoken to her husband, the divorce papers are en route to him, and she is sending a moving company to pack up her things and bring them to Sydney.

“Sorry, Luke. We would if we could, but some of us have things to get back to,” Ellery says with a wink. “Wedding planning and all that. Don’t forget to mark your calendars in October for a trip to Canada. Our next reunion.”

Ellery had come clean to us about her lingering feelings for Phoebe.

“I’d been head over heels for her,” Ellery admitted to all of us over dinner at Kyan’s. “It was the first time I’d had feelings like that for a girl and it scared me, honestly. I handled it poorly. Maybe if I did something different, she would still be…”

Ellery didn’t finish her thought, but we all knew what she meant. Maybe Phoebe would still be alive. I was struck by how every single one of us had been haunted by what happened in Jagged Rock. How I wasn’t the only one scarred by guilt after that trip.

Ellery went on to admit what really happened during our camping trip in Cullamonjoo National Park.

How she and Tomas had taken the drugs in secret, and how that was likely the only reason he agreed to Phoebe’s dare.

Ellery said she’d talked to Phoebe after, confessed her role in the accident.

Phoebe promised not to tell anyone and insisted Ellery do the same.

Tomas’s death was her own fault, Phoebe had told Ellery. She would take full blame.

Phoebe had protected Ellery, and Ellery had been riddled with grief—like me, like all of us—ever since. She’d call Phoebe’s phone occasionally, just to hear her voice, and would text when the guilt got to be too much.

Ellery hadn’t had any relationships after that, never felt like she was worthy.

Until she met her now fiancé at a charity event.

She admitted she’d approached her purely because of her physical similarities to Phoebe.

But as Ellery learned more and more about her, she realized all the differences too.

“Grace is just as fiercely loyal, but she doesn’t have the same hard edges as Phoebe. She’s warm, open. Honestly, I don’t know if I deserve her.”

But I know it. We all deserve goodness. We’ve spent enough of our lives dwelling in guilt.

“You lot will have to visit New York soon,” Declan says, lacing his fingers through mine, and I feel my heart flutter. In the hours that he sat by my side in the hospital, we talked through everything. How stupid we’ve been these last few years, letting our guilt and regret dictate our lives.

So, we reached a decision. I’ll move in with him in New York.

His friend’s architectural office needs a receptionist, a part-time job I can easily do as I finish my degree at a local community college.

His apartment’s big enough for both of us, he promised.

I’ll return to Chicago, of course, to pack up and quit my job in person, but he’ll be with me.

And we’ll build a life together, trying to make up for the years we let slip away.

We all exchange hugs as Declan’s phone flashes with a notification that the Uber’s arrived outside.

Tears are shed by everyone—even a few from Adrien—as Ellery, Declan, and I wave from the back window of the SUV.

Declan holds my hand as the car winds us through the narrow streets of Bondi, back to the airport.

And as flashes of ocean whip by, I think back on how much has changed in the week and a half I’ve been back here in Australia.

I came with nothing but guilt. And I’m leaving with everything.

I smile, my eyes glued to the window, but Phoebe’s voice breaks through it, raspy and cruel.

You don’t deserve this.

The guilt clasps at my heart, a familiar affliction, but this time I’m able to force it away, to convince myself I’ve made up for it. We’ve all made mistakes. My actions may have led to Phoebe’s death, yes, but I wasn’t the only one. And I achieved justice for her.

I’ve done everything I can to make things right. That’s all she can ask for.

“You alright?” Declan asks, his brow furrowed in concern.

I smile at him reassuringly. “I am now.”