The car ride went smooth and rather fast. Or maybe it just seemed that way to Gemma. Admittedly, she did spend a bit of time making out in the backseat with Alex, until Harper threatened to hose them both off.

Most of Gemma’s attention was focused on Alex, but while she was curled up next to him in the backseat, she watched Harper and Daniel interact. Daniel was trying to get Harper to relax and cheer up, and Harper tried to resist, but she ended up laughing with him more times than she’d have wanted to.

When they got back to Capri in the evening, Harper decided to drop Daniel off at his boat before heading to their house. She pulled up to the docks to let him out.

“Thanks,” Harper said, and she seemed to avoid looking directly at him. “For coming with and helping look for Gemma, and for everything, really.”

“Yeah, it was no problem,” Daniel said. He sat in the car for a moment, then opened the door. “Well. I’ll see you around.”

“Yep,” Harper said.

“’Bye, Daniel,” Alex added, and Daniel waved at him as he got out.

“Wait a sec,” Gemma told Harper, and then she hopped out after him. He was walking away, so she called after him, “Daniel. Hold up.”

“Yeah?” He turned back around to her.

Gemma threw her arms around his waist, hugging him. It took him a second to hug her back. It was short and slightly awkward, but she smiled up at him when she took a step back.

“I just wanted to thank you properly for helping me out and for being concerned and all that,” Gemma said.

“It’s really not a problem,” Daniel said, waving it off.

“And I wanted to thank you for Harper,” Gemma said.

“For Harper?”

“Yeah,” Gemma said. “She needs you more than she thinks she does, and I’m really glad that you can see that.”

“Uh…” Daniel looked like he didn’t know how to respond to that. “Um, you’re welcome?”

“Yeah, anyway.” Gemma waved at him as she stepped back. “See you later.”

She ran back to the car, and Harper asked her what that was about. Gemma just shrugged, and Harper drove them back home.

22. Reunion

TWENTY-TWO

Reunion

Being in her own room again felt so strange. Gemma stood in the doorway for a long time, just staring at the mess of things she’d left behind. It gave her a weird sense of being in a time warp. She hadn’t been gone that long, not really, but with the insanity of the past few weeks, it felt like it had been a lifetime ago that she’d been the girl who lived in this room.