Page 23 of Angel's Fantasy

“Yeah, there’s no question about that. I’ve tried to deny it for a while, but I just can’t fight it anymore.”

“And you’ve told her how you feel?”

I shook my head. “No… what’s the point?”

She clucked her tongue and rolled her eyes. “Silly boy. You have to tell her how you feel. If she loves you back—and I can’t imagine why she wouldn’t—then she’ll tell you. And if she doesn’t… at least you’ve been a man about it, and you can move on. But until you say something to her, you won’t be able to stop thinking about it. That’s just how it goes.”

I sat back in my chair and thought about my mother’s words. She’d loved and lost more than anyone I’d ever known, and she’d lived long enough to know what she was talking about.

ShouldI tell Bella how I felt? Was there any point to it? Would I at least be able to move on, no even if she shut me down?

Maybe…

Maybe it was worth a shot.

“You really think so, Mama? You think that’s what I should do? Just… tell her?”

She nodded and took another long sip of lemonade. “I know that’s what you should do. Have I ever given you bad advice before?”

“No,” I laughed. “You definitely haven’t.” I stood up and stretched, then crossed the porch and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Thank you, Mama. You’ve given me a lot to think about. And… I think I know now what I need to do.”

“What?” Her brow furrowed. “Are you leaving? Without even staying for dinner?”

“I’m sorry, Mama. I have to go back to Miami. I don’t want to waste any more time… but maybe the next time I come to visit, I’ll have a guest with me.”

Her dark brown eyes lit up as a wide smile spread across her face. “You’d better have this girl with you, Angel. I want to meet the future mother of my grandchildren.”

“Cross your fingers, Mama,” I said, giving her a little wave as I turned to go. “I’m going to need all the luck I can get.”

And whether or not I ended up being lucky enough for Bella to love me back, I’d made up my mind.

I had to tell her how I felt. I owed her the chance to hear it and respond to it, and I owed it to myself to say the words.

To tell her I loved her.

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