Page 61 of The Kidnapped

They arrived at her desk, so Hollis stopped.

“Want to keep talking in my office?” Kenna offered.

Hollis just nodded, followed Kenna into her nice, large office, and sat on the sofa without being asked while Kenna closed the door.

“Tell me what happened,” Kenna said as she sat down next to her.

“My timing was awful,” Hollis began. “I’d been talking to my mom about the case, her desire not to go through any more treatment, my thoughts about her doing this show when she’s getting worse, and my feelings for Raleigh. I managed to convince her to not do the show. Sorry about that, by the way.”

“It’s fine,” Kenna replied, shrugging her off.

“But she’s not getting treatment and won’t see Ada’s brother.”

“Oliver?”

“Yeah. Ada told Raleigh that he might see her if she wanted a second opinion. My mom doesn’t want any more opinions. She said she was ready to be done with treatment of any kind. Then, somehow, that segued into her telling me that I should talk to Raleigh about how I feel, or, at least, ask her out. I tried to call her to do it, but I ended up texting her for drinks because I’m a coward.”

“Okay. Well, drinks is a step in the right direction,” Kenna offered.

“Except, I just unloaded on her at a bar. She noticed I was off, which was mainly my nerves, but I ended up telling her everything that was on my mind, and none of it was good, Kenna. It was like I word-vomited thirty-five years of baggage onto her.”

“What did she say?”

“She passed me a beer and suggested I go to therapy.”

“What?” Kenna laughed and then covered her mouth quickly. “Sorry.”

“No, that’s about right,” Hollis replied.

“She told you to go to therapy?”

“Not exactly. She mentioned she knows a doctor who specializes in our situation. She hadn’t gone yet herself, for whatever reason, but she seemed to think that it might be a good idea for me to go see him.”

“I’m not trying to tell you that you need therapy, but Raleigh’s your friend, and, at least in some way, she knows what you’re going through.”

“It wasn’t the therapy thing that got me. I mean, I can go talk to someone. I’m just not there yet.”

“Okay. What was it?” Kenna asked.

“I just couldn’t stop myself,” Hollis shared. “She knew something was off, and I wasn’t telling her what it was, but now we’re talking about therapy, and I decide that that’s the best time ever to tell her the real reason I’m acting weird, so I tell her that I wanted to ask her out.”

“Oh.”

“Right, oh,” Hollis replied with a nod. “I should’ve just had a beer, enjoyed the nachos, and called it a night, but I had to make things awkward by telling her that I’m into her.”

“Well, the timing wasn’t the best, yeah, but at least it’s out there now. What did she say?”

“No. She said no.”

Kenna nodded sorrowfully and asked, “Did she give you a reason?”

“No, because I was too embarrassed to listen. So, then, I was a jerk, cut her off a bunch, and left her there at the bar. I paid for the drinks and food, at least, but that’s it.”

“And you haven’t talked to her since?”

“Nope,” Hollis replied. “She just texted me when she got home. I’d been worried she’d drink both beers and then drive, which was dumb because she’s Raleigh; she’d never do that. Anyway, she texted that she’d gotten home safely and asked me to let her know that I was okay. I messaged her back that I was home, too, and going to bed. That was it.”

“What are you going to do?” Kenna asked her.

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