Page 48 of Owen Bailey Needs Advice

“Sweetheart, you wrote her a letter?” Mom’s voice is soft and kind.

I peer from one woman to the next. I think for a minute that Meredith will answer for me. This was her idea, after all.

When she doesn’t, I open my mouth. “I did. I just wanted to see what she’d say.”

“You saw it, right?” Meredith says, her eyes blinking.

“Yeah.” I lean against the sink of this small half bath and shove my hands into my pockets.

“Well, I didn’t,” Mom says, fingers wagging. “Someone pull it up for me.”

Coco has her phone out and opens the page before I can blink.

First, she reads my letter as context for Mom:

Dear Ask Annie—

What are your feelings on dating a friend? Like a best friend? I’ve been in love with my best friend for years, but I fear I’d end our friendship with the truth.

Sincerely,

Ready in Red

“In love?Love?” Mom pulls in a breath, holding it a second before letting her chest deflate. “Oh, my boy.” She reaches out a hand and while I’m not eight years old anymore, I take it. I love my mother. She is the bravest, strongest woman I know. And if she wants to hold my hand, I’ll let her.

“Read her answer,” Meredith says, saving me from speaking.

Dear Ready in Red,

You’ve been in love with your best friend for years… and she doesn’t know? Does that mean for years, you’ve been dealing with stomach pain, headaches, digestive issues, racing heart, and tension—all symptoms of holding something in and keeping it to yourself?

With that said, there are times in life when we need to speak and times when we need to hold our tongue. The symptoms will pass. You need not confess every thought you’ve ever had—that won’t necessarily bring you peace.

But if it’s truly been years, and it’s truly love, then you need to ask yourself this: Does she love you back? Will your confession, if unreciprocated, be worth it?

I can’t answer that for you.

What I do know is this: if after years you are still asking this question, then you most likely (while going against my better judgment of NOT dating friends) need to do something about it.

Good luck,

Ask Annie

There’s a short minute of silence after Coco finishes the letter before Meredith says, “So, what are you going to do?”

Mom’s fingers squeeze around my own. “I think it’s time to write another letter.”

23

Annie

Isit in one of the booths at Elsie’s, my feet propped on the bench across from me. “Why not?”

“It’s literally a deathtrap,” Owen says through the speaker of my phone.

“Your complete mess of a house is the perfect place for a Halloween party, though.”

“Not if we want all the guests to leave alive.”

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