Page 81 of Silent Count
“Aunt Laura, you’re like a love doctor too. You should have a podcast,” Torie chimes in.
“Torie, we’re trying to be serious here. Although I don’t hate the idea of a podcast. We’ll put a cap on that for later.” She reaches for my hand. “Read the letter. And then think about what I’m saying.”
“Okay, I’ll think about it.” I hug her, and then Torie wraps her arms around us both.
The door opens, and Noelle walks in with a bag in her hand. “Oh my God! Laura! Torie! What are you guys doing here?” She drops the bag and comes over to us to join in on the hug.
“We came to get our girl out of this funk.” Torie tells her.
“Oh good. She wasn’t listening to me, so I’m glad you came to talk some sense into her.” Noelle pulls out of the hug, but reaches for my hand. “You know I love you.”
“I do know, and I love you back.” I squeeze her hand and let it go. “What’s in the bag?” I tip my head toward the bag on the floor.
“That would be for you.” She walks over to it and picks it up, then hands it to me. “Open it.”
I set the bag on my lap and pull out the tissue paper first. There’s a note inside, so I take that out and set it to the side. A black shirt and a pair of red-and-black checkered pants are inside the bag.
“What is this?” After pulling out the pants, I lay them next to me.
“Oh, it’s for the Christmas PJ party!” Noelle claps her hands. “My birthday is coming up, and we’re doing a Christmas slash B-day party for me.”
“But who—” My words stop when I pull out the shirt. There’s a Christmas tree on the front of it, and sitting under the tree is the wordeverythingin a fancy script. “Bo.” I lift up the card and open it.
Chelsea,
I’m not giving up on us.
Please come back to me.
I love you.
Bo
“What does it say?” Torie looks over my shoulder. “Oh, Chels, you have to go. When is the party?”
“In two days,” Noelle says.
“Perfect. We leave that morning, so you can go! Although if we were going to be here, I would have crashed your party, Noelle.” Torie wraps an arm around her.
“I wish you could stay and come! It’ll be fun. I’m so excited.” Noelle claps her hands.
Aunt Laura stands up from the chair. “We’d better get going and get checked in to our hotel.”
“You guys can stay here if you want. I can sleep on the couch,” I offer.
“Oh, no. We got a room, but we’ll pick you up tomorrow. Get you out of the apartment for a while. Maybe we’ll do a little Christmas shopping.” She pulls me up and gives me a hug. “I love you, sweet girl. After you read the letter, you can call me. But, Chels, get it done.”
“Okay, I will. Love you guys. I’m so happy you’re here.” I hug my sister next.
“Me too, but I’m keeping these pants until we leave.”
I walk them to the door. “Call me in the morning when you’re ready to get me or I can meet you at your hotel.”
“Okay, talk to you tomorrow!” my aunt says.
I shut the door and go sit down on the couch.
Noelle comes over and sits next to me and wraps an arm around me. “You good?” she asks.
