Page 82 of Silent Count
I nod. “Yeah, I’m good. Surprised to see them for sure. But also surprised by these.” I hold up the shirt.
“I’m not at all surprised by the PJs. He really misses you.” She scrunches her nose.
“I really miss him too. It’s scary though. You’re with your forever person, and you already knew him, so there wasn’t all the unknown, like there is with us. And your past isn’t like mine.”
“Well, no, but it was still scary. You were there, ma’am. You know I was scared about ruining our friendship, but then it got to a point that I knew I had to take the chance anyway. And it wasn’t easy or without our share of issues. Trey was a lot of baggage—different from yours, yes, but still a lot.” She shakes her head. “You just need to give him the chance to show you he’s the man he says he is, and honestly, I think he has the whole time. Bo’s not the kind of guy to play games. Trust him. Believe him.”
“I’m working through it.” I nod.
“Okay, good. Are you okay if I go to Casey’s tonight? I can stay here if you need me to.” She takes my hand in hers.
“No, I’m good, I promise. Go be with your man. I’m probably just gonna go to bed anyway. It sounds like I have a busy day tomorrow.” I stand and let go of her hand.
She starts to walk toward her room. “You’ll have fun tomorrow.”
I put the PJs back in the bag and walk toward my room and meet her in the hall. “I’ll see you tomorrow maybe, and if not, I’ll see you at your party.”
“You’re coming?” She bounces on her feet.
“Well, yeah. I always planned to come.”
“I wasn’t totally sure, but I’m really glad you’re coming. It wouldn’t be the same without you.” She hugs me. “I’ll come over and get you. My PJs haven’t arrived yet, so if they don’t show up, I’ll have to wear my backup pair.”
“You have a backup pair of Christmas PJs?”
“Uh, yeah. My name is Noelle, and my birthday is right before Christmas. Of course I have backups. Multiple.” She laughs. “But I really want to wear these new ones.”
“Right, yeah. That makes sense. I guess I never paid attention to your Christmas PJ collection.” I push her toward the door. “Go see your man.”
“Love you, Chels.” She blows me a kiss.
“Love you back.” I pretend to catch her kiss.
I watch her leave and when I hear her lock the door, I go into my room. My phone is on the charger on the nightstand next to my bed and I pick it up to see if Bo has texted me tonight. And he has.
Bo: Good night, Lucky.
I hesitate for a minute, but type out a reply.
Chelsea: Thanks for the PJs. Night.
He replies instantly.
Bo: You’re welcome. And just so you know, I have the matching set, and I really want to see you wearing them for the party.
Matching? So, they both sayeverything?
I don’t reply because if I do, we’ll just end up going back and forth, and then we’ll get on the phone, and I just need to think a little more. And I need to read this letter from my dad, as much as I don’t want to.
I set the bag on my bed, and then I go to my closet and pull the shoebox off the shelf that has the letter from my dad in it.
My fingers are shaking as I open the envelope. I can see his handwriting through the paper, and I recognize it immediately. It’s been years since I’ve seen it though. I sit down on my bed and then pull it out and unfold the white paper. I suck in a deep breath and start to read.
Chelsea,
I know you probably won’t read this, since Laura says you haven’t read any of my other letters. Can’t say I blame you. But I wanted you to know I’m dying. Got stage four lung cancer. They say I don’t have much time left, so I better get my affairs in order. Not that I got many affairs to take care of, but I did want to make sure I said goodbye to you.
Torie probably don’t remember much about me, which is for the best. But I hope you’ll tell her what I’m saying here.
