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“I’m freaking out!” I screamed. “I went into the house to help them pack my stuff and I overheard things that I should not have in my head right now.”
“Like what?”
“Like the fact that they saw my underwear? They were discussing my bras? That’s private!”
“Not when they’re ripping it from your body,” she grinned.
“And then Andrew admitted that he’s thought about asking me out. Me! His best friend since we were kids. I don’t even know what to do with that!”
“Wait, you’re telling me that you’re just now realizing that Andrew has been in love with you since high school?”
“What?” I screeched, jerking the car to the side of the road and putting it in park as I turned to face her. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, honey. It’s so obvious. That man has been in love with you for years.”
“No, he hasn’t!”
“Please, why do you think he climbed through your window at night?”
“You knew about that?”
“Or why he spent the night after all those break-ins around town? He knew you were scared and he wanted to make you feel safe.”
“Yes, as a friend,” I argued.
“No, he most definitely did it because he was in love with you.”
“But…” I didn’t know what else to say. I was still so shocked about all of it. “He never said anything.”
“Because he took a job out of town. And I think deep down, he never thought he was good enough for you.”
“Why would he think that? He’s one of the best guys I know.”
“Yes, and you are on a pedestal. You always have been in his eyes.”
“But what about all the women? He’s always with someone new. He falls for them and then is crushed when he realizes they’re not the one.”
She gave me a droll look. “Gee, why would he be crushed when he finds out the woman he tried to replace you with didn’t turn out to be the one?” She pressed her finger to her chin as she cocked her head at me in question.
My jaw dropped in shock. I couldn’t believe it. Andrew was in love with me.
“The question is, do you have the same feelings for him?” Edith asked, her tone softer now.
“I…I don’t know. I never…we’ve never talked about anything like that. He’s like a brother to me.”
“I can guarantee he doesn’t look at you that way.”
I snapped my head to meet her eyes. “What do I do? Do I talk to him about it?”
“Only if you know what you’re going to say. That boy has been holding in his feelings for years. Bringing it up now without knowing if you feel the same is only going to break his heart.”
“But now there’s a secret festering between us.”
“Honey, there has been for years. Figure out what you want first. If you tell him you know and then decide you don’t want him, he’s going to take some job even farther away and you may not see him again.”
The thought of him leaving me and not returning made my chest ache. Even knowing that he had a thing for me all this time wasn’t enough to make me want to push him away. I needed him in my life. He was there for me when my mother died, holding me while I cried myself to sleep. He’s the one that brought me out of my depression and helped me start to live again. When I applied for college, Andrewwas the one who encouraged me to go after what I really wanted and not settle for anything less.
He was my rock and someone I always relied on. Could I tell him I knew? Not without breaking his heart. Besides, I wasn’t even sure he still had those feelings for me. He only said he had considered asking me. That didn’t mean those feelings were still there. I might be dragging up something he’d rather forget.
