AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Unspoken, unknown, untruefear.
Well, fear can take a hike.
When I leave Steve's room, hand in hand with Owen, I see my sister and Tim standing at the kitchen counter. Tim looks a little like he’s been hit by a truck—and I feel him. My one a.m. start is catching up to me. That, and the emotion of Owen’s gift.
Kayla has placed cinnamon rolls on four plates, one for each of us. We walk over to where my sister and her husband stand at the kitchen island. And I feel so grown up.
“When will the boys wake up?”
Tim groans. “They do this every year.”
They’re six and eight, when did this tradition of theirs really begin?
“Probably in an hour or so,” Kayla says, topping off mine and Owen’s coffee mugs.
“Round two,” I say. “I might need a pick me up.”
“Thus the coffee and sugar.” Kayla points to my mug and roll.
Owen laughs beside me. I sort of hate that I had to let go of him to dig into my food. I really need to figure out how to eat a cinnamon roll and keep Owen in my grasp. Maybe I could sit on his lap and eat…
I’m pondering this with serious consideration when my sister says, “Do you still have the vitamin B12 I gave you? That’ll help.”
I hover a hand over my full mouth. Vitamin—oh! To wake me up. Sure. “Coat pocket,” I say, my mouth half full.
“I’ll grab it.” Owen hands me a napkin and pecks my cheek.
I smirk. I’ve always been a little messier than him. “Thank you.”
“Things seem to be going well,” Kayla says, her eyes darting to where Owen walked away.
“They are. Better than well. You might have been right all along, Kayla. Enjoy it now, because I’m not gonna say that again.”
Tim laughs while licking the icing from his fingers.
“I don’t need to say I told you so,” Kayla says. “I need my little sister to know her value and love a man worthy of her.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Tim says, lifting his coffee mug. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” Kayla and I sing in unison, clinking our mugs to Tim’s.
I set my mug back down, my hands clean. “I’m gonna check on Owen. Maybe he can’t find my coat.”
I walk out to the living room—lighter, joyful, a flutter in my heart that tells me all of this is right.
Owen is standing next to my coat, a piece of copy paper in his hands, reading. I study him only a moment when—crap.
“Owen!” I yip, and his head pops up, his sweet blue eyes wide.
And then he reads,
“Sometimes you shouldn’t mess with a good thing. Sometimes you need to leave well enough alone. Sometimes friendship is enough.
I don’t regret giving it a go with my bestie. We both learned valuable lessons. But that doesn’t mean it was meant to be. The fact is, it wasn’t. I learned that sometimes friendship is enough. Friendship is all that’s there. And that’s okay. Be okay with enough.
Trust your gut. Trust your feelings. Trust what you know, my friends.
You’ll never regret it.
