Page 77 of Falling Back to You

“Who doesn’t like animals and the beach?”

“Like or love?”

“Appreciate.”

“A lot or a little?”

“A lot.”

Fancy squealed, kicking her bare feet. “You know, it’s okay to be excited.”

“About what?”

“About Ozzie and you.”

I swiftly shook my head. “No, no, no. Don’t do that. There’s no Oz and me.”

“We both know that’s a lie. You and Ozzie have been a thing before we even understood what a thing was.”

I didn’t know if talking about my feelings for Oz with his little sister was a good idea. Telling her what I was thinking was essentially telling Oz, because with Fancy, secrets had a way of slipping out. Reese had been too busy with work to link up and chat. News like this shouldn’t be shared over the phone. I needed to be able to read every inflection and witness each time her eyes narrowed, or she bit down on her lip.

“What do you think you know about Oz and me?”

“I know he’s madly in love with you.” Fancy gasped and took on a pained expression. “He never outright said those words, and any views I may convey are entirely mine and mine alone.”

“Understood. Go on.”

“I think Oz misses you and wants to fix things because he’s never gotten over you. And he’ll most likely die alone, filled with regret, if he can’t make things right.”

“What does he think needs fixing?”

“I wasn’t around much when Maple was born, but I do know it was a difficult time for you, and Ozzie wishes he could’ve been more present. Maybe if he wasn’t on the road so much, he’d have noticed the signs or—”

“The signs?” My head jerked back. Even after all these years, talking about what had transpired made me upset. “The signs were all around us. Sure, I tried to hide it. I was hurting, but he chose to pretend everything was okay. Everyone was calling it the baby blues, but he had to know I was crumbling inside.” My flesh was overheated, and I could sense my blood pressure rising. We didn’t talk about these things for a reason.

Fancy’s expression was one of shock. She was probably wondering how she’d ended up in the line of fire. “I can’t begin to understand what you went through. But Ozzie lost things too. He lost his family—he lost you.”

“I lost that and so much more. I thought I was going crazy, Fancy. And when I needed Oz, Cyrus, Edison, and even my parents the most, they all fumbled the ball.”

“I—”

“The people I trusted with my life let me down. Do you know how painful that was?”

“I have some understanding… yes.”

My muscles relaxed slightly. I’d never intended to diminish Fancy’s experiences. “I’m sorry. Darla did you dirty, and I can’t imagine my best friend moving against me like that.”

“I’m not trying to compare my static with Darla to what you went through. But I know Ozzie’s put in the effort to educate himself on postpartum depression and the risk of chronic depression that can sometimes follow. He wants to make sure that if you ever need him he’s prepared to support you.

When I revisited how it all went down, something I tried not to do, all I could remember was pleading with Ozzie to take me home. I’d sobbed my heart out, telling him I was scared, and I didn’t want to be locked away. If it had just been us, he probably would’ve capitulated and headed back to the truck. But our parents were there, and apparently they’d all agreed, without any input from me, that I needed to be placed on a hold.

“Dial, with maybe the exception of Maple, there is no one on this planet he cares for more than you. Mistakes only remain mistakes when we don’t learn from them.”

I couldn’t bring myself to admit that it wasn’t Oz I was worried about—it was me. What would our happily-ever-after look like if I admitted that sometimes it was a struggle to get out of bed, or that I kept myself so busy because I was afraid to be alone with my thoughts? Ozzie probably assumed the worst was behind us, but I was just stacking sandbags in the hopes that life wouldn’t come crashing in on me.

“I appreciate you taking up for Ozzie, but if he and I are gonna work, we need to be the ones to do it,” I said.

“That’s fair. I love Ozzie and I know he’s good for a joke, but without you, shit ain’t funny. Plus, part of me has a selfish desire to see you two get back together. We could all go on double dates. Maybe even have a joint wedding. Two brides for the price of one. Doesn’t it just sound divine?”