Page 100 of Dear Mr. Brody
Owen’s throat bobbed and he rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands. “Shit… Liv. I didn’t know what you’d think, or if—”
“You know me better than that.”
“May I remind you, my lovely daughter, that this is not about you.” Mom gave my sister a sad smile. “It might hurt that he kept this from us, but imagine how he must feel, thinking he had to hide this from us for all these years. Owen…”
“I’m sorry, Mom.” His voice cracked and she leaned over to hug him.
A tear ran down Olive’s cheek, and my dad just smiled. I was stunned silent. Did I tell everybody now? Did that steal my brother’s thunder? Holy shit, how hard had it been for him all these years?
“I still wish you would have told me. Our twin connection…. This whole time it was a big fat lie.” She laughed and it was wet. “I love you. You know that.”
“I know.”
“You’re getting married,” she said, and he nodded.
The whole table stared back at him.
“Owen, I—” I swallowed, and he exhaled a shaky breath. “Congrats…This is… this is amazing news.”
“Thanks, little brother.” His smile was small, the secret between us connecting us in a way I would have never imagined. He gave me a private nod, a silent,you can do this, too.I wasn’t surprised when he said, “You know, you never told me how that date went.”
I laughed and mouthed the word fucker as my mom whipped her head in my direction. Owen hated attention. I should have known this would be a shared experience. There was no thunder to steal.
“Date? What is he talking about, honey? You’re dating already?”
“Already? Mom, it’s been over six months, the woman cheated on him. He’s entitled to a little—”
“Thanks, Olive... for your support.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “But I think I got it from here.”
“What are you all going on about,” Dad grumbled. “Why is everything such a goddamn secret?”
“I have a boyfriend,” I said, and the collective gasp I’d expected from my parents never came. “His name is Parker. We’ve been dating a little over six weeks.”
“They met online,” Olive said, proud of herself.
“Online?” my mom asked. “Is that safe?”
“It went well, then?” Owen asked, his crooked smile back in place as he lifted his glass of water to his lips.
“Yeah…” I swallowed again, hating all the eyes on me. “It went well.”
“He’s a good guy?” The concern on Mom’s face made my heart squeeze.
“So far, yeah. We’re figuring it all out.”
“But Lanie?” she asked.
“I’m bi-sexual.”
She looked at my brother and he held up his hands. “What? I had nothing to do with this.”
“I was going to ask you if you were bi-sexual too.” If we weren’t at the table, she would have added dumbass.
“Nope, gay as fu…”
“Don’t finish that sentence, young man.” Mom pointed her fork in his direction, and he pretended to zip his lips like a child.
“I’m still single and pathetic, if anyone cares,” Olive added, and reached for the pie.