The Last Thing He Told Me

Hannah, shaken by what Jake revealed about Owen’s past, recalls that Owen began telling her his life story on their first date. The things Owen told her about his past are the same things Bailey knows about her childhood—things that happened before Bailey was old enough to remember but which she accepts as truth because her father told them to her. Hannah explains, “That’s how you fill in the blanks—with stories and memories from the people who love you. If they lie to you, like he did, who are you then? Who is he?” (144).

Bailey and Hannah go to a diner and Hannah broaches the subject of Owen’s past. Bailey has no clue why her father might have lied to her. As Hannah watches Bailey process the fact that Owen did lie about their past, she realizes what Bailey needs from her is not a friend but rather a stable person who will not fail her—the same role Hannah’s grandfather played for Hannah.

Bailey tells Hannah that a few months earlier, her boyfriend Bobby was unable to find Owen on Princeton’s alumni roster, but she had chalked it up to a mistake on Bobby’s part rather than a lie on her father’s.