8. Owen
OWEN
Owen stood at the center of the deep pool basin, organizing the tactical alignment of the technical grid boards before the afternoon sun could warp the markers.
The air down in the excavation site was heavy and hot, the midday humidity radiating off the reinforced concrete foundation as he adjusted a set of measuring tapes.
His phone rang loudly in his pocket, the sharp vibration breaking through the quiet drone of the nearby student group.
He pulled the device out, noting the contact name flashing across the glass screen showed it was Maggie.
He slid his thumb across the screen to answer the call, keeping his tone cheerful. "Hi, how is George doing?"
"Where is Linda? I can't get hold of her, and I need to find her urgently." Maggie's voice came through the small speaker like a soft vortex of frantic emotion, the frantic pacing of her words instantly setting off alarms in his head.
Owen froze, his grip tightening around the tape measure's metal casing as his breath stalled in his throat. "What's going on? Is it George?"
"He... it's George," Maggie's voice trembled violently, the desperate strain as she tried to hang onto her composure completely evident over the line.
Owen's heart stuttered against his ribs, a cold sliver of shock sliding straight through his nervous system.
"What happened to him?" Owen snapped. He didn't mean to use such a harsh, demanding edge, but the older man had been more of a genuine father to him since he had arrived in Sweet Blossom Bay than his own father had ever managed to be. George meant a massive amount to him, and the sudden threat to his life made Owen’s protective instincts flare to life.
Maggie rushed through the medical details in a quick beat, her words tumbling over one another as she explained the sudden collapse inside the recovery wing.
"He suffered an acute hypertensive crisis from the emotional stress, causing a severe blood pressure spike that resulted in an angina episode.
He's currently hooked up to the main arrays in the intensive care unit, and the medical team is prohibiting visitors for the next forty-eight hours until his vitals are steady.
We need to alert Linda immediately, but she isn't answering her device.
Is she anywhere around the hotel property?
" Maggie seemed to say it all in one breath, dragging air into her lungs once she was done.
Owen remembered the brief conversation in the foyer with the girls right before they headed down to the dig. "Isabel mentioned that she went out to Penny's estate a short while ago. I'll call Penny right now. I think she might be out there."
"Thank you," Maggie said, her breathing ragged over the crackling line. "Tell her she needs to get to the medical center right now."
Owen nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see the motion through the phone line. "I'll call you back the second I track her down."
He disconnected the call, his fingers shaking slightly as he prepared to pull up the contact numbers for the lighthouse property. Before his thumb could tap the glass screen, a familiar voice cut through the quiet air from the top of the concrete basin ramp.
"Is everything alright? I heard you shouting about George," Isabel asked, her steps quickening as she hurried down the slope, her dark eyes filled with a deep, protective concern.
Had his voice risen that much? Owen wondered, a dull numbness settling over his thoughts as he looked up at her approach. He hadn't even realized he had been yelling into the receiver under the pressure of the news.
"I..." He swallowed hard, trying to steady his hands as he slid the device into his palm. He broke the news to her in a few brief, factual sentences. "Is Linda still out at Penny's? Maggie has been frantically trying to get ahold of her."
"No," Isabel said, shaking her head as her features clouded with immediate worry. "She wasn't there when I got there. Penny told me Linda had gone down to the local hardware store to gather some renovation supplies for the mansion."
Owen's brow furrowed as he processed the conflicting timeline.
"Can you call Penny back and find out if she has returned to the estate yet? I'll call the hardware store directly and ask the staff to locate her down the aisles," he asked her.
"Sure," Isabel told him, already retreating a few steps toward the shade of the veranda as she retrieved her own phone to dial the lighthouse property.
Owen dialed the local hardware shop on the main strip, his anxiety deepening when the clerk on the other end ran a quick check and confirmed that Linda had not been through the registers all morning.
He frowned, hung up, and decided to try her personal number anyway despite Maggie's previous rejections.
Owen pressed the dial button, listening to the long, empty rings before the line rolled to voicemail.
He tried a second time, getting the same result.
On his third consecutive attempt, the line finally clicked and connected.
"Hi Owen, I'm on my way back to the hotel now," Linda's voice came through, sounding slightly breathless over the speaker. "Sorry I wasn’t at the basin earlier. I had a quick errand to run for Penny."
Owen frowned, his gaze tracking the chalk markers on the basin floor. He wondered if she had driven all the way over to the larger Sanibel hardware store instead of staying local, which would easily explain the delay.
"That's okay. Listen, Maggie has been trying to reach you for the last hour.
" He didn't waste time softening the blow, delivering the direct facts about George's sudden collapse, the acute blood pressure spike, and the transition to the intensive care unit.
"You need to get to the hospital immediately. "
A sharp gasp of pure alarm rattled through the phone's microphone.
"What? I... I have to go." The line cut out as Linda disconnected the call.
Owen lowered the device, exhaling a long breath as Isabel walked back over to his side.
"I found her," he said quietly, his posture relaxing slightly now that the message had been delivered.
"I just let Penny know we located her. She's heading out to the medical center as well." Isabel offered a small, reassuring nod.
"I should go," Owen said, the urgency of the medical crisis pushing past his academic focus for the day.
He started walking toward the concrete ramp, his heavy boots clicking against the structure.
"I have to go locate Martin and break the news to him before he hears it from a secondary source.
" He paused at the edge of the slope, turning back to look at her as a sudden wave of hesitation hit him. "Sorry, I..."
Isabel closed the distance between them, her fingers coming up to touch his forearm with a deep, compassionate warmth that instantly anchored his thoughts.
"Go." She gave him a soft smile.
It made the ice around his heart crumble, and he swallowed, not allowing himself to ponder the feeling.
Now was definitely not the time. If he was truly falling for Isabel, he wanted to come analyze this feeling at a better time.
Not a moment tainted with the pain and delicate situation George was in.
Owen let out a ragged breath, the relief of her support breaking through his defenses.
Before he could stop himself, before his rational mind could intervene and dictate the professional boundaries he always kept securely in place, he leaned down and kissed her.
It was a reflex action that he barely realized he had executed until their lips actually touched.
The world shrank to a pinpoint, the ambient sounds of the bay and the distant chatter of the tweens fading into nothingness as their eyes locked for a split second.
A sharp, rustling noise from the veranda yanked them apart.
Both of their faces were blazing crimson as they stepped back, the physical contact breaking with an awkward jerk.
"I'd better... um... I should go," Owen stammered, his fingers catching the hem of his canvas vest. He stood there on the concrete ramp, feeling as though he had sprouted deep roots because his boots refused to move an inch.
"Yes, you should," Isabel agreed quickly, breathless as she straightened her shoulders. "They’re waiting for you." Yet she, too, remained fixed to the exact spot, her eyes wide as she stared back at him.
"Hey!" Martin shouted from the far side of the pool enclosure, his loud voice breaking the thick spell that had settled over the ramp.
"We need to go. It's..." Martin halted his stride, his eyes scanning the grass layout to where Linda's and Michael's kids were standing near the veranda before he quickly altered his explanation.
"...it's that meeting we need to get to. Hurry up, we're late."
Owen kept his gaze fixed on Isabel, his tone softening. "I have to go. Will you wait for me and meet me later?"
He could see the utter surprise mirroring across her features, her eyebrows rising in a flash of astonishment. He was just as surprised by the words that had just escaped his lips.
"Yes," Isabel said. Her eyes widened a fraction more, as if her lips had just taken over operational control from her brain, just like his had, and she’d answered before she could analyze the invitation.
"I'll message you," Owen found himself saying, his boots finally moving in the direction he needed to go. His brain had seriously lost control of his mouth, and he admonished himself internally for the uncharacteristic behavior.
"Come on!" Martin shouted a second time. Hurry. We’re going in my car, not your old banger, as we need to get there fast." He noticed Martin shake his head as he muttered loud enough for Owen to hear. “Or get there at all.”
Owen gave Isabel one last look and then went after Martin.