Chapter 26
26
JADE
Watching Owen sleep is one of my favorite things to do. He looks so peaceful, the usual crease between his brows smoothed out as if he hasn’t a worry in the world.
I know that’s not true. His past still causes him concern. Although he hasn’t told me, I know it haunts him.
For weeks now, I have watched him scrolling social media as he checks the news for updates on his father’s business affairs. His scowls grew deeper than the Grand Canyon when the police released new information in their investigation. I know he disapproves of the way his father handled his finances. But sometimes I do wonder if he misses home.
If he does, I hope he’d have the decency to tell me.
As I travel around for most of my career, home is where the Air Force send me. For Owen, though, he’s only ever lived in Castleview Cove. It’s part of who he was, and I’m sure that part of him misses it.
Always here for me when I get home from work, here for Poppy, here to provide the best orgasms that feel like they are tearing me apart from the inside out .
He’s a beautiful man, with a beautiful heart, giving and kind. Although he still doesn’t believe it when I tell him.
He’s not a worthless piece of shit like his mother would have him believe.
But she doesn’t know Owen the way I do.
I trail my fingertip down the length of Owen’s nose, then over the wide cupid’s bow of his lips, and his mouth twitches as my soft touch tickles his skin.
But then there is that question that has been rolling about in my head like a bag of marbles. Does Owen want to return? He assures me he is happy; however, a huge chunk of his life was that town.
Only time will tell, I guess.
I close my eyes and snuggle into his broad chest as he drapes his arm around my waist, pulling me in closer to him as my head tucks under his chin.
Heaven.
Not meaning to, because it’s nearly time for me to get up, I must doze off for a few minutes, still exhausted from last night’s bedroom antics. When Owen’s loud phone splits the silence, we both jolt awake from the uninvited noise.
Groaning, he turns over onto his back, reaching for his phone that’s noisily ringing away on top of the nightstand.
Grabbing it, then lifting it above his head to see who is calling, he rubs his eyes and mumbles his sister’s name. “Camilla?”
I check the time on my phone. It’s almost seven in the morning. What is she phoning at this time for?
No good ever comes from an early morning call.
“You should answer it,” I whisper as he continues to stare at the lit-up screen and worries his bottom lip.
Hitting the accept button, he then taps the speaker icon to let me hear .
“Camilla?” he questions, sounding worried.
“Owen, come home.” His sister’s Scottish voice, faint but confident, comes through the speaker.
He groans. “I’m not doing this now.” Digging his fingertips into his sleep-filled eyes, he yawns loudly. “I knew you would be on their side.”
“You don’t understand, Owen. That’s not why I’m calling.” She goes quiet before she says, “Mom and Dad were in an accident last night.”
Instantly awake, he’s pulling the bedcovers back, swinging his legs around and standing. “What’s happened?” he asks, his fingers running through his hair mindlessly.
I sit bolt upright, my heart now thumping against my ribs.
“They were in a car crash, Owen,” she answers.
“But they are never together.”
“I know. But they were.” She states the facts, sounding as if she can’t believe it either. She continues. “A drunk driver hit them at midnight. Their car spun off the road and down the cliffside.”
I gasp, cupping my hand around my mouth as sour bile curdles in my gut at the brutality of a crash like that.
“Gideon said they were out with his father for dinner last night. It’s such a dangerous road. There are no lights up there.” Her voice is low as she gives him more details.
“Shit,” he hisses under his breath.
“They’re dead, Owen.” Camilla confirms my worst fear. “They didn’t make it.”
He drops his backside onto the edge of the mattress.
I fling the comforter back and crawl across to him. From behind, I loop my arms around Owen’s waist and rest my head between his shoulder blades. “I’m here for you,” I whisper, hoping he hears me as I try to squeeze my love and comfort into him.
“Come home.” Camilla pauses momentarily. “Please.”
I peer up over his shoulder.
At a loss for words, Owen stays silent as he continues to stare at his phone.
Camilla’s voice cuts through the silence and Owen’s thoughts. “I need your help to organize the funeral.” Her voice is matter-of-fact, showing no real emotion. Owen appears to be the only one in the family who was born with a heart.
“I’ll come with you,” I say with authority, urging him to respond.
Owen agrees with a nod. “I’ll be there this afternoon,” he stutters.
“We’ll drive,” I assure him.
“I… I’m in England, Camilla. I will come, but it will take us a few hours to get there.”
A soft sigh of relief sounds down the phone. “Thank you, Owen. I’ll meet you at the house.”
Owen tenses.
A knowing Camilla tries to justify the reason for meeting there. “Dad didn’t sell your car or pack up your stuff. It was all lies he fed to Lincoln and Jacob to try to persuade you to come home. You can stay in your own house with Jade and Poppy.” She adds, “I hate our family home as much as you do, and I would never make you stay in it again.”
How does she know about us?
“Thanks.”
“I bumped into Lincoln. He told me you found your happiness,” she says, answering the unasked question. “You did the right thing, Owen. Marrying Evangeline would never have worked. Gideon and I—” A beat passes. “I should never have married him. For reasons I don’t understand, Mom was cruel, Owen, but Father was dead inside. I’m proud of you for sticking up for yourself.”
Owen’s hand finds mine, the one that’s resting over his heart, and he gives it a squeeze.
“I know this may mean nothing, but I’m happy for you.” Camilla sounds genuine.
Although she can’t see him, Owen nods, his shoulders sagging as if relieved. “I appreciate that.”
“I’ll see you in a few hours.” She suddenly sounds formal again. “Bye, Owen. Please drive safe,” she finishes.
The line goes dead and Owen sighs again, one that comes out in a rush.
“I’m here for you.” I move around to his front and straddle him, lacing my arms around his neck.
He cuddles me back, holding me as if I am his life buoy. “I have to go home.”
“I’m coming with you.” Leaning back, I hold his face to make him look at me. “I won’t let you do this alone.” And I won’t let him withdraw from me. “We do this together.”
“Poppy?”
“Mom will come. Aunt Babs, too. They can look after her.”
“What about work?” His selflessness knows no bounds.
“We don’t have a display for two weeks; I will submit vacation days and get the time off.” I’m the boss and this is an emergency.
“Thank you.” He kisses my neck and nuzzles into it. “I have to call Lincoln and Jacob.” His lips brush my skin. “And Gregor. I have to call him first, and his parents. Shit, I forgot to ask Camilla if Uncle David knows his brother is dead. Regardless of what happened between our families, I know Gregor’s mum, my Aunt Flora will be upset.” He goes into action mode.
“While you jump in the shower, I will pack and make a few calls, okay? Then you can call them.” He needs a clear mind to break the news. A shower always helps to make me feel better, so I send up a silent prayer that it helps him, too. “Gregor will most likely want to come for the funeral. He can follow us in his car.”
He nods, his chest filled with sadness. I can feel it.
“Are you okay?” Of course he isn’t, but it’s the only thing I can ask given the circumstances. I remember how heartbroken I was when my dad died. It tore me to shreds. I was confused, and everything felt impossible.
“I feel?—”
“Numb,” I finish for him.
“Like my entire world just turned upside down.”
“I know how that feels. Hour by hour and day by day, it will slowly sink in,” I say.
“I feel nothing for them at all,” he confesses. “Is that wrong?” His question is barely a whisper. “They never cared about me,” he states, then adds, “I don’t understand why they would be out that late at night.”
I run my fingers through the hair on the back of his head. “Maybe your dad was trying to work out with Richard how he was going to pay him back.”
“Possibly.”
“We may never know why,” I tell him honestly. I pull out of our embrace and gaze into his saddened eyes. “Perhaps what you said to him in Cyprus made an impression.” I wait a moment. “I’m sorry for your loss.” Those words don’t feel enough .
“They’re gone.” His tone is almost disbelieving.
“You are not alone. You have me, Poppy, my mom, your friends, Gregor, and Camilla sounds okay.”
He shakes his head. “We’ve never been close, and that’s the first time I’ve spoken to her in months. Lincoln and Jacob used to call her a princess when she was younger.” He snorts softly at the memory. “She was always so defensive around them.” He moves his hand up and pinches the bridge of his nose. “But sometimes, when I was just a kid, and I’d had a bad dream, she would let me sleep in her bed.”
I give him a gentle smile. “People change, and you have the rest of your life to make amends with her. All is not lost.”
“She’s a good person. I know she is, and she’s as heavily embroiled in a marriage she didn’t want as I would have been. Maybe I should have stopped it, but I was just a kid.”
“What could you have done?”
He scowls. “Helped her run away, spoken to my grandfather or Gregor’s parents. Maybe. I don’t know.” Worriedly, he shakes his head with a stuttered breath.
I smile. “Owen Brodie, the solution finder. You need to focus on one thing at a time. Just one. That’s all. And speak to Camilla when the time is right. First, though, we have to go to your sister, Owen. She will be waiting for you to arrive.”
A faint smile twitches around the edges of his mouth. “What would I do without you?”
“You’d be living with Gregor, having to listen to him and his latest hook up moaning through the bedroom walls.” My efforts to bring light into his darkest moment works when he snorts a laugh. He kisses my bare shoulder and looks up at me through a fan of blond lashes.
“I’ll be there for you.” I reinforce my support. “I will stand by your side and help you through this. We will do this together. As a united duo.”
“A trio,” he says confidently, adding Poppy into the mix.
I repeat, “A trio.”
“My family,” he says.
That’s exactly what we are, and I won’t let anyone break us.
Ever.