Chapter 35 The For Sale Sign
The For Sale Sign
Maddy huffed when Owen placed another pillow behind her back, fluffing it up a few times before stepping away. He went to grab another pillow when Maddy stopped him.
“Will you stop fussing over me like a mother hen? I’m fine, Owen. There are more pillows on this bed than a home goods store,” Maddy said.
Owen crossed his arms. “I want you to be comfortable. The doctor said rest is the best cure for your injury,” he said.
He didn’t add that keeping busy and focusing on her care was the only thing keeping him sane since the hospital.
He scanned the guest room, making sure Maddy had everything she needed.
The bedside tables were filled with get-well cards hand-drawn by Avery and flowers sent from friends.
Maddy lay in the middle of the queen-sized bed, dozens of pillows stacked behind and around her.
“Owen, look at me,” Maddy said.
Owen met her gaze. Concern ate at him every time he saw the bandage on the side of her head and how short her hair was.
They had to shave the area of the wound to perform the craniotomy, and Maddy had decided now was as good a time as any to try a pixie cut.
He admired her ability to adapt. Avery got that from her.
“I am fine,” she enunciated each word to make her point clear.
Owen ran his hands through his hair, gathering it off his shoulders into a bun. No matter how busy he stayed, he couldn’t shake the jittery, unsettled wrongness he felt.
He missed Ava.
Avery had almost lost his mom.
The soft opening of the bed-and-breakfast was on hold.
A week ago, he’d been on top of the world. He’d had everything he wanted. He’d had the family he dreamed of. How could that all change in the blink of an eye?
“I know you are,” Owen said. He sighed, feeling far older than his thirty-two years. Like he’d aged a decade in the last week.
“But you’re not,” Maddy said, her voice soft and full of empathy. She patted the bedspread beside her, inviting him to sit.
Owen perched on the edge of the bed.
“Talk to me. This is about more than my accident,” Maddy said.
Owen glanced at her from the corner of his eye but didn’t confirm or deny. This was uncharted territory. He hadn’t fully unpacked everything that had happened at the hospital, too scared to face the truth.
“Avery’s been talking about Ava a lot,” Maddy ventured.
He took the bait. “And?”
Owen’s fingers itched to do something, anything, to stay busy.
Maddy shrugged. “Seems like he likes her, is all. You going to tell me what happened there?”
“She left.”
Maddy raised a brow at him
“Use your big boy words. Why did she leave? There’s gotta be more to the story based on how you’ve been stomping around the house since I got released.”
He gave into the temptation to fidget and grabbed another pillow to fluff.
“She wouldn’t commit to staying here, so I told her to leave.”
“Because you wanted to protect Avery?”
“Yeah.”
He heaved a sigh and tossed the pillow at the foot of the bed, breathing through the anxiety rising in his chest. With the anxiety came the what ifs. What if he hadn’t told Ava to go? What if they had never started up again in the first place? What if Maddy hadn’t gotten hurt? On and on it went.
“Well, that’s stupid,” Maddy interrupted his spiral.
“What?”
“That’s stupid,” Maddy said again. The way she enunciated the words implied he was also stupid. His indignation rose.
“What’s stupid about protecting Avery? He’s our son. What good would it do to keep dating Ava, knowing it would end? That she would eventually leave? It would destroy him. He has enough instability in his life. I can’t add to it,” Owen ranted.
Maddy winced at his rising tone, her hand pressing against her forehead. Guilt immediately flooded Owen. He was supposed to be taking care of her, not making things worse. She reached for the water bottle on the bedside table, and Owen got it for her.
He pressed it into her palm. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Maddy took a sip and waved him off. “It’s fine, you’re fine. Not used to you raising your voice. You never get this worked up,” she said. She took another long sip and handed it to him to place back on the table.
“Look, I’m not blind to Avery’s insecurities.
I know our parenting situation is hard for him.
It’s hard for me, too. This latest stunt has me rethinking things.
I’m not going back to work, at least not until I’m medically cleared.
If I went back now, I’d be stuck doing office work or something inside, and I don’t want that,” Maddy said.
Relief swept through him. They hadn’t talked about her work situation yet, but it had been on his mind. “What do you want, then?”
“I want to put down roots for a while. I’ve been talking with Matt, and he’s going to help me find a place of my own, so I’m not crashing in your guest bedroom.”
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you want. You know that,” Owen said.
Maddy smiled at him. “I know, and I appreciate that, but I want my own space. We’d drive each other crazy. Remember when Avery was a newborn, and we lived as roommates? You couldn’t stand how I would leave my wet towels on the furniture,” she said.
Owen snorted. “Yeah, because who puts their wet towels on furniture? Just hang it up when you’re done. It’s not that hard.”
Maddy raised an eyebrow.
“OK, point taken,” Owen conceded.
“Plus, I don’t want to cramp your style.
You deserve to have love in your life again, Owen.
Whether that’s with Ava or someone else, you don’t have to be alone forever.
It’s not our job to keep Avery from ever getting hurt.
It’s our job to love and support him, especially when life hurts.
To show him life is hard and painful, but it’s also full of hope and adventure.
That people may come and go from his life, and that’s OK, because there are some people who will never leave and who will always be there to love him.
Why not give someone else the chance to be one of those people? ”
Maddy shifted against the pillows, getting comfortable. “I’m off my soapbox now. Do what you want, Owen. And I mean that. Do what you want. Go after Ava or don’t. It’s your choice. But don’t let this chance slip by because you’re scared of getting hurt. Because that’s stupid,” Maddy said.
Owen stood, putting distance between him and Maddy as he mulled over her opinion. Was that why he’d pushed Ava away … because he didn’t want to get hurt? He’d put a stop to things before she could hurt him. He didn’t even want to give her the chance to prove him wrong. Or to prove him right.
“Thanks, Mads. You always know when I need a kick in the ass,” he said.
She smiled brightly at him. “Now stop fussing over me for a while. I’m going to take a nap,” she said.
“Message received. I’ll stop hovering,” Owen said.
He closed the guest bedroom door on his way out and tracked down Avery in his own room.
He was on his stomach, flipping through a comic book.
His lips moved as he mouthed the words to himself.
Owen’s heart squeezed painfully. Was it a disservice to Avery to never take risks?
To shelter him from everything under the guise of protecting him?
Avery looked up from his comic book, catching him in the doorway. “Hey, Dad. Is Mom sleeping?”
“Yup, she’s taking a nap for a while. Can you keep an eye out for her while I work for a few hours, or do you want to come with me to the café?”
Avery’s face lit up. “Will Ava be there?”
The question hit him like a punch to the gut. This is why I pushed Ava away.
The excuse felt hollow, even to himself.
“Probably not. She’s been busy at the cabin.”
Avery shrugged and made a face. “I’ll stay here, then. But if you see Ava, tell her I said hi.”
Owen nodded and rapped his knuckles on the doorframe before turning away. The need to stay busy drove him to visit the café. He had plenty of things to care for there. Things that wouldn’t call him out the way Maddy did.
He checked on his staff and made the rounds in the dining area, doing everything he could to ignore the empty table in the corner where he’d gotten used to seeing Ava work. Her absence intensified the doubt plaguing him since his talk with Maddy.
He retreated to his office.
Owen sank into his creaky old office chair. Then he started thinking about the last time he had Ava in this office. How one of his last memories in here was of Ava on her knees in front of him. He’d never be able to get rid of this chair now.
He couldn’t stay there.
Owen stalked out of the office and through the back entrance of the café, not wanting to see anyone. He could go check on the bed-and-breakfast, but then he’d be reminded of the night they’d finally kissed. Of the desk. He’d named the place after her, for god’s sake.
Owen got in his truck, deliberating where to go. There was no place in town he could escape her. She was everywhere, because she was a part of him. A part he’d never been able to give up.
Before he knew what he was doing, Owen was turning onto the dirt road that led to Ava’s cabin. His heart pounded, the anticipation almost too much to handle. Would she turn him away? Would she forgive him?
His anticipation turned to confusion at the sight of another car parked off the road, right in front of the driveway for Ava’s cabin. He slowed the truck down and rolled down his window to get a better look. A man was hammering a signpost in the ground.
For Sale
5 Loon Cove Drive
His stomach plummeted. He was too late.
The guy hammering the for-sale sign spun around to face him, the mallet held aloft in his hand.
“Hey there. Three bedroom, two-bathroom cabin just listed. Waterfront property, new water heater, and the sellers are motivated. You come to check it out?”
Owen shook his head. Words failed him.
She’d left. She’d really left.