Chapter 2
Chapter Two
“Jeff?” He blinked. “Jeff Daley?”
The guy gaped at him. “Owen?”
Okay, this was surreal.
Owen stepped aside, unable to hold back his grin. “Get in here.”
Jeff crossed the threshold, eyes wide. “I don’t believe this.” He couldn’t stop staring. “Oh my God, look at you.” His lips twitched. “You put me to shame. I’m more or less the same skinny runt I was thirty years ago. You, on the other hand…” He grinned. “You filled out.”
Owen laughed. “We’re talking a lot of gym hours.” He turned his head towards the dining room. “Callum? Come here.” Then he grinned. “I still can’t believe this.”
“Who’s Callum?”
“My son.”
Jeff’s eyes crinkled. “Dear Lord—you bred? The world doesn’t need more of your genes.”
Owen guffawed. “And there’s that wit I remember so well.” The years had fallen away, and he felt as though he was twenty all over again.
Damn, those were good years.
A moment later, Callum stuck his head around the door.
Owen gestured to Jeff. “This is my next door neighbour, Jeff Daley. We were at university together in London.”
Callum gaped. “Seriously?”
Jeff laughed. “I haven’t clapped eyes on your dad since… Graduation? 1996?”
“And you recognised each other after thirty years?”
Jeff grinned. “We’re both a lot greyer, but yeah. I’d know Owen anywhere.” He proffered the casserole. “Babs made four of these yesterday. Wait till she hears this.”
Owen’s jaw dropped. “You’re still with Babs? Holy shit.”
“Still the poet, I see.” Jeff snickered. “You always did have a way with words.”
Callum took the dish. “Well, don’t just stand here, go sit and catch up. I’ll put this in the fridge, then I’ll hunt out another mug for more tea. Or would you prefer coffee, Mr. Daley?”
Jeff smiled. “Call me Jeff. And tea’s fine.”
Callum disappeared into the kitchen and Owen inclined his head. “He’s right. Let’s go sit down.”
This was like stepping into the Twilight Zone.
He led Jeff into the sitting room, and indicated the long couch facing the window. Jeff sat, and Owen took the armchair against the wall.
“Someone pinch me. This is a dream,” Jeff muttered. “We had no idea who’d bought the place. No one had even glimpsed you.” Then he grinned. “I foresee a lot of dinners in our future. It’ll take a few for us to catch up.”
Seeing Jeff, hearing his voice, triggered a rush of memories, most of them good.
A couple were more bittersweet.
Owen leaned back against the cushions. “How long have you lived here?”
He stroked his beard. “I think we moved here not long after Matt was born. He’s the youngest. So about twenty-five years.”
“How many kids have you got?”
“Three. Zach is twenty-nine. He’s married, with one little boy, Jamie, who’s three. Beth’s expecting their second any day now. Hannah is twenty-seven. She’s dating a police officer at the moment. And Matt is just finishing his masters.”
Owen widened his eyes. “Wow.” He snickered. “Wait a second. I seem to recall a certain student telling me that having kids was selfish, that the population was too big, that—”
“Oh hush. I grew up.”
“Three, though? I only managed the one.”
Except there was a reason for that.
Jeff chuckled. “Matt was sort of a mistake. We weren’t planning on having another, so we were surprised when we discovered Babs was pregnant. But let’s get back to you. Where did you go after university? What brings you to Winchester?”
“I went back to Southampton after graduation.” Owen’s chest tightened a little. There’d been promises of not losing touch, of keeping the friendship going. Real life had got in the way.
Jeff huffed. “Thirty years, and neither of us managed to write one single letter.”
“There were a couple of calls, weren’t there?”
He nodded. “And then they dried up—from both ends. Did you stay in Southampton?”
Owen shook his head. “I moved to Reading. I’d started up a few companies by then—that was about 2012—and then I bought a hotel. Except I didn’t stop at one.”
Jeff’s face glowed. “We always knew you were cut out for business. You were top of our class for a reason.”
“What about you?”
“I started out working in Finance in the City.” Jeff huffed. “And I’m still there, although I’m thinking of retiring. I’ve put by enough to do it, and I want more time to enjoy my grandkids.” He settled against the cushions. “How many hotels do you have?”
“None—now. I’ve taken early retirement, sold them all, and bought this magnificent property.”
“Wow. I’m impressed.” Jeff peered at the door. “How old is Callum?”
“Twenty-seven.”
Jeff’s easy grin hadn’t changed a bit. “Get you, a married man.” He looked around. “So where are you hiding the wife?”
“It’s just me now.” Owen smiled. “Actually, I’ve been married twice, the first time to Cyn Rainer.”
Jeff’s mouth fell open. “Oh my God. You and Cyn?”
He nodded. “We married in ’97. That lasted until 2011, when Callum was twelve. Then we got divorced.”
“I’m sorry.”
Owen gave a shrug. “It was the right thing to do. And Cyn and I are still close. I lost a wife and gained a best friend.” He grinned. “And you’ll get to see her here. She’ll be visiting once I’ve got the house sorted.”
“That sounds wonderful. So who was wife number two?”
Owen raised his chin. “His name was Ben Driscoll.”
Jeff blinked. Blinked again.
Callum walked into the room, carrying a mug of tea. He stopped next to the couch, took one look at Jeff’s face, and smiled. “Ah. Let me guess. We’ve got to the Ben part.”
Owen chuckled. “Jeff might need a moment before he tries drinking his tea.”
“Then I’ll leave you to it. If you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen, emptying boxes.”
“Thanks.” Owen threw him a grateful glance. He waited until Callum closed the door behind him. “Well, you’re still breathing, so I guess it wasn’t that big a shock.”
Jeff whooshed out a breath. “Was this a sudden thing? You know, a later in life realisation or something?”
“Not exactly.” Owen paused for a second. “Okay, do you remember Professor Stevens?”
He nodded. “He wasn’t much older than us, really.” Jeff grinned. “We called him Baby Prof, didn’t we? He had to be in his late twenties or early thirties.”
“Well, when I was twenty-one, we were in a relationship.”
Jeff’s jaw went slack again. “You sly dog. You never said a word.”
“No one knew, okay? But everything changed when he told me he wanted us to continue after graduation.” He swallowed. “He told me he loved me.”
“Oh. My. God.” Jeff shook his head. “You are so much better than me at keeping secrets. Honestly, I’d never have guessed.”
Owen took refuge in his rapidly cooling tea. “There was no way, of course. My parents would’ve exploded if I told them I was gay. I didn’t think my friends would’ve understood either. So we parted company.”
“And then you started dating Cyn, you fell in love, and the rest is history?”
The truth was way more complicated than that, but Owen saw no reason to share it. “Yeah.”
Jeff smiled. “You hear all these stories about bitter exes, and yet you and Cyn stayed friends. That’s amazing.” He sipped his tea. “So you divorced, you came out… What was your parents’ reaction?”
Owen let out a derisive snort. “I didn’t tell them. Besides, if they knew how I was living back then, they’d have both had heart attacks.”
“Er… how were you living? I’m afraid to ask.”
He chuckled. “Let’s just say I was catching up on lost time. And then in 2014, I met Ben. Cupid’s arrow, right into my heart.” He stared into his mug. “He died in 2020. So now it’s just me again. A situation I’m perfectly happy with, I have to say.”
“My condolences, though.”
Owen waved his hand. “Time is a great healer, isn’t that the line? And we had six wonderful years together.”
There was a knock at the door, then Callum stuck his head around. “Is it safe to come in with biscuits?”
Owen laughed. “Sure. Hey, do you remember me telling you about when I was a student, how me and a friend emptied a guy’s room while he was away for a weekend? How we took out every stick of furniture, every possession?”
Callum laughed. “Yeah. You were really into pranks, weren’t you?”
Owen pointed to Jeff. “Meet my co-conspirator.”
Jeff took a bow. “I blame your dad. He was evil.”
Callum grinned. “I think you were just as evil, judging by Dad’s tales.” He placed a plate of biscuits on the coffee table, then left them to it.
“He looks more like you than Cyn,” Jeff observed. “How did he react to his dad suddenly announcing he was into men?”
“I don’t think he really understood much at the time.
But he was fifteen when I met Ben. They got on really well.
” Owen got up and wandered over to the window.
“Callum thinks I’ve bitten off more than I can chew with this place.
Not the house so much, but the garden.” He knew it was an abrupt change of direction, but he didn’t want to talk about the past anymore.
Except there’s going to be a lot of that.
Owen was a survivor. He could cope with a little reminiscing.
Ben hadn’t survived.
Some days, Owen still wasn’t entirely sure why he’d been the one left behind.
“Your garden is bigger than ours.”
Jeff’s voice cut through the gathering fog of memory and pulled him back into the room.
“Yeah, Callum thinks I’m about to reduce it to a wasteland. Apparently I’m hopeless at gardening. So I guess I’d better start looking for a gardener—and a pool guy too.”
Jeff’s breathing caught.
Owen turned around. “Do you know someone?”
“Yeah, I might. Well, he doesn’t do it for a living, but he’s pretty experienced. Plus you’d be doing me a favour.”
He bit back a smile. “I’m intrigued.”
“Okay, let me explain. Matt is home from university. He’s been studying in Edinburgh. And right now he’s working on the final version of his dissertation for his master’s. He’s got a couple of months before he needs to hand it in.”
“Shouldn’t he be in Edinburgh for that?”
Jeff grimaced. “Maybe, but all rents hit an upward spike in the summer, especially with the Fringe right around the corner. He says he has online access to the University library, and as long as he emails chapters regularly and has video calls with his tutor, he’s gold.”
“Still not sure where you’re going with this.”
“Well, he told us he’s trying to find a bit of work for the summer.
He said he can’t work twenty-four-seven on the dissertation, and besides, he wants some money in his pocket.
So I was thinking…. What if you take him on to work on the garden and the pool?
” Before Owen could get a word out, Jeff pressed ahead.
“Don’t get me wrong. He’ll be great at it.
He’s good around a garden, ever since he was old enough to hold a trowel.
And he knows how to maintain a pool. He should do—he’s been looking after ours for years.
I made sure of that.” He grinned. “I mean, what else are kids for but to do all the jobs you don’t want to deal with? So you wouldn’t be hiring a novice.”
Owen tilted his head. “What’s he like to have around?”
“Matt’s the laidback type. There isn’t much that ruffles him.
” Jeff smiled. “You know the phrase ‘old head on young shoulders’? It could’ve been written for him.
But he’s conscientious, hardworking…. And I think this is perfect.
Something physical that won’t make him think too deeply.
He does enough of that with his studies. ”
Owen roared with laughter. “Don’t you think you’d better ask his opinion on all this? Before you hire him out?”
Jeff laughed too. “Fair point. I tell you what, I’ll go home and put the idea to him. Then I’ll send him over. You can decide for yourself.” He reached for a biscuit, but paused midway. “There is one thing.”
“Oh? Because we haven’t talked about pay yet. Not that you should worry. I’ll pay him the going rate, after I’ve done some research.”
“I wasn’t thinking about that.” Jeff bit his lip. “The way you were living after you came out… Are you still living… that way? Is he going to get freaked out?”
Owen laughed. “I would love to know what’s going on in your head right now. Just what are you picturing?”
“Nothing!”
The flush that crept up Jeff’s neck said plenty.
Owen put down his mug. “I promise not to freak him out, all right? But this is assuming he wants the job, and I want to hire him. So how about we wait until after the pair of us have actually spoken?”
Jeff finished his tea. “Yeah, that sounds good.” Another shake of his head. “Babs is not going to believe this.”
“I can’t believe you still call her that. It’s so very… Seventies.”
“Her dad still calls her that.” Jeff stood. “And you know you’ll get an invite for dinner. She’ll want to catch up.”
Owen stood too. “That sounds great. I’ll see you to the door. And thank her for the casserole.”
“I will.”
Owen led him into the entrance hall, and opened the front door. “I’ll be ready to interview Matt whenever he comes over.”
Jeff nodded. “I’m sure he’ll be a good fit.” He held out his hand, then laughed. “What am I doing? Come here.” He grabbed Owen and gave him a fierce hug. He took a step back. “Of all the places for you to move to…”
Owen chuckled. “I know.” He watched as Jeff crunched his way over the gravel, then waved as he turned right into the lane. Owen closed the door with a sigh.
I didn’t think life had any more surprises for me.
Looked like Callum was right again.
None of us know what’s waiting right around the corner.