Chapter 26 Owen
S amson is needier than usual when I get home from school today, probably because now that the students are back, my work days are longer. He’s always wanting more attention when summer is officially over, so I’m not surprised he’s rubbing against my legs the moment I enter the apartment.
“Hey buddy,” I tell him, being careful that he’s clear of the door when I close it. “Did you meow at the seagulls while I was gone or did the big birds scare you, again?”
He’s purring so intensely that I can feel the vibrations while he covers the bottom of my pant legs with his fur. He’ll get more comfortable with the change in schedule after another few weeks, but for now, I just have to be careful where I step when I first get home. At least until I get rid of my bag and put my keys away so I can pick him up.
Sure enough, as I toss my keyring on the table in the entryway, he’s standing on his hind legs and pawing at my pocket, waiting for me to grab him. The moment he’s in my arms, he rubs his face against mine and then settles in the crook of my arm to get scratches behind his ears.
“Alright, Samson,” I say, fully aware I’m talking to my cat. “I need some help with what to change into for happy hour. I don’t want to wear this button down shirt because, well, I look like a teacher and I don’t need to remind Poppy we work together. So you’re going to pick something out for me so I can stop overthinking this. Sound good?”
He purrs in response, blissfully unaware I’m leaving again. I lay out two options on my bed and then set him in the middle.
“Okay, feel free to roll on whichever one I shouldn’t wear.” As expected, when I reach my hand out to pet him, Samson makes one tight circle, tips his head down and flops onto his back for some belly rubs right on one of the outfits I laid out. I reward him with some extra pets and then change into a fitted navy tee and faded jeans that don’t have hair on them.
“Even though perfectly clean clothes are now covered in your fur, this was a surprisingly efficient way to figure out an outfit,” I say as he lays there with his paws in the air. “I’m sure you’ll be napping again soon, but let’s get you some exercise before I leave, okay?”
I hear his paws hit the wood floor of my bedroom as I walk to the sunroom, grabbing one of his favorite ribbons and playing with him for a few minutes until he decides he’s done and hops into his cat tree to soak up the late-afternoon sun.
***
That view.
Damn, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it. The lighthouse sits at the end of a long jetty on the north of the town where the rocks reach farther out into the water. The waves are calm today, too, with just a soft breeze blowing the salty ocean air.
“Owen?” Noah’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts as he takes a seat.
“Sorry, I was just soaking this in. It’s so different from New York,” I say.
“No worries, I get it. Why do you think I bought my house on the hill?”
“You do have some spectacular views.”
“Absolutely.” He takes a drink from one of the ice waters on our table. “Are things feeling more long-term for you or are you missing the Big Apple too much?”
“Honestly, besides my parents and some friends, of course, I don’t miss much, which feels slightly terrible since I was happy there. I don’t know how to describe it, but it was all fine.” I pause, trying to find the words.
“It just wasn’t it ,” he finishes.
I nod just as we hear “What wasn’t it ?” come from a few feet away.
“Poppy, you made it,” he says, raising his arms in celebration as she sits down.
“You’re making it sound like I’m late,” she says, playfully rolling her eyes at him. “I’m actually five minutes early.”
“I guess none of us wanted to miss out on happy hour,” I say.
“Not one minute,” Noah agrees.
Our server stops by to take our orders and we motion for Noah to start.
“Did I hear you have a new lager in, Kelly?” he asks, looking over the drink menu. I try to commit that name to memory for the future just like any time I hear someone’s name around here.
“We do, it’s just not on tap,” she says.
“I’ll take that and can we get a large order of nachos with plates for all three of us?”
“I’ll have an IPA, please, Kelly,” I say. “Whatever you have on tap.”
“You’ll have to remind me of your name, I know I served you during lunch a little while back,” she says, scrunching up her nose in thought.
“I’m Owen.”
“Owen, I’ll do my best to remember.”
I give Kelly a smile, saying her name over in my head a few more times while she asks Poppy what she’d like.
“I’ll have your champagne greyhound, please.”
I’ve never heard of a greyhound without vodka. I guess I should read their whole drink selection one day.
“Sounds good, I’ll have your drinks out in a minute,” Kelly says, gathering the happy hour menus. “Poppy, it’s really good to have you home, again.”
I notice Poppy’s almost-imperceptible wince but she immediately smiles.
“Thank you, it’s good to be back.”
Our server gives her a smile and walks back into the cafe, and we all take a drink from our waters.
“So, what did I miss?” she asks us and then turns to Noah. “You said something just wasn’t it . Did I miss talking about your date because I was only five minutes early?”
He chuckles at the alarm in her expression. “No, you did not. We can hash out that disaster after we get our drinks. We were talking about New York and Honey Cove and how you can be happy enough somewhere, but truly want to be someplace else.”
“Oh,” she says, blinking in surprise. “I guess I didn’t know you missed New York.”
“See, that’s just it. There are some people I miss, but this ,” I say gesturing to the cove itself and the town, “is what I’ve been wanting.”
She looks thoughtfully at me, her lips pursing just a little and her head tilting to the side. “You don’t miss everything New York has to offer?”
“Especially with my parents living there, I’ll still visit regularly, but I’ve always wanted to be out of the city.” Sometimes it sounds ridiculous saying these things, especially not wanting to stay in New York since so many people dream of living there.
“And you have your cousins here, I remember you said you wanted to be closer to them,” she says.
“Honestly, before I moved here, you probably knew just as much, if not more, about Brandon than I did with how little we got to visit each other.” I look at both of them. “Noah and I have talked about how he chose Honey Cove, but Poppy, what brought you back?”