Owen, p.8
Owen, page 8
Owen groaned, looked at it, frowning. “Did you have to make it quite so big?”
And then Shane pulled out his other hand from behind his back, and there was a huge ice cream sundae.
“Wow.” Owen almost salivated when he saw that. “That’s hardly fair. I feel like a two-year-old.”
Shane grinned. “You are a two-year-old. Now drink up.”
Instead of sipping it, Owen downed it. Threw it all the way back. Then, with a full tummy, he groaned again. “Okay, that was painful.”
“And that’s because you tried to take it all at once,” Shane said.
“It was hard, but I can see that it was needed.”
“It was, indeed,” Shane agreed, “but you’re doing fine.”
“Says you.” He laughed. But he took the sundae and settled back into the water, letting his head float against the edge of the hot tub, holding the parfait aloft, until he felt someone’s presence. Owen opened his eyes to find Penny staring at him. He smiled at her. “It’s not quite the cafeteria, but here we are. Still meeting over food.”
At that, she looked at the sundae in his hand and held up her own.
He burst out laughing. “I think Dennis just lives to feed us all,” he said, with a grin.
“You need to eat yours faster or just accept that you’ll drink it instead.” With a smirk, she sat down on the side of the hot tub, then kicked off her sandals and pivoted around so her feet were in there. “This is heaven.” She sighed. “Wonder why I never thought about putting in a hot tub at home?”
“’Cause you are never there?” He laughed. “Plus, I think they’re probably a lot of work, especially if you don’t use them very much,” he noted.
“I hadn’t considered that. But it’s different here, isn’t it?”
“It is, indeed,” he agreed. “This is Nirvana after a hard workout.”
“Shane again?”
“It’s always Shane,” Owen said, with a tired smile. “How’d the last weekend go?”
“Well, it went.” She shook her head. “I did my best.” She decided to eat her sundae before it melted, like Owen’s.
“And did you get told off over it afterward?”
She thought about it, then shook her head. “You know what? I haven’t. I did meet with them this morning.”
“Good. Or maybe good,” he corrected quickly.
“Yes,” she said. “It was good. Although my father’s still trying to matchmake, and he’s not terribly happy with my lack of interest.” She smiled, then took another bite of ice cream.
Owen grinned at that. “Fathers are always trying to matchmake,” he stated. “In most cases, unless you’re married and settled off to a good man, they won’t be happy.”
“You do understand him,” she said. “I find I’m still chafing at it a bit.” She wasn’t halfway through her dessert, but she was making good progress.
“That’s only because you haven’t become your own woman,” he stated comfortably.
She stopped and stared at him.
He shrugged. “I don’t mean to insult you, and you have plenty of confidence when it comes to running your charities,” he quickly said. “Just build up your self-confidence when dealing with that family of yours. When you’re comfortable in who you are, and you’re secure within, then, whatever they say, it just won’t matter. It’ll roll off your back.”
She studied him in shock.
He shrugged. “And again, I spoke out of turn. I’m sorry.”
“No,” she said. “I appreciate it. It just surprises me the things that come out of your mouth.” Still frowning, she ate some more of her sundae.
“Sometimes my words surprise me too.” He chuckled.
“Shane said something about you wanted to talk to me?”
“Not necessarily want to talk to you,” he explained. “I just, … I mean, outside of the fact that I like spending time with you.”
She grinned at him. “Wow, that was hard to come out, wasn’t it?”
“Nope, I’d be lying if I said anything differently.”
“Interesting.” She took another bite of ice cream and then set it aside, feeling full.
“Why?”
“Because I met this guy my dad wanted me to, you know, click with, and absolutely nothing was there. Sure, I thought he was a nice enough guy by the end of the evening. He was … He was nice. But, when he asked me to go out again, I let him down gently because just nothing there made me want to see him again.”
“And you felt guilty about that?”
“Nope. Actually I don’t, and now I think I feel guilty about not feeling guilty.”
He burst out laughing. “You know what? Sometimes there’s chemistry, and sometimes there isn’t.” He shrugged. “I think the worst thing you can do is fool yourself into thinking that it’s there, when really it’s not.”
“Voice of experience?”
“Hard-learned experience, yes,” he agreed. “I went out with one girlfriend for years because it was comfortable and easy. But, when push came to shove, I didn’t want to get married, and she was of the opinion that I’d been leading her on. I hadn’t. Not intentionally. I just hadn’t seriously given the relationship any long-term thought. And, for that, from that time forward, I’ve always been a whole lot more aware of how our relationships affect other people.”
“He took it decently, so I think that’s a good thing,” she noted.
“You don’t want to cheat him either,” he added.
“Nope, I don’t. And I did get a bunch more money from my family, so that’s good.”
“Good enough to keep you off their back?”
“That’s what they’re hoping,” she said, with a laugh.
He grinned. “That’s the thing about money,” he noted. “When you don’t have enough, and other people seem to have so much of it, it seems unfair.”
“The thing is, I do have a lot,” she said, with a twist of her lips. “It’s just that I have so many charities and so many people who I want to help, and it never seems to be enough.”
“Now that’s actually what I wanted to discuss with you. What kind of charities and how did you set up your businesses?”
“Are you asking idly or …” She let her words hang.
He thought about it for a long moment and then decided she was probably the one person he could talk to. “I have money,” he admitted. “I inherited it, and it’s been sitting there, and I haven’t been too sure what to do with it.”
“So you’re thinking of setting up a charity?”
“I’m not sure exactly how that works legally,” he said, “but I can see setting it up, as a trust, I imagine, and using the interest to help others.”
“Exactly,” she said, and then her smile brightened. “See? Now that’s talking my language.”
He smiled at her. “Helping anybody is talking your language.”
“That’s very true.” She shifted to the side of the hot tub. “It’s actually hot in here, isn’t it?”
“Not to me but maybe to you,” he said. “You don’t have to stay here with me. Grab a chair over there and sit beside me.”
“I’m surprised that you can handle this heat.”
“Oh, I can certainly handle it, not too badly now,” he explained. “Besides, the benefit far outweighs any pain.”
“Got it. That makes sense too. So, let me tell you what I did for my business, and this is all based on my lawyer’s advice.” She then launched into an explanation of how the business side of her charities ran.
“Wow,” he said, when she ran dry. “A lot of really good information was in there.” He frowned though, as he wondered if it was the best avenue for him.
“In your case,” she offered, “I’d talk to somebody and see what the current advice would be, and, you know, see what they would suggest. I do have a couple men in town you could talk to.”
“And I might do that when I get out of here.”
“That’s the thing, I think, is not to rush. There’s time.”
“It’s funny how we always say there’s time, and yet there’s always that urgency to get at it. Before time runs out.”
“I felt that myself,” she admitted. “Always so much pressure in the world.”
“That’s also why I was thinking about some kind of a job, a business of my own,” he explained. “A company where I’m my own boss.”
“And, if you have family money, you obviously don’t have to work, which eases back on the timing too,” she noted. “So, keep that in mind.”
“I may not have to work, but I would go stir crazy without something to do. And I have received so much help from so many people that I can’t see not doing something that would help others.”
Chapter 7
Penny couldn’t believe just how like-minded the two of them were. She compared that to the slick moneyed look of Steve, who had ended up being much nicer than her initial impression, which had been a lesson for her to not judge by a cover. But they both had agreed that, at the moment at least, neither of them were too interested in going forward. She wondered at that point how much her father was pushing Steve too. That was embarrassing to think that Dad might be trying to line up dates for her because he thought she couldn’t get her own. But then again, it was her father, so it was quite possible.
“What are the heavy thoughts for?” Owen asked.
“My father is a bit of a challenge for anybody,” she said. “I was just wondering if Dad forced Steve into that blind date.”
“And maybe he wasn’t forced at all,” Owen suggested gently. “You’re a beautiful woman. Don’t even go down that pathway. You made a decision. You followed through. It’s done.”
She grinned at him. “I really like that. You’re very cut-and-dry and simple.”
“I am, and then I’m not,” he replied. “I tend to make decisions quickly, whether right or wrong, and sometimes they’re not the right ones at all.”
“But you committed,” she said. “A lot of people can’t make a decision, can’t quite commit and go forward with any choice. At least you’re doing something.”
He raised his eyebrows and then nodded. “See? You’re very much my kind of person.”
“Ditto,” she agreed and grinned. “Look at that. I found somebody way more interesting, sitting in the hot tub at Hathaway House, than at the charity dinner of my father’s.”
“That’s because you’re also not looking for the same kind of person as everybody else in your family.”
“You’re so right there,” she declared emphatically. “I’ve been an outsider all my life, and I don’t want that in a relationship.”
“No need for it either,” he said. “It’s all about finding who you are now.”
After that, their conversation went rapidly from various topics, like schools, history, education, friends, family, animals.
By the time the conversation finally ran down, she said, “I haven’t had such a great conversation in a very long time. Thank you.”
He smiled. “You’re welcome. Like I said, you’re the one who has to keep coming back for more because I can’t really get anywhere to come after you.”
She laughed. “And now you make it sound almost like a date.”
“You know I can invite you to sit around the hot tub,” he stated. “Or maybe come share a meal with me on Hathaway’s nickel, but I really can’t do a whole lot more than that just yet.”
“When are you expected to be done here?” she asked curiously.
“Couple more months.” He shrugged. “I could hope for it to be less, but I … I was thinking of it earlier in one of our previous conversations, and you’re right. I don’t want to shortchange myself. If I can stay here and get better, then I need to stay here and get better.”
“Good,” she said. “Meanwhile I can have my lawyer call you. He could possibly give you some business advice to consider for later.”
He stared at her. “Maybe. At least give me his name. I do have somebody I can talk to as well.”
“Good.” She nodded. “Who knows? I might hit you up for my charities.”
“Who knows?” he said immediately. “I might hit you up for mine.”
She burst out laughing. Then she hopped her feet. “It’s been lovely. I’ll see you in a couple days.”
“Have a good weekend,” he called out.
She lifted a hand in acknowledgment and quickly disappeared.
Owen was surprised to hear Dani’s voice behind him. “You two seem to be getting along like a house on fire.”
“Absolutely,” he said. “She’s dynamite.”
“She is, indeed,” Dani agreed. “Heart of gold, that one.”
He nodded. “I can feel it, and I would really like to get to know her better.”
“Sounds to me like you’re perfectly on the path,” she noted. “Don’t push it. Let it happen naturally, and you’d be surprised at just how much you already have in common and how far it can take you.”
“I didn’t expect to find anybody I’d like,” he said reaching for his phone off to the side with his towel. “But then I saw that picture of Nash and Alicia.” And he brought it up on his phone and held it out for Dani to see.
She smiled. “I’m the one who took that.”
He nodded. “Of course you did.”
“They look happy though, don’t they?” she asked, studying the image.
“Very much so.” Owen had spoken to his buddy many a time, and he knew for a fact that his friend was as happy as he had ever seen him in his life.
“Is this what you’re hoping for?”
“I don’t think hoping for was even on my radar,” he admitted. “I’m just grateful to have found a friend.”
“More than a friendship is there,” she said in all seriousness. “And Penny’s certainly been hurt by her family.”
“She’s completely different than the rest of them, just from what’s she said and not said.” He nodded, with a knowing smile. “She needs to blossom into who she should be, not into who they want her to be.”
“My thoughts exactly,” she agreed. “Anyway, keep that in mind.” And she turned and headed away.
He didn’t know if a bit of warning was in that last part or if it was just Dani being Dani and looking out for her friends too. It was hard in a place like this because everybody knew everybody, but, at the same time, nobody knew anybody. At least nobody knew him. Maybe that was closer to the truth.
Penny found that she was looking for excuses, every so often, to find ways to get out to Hathaway House. Now she was stopping in two and three times a week, sometimes four. Usually, two out of three times, she managed to find Owen as well. She was looking forward to his visits so much that she knew this was a serious issue. When Dani called her off to the side one day, Penny worried that she was in trouble for it.
“I shouldn’t really be encouraging him, should I?” she asked, chewing on her bottom lip, her arms crossed over her chest.
“I’m not saying that at all,” Dani replied, with emphasis. “I really like Owen. He’s a great guy, and it seems like you two have hit it off in a big way.”
“Do I hear a but coming?”
“No, not a but,” she said. “Just remember to take it slow and to get to know him first.”
“I know so much about him already now.” Penny shook her head. “Honestly, I’ve never really known anybody like him.”
“And that’s good and bad. As a new element, he’s a curiosity. But I don’t know how your family will feel about it.”
“I really don’t care,” she said calmly. “If he’s my choice, and it works out between us, I’ll tell them all to disappear.”
Dani nodded. “You know that Owen could be an issue for them.”
“Maybe,” she replied, “but I’m not sure he would allow it to be.”
“Good,” Dani agreed. “Because I’d hate to see something like that cause a lot of pain for Owen too. And that is just as important because we don’t want anything to set back his healing.”
“Exactly.” And Penny thought about that over the next few days.
When her mother called and asked, without preamble, “Who is he?”
Penny stared at the phone. “Who’s who?”
“You’re preoccupied all the time. I’m assuming that means a new male friend.”
“Well,” she said, “I don’t know about that. The fact is, I found somebody I really like, yes. But it certainly isn’t to that stage.”
“You should bring him home to meet the family.”
“And why would I do that?” she said, with a laugh. “So you guys can grill him, can put him through all kinds of tests?”
“We wouldn’t do that,” her mom protested.
“Of course you would,” Penny argued. “You’d have his full history and life open to public viewing, so you could look to see if there were any issues.”
“You have had a couple bad boyfriends in the past.”
“Yes, and that was in the past,” she stated. “This is an entirely different story.”
“What makes it different?”
“I’m an adult for one,” she murmured. “And this guy is somebody you can’t hoodwink with your power and prestige and money,” she said, laughing.
At that, her mom sounded more alarmed than anything.
“Have to run, Mom.” Penny hung up. But she knew that it had just started. They would dig until they found out more and more about him. She wasn’t even sure what she should do about it. She didn’t want them hassling Dani for information, and, if they wanted to make life difficult, they probably could. She worried on it and then made a special visit to Hathaway House the next morning.
“So, my mother knows about … that I have somebody in my life,” she said. “At least somebody I care about.”
“It was bound to happen at some point in time,” Dani admitted.
“I’m afraid they’ll hassle you for information.”
“Ah.” Her lips thinned, as she thought about it. “That’s fine. We’re all about patient privacy here.”
