Page 45 of Marie's Hidden Refuge

Her grin came back. “I believe you. I don’t know why, or even how it’s possible, but I’ve trusted you from the moment I saw you.”

“I hear that a lot,” he said. “It’s the badge.”

She laughed and playfully slapped at his chest.

The heat of her palm seeped through his shirt, and he rested his hand over her knuckles, trapping her against him.

All humor fled from her face. Her eyes flew wide, her pretty lips slightly parted.

He swallowed hard, debating against being a gentleman and capturing her mouth in his and finally finding out how she tasted. He took the tiniest step forward, only allowing a whisper of space between them.

“Waaa!”

Nora’s cries broke the magic of the moment.

A shy smile slid up the corner of Marie’s mouth, and she lifted the blanket covering Nora’s head. “What’s wrong, baby? You want to see the world?”

The cries stopped. Nora smiled.

Owen’s heart melted as disappointment swept in faster than the water flowing down the river. He should have made a move. Should have let his guard down and opened up to Marie. But now the moment had vanished.

He made a silly face at Nora, and the little giggle was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. “All right ladies. Let’s get lunch. I’m starving.”

Marie leaned against the vinyl booth at Lulu’s Diner and let the waitress place the full plate in front of her. Her stomach may be empty, but the scent of her chicken club sandwich didn’t do anything to increase her appetite.

Not when the only thing she craved sat across from her.

Not when she couldn’t stop thinking about the sad man who tried so hard to help a nephew who was drowning in grief.

“Thank you,” she said and formed a puddle of ketchup beside her fries.

Owen mumbled something that sounded like thanks as he shoved a burger in his mouth.

The waitress laughed. “Let me guess, you haven’t taken time to eat today? You need to take better care of yourself.” The petite brunette batted her long lashes and patted his arm before turning and sashaying away, her hips swinging with the motion.

Marie chanced a peek at Owen, but his focus remained squarely on the food heaped high on his plate and not the flirting server.

Something loosened in her chest. She had no reason to be jealous of the pretty woman, but she couldn’t help it. Owen’s complete lack of awareness of the server’s attention lifted her lips.

Owen dipped his chin toward her untouched plate. “I promise, Lulu’s serves the best food in town.”

Marie swiped a fry and twirled it in the red goo. “Everything smells great. I’m just not very hungry right now.”

Owen raised his brows. “Are you feeling okay? We haven’t eaten since breakfast, and it’s way past lunch time. You really need to eat something.”

Nibbling on the end of the fry, she let the salty goodness explode on her taste buds and hoped it would reawaken her appetite. She glanced at Nora in her carrier beside her, and her stomach turned. “I’m fine. I just can’t get Steven Piper’s sad eyes out of my head. I understand what he’s going through. I admire that he tried so hard to help his nephew, especially while dealing with his own loss.”

Owen set down his burger and reached for her hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even think of the similarities between him and Eddy and you with your mom. Do you want to talk about it?”

Marie shrugged and dropped her burning eyes to the large hand covering hers on the table. She hated to admit how much comfort such a simple gesture brought her.

She wished they could go back outside in the sunshine. Back to the silly banter and the anticipation that zipped through her when Owen had looked at her with a different kind of hunger. But the struggles of the past days, weeks, and months refused to be ignored. “There’s not much else to say. I’ve told you all of it.”

“A wise woman once told me it’s a good idea to check in on your emotions.” He squeezed her hand, sliding his fingers between hers.

Marie glanced into his hazel eyes and the kindness shining back at her stole the air from her lungs. “I feel like I’m stuck in some kind of movie and just going along with the motions. Heck, I’ve felt like that for a long time.” She sighed. “But talking with Steven Piper about Eddy was different—the emotions ran much deeper for me. I feel bad for Eddy. He’s just a kid who got dealt a crap hand and didn’t know how to handle it. That could have been me or even Renee.”

Owen tipped the side of his mouth in a half-smile. “We’re all thrown something hard at some point in our lives. It sounds like Eddy had people willing to help, but he didn’t want it.”

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