Page 62 of Protecting his Heart

“I won’t ask how you are. Is there anything I can do?”

Evan sniffed. “Not really.” He exhaled. “I have a sister,” he whispered.

Owen tightened his hold. “You do.” And it made Owen wonder if Felix knew about her. He hadn’t mentioned her when Owen had asked for basic information about what Paul and Bernadette had been up to during the years, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t purposefully withheld that to protect them. It was the kind of thing Felix would do. “Do you want to know more about her?”

Evan didn’t answer for a moment, but then he said, “Yes. I will do as I said, but I want to know about her. Jessica.”

“Okay. We’ll find out what we can about her. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what I’d found out.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Evan turned over to face him, his face streaked with tears. “She’s ill, Owen.” His voice was broken.

“We’ll do what we can to help. Okay?” Owen’s own eyes filled as he made the promise. They would do whatever it took to help Jessica with the leukaemia. And if it was the last thing he did, Evan would get to know her. Owen had made no such promise to his parents to not involve himself with his sister, and he would do everything to make her understand it was not Evan’sfault that he wasn’t in her life. It doesn’t matter that there were sixteen years between them—it wouldn’t matter if there was one hundred and sixteen years between them—they would look after her because there was no telling what her life was like with them as her parents.

He kissed Evan, brushing the leaking tears from his cheeks, and cupped his cheek again. “Mum wants to say goodbye. In her own words, ‘I want to see my boy before I leave.’” He grinned, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Evan gave a watery chuckle and rubbed his face. They headed for the living room, and Sally enfolded him in her arms as soon as they were within reach. He heard them murmuring, but yet again, it wasn’t for him.

“Right. I’m going to head back to work. If you need anything at all, call me, okay? I love you both.” She patted both their cheeks and left.

“I think we need movies and ice cream,” Owen said.

Evan snorted. “Ice cream makes everything better.”

“And don’t forget it.”

****

When Evan finally fell asleep the previous night, Owen went into planning mode. He got in contact with Felix and asked him to find out whatever he could about Jessica Montgomery, and though he didn’t outright say it, he implied he knew about her. He didn’t have time to be mad, but he might be later. He had to plan a belated Valentine’s Day.

He woke Evan with gentle kisses and touches, bringing him from his slumber. “We have places to be, Mr Montgomery. Time to rise and shine.” Evan opened one eye, glaring as much as hecould with it, and Owen laughed. “Come on. I’ll even share a shower with you before we leave.”

By the time they’d had a shower, climaxed and eaten breakfast, they were already behind schedule. Owen ushered him into the car.

“Where are we going?” Evan asked for the tenth time since they’d got up.

“You’ll have to wait and see. I’ll give you one clue. It’ll take around an hour and a half to get there.”

Evan huffed as Owen pulled out onto the road. “That could be anywhere.” He fiddled with the radio, finally settling back on the original station they always listened to.

“You’ll figure it out the closer we get.”

He hoped that by taking Evan to a place of good memories, a place Owen’s mother used to take them, would help take his mind off everything that was happening. It wouldn’t work for long, but they had the day ahead of them, and they could let the rest of the world tick along without them for a little while. Today was for them. Tomorrow, reality could intrude if it had to.

It took Evan around an hour to finally guess correctly. “Brighton?”

Owen grinned. “Well done.”

“Can we visit the Upside Down House? I read about it when I came back and knew I wanted to see it at some point.” Evan bounced on his chair as if he was a little kid, rubbing his hands together.

Owen laughed. “Yes, we can. Other than dinner at the marina when it starts to get dark, I don’t have any set plans for us. We can wander around, find new places, revisit old ones and basically do whatever we want to.”

“Sounds great. I’d love to see how much the open market has changed over the years. When was the last time we went?”

Owen frowned. “I think it might’ve been for my twenty-fifth birthday. The three of us went to the theatre, though I can’t remember what we went to see.”

“I can’t either. Maybe Dominic will remember. We’ll have to ask him later.”

Owen parked the car in a long-term parking spot and locked it up before donning his coat. It was significantly cooler on the coast than further inland, but it wasn’t as cold as he’d been expecting. Still, he wrapped the scarf Evan had brought him around his neck and took Evan’s gloved hand.

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