Page 104 of Falling For You

He’d been part of the solution, even when I hadn’t known it.

The sound of a knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts, and I turned to see Dad walking toward it, wiping his hands on a dish towel.

“I wonder who that could be,” he said. He opened the door to reveal Vern holding a large gift basket.

“Vern!” Dad exclaimed, stepping aside to let him in. “Come on in. We’re just about to sit down to dinner.”

Vern smiled, his face a little weathered from the past few weeks of stress, but there was an ease in his eyes now that hadn’t been there before. “I won’t stay long,” he said, stepping inside and setting the basket on the table. “Just wanted to drop this off.Thank you for all the help you’ve given me over the years and for your recent understanding.”

Dad clapped him on the shoulder. “You didn’t have to do that, Vern. We’re just glad everything worked out the way it did.”

Vern nodded, his gaze flicking over to where Owen sat at the table, still chatting with Liam and Beck. There was a brief moment of hesitation before he spoke again, his voice quieter. “Well, you’ve got Owen here to thank for that too. He’s the one who made it all possible.”

The room went silent. Everyone’s attention shifted to Vern, and the tension suddenly rose. The air thickened with unspoken questions.

“What do you mean?” Dad asked slowly, his brow furrowed.

Vern glanced at Owen again before turning his attention back to our Dad. “When it came down to it, I was ready to sell to those developers. They were offering me more than I could ever dream of. But then Owen came to me. He told me he wanted to make sure your family got the land andthat it stayed in the community. He paid the difference—out of his own pocket.”

The words hung in the air like a bombshell, and I felt my heart clench as I turned to look at Owen. He hadn’t told me any of this. I had no idea he’d done something so huge, something so… selfless.

Mom and Dad exchanged a stunned glance, and Fifi’s mouth dropped open in shock. Beck and Liam stared at Owen, their expressions mixing confusion and disbelief.

“You did what?” I finally asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Owen shifted in his chair, looking a little uncomfortable under the weight of all the eyes on him. “I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” he said, calm but sincere. “But when I saw what was at stake, I couldn’t just stand by and let your family lose the land. It wasn’t right. So, I offered to cover the difference for Vern. That way, you could buy it at market value.”

My mind spun nonstop. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he had done something like this—something so monumental—for us.

Forme.

And he hadn’t even told me. He’d kept it quiet, not looking for credit or praise. He’d just… done it.

“Owen…” I started, but I didn’t know how to finish the sentence. There was too much swirling inside me—gratitude, disbelief, and something even deeper that I couldn’t quite name.

Mom was the first to break the silence. She walked over to Owen, her eyes soft and filled with emotion, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “What you’ve done for us… we could never repay you.”

Owen shook his head quickly. “There’s nothing to repay. I did it because it was the right thing to do. Your family deserves that land. You counted on it. Your family needs to stay here to run this lodge. It’s who you are. And I couldn’t just sit by and let it be taken away.”

Dad, who had been standing quietly by the door, walked over and extended his hand to Owen. “I’m not sure I can ever thank you enough for what you’ve done,” he said, his voice steady but filled with emotion. “You’ve saved our family’s future.”

Owen stood and shook Dad’s hand, his expression humble. “I didn’t do it for thanks. I did it because this place matters. Your family matters.”

As I stood there, watching this exchange, my heart felt like it would burst. Owen had always been someone I cared about deeply, even when things were complicated between us. But now, seeing him like this—seeing the lengths he’d gone to for my family—I realized that what I felt for him went beyond care. It went beyond anything I’d ever felt before.

Sitting silently throughout the conversation, Liam finally spoke up, his voice full of admiration. “You know, man, I didn’t think anyone could surprise me anymore. But you just did. Big time.”

Fifi grinned and gave Owen a playful shove. “You need to stop with the secrets.”

Beck laughed and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we’d have put you through the wringer if you’d kept that from us any longer.”

“Even good ones?” Owen asked.

Vern chuckled, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean to drop that on you all like this. I just figured you deserved to know, especially since he’s sitting at your table. Don’t give me too much credit. The deal was still more dollars and cents than I would rather admit.”

“Well,” Mom said, wiping a tear from her eye, “we’re glad you did. Owen, you’re a part of this family now. Whether you like it or not.”

There was a round of laughter, but I barely registered it. I was still trying to process everything. I hadn’t known Owen wascapable of something so… incredible. He’d risked so much for us, for my family. And he hadn’t asked for anything in return.

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