Page 31 of Owen

“Jade’s father?”

She smiles fondly. “He was the most handsome man I had ever met.” Her eyes go dreamy. “I remember the day I arrived at my first posting. I was like a lost sheep with no idea what the heck I was doing or if I’d made the right decision to join up. Nerves, like a washing machine in my stomach, posted hundreds of miles away from home. I was barely eighteen.” Her eyes crinkle around the sides as she reminisces. “I had never been out of the little village in Kent I’d lived in all my life, and Icouldn’t even drive. But I knew what I wanted. Becoming a nurse and marrying a surgeon wasn’t it.”

“Was your father mad at you?”

Mari picks up a slice of apple that Poppy has thrown on the ground and places it on top of the pile of used wipes. “Hopping mad,” she answers. “He didn’t even turn up to watch my Passing Out Parade after basic training. But then, when my mother told him I was courting a fast jet pilot, well now, that got his attention.” She throws me a cheeky wink. “And it wasn’t really the done thing, an officer going with a non-commission service woman.”

“I bet it wasn’t.” Amused at Mari’s rebellious ways, I chuckle softly.

“And the rest is history. Andrew and I married, and he wanted to start a family straightaway, but I wanted us to enjoy each other first. Not long after we married, they deployed me for months, and I hated being apart from him.” Her memories appear to make her smile even wider. “It forced my hand, and I left the Air Force because it was becoming too difficult to match my postings with Andrew’s, and when I left, I fell pregnant with Jade. From then on, we let the Air Force dictate where we lived. We were happy and had everything we wanted in life, so our location didn’t matter. We had lots of friends and each other. When Jade was only a few months old, we relocated to Lincolnshire after Andrew’s squadron moved stations, and there we stayed and settled. It’s where I still live.”

“There’s an air base near Castleview Cove at Licharty,” I tell her. It’s only three miles away from Castleview. As a little boy, I always loved the sound of the fast jets roaring by from the end of the pier, watching them take off and coming in to land out on the peninsula.

She chuckles fondly. “I know. It was a posting we alwaysdreamed of. Your town and beaches are beautiful, but Andrew’s squadron was stationed in Lincolnshire.”

I nod in agreement. Our beaches are award-winning. It’s no wonder thousands of tourists travel from miles around to visit, even if it is just for the day.

Curious, I ask, “They don’t fly fast jets there any more, do they? Why not?”

“Something about a reshuffle. They always do that, then they realized they made a mistake and had to rethink the plan.” Mari reels off her intel. “There was a rumor that the base was closing down completely.”

“I heard that too. I also heard it’s going up for sale.”

“What the hell would you do with a military base with hundreds of homes and an airfield? You’d have to be mad to buy something like that,” she ponders.

I take a deep breath and ask Mari, “Do you regret any of the decisions you made?”

She replies in a heartbeat, “Not a single one. Everything I did, I did formeto begin with, then meeting Andrew and having him by my side throughout my career was the icing on the cupcake I wanted to share with him every day. We were very happy.”

“Wow,” I say, impressed at how badass Mari is. “You stuck to your guns.”

“I did because I knew what my father wanted for me wasnotwhat I wanted. I went out and found my dream. Made my own memories and created a legacy that will live on for years to come.”

“In Jade?” I ask, checking if that’s what she’s referring to.

“Yes. She’s special. Have you watched her flying? Her interviews? Being on camera? She shines.” She flicks her paper fanout to cool herself down as the sun has cracked out from behind the clouds again.

“No,” I answer honestly, with the sudden urge to look her up on the internet. I’ll most definitely be doing that later.

“She’s a star. My girl will go down in history. But had I followed my father’s plans for me, there would have been no Andrew and me, and ultimately no Jade.” She looks off across the pool in deep thought. “She inherited Andrew’s family’s talent for flying. Andrew and I, we made someone very special indeed.” She whispers her last thoughts.

Yeah, they did.

“Don’t play the game, Owen. Change it.” Mari finally shares her last words of wisdom.

Lost in my own thoughts, I realize I am getting my fresh start. To finally do whatever the hell I want. I don’t want to work in finance, because that’s what my father wanted me to do, or printing, attending boring machinery expos, balancing books or researching yet another complicated hedge fund or entering into a marriage to expand the business. Mari and Jade are both right. This is my opportunity to change course and take my shot; to break free and create my destiny.

As much as that scares me, it’s what I want.

The tumbling sensation that feels much like excitement bubbling in my stomach tells me it’s my time to take control of my life and to break free from my parents’ clutches. Internally, I make a vow to myself to discover what makes me want to hop out of bed in the morning, find a new career path and return to Castleview Cove self-sufficient. Or maybe never return at all. Maybe a new life awaits me elsewhere.

It’s farewellto Owen Brodie, heir to Castleview Printing Press, and hello to Owen Brodie, the man who sought his owndestiny without knowing what that was. Sidenote: with a little help from his grandfather, who left him millions in trust.

I push my shoulders back, determination now running through my veins.

I can do this, and I will… whatever the hellthisis.

Splitting the silence, Poppy bangs her sippy cup off the plastic food tray repeatedly, chantingmom, mom, mom,in time with her hammering. As she whacks it harder this time, the lid pops off with the pressure, then she pours the rest of the water over the top of her hair, leaving it there as if she’s wearing her cup as a hat.

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