Page 54 of Owen

I slowly turn to look at Poppy and she’s looking back at me with adoration written all over her face, as if I stole the moon out of the sky for her, and my heart swells in a way I’m not familiar with.

What the hell is that feeling?

I reach for my chest with my free hand, laying it over my tee shirt as my heart pounds against my ribcage.

“She likes you, Owen, and you are a natural with her.” With love-filled eyes, Mari stares at her granddaughter. “Much better than her own father,” she mutters under her breath.

In a heartbeat, Poppy’s face changes, turning bright red.

“What’s wrong?” I panic. She looks like she’s choking.

“Oh, she’s doing a poo.” Mari’s amusement is clear in her tone as she turns to face the windscreen.

Giving her privacy, I look away too, a laugh bubbling in mychest. “Well, that’s not very ladylike, is it?” I stare out of the car window, inwardly replaying Mari’s words.

Trying not to overthink what this all means, I brush them off and say, “I’m gonna call you Poopy instead of Poppy from now on,” making Mari and Blake chuckle.

I twist my neck to look at Poppy.

Me, a stepdad?

I’ve never considered it before.

Until now.

14

OWEN

I’m lying by the pool, enjoying the mid-afternoon sun, mindlessly watching the rays make the water twinkle, and I exhale a contented sigh, finally feeling like myself again.

All around the surrounding trees, Cyprus Warbler birds sing away to themselves, enjoying the afternoon heat.

An entire week has passed since I watched Jade fly for the first time with her team, meaning the deadline to return to Castleview Cove my father set me has long passed.

I ignored it, refusing to bend or stretch to his demands. The night I swam around Aphrodite’s Rock, I made a commitment to myself to not look back, vowing to only move forward. Returning would be like admitting to him he was right all along when that is not the case; forcing his only son into a loveless marriage was wrong, so wrong.

I am here now, standing on my own two feet, and I took the first step toward securing financial stability. I made a call to a realtor friend, Jude, to help me find a house. Part of the plan was to find some property to invest in, not to live in as such. Wanting to be near Jade and Poppy, because that’s where myhead and heart want to be, I’m pretty certain I won’t be moving back to Scotland. However, when I return to Castleview Cove, with my father having taken it upon himself to rid me of the place I call my home, I thought it would be a good idea to secure a vacation home near the beach. It will be handy when I visit friends.

I promised to pay Jude a higher commission if he kept quiet about my whereabouts, and within three hours he’d found me a stunning home with four bedrooms and a large family kitchen, with a garden scattered with old trees to make homemade swings in and space to build a Wendy house, as well as a sea view.

Having spent a lot of time around Poppy, perhaps it was a subconscious decision I made as I reeled off my new home requirements, almost imagining the three of us living there together.

Mindlessly, I watch two dragonflies flirt with one another, hovering, twirling; they then skim the pool, lost in their own game of kiss chase.

I shake my head to rouse myself from my daydreaming as my text message alert dings loudly from the table next to me.

Aware that both Poppy and Mari are having an afternoon nap on the outside double daybed, I curse under my breath, praying my deafening notification sound doesn’t wake them up.

They’re cuddled together beneath the cream canopy that’s protecting them from the blistering sun, and I give them a quick glance, relieved to find them still sleeping soundly.

I called Jade earlier to ask if we could get Mari seen by a military doctor as she’s still not feeling well.

While Mari, Poppy, and I have been taking it easy around the villa, Jade is slammed with the team’s schedule. Flying and training aside, it has kept them busy doing press conferences,online interviews for magazines and newspapers, and meeting with different news teams from all over the world. In addition, the press is fascinated by the only female on the team returning to work, a working mom no less, featuring her in parenting and women-specific magazines.

She juggles so many things at once, I can’t keep up with her.

Today, I listened to the team being interviewed on the local radio station on base, too; they sure don’t get much downtime during the day.

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