Page 95 of Owen

One thing my mother did get right was the garden. She would spend hours here, creating sanctuaries for ladybirds and hedgehogs, leaving treats out for the squirrels and foxes who ventured into the garden late into the night. She loved animals more than her children, it would seem.

This was the only place I ever heard her sing or smile. I cast my eyes around the color-filled gardens and a thought drops into my mind. With hundreds of roses lining the many hidden paths, maybe they were her favorite flower and what I should have asked to be put on her coffin and not the lilies I picked. That would figure; beautiful to look at but armed with sharp-toothed thorns. Sounds about right.

I air my thoughts. “It’s such a strange thing to have lived with someone for years and not known anything about them.”

“Are you talking about your mom or your dad?”

“Both, I guess.”

“Maybe they kept you at arm’s length for a reason.”

Or maybe they were brought up that way, so they never knew any different. Either way, I buried two strangers today.

Strangers that might possibly have spent their last night together trying to figure out a way to pay off their debt. Out for dinner with the devil himself, apparently.

My curiosity has been slowly creeping in all around me. Like poison ivy, it’s crawling through my veins so fast it’s threatening to encase me in a tomb of its toxicity. What was agreedaround that dining table that evening between my parents and Richard Sanderson?

Because both Richard and Gideon have been too nice and it’s making me feel uneasy.

“Your heart is beating so fast.” Jade looks up at me. “Are you okay?”

She’s asked me at least a dozen times a day how I am and every time I answer with the same reply. “I’m fine.” When in fact I’m not quite sure how I feel.

Maybe I need distance to get a better perspective on things. Just be with my girls until the dust settles and then see how I feel.

Once I have sorted my house, then I can go back to the new life I was creating and happy with. Because while I love Castleview Cove, Jade isn’t here, and wherever she is, I am.

Jade makes me smile when she says, “Your friends have been wonderful today. I love them all.”

“And they love you.” I kiss her on the end of her nose. “Told you they would.”

In a rare girly moment, she scrunches her nose, making her look cute.

“I love you in this sexy little dress.” I give her ass a good squeeze.

She steps back, looking upset with me, crossing her arms around herself. “We are at a funeral, Owen Brodie. Do not be so disrespectful,” she scolds, sounding like a teacher. She looks around. “What if someone saw you feeling me up at your parents’ funeral?” She waggles her finger at me.

I hold my hands up, surrendering to her observation. “Okay, okay, I get it. Be respectful.” I roll my eyes. “So, we can’t fool around over there in the bushes then?”

Letting out a loud gasp, she turns to look at the bush I’m pointing to. “Please don’t tell me you have done that.”

I draw a cross over my heart. “Never.”

“You’re lying.”

I’m not, but I laugh at how upset she is thinking that I have, then throw her a wink.

“You are such a tease.” She throws her arms around my neck, realizing that I am telling the truth.

“And this is why you love me.”

“I do.” She kisses me with her soft lips.

I wish this moment would last forever, surrounded by Jade in my bubble of kisses and happiness.

Bliss.

Someone clearing their throat alerts us to their presence. When I look toward the interruption, my happy bubble pops in an instant. This is the moment I’ve been dreading and trying to avoid.

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