Page 47 of The Reality of Us
There was a hard glint in Owen’s eyes. “Now we wait.”
17
“I don’t understand,” Alice said as Owen slipped his phone back into his jeans pocket.
“Raff’s still not answering.”
He reached for Murphy’s lead, and she let him take it. It was properly dark now, the only light coming from the ones in the bottom of the fountain. Through the large windows, she could see Wyatt and his girlfriend, Billie, sitting at the pub bar, counting the till, all the chairs stacked on the tables. The rest of High Street was quiet; all the other businesses had closed for the night already. The small crowd that had gathered to watch Phoenix be driven away in the squad car had dispersed.
Alice swallowed thickly. The edges of the stars blurred as she rubbed her eyes, repositioning her glasses with a sigh. She’d been so unable to recognise who she’d become that she’d overlooked how much Phoenix had changed as well. “I didn’t know he was dealing. If I had …”
“This isn’t your fault.” Owen’s voice was firm.
“But if I’d …”
Rafferty’s name flashed up on his device. “Hold on,” he said.
The conversation was mostly one sided, punctuated occasionally with a “yeah” or “what?” from Owen. She knew it was bad when he swore. Even Murphy looked up from the pile of leaves he was sniffing. Alice’s pulse spiked, blood thrumming throughout her body. Too tired to stand, she sank onto the grass, dewiness seeping through her jeans. She’d be itchy later, but she didn’t care.
“Alice?”
She hadn’t realised Owen was off the phone. He helped her up, his hands lingering around hers before he dropped them.
“A fourteen-year-old girl overdosed at Phoenix’s party this afternoon.”
The ground slipped out from underneath her, and Alice sagged against Owen. His strong arms held her steady.
“Come sit down.” He led her carefully, gently, to the sandstone pavers that encircled the fountain. When they sat, Murphy followed, flopping down at their feet. Her shoulders curled in, head swimming as she tried to process what Owen had said.
“She’s in a coma. They won’t know if she has brain damage until she wakes up. If she does. Several witnesses saw Phoenix give her drugs, but he left before the ambulance arrived. The cops have been trying to track him down all afternoon.”
“What if …”
Owen turned towards her, his face bathed in the fountain’s soft glow. “What if what? You’d confronted him? Put yourself in danger? You’re not responsible for his actions, Alice.”
She blinked furiously, trying to stop the tears from falling. It didn’t matter what Owen said; if the girl died, she’d be partly at fault.
This is what happens when you lie.
A sob escaped before she could stop it.
“I should have tried harder to get Phoenix to go to rehab, but he wouldn’t listen. Neither would Chris. And then the scandal it would cause if word got out … and they’d both get so angry at me.” Alice sniffed.
“Come here,” Owen said, all the rough edges to his voice gone. He wrapped an arm around her and pushed her glasses up into her hair, which must’ve looked like a bird’s nest now. But she couldn’t bring herself to care. Instinctually, she nestled in, her head buried in the crook of his neck, palm flat against his chest. He smelt different, with no trace of his usual cologne. There was a hint of soap on his skin and something musky she suspected was his natural scent.
“Can I tell you a secret?” she whispered.
Owen brushed her fringe away from her eyes, tipped her chin up. “Of course.”
She dropped her gaze, unable to look at him as she admitted this. The silence between them extended as she struggled to find the right words.
“It’s super selfish. Especially now. With all this going on.” She took a deep breath. “I’m worried everyone will always think of me as Phoenix Storm’s wife … ex-wife? Like no matter what I do, our lives will be tied together. And every time he does something terrible, I’ll get dragged into it because that’s my punishment for not stopping him. For not being honest.”
Owen didn’t speak for a moment, as was his way. By now, she knew he always chose his words carefully. “It might be like that for a while, especially in the media, but it won’t last forever. Not if you don’t let it. Think about all your business plans and the charity stuff. If you keep pushing that to the forefront, eventually, people will forget about this. Everyone’s done things they wished they hadn’t. It’s human nature to have regrets.”
She sniffed loudly, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. “But what if …”
Owen’s thumb tilted her chin up again, their eyes meeting. “What if what?”
