Page 86 of Single Girl in the City
“Mom,” someone said from beside her. She turned to find Josh and his wife standing beside Owen. The eldest Easton brother was shooting Margo a look of warning that was tangible. Then his eyes locked on Abi.
He knew. She didn’t know how he knew, maybe Owen told him, but he knew. Which made this moment all the more gut-wrenching. How many people besides Owen knew the truth? And how long had they known?
“He deserves to know,” Margo said in a soft plea.
“But not like this,” Josh said.
“Lies have ripped this family apart. I won’t let it happen again,” Margo said.
“Will someone tell me what’s going on?” Owen asked.
Abi closed her eyes against the pain she knew was about to come. Even before she could open her mouth, she felt the emotion rise and pool on her lashes.
“Whoa,” Owen said and, to make things worse, he slid his hand into hers and squeezed. “I got you.”
“But you shouldn’t.” Unable to meet his worried gaze, she looked at her shoes. “This is a mess. A total and complete Impulsive Abi mess and I am so sorry,” she began. “I was going to tell you. No.” She lowered her voice and because he deserved to be looked in the eye when being delivered this blow, she met his gaze. “I should have told you.”
“Take it slow,” Owen said supportively. He searched her eyes and hers started to sting.
“Remember when I told you about buying beer from Brody?”
“We talked about this, and I told you it wasn’t a big deal.” He looked his mom square in the eye. “It isn’t a big deal. So, she told the truth? So what?” Owen said, and Margo gasped. “It’s the truth. She didn’t force Brody, he did it all on his own.”
“There’s more.” Abi took his hands. “The reason I came to Portland was that I made a promise to Jenny to make things right and you were the wrong I needed to make right.”
She knew the minute Owen put the pieces together, could feel the way his body went rigid. “So helping my mom’s poker team, hiring new employees and helping with bar, all the ways you immersed yourself in my life, that was because of some promise you made to a person I’ve never met?”
“Yes,” she whispered, shame heating her cheeks.
“So you came here with an agenda?”
“Yes.”
And that’s when she felt it. Felt his grip loosen. The tighter she held on, the more he let go until he dropped her hand altogether. And his expression said it all—she’d made a mess too big to clean up.
“I asked you more than once if I was one of your do-gooder acts and you played it off as it being nothing more than a friend helping a friend. But you had an agenda before we became friends. If that’s what we even are.”
Panic wove its way around her chest and tightened like a vise. “But we are. Remember? That was the promise. We walk away friends.”
“We’d have to have been legit friends for that to happen. Not some fabricated relationship.”
“We are friends. It might not have begun like how normal people start a relationship, but we are friends. And yes, at first I just wanted to do a few things to make your life easier and maybe it was to make myself feel better, but then it changed, you changed me,” she pled, needing him to believe her.
“Clearly not enough, since you’ve been lying to me the entire time.”
“It wasn’t a lie. I just didn’t tell you—”
Owen took a step back, but it felt as if the Grand Canyon separated them. “So you came here, to what? Take me dancing and dog walking?”
“Partly. I came to see Dotti and I came to see how your family was doing. Then I saw how hard you worked to keep the bar going and make your family happy and I wanted to find a way to makeyouhappy. Makeyourlife easier, happier.”
“Why me? Out of all my brothers, why me?”
“Because they were off living their lives while you were running a bar that you didn’t seem to like. As if it was your obligation rather than your dream. I know you came back after the suit was filed and that you took over the day-to-day of running the bar when your dad fell ill. You didn’t trust anyone because of me, put up walls around you because of me and the mess I helped create, so you decided to do everything all yourself. You took it on without complaint to help your family. You still do,” she explained. “That’s why I chose you.”
“You chose me? Jesus.” He ran a hand down his face. “You inserted yourself into my life under false pretenses and played me.”
She shook her head fiercely. “I didn’t play you.”
