Chapter Sixteen

Charlie

“Sorry, sweetpea,” I tell Tulip, who’s pathetically meowing by the bedroom door. “You can’t go out there. We’re both stuck in here.”

I open my laptop, set on watching a movie and passing out. I just got back from taking Owen home, and his big truck is parked out in front of the house. It’s only a matter of time before someone asks me about it, and I’ll have to reiterate my story about how Owen is still the same carefree—or careless—boy he was back when we were together.

Not even ten minutes into the movie, someone knocks on the door.

“You decent?” Carly asks.

“Yes,” I tell her. She opens the door, and one of the dogs dashes in before she can grab her. Tulip limps under the bed and my heart about falls out of my chest. Fuck, we need to get out of here. Maybe I’ll rent a room in the only bed and breakfast in Eastwood. It would still be cheaper to live there for a month and a half than it would be to rent my NYC apartment for a week.

“Sorry,” she says, shoving the dog into the hall. “Owen is here.”

“What?”

“He’s at the door, asking for you.”

“Owen?” I repeat. He was borderline passed out when I left. There’s no way he pulled himself together to get here already. And I have his truck. “Are you sure?”

“I think so.”

Shaking my head, I close my laptop and get up. Carly opens the door, ready for the dogs this time. We both make it out without further traumatizing my poor cat. Someone is in the foyer downstairs, and from behind, he does look like Owen. But the second he turns, I know it’s Logan.

“Hey.”

“Logan…hey. What are you doing here?” I go down the last steps.

“I was hoping to talk for a minute.”

“Uh, sure. Is everything okay?”

“I’m hoping it will be.” He gives me a smile, and I motion to the porch.

“Is Owen—”

“He’s sleeping, but he’s fine.”

“Good.” I step onto the porch and close the door behind us. “I see he’s the same as ever.”

“He’s not. Danielle is pregnant,” Logan tells me.

“Oh, wow. Congrats. That’s exciting!”

“No one else knows yet. She had a miscarriage a few months ago, so we’re not sharing the news until she gets an ultrasound this time. Owen knows, though.”

“That’s why he drank all her drinks.”

Logan nods. “Danielle is a fan of booze. The first thing my mom would have asked if she saw her not drinking was if she was pregnant. They know we’ve been trying since she lost the last baby.”

I mess with my hair, tightening and then loosening my ponytail. “That was…was annoyingly noble of him then.” I blink, not sure how to process everything. “And I’m so sorry to hear about your loss.”

“Thanks. It was really hard on Danielle, which is why she’s being so cautious now.”

“Oh, I totally understand. Well, not totally since I’ve never been pregnant, but I can only imagine.”

Logan nods. “Don’t give up on him yet.” He pats my shoulder and looks at the car. “Danielle’s not feeling well, so we’re going to head home, but I wanted to at least let you know why he seemed like a raging alcoholic tonight.” He gives me a smile that almost mirrors Owen’s cocky grin. “Maybe a second chance is on the horizon?”

I laugh. “Fat chance. What we had…” I shake my head. “It was a once in a lifetime kind of thing.”

His eyes go to the car, looking at Danielle through the window. “Well, you never know.”

“Sure,” I say, not wanting him to press this anymore. My resolve is crumbling, and I’m desperately reaching and picking up broken pieces from the ground. I loved Owen with everything I had. More than I loved myself. Way more than I loved Todd.

I can’t risk being hurt by him again.

“And I won’t say anything about the baby,” I tell Logan as he takes a step toward the porch steps. “Congrats again. I’ll keep you guys in my thoughts.”

“Thanks.” He smiles. “We have a good feeling about this one.”

“You’ll make a good dad,” I tell him and mean it.

“It’s kind of scary to think about, but thanks.” He dashes down the porch steps, going around to the driver’s side of his car. Danielle gives me a little wave as they pull away from the house, and I’m left there feeling bad for jumping to conclusions. But does this mean Owen really has changed?

I suppose there’s only one way to find out.

“Was that Owen?” Carly asks as soon as I open the front door.

“That was Logan.”

“They look so much alike.”

“Well, they are identical twins,” I laugh.

Carly glances into the living room, where her kids are watching a movie. “Did you ever get them mixed up and accidentally sleep with the wrong twin?”

“You’ve watched too much cheap p**n.”

“So you’re saying yes, that did happen? Or maybe you really knew all along but went with it anyway?”

“Cheap, badly written p**n.”

“Ohhh, or maybe you did them both at the same time!”

I roll my eyes and laugh. “No, no, and no. I don’t think they’d be into incest in that way.”

“But is it really?”

“Stop reading the Jamie and Cersei fan fiction, please.”

“Hey, I haven’t read any of that in like a year,” she laughs. “But what did Logan want?”

I shake my head. “Nothing important.”

“If you say so.” Giving me one last look, Carly goes into the living room to tell her kids it’s almost bedtime. They protest and I dash up the stairs before I get caught in the crossfire. I like being the cool aunt but won’t go against Carly’s parenting. She’s an awesome mom, and one day those kids are going to realize it.

Back in my room, I change out of my dress and put on comfy shorts and an oversized t-shirt with Disney villains on it. After washing off my makeup, brushing out my hair, and brushing my teeth, I get back into bed to finish the movie. This time, I make it another ten minutes before I close my laptop again.

I don’t know if Owen needs his truck in the morning. Or if he’s feeling sick right now.

“Stop it,” I tell myself, knowing I’m trying to come up with excuses to go see him. Putting my head in my hands, I rub my eyes and think about him. Of his deep brown eyes. His perfectly messy hair. The ripples of muscles over his chest. His abs. That sharp V on his waist…

“I need help,” I tell Tulip and flop back on the bed. Wrestling with the desire to go drive back to Owen’s, I get up and slip out the door. I trip over one of the dogs in the dark hall.

“Sorry,” I say, not sure which one I tripped over. They look exactly alike in the daytime. It’s impossible to tell them apart at night. Nevertheless, the dog follows me downstairs and into the kitchen. I grab a bottle of wine from the fridge, pull out the stopper, and put it to my lips.

I chug just enough to prevent me from driving anywhere.

“There,” I say, satisfied with my inability to go over to see Owen, though the wine is going to make me want to even more. I put the bottle back only to take it back out again and carry it upstairs.

Tulip tries to dash out of the room when I go back in. Poor cat. I hate that she’s been confined to one room…and that her litter box is on the other side of my nightstand. It’s only temporary. We’ll get through this.

I settle back into bed, drink wine from the bottle, and fire up the movie again. I’m feeling sleepy when one of the dogs paws at the door, startling me. Tulip growls, which makes the dogs start whining. I assume they’ll settle down in a few minutes.

They don’t.

By the morning, everyone is cranky and annoyed by the dogs barking. Carly brought them into her room, which is when the barking started…and never stopped. How the dogs didn’t run out of energy is beyond me.

Dad grumbles throughout breakfast and Mom gives him the side-eye the whole time. I’m going into the office with Dad this morning and refill my coffee twice before I’m dressed and ready to go.

“Hey, Dad?” I ask as we head out of the house. Heat creeps up the back of my neck, making me feel like a teenager. “Can you pick me up from Owen’s house? I, uh, need to drop off his truck.”

Dad stops short, turning and raising one eyebrow. “Why do you have Owen’s truck?”

“I, uh, went to dinner at his parents’ last night and drove myself home.”

“Yeah, kiddo, I can pick you up.” Dad looks at me for a few seconds. “You know, I always liked Owen.” He starts forward again, and what he doesn’t say screams louder than anything just spoken.

But it doesn’t matter, because Owen and I had our chance and it didn’t work out. Trying again will only end in heartache.