Owen sighs deeply. She is avoiding dicussing the real issue here, which is what she just overheard. The accusations against him. By her not discussing it, either she does not believe it so she is giving it no credit or she does believe it and is far too afraid to bring it up in conversation within striking distance of him.
To which he understands. Olivia was naturally graced with the power of self preservation, which is shining through in this scenerio. He just wishes that she had never heard any of that hateful drivel that Trudy Bellmer was spewing at the hardware store.
“I am making furniture for them.”
Olivia looks at him with wide eyes and grins. “Like furniture furniture? Real stuff like you find at a store or like..?”
“Well, it can certainly be found at a store but it's also different. But to answer your question seriously, yes, it is real furniture.” He tells her as he pulls up outside of the furniture store.
She looks at the building and then turns to him, asking “Are you here for research or something?”
“Or something.” He tells her as pushes open the door and gets out. Before he can get out of the vehicle and can close the door, she is already out. “Uh, it's okay. I am only going to be in here for a few minutes. You can wait out here if you would rather.”
“No, that's fine. I would rather go inside with you.” She tells him plainly, as she shuts the door and waits for him on the sidewalk.
Owen has to admit to being confused. If she were truly scared of him, just now would have been a good time to get away from him. Instead she wants to spend more time with him. He can not figure out if she believes what she heard or if she does not believe it. He can't get a read on her o he has no idea what she is thinking, which causes him a fair bit of anxiety.
“Let's go.” Once again Liv grabs his hand in hers and tugs him behind her as they enter into the store.
Liv turns to walk through the furniture but he stops, tugging her back. “I actually have to go over here to the office. I need to talk to Burt for a few minutes.” He nods toward the thin, old man behind the counter.
“Well then, by all means, let's go talk to Burt.” Liv says aggreably, heading towards the counter.
“Owen! Nice to see you!” The wiry man calls out when he notices their approach.
“Nice to see you too, Burt.” Owen tells the man, meaning every word. Burt is one of the few people in this town that does not hold Owen accountable for his family's actions, to which Owen is grateful.
“Who is your lady friend?” Burt asks with a sly smile and Owen turns red.
Olivia just chuckles, reaching out a slender hand to him for a shake. “Olivia Jordan, sir. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, as well, hun. The name's Burt Castrem, but you can call me Burt.” She nods and he turns to Owen, focusing on business. “We sold out.”
“What?” Owen asks, surprised by the news. Every piece that he sold to Burt has been sold. That means that both he and Burt have both made a pretty penny off of the sales.
“The women's pinnacle club. They decided to redo their houses on their husbands dimes, so they came in here looking for the best. Elsie saw the dining room suites that you made and she just had to have it before Gladys or Mae could get it. Tommy had a bit of a bidding war on his hands, but he drove the price up to a high as Elsie was willing to go and he closed the deal.”
“Wow.” Owen says, impressed.
When Burt reaches into the drawer and pulls out a folded check for Owen, Owen takes it from him and opens it. A strong wind would have blown him over, he was so shocked by the amount printed on the paper. “Um, is this, real? It's not a mistake?” Owen wants to double check, not wanting to screw his friend over.
“No mistake. That is the agreed upon percentage of sales for you. I told you, Tommy drove them up. Elsie put Dave's retirement pension to good use, forking over all of that dough. So, you made bank, my boy.” Burt tells him in a gloating tone.
“Wow.” Owen repeats, not knowing what else to say. He made a few extra thousand that he was not expecting to have made. He was ecstatic and was riding a high from it.
“That is not all, Owen. You got a few custom orders. I priced him real high, what with that money blowing craze that them ladies was under. Elsie wants a matching cabinet and side tables for her dining room and living room. Mae wants a dining suit like the one Elsie bought, only bigger and better. She is also coming in today to discuss a bedroom set, that I priced her at ten.”
“Ten grand?”
“Yes, sir. With the price's I named them, and with my cut coming out, you will be making about fifteen, when it is all said and done.” Burt tells him and Owen's eyes involuntarily widen.
“Woah.”
“I told em that it would be after the holidays, cause I know you are busy with the motel and everything else, plus your family. I told them that it would be late spring or summer before you got it done and they aggreed.” Burt tells him and Owen chuckles, amused that the old codger seems to have thought of everything.
“Well, right done specifics of what they want. I am ahead of schedule with my Christmas gifts, so I can probably start working on them soon, so they can get done early. I will let you handle deposits and fees, since you are the business man. You just tell me which needs to be made first and it will be priority. I can have the materials in a week and start after that.”
Burt nods. “Sounds good.”
The three of them talk for a minute more before Owen and Olivia make there goodbyes and leave. They are in his truck and headed to the bank when she unleashes all of her questions on him.
“So you make furniture. Expensive, top of the line, make little old women fight over it, furniture?” Olivia asks him with a frown. “Not exactly the hobby that you made it out to be. Why?”
“Because I keep it a secret that I make the furniture. If there was a name attached to that furniture, they wouldn't be clammering to buy it. They would more than likely be gathering it up to use as kindling at my feet when they burn me at the stake.” Owen quips glibly, letting more of his bitterness than he wanted to show in his words.
“What?”
“If you haven't noticed, by Trudy's words at the hardware store, I am not exactly well liked in this town.” He tells her, pulling up to the window at the bank. “I would like to deposit this in my account.”
He gives Liv a look like 'see?' as the teller handles the transaction without saying a single word to him. When they pull away, with out the customary 'have a good day', Liv turns to him.
“What was all that about?”
“It is a long story but I will cut it down for you. Pretty much my father and brother were horrible, terrible people and the town thinks that I am exactly like them. They hate me and want me gone, but I won't leave the motel. It is mine and I am not leaving it.” Owen tells her.
“And you shouldn't.” Liv agrees.
They lapse back into a comfortable silence after that. Neither knowing what to say or how best to say it, so they both say nothing. They just enjoy the ride and the passing scenery.
They pull up to the motel with Owen's good mood still entact. He had a pretty good day. He got to spend time with Olivia, which he enjoyed imensely and he got even more money than he was expecting, which is helping him grow his savings account and get him closer and closer to his dreams.
Nothing can bring him down today.
Or so he thought.
* Graphic content warning* Owen walked into the office of the motel with a smile on his face and Liv right behind him, but the smile quickly disappeared when he got a look at Stephanie's face. She looks upset and worried. “What's wrong?” He asks her, moving closer. Was something going on with the motel or was it a personal issue? When he had sent Sam home early, he had managed the office until Stephanie had arrived to cover his morning shift so that he could run some errands. He would work her evening shift for her so that she would have a night free for a date with her boyfriend. Th
Liv watches helplessly as the sheriff loads Owen up in the back of his car and drives away. As she stands there, she hears two officers walking past her, having a conversation about it. “Yeah, she is the girl that was reported missing a few days ago.” One officer says. “Damn. Thought so. Looks like Owen is following in his father and brother's shoes. We might want to go check that well. Any time a girl goes missing around here, we are sure to find them at the Murder Motel.” The other one says. The first officer ch
Owen moves over to bed to pick up the card. It represents something ominous. How did this card get here? Why was it placed here? For someone to have left this card for him they would have had to break into his room. Was it the killer? Owen figured that it had to be. As he set in an interrogation room getting drilled with question after question, he had spent the time thinking. It had helped him come up with an idea of what had happened. Owen figures that the killer somehow managed to get the keys from his kitchen a few days ago, somehow. He or she used them to steal his tools from his workshop. He already made the connection in his
“Owen.” Liv reaches for his hand and sits down on the foot of his bed, pulling him down with her. Once he is seated beside her, she turns to face him. “You were not a coward and you did not let those women die. It wasn't like you helped them kill those women. You tried to stop them and they hurt you. You were young and you were afraid. You were human. That affliction happens to the best of us sometimes and we can't do anything about it.” “So being human is an affliction?” He teases her with a smile, trying to lighten the mood and she chuckles. “Of course it is!” But then she s
Liv lifts a hand to her face, rubbing at her still closed eyes. They are so dry that they feel like sandpaper. She tries to open them but the light hits them and they burn like fire. She quickly closes them with a quiet groan, lifting an arm to cover them in the hopes of eliviating the pain. When she restlessly moves her leg, she freezes as it touches something. She encountered another leg. What the hell? Slowly she opens her eyes, letting them adjust to the pain. She remembers most of last night but she isn't sure how that explains the fact that he is in bed beside her or that she is still in his room come morning time.Last night s
Liv enters her room, ready to take a hot shower and get dressed for the day. She left Owen to deal with his angry mother and the rest of his family. Despite having just woke up less than half an hour ago, she is exhausted. Probably from flipping through so many emotions in such a short time. Anger and disappointment when she thought that Owen had a girlfriend. Jealousy. Relief and embarassment when she found out that the woman was his mother. Happiness at the woman's kindness. Amusement at the family's antics. Attraction so deep that it made her breathless as she had gazed at Owen, watching him with them. He was a different person a
Lacey turns to Andy and sighs. “I am really worried about him. I kow that he does not really want us here, but I can not just sit back and do nothing as this happens to him. I just can't. I am far too worried.” Andy moves over and wraps his arms around his wife from behind, pulling her body back to meet his. “Me too, honey, but Owen is a grown man. We can only help him as much as he will let us help him. We can be here for him. We can offer our unwavering love and support for him, but we can't push him too far. You know how he is. He likes to do things himself.” “That is the problem though..” Lace
Owen wondered what was going through Liv's mind. Through out the whole day spent with his parents, he got the impression that her mind was somewhere else. That's not to say that she didn't get on well with his family or that she was not her charming, smart and engaging self. She was happy and chatty, winning over his family in a heartbeat. He wouldn't be surprised if after today he and his mother were best friends. She did great. But she always seemed to be a bit preoccupied. In lapses in conversation, she would drift off. He wondered where she went. He would watch her as she got lost in her thoughts. Sometimes though, he would catc