“Ex-fiancée.”
“Yeah. But if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. I get it. I don’t like to share my personal life either.”
“It’s fine. I haven’t really talked to anyone about it. I left LA with only a message for my coach and suggestions from my PR team. Long story short, Vanessa decided she wanted to spend our wedding day screwing her best friend in the middle of our reception hall before we marched down the aisle.”
“Wow. That’s…. Wow.” Shaking my head gently, I added, “I’m sorry. You probably expected me to say something more comforting.”
With a chuckle, Owen replied, “No. Actually, I imagined you flipping this around on me and saying it was my fault, or confessing it was you who caused it. Maybe you paid off my fiancée, you know?”
My chest pinched. The sting reached low down in my spine and crackled upward toward my tear ducts. I blinked quickly to rid myself of the tears.
“I deserve that.”
While I’d been speaking, he had pulled the car up in front of the large, restored farmhouse. As the vehicle came to a stop, Owen rested his hand on my exposed thigh. My eyes immediately darted down to the placement. It was the first time I could recall Owen ever touching me.
The spot sizzled.
He pulled his hand away just as quickly as it had landed there, as if it burned him in the process as well.
“Um… sorry. But no, Aspen, you didn’t deserve that.” After a long pause, Owen utters, “Tell your mom I said hello.”
The chrome of the handle warmed under my touch as I opened the door. Just as I stepped out of the car with my bags in hand, I turned back to him. “You may want to come inside.”
Leaning over the center console, Owen murmured, “Huh?”
“It’s where you’ll find your mother.”
I didn’t turn back to see if he’d follow after I closed the car door, but the sound of a second one shutting gave him away.
“What do you mean?” he hollered at me as I reach the porch steps.
I’d never admit it to my sister, but I was jealous about this entire house. It was gorgeous, and I dreamed of the double porches being on my fantasy home. Unfortunately, I would be stuck on the Sunny Brook Farms property for the unforeseeable future.
I knew from conversations with his mother that the two of them didn’t speak often, not that it was on her end. She missed her son, but she also understood why he didn’t want to return to town.
We all did. Now. His secrets were no longer his own. I wasn’t even sure Owen Ramsey was aware of that fact.
“You’ll see,” I said, turning around as I reached the porch to face him. He was standing three steps below me, which brought us eye-to-eye. “Look, you haven’t been back in a long time. Ignore last year, when you were here for a split second and left at the first chance you got. But things have changed. People and lives have changed. I don’t want you thinking you played a part in any of it—good or bad. There were decisions made to better all parties involved. Please, keep that in mind, Owen. I’m begging you.”
I ignored the way his eyes flared at my last statement, turned back around to take the three strides to the front door, and opened it without knocking, leaving him speechless still on the steps.
“Aspen!” he whisper-yelled. I almost cracked a smile, but I knew what he was going to walk in to. Something I figured out during the ride that he absolutely wasn’t prepared for.
Following the hallway past the open foyer, I found my sister and her husband in the kitchen, prepping the dinner with their live-in chef. My other sister, Alex, used to cook the meals here, but now that her cake shop was inundated with orders, Autumn hired someone else. Tara, a guest chef on a cooking show Colton hosted, took the job.
“I’m here with the bread. Sorry it took so long. I had car trouble. Again.” I handed the bread to Tara, who look relieved, as Colton thanked me profusely. Autumn sat on a barstool in the corner, looking a little green. She’d had morning sickness through her entire pregnancy. Normally, she ran the event venue on the far side of Sunny Brook Farms, but she handed off most tasks to her assistants.
“Aspen!” Owen shouted this time as he found his way to the kitchen and noticed the trio of other people. “Oh. Apologies for yelling. I was looking for Aspen.”
“How interesting,” Autumn whispered as she cocked her head. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Aspen’s sister, Autumn.” She pushed herself off the stool and moved toward the unexpected guest with her hand outstretched.
I rolled my eyes hard enough I saw stars as Owen blushed. The man had been engaged to a supermodel for cripes’ sake, but my sister had him acting like a lovesick teen with a lifelong crush.
“This is Colton, my husband. He plays hockey and hosts a few television shows.”
Shaking both their hands, Owen mentioned how he may have met Colton before at a sports network award show, and the two chat for a few minutes. Autumn winked in my direction, and I shot her a look of disgust.
“Owen?” she called for his attention, breaking up the impending bromance. “Are you staying for dinner? Our chef, Tara, is making manicotti.”
“Oh, that’s okay. Thank you for the offer, but—”
From off in the distance, the sound of fast-paced footsteps grew closer.
“Owen? You’re here?”
I recognized Beverly’s voice immediately. Of course, Owen had as well, and I didn’t miss his subtle wince when his name echoed through the house.
His mother turned the corner, still wearing her Crawford Bed-and-Breakfast polo shirt, and dashed over to her son. Feeling like I would witness a private moment, I shuffled out of the kitchen toward the library.
Thankfully, Autumn and Colton had the same idea, and we found ourselves hiding out amongst the stacks of novels.
“Well, this is awkward,” Autumn murmured as she rested against one of the bookshelves. “Owen didn’t look too happy to see his mom.”
“I’m not so sure he has the best relationship with her… and most definitely not the town,” I replied.
Colton chimed in, “So, it’s likely he has no idea his mom sold you their land.”
“From what I gathered, he doesn’t even know she works here,” I pointed out.
