Chapter 12

Owen was pretty sure he was hallucinating. That was the only explanation he could come up with for seeing Brooke at his door. Before he could say a word, she was carefully backing him into the room and closing the door.

Her hands were gently touching his head, his cheeks, before raking through his hair. It all felt so good, so right…

“Come on,” she said, “you need to be sitting down.” They walked across the room to the bed, and Owen willingly sat and rested against the stack of pillows. “What do you need?” she asked. “What can I get you?”

His head finally cleared enough to realize that he wasn’t hallucinating. She was here. She was real. “What are you doing here?”

Brooke kicked off her sandals and smiled at him before walking over to the mini-fridge and getting two bottles of water. She handed one to him. “I heard you were sick, and I was worried about you.”

Sick? How…? Who…?

“Darcy called me. She didn’t know… She hadn’t heard…” She stopped and sighed. “Don’t be upset with her. She was just concerned about you and thought I was here with you. After we talked for a little bit, I knew I couldn’t stay away. Now what’s going on? Have you seen a doctor?”

“Doctor? I’m not—”

“You look very pale,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed beside him, feeling his forehead again. “But you don’t have a fever.” Then her eyes went to the bandage. “What happened? Did you get hurt?”

He shook his head.

“Owen, please. What’s going on?”

Sitting up a little straighter, he grimaced with pain and cursed under his breath. Why had he thought this was a good idea? He reached up, gingerly found the edges of the bandage, and slowly pulled it away from his skin.

Beside him, Brooke gasped. “Owen! What did you…?” She reached out, but he immediately stopped her.

“Don’t touch it. Not yet.”

“Why…? When…?”

The cool air on his skin actually felt good. He reached over to the nightstand, found the ointment he was supposed to use, and gently applied it. When he was done, he looked at Brooke with a lopsided grin. “I thought it would be cool.”

A shy smile played at her lips. “It’s a tattoo.”

He nodded. “I know.”

“You got a tattoo,” she said as her smile blossomed.

“I did.”

“It’s very—”

“Painful,” he interjected. “In case you were wondering, the word is painful. Tattoos hurt like hell. I was completely misinformed on this.”

She laughed, and it was the sweetest sound in the world. “Who told you that? Everyone knows tattoos hurt!”

“Riley. I’m totally going to get even with him for this. He told me it would hurt a little, but this feels like my skin is on fire!”

“Oh no! Are you sure it’s not infected?” she asked, concern lacing her voice.

Owen shook his head. “It’s normal. I just have a low threshold for pain. I talked to the artist and Riley and went online and did some research, and it’s all normal. It should start to feel better by tomorrow.”

“So what can you do in the meantime?”

“The ointment, letting it breathe, and ibuprofen are about it.” He shrugged and then winced. “I’ll live.”

“That’s good,” she said, still smiling. “I’m very glad to hear that.” One of her hands came to rest on his stomach. “I can’t believe how much I want to touch it. It’s amazing, Owen. Truly amazing. What made you decide to do it? You never mentioned anything like this before.”

“I had a lot of heart-to-heart talks in the past week, first with Riley and then with my dad. And in each of those conversations, this topic kept coming up.”

“Tattoos?”

He chuckled. “No. Not tattoos but…” He pointed to the art.

“Superman?” she asked with amusement.

He nodded and then told her the story of how Superman played an important part in his life and his perception of himself. At first, he felt a little bit foolish, but the look on her face was one of wonder and understanding.

Because she understood him.

Probably better than he understood himself.

“This is to remind me that I’m stronger than I think I am. And that I don’t need the cape,” he added with a quiet laugh.

“I don’t know about that,” Brooke said, laughing with him. “It could be a good look on you.”

“If you think it is, then I’ll gladly go and get one,” he said, his hands twitching with the need to reach out and touch her.

But he couldn’t.

Not yet.

“Careful… I may take you up on that!” They were laughing, and then they weren’t. Things grew quiet, and Brooke lowered her gaze.

“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “I hurt you. It was never my intention.”

She looked up at him then. “I didn’t give you any reason to think any differently. I don’t have a very good track record, and if I were you—”

He pressed a finger against her lips to stop her words. “No. I knew. Deep down, I knew I was wrong in what I was thinking. All along I kept second-guessing myself and wondering how an amazing woman like you could ever want to be with a man like me. I was looking for excuses to back up my crazy logic. It was wrong of me, and I’m so sorry, Brooke.”

Her blue eyes were glazed with unshed tears as she looked at him. “I want to hug you, but I don’t want to hurt you!”

In that moment, he cursed the placement of the tattoo. Why hadn’t he gone for the arm? Why had he listened to Riley about the chest being the best spot? But his need to touch her, to hold her, was stronger than his need to not be in pain. Wrapping his arms around her, he gently pulled her in close and claimed her lips with his.

After several minutes, they broke apart, breathless. “I missed you,” she said, their foreheads resting against each other. “I missed you so much. I know it was only five days, but—”

“I missed you too. That’s why I left and went to visit my dad. I knew if I was in Chicago I wouldn’t be able to stay away. But I was so ashamed of myself that I didn’t know what else to do.”

“This morning my phone beeped to remind me of our flight. I was so sad because I wasn’t going to be here with you. I wanted to be—even though I was mad at you, I still wanted to be here with you. And it has nothing to do with the meteor shower or your group of students, Owen. I just wanted to be with you.”

He smiled and kissed her gently one more time. “This is where I want you to be. Right beside me. In my arms. Always.”

She shifted on the bed so she was lying on the side opposite his tattoo and rested her head on his shoulder. “I like the sound of that.”

“I love you,” he said, his voice deep and confident. “I should have said it to you the other day. Hell, I should have said it weeks ago.” Owen moved so he could look in her eyes. “I love you.”

And then she smiled—the smile that had turned him upside down from the very first day. “I love you too.”

And just like that, everything was right with his world.

* * *

They talked for hours.

Owen wasn’t even sure of the time.

All he knew was Brooke was lying beside him and it was wonderful.

Across the room, her phone was beeping with what sounded like a ton of incoming texts. She finally excused herself to make sure everything was all right. When she fished her phone out of her bag and looked at it, she started laughing.

“Everything okay?”

She nodded, walked back over, and climbed onto the bed. “They’re all from Darcy. She wants to know if you’re all right and if we’re all right, and then she wants a picture of the tattoo.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. Leave it to his sister to make so many requests.

“And she said to tell you that since you got one, it totally clears the way for her to get one too.”

Owen reached over, took the phone from Brooke’s hand, and immediately texted Darcy that he wanted to be left out of that discussion. There was no way he wanted to be held responsible for his sister getting a tattoo.

He let Brooke take a picture of his Superman emblem and grinned when she looked at him and told him how sexy it was.

Best. Idea. Ever.

Sort of. If it wasn’t for the pain.

After sending a few more messages to Owen’s sister, Brooke stood up, turned off her phone, and placed it back in her bag. Then she walked over to the wall of windows and sighed happily. “Quite the view, Dr. Shaughnessy.”

“I’ll say.”

She looked over her shoulder at him and rolled her eyes even as she laughed. “I was talking about the view from the window—of Red Rock? It’s spectacular.”

Owen rose, walked over, and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “It was either the canyon or the Strip. I opted for the canyon for obvious reasons.”

“It’s a great view—not as great as the one we had in our tent the last time, but this way we have a lot more comfort.”

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Air-conditioning and a king-size bed are definite perks, but I kind of enjoyed our pallet on the ground in our mesh tent. It was cozy, and it meant you had to be close to me the whole time.”

“I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about that. I find I like being close to you when we sleep.”

He hugged her, and even though it made him wince briefly as her shoulder hit his freshly inked skin, it was worth it.

“I could look at this view all night,” she said.

“Me too.” But he wasn’t looking at the canyon. He was looking at her.

As if sensing his gaze, she turned and looked at him. “Why don’t we order dinner and watch the sunset from here?”

“I like the sound of that.”

Within minutes they’d called in their order, and Brooke made sure Owen sat and rested while she unpacked. When she muttered a mild curse, Owen asked her what was wrong. “I didn’t call to check on Uncle Howard or to make sure my mom got in okay. It’s kind of late there, but—”

“Call your mom’s phone then. That way if Howard’s sleeping you won’t wake him up.”

She agreed, immediately taking out her phone and sitting on the small sofa across the room to make the call. While she did that, Owen walked over to the desk and picked up his own phone. He pulled up Darcy’s name and started a text to her.

Hey, brat

Hey, brainiac

Thank you

For what?

*eye roll* Seriously?

So you guys are good? Brooke is still there?

Yes

Good. Then my work here is done

You’re a little bit of an evil genius

I know

I had planned on going to her after the trip

Too long

I agree. This way is much better

Cool tattoo btw

Glad you approve

Does it hurt?

More than you could ever imagine. I wouldn’t wish this pain on my worst enemy

Nice try. I still want one

Talk to Dad

*eye roll*

I’m serious.

We’ll see. I don’t even know what I’d get

In trouble. You’d get in trouble

Lol! I love that you’re finally getting a sense of humor

You can thank Brooke for that

I knew she was good for you

She’s the best

Then why are you wasting time texting with me? Go and catch up on lost time!

I think I will. Night, brat

Night, brainiac

He finished the exchange with a smiley face emoticon, and Darcy replied with a smiley face sticking its tongue out.

Which was no less than what he expected.

Putting his phone away, he looked over and saw Brooke smiling as she spoke softly, and Owen felt…happy. At peace. And if it weren’t for the stinging pain on his chest, he would say everything was perfect.

Soon.

Within minutes, their dinner was delivered, and Brooke hung up her phone and put it away again.

“Everyone okay? Did your mom make it in all right?”

“She’s there and settling in and a little disappointed that I wasn’t there, but when I told her why, she was very happy. She said Uncle Howard has been singing your praises, and now she wants to meet you even more.”

That made him feel a little sick to his stomach, but it was a problem for another day. He wasn’t going to let anything ruin this night.

Together they sat next to the window and watched the sun setting as they ate and talked about their plans for while they were there. Their original plans allowed them a full day of sightseeing before the rest of the group arrived, and Brooke mentioned the possibility of going shopping the next day for art supplies.

“I know I should have planned better, but I didn’t bring anything with me again. I can make do with the same kind of stuff I purchased the last time.”

“You know,” he began, putting his utensils down, “you never showed me what you painted the last time. I was so curious, but I figured you’d show me if you wanted to.”

Then he noticed her blush. “I’m sorry… I don’t mean to pressure you. I just thought—”

“I painted you,” she admitted shyly.

“What?”

Brooke nodded. “I did. I finally had the opportunity to paint in the desert, and I painted you.”

Owen wasn’t sure what to say to that. He was…stunned. But flattered. “Really?”

She nodded again. “You were looking through the telescope, and you just looked so…intense and at peace at the same time. The canyon made for a beautiful backdrop, but the majority of the painting was you. I was so embarrassed. I didn’t want you to think I was weird or anything. That’s why I quickly put it in the Jeep.”

“I had no idea,” he replied, feeling somewhat pleased and honored by her admission. “When we go home, can I see it?”

“Sure.”

But she didn’t sound sure; she sounded hesitant.

“Brooke, really…if you’d rather not—”

“I painted another picture of you,” she blurted out.

His eyes went wide. “You did?”

“Uh-huh.”

“When?”

“Right after we met. My uncle had set up a room for me to paint in, but I hadn’t felt any inspiration. For two weeks, I felt so guilty because he went through all the trouble of setting it up and buying me supplies, and I wasn’t using them. Then the day after I met you, I went into the studio and thought I’d paint what I pictured in my mind—what we’d talked about with the desert—and I ended up painting you.”

“I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you don’t think I’m a weirdo,” she joked, but he sensed there was a hint of vulnerability there.

“I certainly don’t think that. I’m flattered, Brooke. I think your work is amazing, and to know you considered me to be a worthy subject is just…well…it’s humbling.”

“You haven’t seen them. You may hate them.”

He laughed. “More than the nudes in the cages?”

She laughed out loud with him. “Please don’t ever compare my work to those! If it ever comes to that, I swear I’ll give up art forever!”

Reaching across the table, he took her hand in his. “Don’t ever do that. You have such a gift, it would be a crime to give it up and not share it with the world. Promise me you never will.”

“Owen,” she said with a sigh.

“I know. I get it… I know we’re just joking around, but I meant what I said. You have such an amazing gift, and I want to see you get the attention for it that you deserve.”

She smiled but shook her head. “I wish it was easy to make happen, but I haven’t really been trying all that hard. Maybe someday… I’m not in a rush. Not really. I’ll be teaching this summer, and I plan on making my way around all the galleries in Chicago and the surrounding areas and seeing if I can get some of my work displayed.”

Pulling his hand back, Owen took another bite of his dinner as he thought for a minute. “I know I don’t know a whole lot about art—not like you—but…is Chicago the right place for you to be doing this? Wouldn’t someplace like New York be more to your advantage?”

She shook her head again. “Too much competition there. Besides, the timing is right for me to stay in Chicago. With the way my uncle is feeling and with his prognosis, I want to be there. Maybe after…” she began and then stopped, and Owen knew exactly what she was thinking.

“I know,” he said.

Brooke looked up at him and wiped away the tears that began to fall. “I want to be close to him. It’s important. I don’t see myself staying in Chicago, but I don’t particularly see myself heading back to Long Island either. It’s weird not knowing where I belong.”

Very carefully, Owen put down his utensils. This was it. This was the exact opening he’d been hoping for.

“With me,” he said, his tone and expression serious. “You belong with me.”

A slow smile played at her lips. “I like that.”

“Of course, I’m not sure where I belong yet either. Maybe we can take some time and figure that out together.”

Her smile grew. “I like that even more.”

Everything in him relaxed, and once again, he reached for Brooke’s hand. “I had planned on going back to DC for a little while. I have a place there, but…I don’t want to have a place there anymore. I’m tired of simply having a spot to keep my things. I want a home to go to every night and someone there waiting for me.” He squeezed her hand. “Will you make a home with me?”

And now her smile was positively dazzling. “Yes. I want to make a home with you too.”

“Would it be wrong to ask your mother to stay a little bit longer with Howard—maybe an extra week?—so we can have some time to ourselves?”

“I think that’s a great idea! Would we stay here in Vegas or go someplace else?”

“Wherever you want to go. We could be spontaneous again,” he suggested. “I think it worked well for us the last time.”

“I totally agree.”

They finished their dinner and worked together to put their trays out in the hallway before locking the door and facing each other. Owen reached up and gently caressed her cheek. “You are so beautiful.”

She blushed at his compliment and placed a hand over his, pressing his palm to her skin. “I was afraid you wouldn’t want me here,” she confessed quietly.

Owen shook his head. “Never. You never have to be afraid of that.” Then he took her by the hand and led her across the room to the windows. He slowly closed the curtains and then led her over to the bed.

And then he was kissing her. Her face cupped in his hands, Owen was unable to wait another minute to touch her. Brooke sighed and melted against him, and he waited for her to wrap her arms around him.

But she didn’t.

And then she broke the kiss and took a step back. He was just about to question her—ask what she was doing—but he saw the sexy grin on her face. First she peeled her shirt up and over her head and tossed it aside. Then she shimmied out of her skirt. The light blue scraps of silk and lace she wore matched her eyes. He swallowed hard and went to reach for her again, but she stepped out of his grasp.

“Just one more minute,” she said huskily as she walked across the room.

The view of her from behind was almost as spectacular as from the front. He was momentarily confused about where she was going, and then the main lights in the room went off. A lamp next to the bed was still lit, so he knew she’d be okay.

Brooke turned and walked back toward him, and when they were toe to toe, she reached up, raked her hands through his hair, and pulled him down for another deep, wet kiss. He loved kissing her almost as much as he loved touching her; right then, his hands wanted in on the action and immediately cupped her bottom, pulling her snugly against him.

He lost track of time again—something that was becoming fairly common when she was near—and he was just about to make the move to lower her to the bed when she broke the kiss.

“Lay down,” she whispered to him.

Owen discovered he liked it when she took control. Wordlessly, he complied. Positioning himself in the middle of the bed against the pillows, he watched as she gave him a mischievous look.

Then she peeled off her bra.

Yes.

Her panties went next.

Even better.

Then she stood there for a moment and let him look his fill. Owen slowly rolled onto his side, feeling himself trembling with need for her. Her name came out as a plea, but she didn’t move right away.

Gracefully, she leaned forward and kissed him. It went from light and sweet to deep and wet in the blink of an eye, and Owen growled with impatience. He wanted her. Needed her. He reached out and placed a hand on her hip, gently guiding her toward him, and he thought he had succeeded when Brooke placed a knee on the bed.

She pulled away again, and he was almost ready to cry.

She was torturing him. Teasing him. And he was on the verge of begging.

Opening his eyes, he looked at her and saw she had her hand on the bedside lamp. Was it still too dark in here? Was she hoping for a setting to make it brighter? He was about to roll over and offer to turn on the other lamp when she did something that completely surprised him.

She turned out the light.

And that was completely all right with him because he was pretty sure they created enough fireworks to light up the entire night sky.

* * *

Two days later, Owen looked at the group of people and smiled. Everyone was talking and asking questions, and for the first time in his life, he felt like the most confident one in the crowd.

And that was saying something.

It was just after two in the afternoon, and Brooke was leading his group in a painting session. While she was explaining about colors and techniques, several of his students were trying to explain to her why the layers in the canyon were colored the way that they were. And rather than getting flustered by their disruptive comments—as he certainly would have—she went with the flow and managed to turn them back toward looking at the colors on their palettes.

It was an amazing gift that she had.

Even Owen was standing with a canvas in front of him and a variety of colors of paint on his palette. Not that he was comfortable with painting, but Brooke had put so much work into learning about his work and about the meteor shower they were going to witness tonight that he thought it was only fair that he tried to learn about her work.

He had a feeling he was going to embarrass himself way more than she ever could, but that was all right with him. Owen knew that no matter what he managed to put down on the canvas, she was going to be encouraging and praise him in one way or another.

That took a lot of the pressure off.

For a few hours, they all worked on their artwork, but as soon as the sun started to shift and changed their lighting, Brooke encouraged everyone to start cleaning up. Owen moved along with his students, and when he was almost done, he searched for Brooke and found her over by the campfire, setting up preparations for dinner. They had made arrangements for food to be delivered, and she was talking with the food vendor and setting up enough seating for everyone.

Yeah, she was a definite blessing to this trip.

And his life.

And as soon as this trip was over, he was anxious for their life together to begin.

* * *

Brooke couldn’t help but be excited. The energy of the group had transformed since they’d finished eating, and everyone was getting their gear together to find an optimum spot to view the meteor shower. She couldn’t understand quite why they were looking for a specific spot—they were in this big, open space. To her, it was all premium space.

And she was going to be watching it all with Owen.

It didn’t get better than that.

As the sky darkened and everyone was milling around and talking, it would have been easy to feel like an outcast—after all, she didn’t know even one-tenth of what these people knew about the cosmos. However, she didn’t. Besides having the opportunity to interact with everyone one-on-one earlier while they’d been painting and eating, she found it didn’t matter if they were scientists and she was an artist. They were all people who were here to observe one of the greatest shows in the sky.

It made them all equal in her book.

She was looking up at the sky to see if she noticed anything on her own without anyone pointing it out when she felt Owen move in close behind her, his arms going around her waist. Brooke immediately rested her body against his and smiled.

“I haven’t missed anything yet, have I?” she asked quietly.

Behind her, Owen chuckled. “Nope. No activity in the sky yet. You’re safe.”

She laughed softly. “I was just giving myself this inner pep talk about how it didn’t matter if I didn’t know as much as everyone here, but at the same time, I’m excited about what we’re going to see. This is my first meteor shower.”

“Sometimes they are spectacular. If the conditions are just right and the sky is clear, you can witness a phenomenal show.”

“The sky looks pretty clear to me,” she observed. “Does that mean…?”

He shrugged. “There are no guarantees, but we’re going to be up all night watching, so I’m sure we’ll see at least some.”

That took a little of the wind out of her sails. “So it’s not an ongoing event?”

“Unfortunately no. Sometimes it can be as few as three per hour, but it can go as high as sixty for this particular event.”

“That’s quite the range.”

Owen nodded. “We go by the zenithal hourly rate—it standardizes the shower rate to optimum observing conditions. Think of it as an accurate scale for how many meteors we can expect to see. It’s not foolproof, but it’s a pretty good standard to follow. The shower rates are usually corrected for fully dark skies, and the meteor radiant point has been artificially located at the zenith, directly overhead. The actual rate of meteors seen by most observers, however, is normally a little bit lower.”

“Which means nothing can accurately predict how many we’ll see, but it’s like a guideline.” She looked over her shoulder at him and noted the smile on his face. “What? What are you smiling about?”

“Normally when I start spouting scientific facts like this to my family, they don’t comment on it or they try to change the subject.”

“Why would I change the subject? I brought it up.”

He placed a kiss on her temple. “I like how you engage in the geek talk.”

That had her laughing out loud, and she immediately turned in his arms. “Geek talk?”

Chuckling, he pulled her closer. “It just came to me.”

This was something she’d noticed over the past few weeks with him—he was more relaxed and more comfortable with just being himself.

“I love you,” she said softly.

Owen looked at her, brows furrowed for a moment. “Because of the geek talk?”

Brooke shook her head. “No. I love you because of all that you are.”

“Even with the geek talk?” he teased.

“That’s just a perk.” On her tiptoes, she gave him a quick kiss. “Okay, where are we going to position ourselves? Have you picked out our spot yet?”

“Is it wrong that I’d rather be in our tent than out here?”

That pleased her. Her sexy, quiet scientist would rather be with her than observing one of the biggest meteor events of the year. How cool was that?

“Maybe we can sneak off a bit later. What are the ideal viewing times?”

“The peak time is actually right before dawn. So we’ll all stay up as late as we want, catch a couple of hours of sleep, and then get up around 4 a.m. and watch some more.”

“Is everyone doing that?”

Owen shrugged. “It’s a matter of personal preference. Most people want to stay up all night and watch it all—which is what I should be doing.”

“But…?”

He hugged her close again. “But that was before I had a reason to hide out in my tent for a couple of hours.”

Swatting playfully at him, she casually stepped out of his embrace. “The last thing I want to be is a bad influence on the teacher.”

“Ugh…I’m not the teacher. I’m just the one facilitating—”

“Oh, stop. You’re the teacher, and everyone’s waiting for you to lead them and talk to them about this cosmic phenomenon.”

“I wouldn’t call it a phenomenon—”

“Owen!”

“What?” he asked, choosing to ignore her exasperation.

“Go lead!”

“Come with me?” He held out his hand to her, and of course she took it. Hand in hand, they rejoined the group, and soon all eyes were on Owen as he began to talk about the history of the Eta Aquarid showers.

* * *

“It’s beautiful.”

“No. You’re beautiful.”

Brooke snuggled closer to him as they pulled their sleeping bag around them. The sun was just starting to come up as the last meteor made its way across the sky. “That was amazing. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For sharing it with me,” she said, her head resting on his shoulder. “I know I sort of dozed off in the middle of it all, but—”

“Not everyone can stay up all night. You got back up for the best part.”

“Mmm.”

“I think everyone’s going to be heading back to their hotels soon, and then we’re going to meet up tonight for dinner and to discuss what we saw and compare notes. I know I wouldn’t mind a couple of hours of sleep.”

“In a bed,” she said sleepily, followed by a loud yawn.

“As long as you’re there, I don’t care where we sleep.”

“Mmm.”

Sure enough, within an hour, everyone was packed up and driving back to their hotels. Brooke and Owen had chosen a nicer resort than most of the students, and while Owen had felt bad about it when they had made their initial reservations, right now he was glad for the privacy. He had talked to people all day yesterday and all through the night. Right now all he wanted was a little peace and quiet and to be able to hold Brooke in his arms while they slept.

Once they were back in their own room, neither said a word as they moved around closing the curtains, pulling down the blankets, and stripping off yesterday’s clothes. Once they were in the bed and under the blankets, they automatically curled toward one another and tangled their limbs together until they were pressed together from head to toe.

“This is nice,” she murmured.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Owen?”

“Yes?”

“We never decided where we were going to go once we’re done here.”

He lifted his head and looked down at her. The room was fairly dark, with only a sliver of light coming from behind the curtains. “You want to talk about this now? I thought you were tired.”

She shrugged. “I thought I was too, but now that we’re here, my mind is just sort of refusing to cooperate.”

Yawning, he shifted to get more comfortable. “And do you know where you want to go?”

“I do.”

He waited a minute and then asked with a hint of amusement, “Well?”

“Well…our last spontaneous trip brought us here, and we got to combine business and pleasure.”

“Right.”

“I think our next spontaneous trip shouldn’t include business at all. It should be all about having fun and doing stuff we wouldn’t normally do.”

“Okay.”

“Like…hiking or fishing or—”

“I grew up fishing all the time. We lived by the ocean.” He yawned again.

“I’m sorry… You’re exhausted. I, at least, got a nap last night. Go to sleep, and we’ll talk about this later.”

“It’s okay. It’s on your mind, so we should talk about it now,” he said, but his voice was soft and slurring just a bit.

Brooke turned and placed a kiss on his chest. “Sleep, my sexy scientist. And if we have to close our eyes and point to a spot on a map to decide where we’ll go, that’s fine too.”

Beside her, Owen murmured something, but she couldn’t understand it, and just before she gave in to sleep herself, she heard him say, “I love you.”

And she had the sweetest dreams after that.

* * *

“This wasn’t quite what I had in mind.”

“It wasn’t? Are you sure?”

“Brooke—”

She smiled and scampered away, laughing the entire time. They had ended up back in North Carolina and were staying at Aidan and Zoe’s—although they were currently at Quinn and Anna’s to swim in their massive pool.

When they had woken up that afternoon three days ago, Brooke had said what she wanted most was to go back and meet his family all over again. It seemed like an odd request, but she had been so earnest about it that he readily agreed. He’d made the calls, and before he knew it, everyone was on board for another family get-together.

Riley and Savannah were coming in from London on their way back to LA, and Darcy even said she’d be coming home—mainly because she’d quit her job and lost the lease on her apartment and it seemed like a good time to come back to North Carolina for an extended stay.

No matter what the reason, Owen looked around the yard and knew that within a few hours, his entire family—all the people he loved—would be together.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Brooke climbing from the pool and held in a groan. Good Lord, the woman was so damn sexy in her bikini. It was a shame they were around his family, or he’d—

“I know that look.”

Owen turned and saw Quinn swimming his way. “Excuse me?”

“That look. The way you were just eyeing Brooke. I know that expression well.”

“You were…?”

“No, doofus,” Quinn said with a laugh, splashing Owen in the face. “I mean, it’s the way I look at Anna when she’s walking around in a bikini. Hell, the first time I saw her in one, I almost swallowed my own tongue!”

“And that’s how I was just looking at Brooke?”

Quinn’s smile was big and goofy. “Hell yeah, you were! Good for you, Bro!”

The old Owen would have felt awkward having this conversation—or at the very least embarrassed. But now, he was too happy and too relaxed. “You’re right—good for me.”

“She’s awesome, Owen. Really. I’m glad the two of you worked things out.” Then he looked at his younger brother and nodded toward the bandage on his chest. “You know you’re not supposed to be swimming with that thing yet, right?”

Nodding, he said, “I know. That’s why I’ve got it covered and I’m staying in the shallow end.”

Quinn shook his head and laughed. “So you’re only being a partial rebel. Nice!”

He shrugged. “So when’s everyone getting in? Do you have the official schedule?”

Relaxing against the side of the pool, Quinn took a minute to think. “Dad’s picking up Darcy at two. He’s going to bring her home first before coming here for dinner. Riley said they were getting in at four, but they’re renting a car. Dinner will be a little late, but I don’t think it will be too bad. Hugh and Aubrey should be here any minute, and Aidan and Zoe are trying to convince Lily to take a nap. So they should be out here soon.”

“What about Martha?”

“What about her?”

“Are she and Dad…?”

Quinn shrugged. “Dad hasn’t said much, and to be honest, I haven’t asked. We’re all in a bit of a sleep-deprived haze around here—at least Anna and I are. Darcy’s news took everyone by surprise, but I think Dad’s glad to have her back home for a while.”

“It will be good for her.”

“What about you, Bro? Where are you going to be now?”

He looked over at Brooke and saw her holding Kaitlyn while she talked to Anna, and it made his heart swell. That was what he wanted—he wanted to see Brooke holding their baby, to have what his brothers had.

“We’re going back to Chicago for a while to take care of Howard. And then—”

“Man, that’s gotta suck. I mean, you’re just hanging out there with him while…”

Owen nodded. “It’s hard. I hate it. I hate it more than anything. It’s hard when you lose someone unexpectedly. But this? It’s like you get the time to prepare yourself, but it’s never enough. I know she’s struggling with it, and I almost feel bad that we’re here, but we talked about it and thought it would be good. Not just for us but for Brooke’s mom and Howard.”

“That’s good. That’s great. I’m just sorry you’re both having to deal with it.”

“Howard’s been a great friend and mentor to me. And I’ll never forget him. Not just because of the things he taught me or the time we spent together but because he brought Brooke into my life.”

Quinn smiled and patted Owen on the back. “You’re a lucky man.”

“Thanks.”

“Not as lucky as me, of course,” he teased. “But lucky nonetheless.” Then he swam away.

Owen was done in the pool. He made his way to the steps and climbed out. He grabbed a towel and walked over to where Brooke and Anna were sitting and talking, but his eyes were locked on the baby in Brooke’s arms. Anna quietly excused herself as Owen crouched down beside Brooke.

“She’s so tiny,” Brooke said, stroking the baby’s cheek. “And so soft.”

“She looks good in your arms,” he said, wanting to reach out and touch them both, but his skin was cold and wet.

“And she smells so good.” Holding Kaitlyn close, she inhaled deeply. “Why do babies smell so good?”

“I’m sure it’s not like that all the time.”

“It doesn’t even matter. She smells wonderful right now.” She looked at Owen and smiled. “This is a good trip.”

“How can you tell? We just arrived.”

“We landed yesterday, and it’s all been good. Your whole family is coming, and everyone’s happy.”

“Except Darcy.”

Brooke shrugged. “I think this is going to be a good thing for her too.”

“Why do you say that?”

“That job wasn’t for her. She’s interested in art right now and trying to figure out what she wants to do. Maybe some time with her family will help her get focused and figure it all out. It worked for me.”

He chuckled. “You were living with your family and had to leave them to figure your stuff out.”

“Uncle Howard is still family, and he helped me a lot.” She paused, and her smile faded a little. “I’m resigning from the teaching job at the community college.”

He looked at her with surprise. “You are? Why?”

She shook her head. “I don’t want any distractions. Howard’s got so little time left, and I want to spend it with him. I don’t want to be held down to a teaching schedule. He told me how happy it makes him to see me paint. So…that’s what I’m going to do.”

Leaning in, Owen kissed her on the cheek. “You’re an amazing woman. You know that, right?”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“I do,” he said, his tone deep and serious. “I always have, and I always will.”

“That’s good because I think you’re pretty amazing too—always have and always will. We make a good pair.”

He nodded but couldn’t speak. Instead, he rose and went to grab them something to drink. Before he knew it, the yard was filling up with his family. Aidan and Zoe finally came out to join them, each looking somewhat exhausted after trying to convince their daughter to go to sleep. Hugh and Aubrey arrived a few minutes later and immediately had to chase Connor down before he jumped in the pool.

Anna brought out trays of snacks, and as they all sat around the large table, Owen realized that, for the first time in his life, he felt like he was surrounded by his peers. He was part of a couple, and as they all talked and laughed, it hit him how it was a good feeling to be this comfortable around all of them. He reached over and took Brooke’s hand in his. She had to relinquish her hold on Kaitlyn so Aubrey could get her turn, and all he could think of was the time when it would be their baby getting spoiled by the Shaughnessy siblings.

It seemed weird to be thinking such things, but at the same time, it felt right. He caught Brooke watching him, and he suddenly wished they were alone, so he could tell her how he felt. But there would be time for that later.

Time flew as they continued to talk and eat. Everyone was in and out of the pool and goofing around, and it was the most fun Owen had had in a long time. Soon his father and Darcy showed up and Quinn began putting steaks on the grill.

“What about Riley and Savannah?” Ian asked. “Shouldn’t we wait for them?”

“Riley texted about twenty minutes ago. They got an earlier flight, so they should be here by the time we’re sitting down to eat.”

Anna turned on the outdoor lights as the sun was starting to go down. They were all crowded around the table, and there seemed to be more plates of food than people, but that’s how a dinner with the Shaughnessys normally went.

As if they’d planned it that way, Quinn put the platter of steaks on the table just as Riley and Savannah came walking through the door. Greetings were called out, and everyone hugged and kissed and moved in their seats to make room for the new arrivals.

Owen always marveled at how conversations were had in such chaos. From what he could tell, there were about four different ones going on right now. Each of them was loud and boisterous, and it was all music to his ears. Beside him, Brooke was talking with Darcy, and he loved watching the two of them—they each spoke so animatedly and with such passion—and he realized, again, how well Brooke fit in with his family. When he looked across the table and caught his father’s eye, Owen smiled. His father raised his glass in a mock salute to him, and Owen responded in kind.

They finished eating and everyone helped with the cleanup before gathering to sit on the deck around the fire pit. Things were a little quieter, a little more subdued. Brooke was resting her head on his shoulder, and for a moment, the conversation had died down. Owen looked up at the sky, spotted the brightest star, and smiled.

Sirius.

His heart squeezed as he remembered being a child and thinking that Sirius was his mom smiling down on him.

And now he could say with great certainty that it was possible. Because if ever there was a night for Lillian Shaughnessy to be smiling down on her family, it was this night.