Chapter Nineteen

Nadia

CONSTRUCTION WAS GOING FULL speed in the kitchen. David Leon and his guys were good at what they did and didn’t really need much of our help inside, so as if kitchen remodeling wasn’t enough, we decided to work on the backyard together. The girls and I worked on creating a small garden with bright flowers in one corner, while I snuck peeks of Owen as he built a pergola from a kit we’d purchased at a home improvement store.

Sweat glistened on his tan skin; drops rolled down his shirtless muscled back and disappeared into the low-hung faded jeans he was wearing. As if feeling my eyes on him, he turned to look at me, his head above his muscular bicep. My heart beat faster at the way he stared back before giving me a sexy little smirk. I turned around, my attention on Becca and her question about how deep we should dig a hole for one of the rose bushes; it was my turn to feel his eyes on me.

We were on week three at the house, and I couldn’t have been happier. After our impromptu outdoor date, Owen made it a point to make up the other two tasks we had missed, and from then on, we hadn’t missed a single one.

A shadow fell over Becca and me, and we both turned to look up. I watched him bend his body to kneel in front of us. Being this close to him made my mouth water.

“Becca, why don’t you go help Viv? She went to get the new soil from the garage.” Becca smiled at her dad before running off. I tilted my head toward him, but before I could say a word, his big hand cupped my head perfectly before our lips met. He kissed me hard and demanding. His tongue plunged in and I opened, loving the slightly minty taste. He pulled away, ending the kiss too soon, but I could hear the girls talking as they returned. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw they were smiling and chatting away as they carried a bag of soil together.

“You’re in trouble tonight, Mrs. Daniels,” he gruffed, his eyes dark with heat. I smiled thinking I was probably going to really enjoy being in trouble.

“I can’t wait,” I mumbled softly and knew he didn’t miss my words when a small growl escaped. Shaking his head, he ruffled the girls’ hair as they passed one another and went back to work.

***

“You like it?” he asked into the darkness. I stopped staring at my toes and glanced over toward him.

“I love it.” The day had been long and tiring, but now as I sat in the new deck chairs, my feet resting on an ottoman under the pergola and the stars, a glass of sangria in my hand, it had been worth it.

“They might finish the kitchen early,” he shared, and I nodded. “Simone comes back next week?”

“Friday.” My best friend and her family’s vacation was mere days from being over; I would have her back soon.

“We should have them over Sunday.”

“We should?” I asked, slightly surprised. My head turned toward him.

“Yeah. We can BBQ. We can get that pool we saw for the kids to swim. Set that up tomorrow.”

“Owen… you’re going back to work in a week.”

“I know.”

“We will probably go back with you.” I spoke without thinking, realizing it was probably the best idea. We needed to get back. Not just the girls to their activities, but Owen and I. We needed to try to be us again in regular life. “The girls’ activities will be starting back up—”

“What if we stayed here?” he asked. My eyes widened at his suggestion.

“What?”

“What if we make this home?”

“Owen, you can’t be serious.”

“Why not?”

“First off, the girls’ school—”

“They have schools here.”

“I know. Then the hospital is far, not exactly ideal for commuting.” I pulled my feet off the ottoman and turned my body toward him. He wasn’t looking at me; his jaw was clenched so tightly it looked painful.

“What’s going on?” I asked him before lifting my booty off my chair and walking to him.

His hands moved to the armrest. I sat on his lap, my lips touching his scruffy cheek.

“Talk to me,” I gently pushed, but he didn’t say anything.

“We haven’t done our challenge today,” I pointed out while cuddling into his arms.

“What are you most afraid of?” His voice was thick and hoarse, and from where I was sitting, I could feel the way his heart was racing.

“What are you afraid of, Owen?” I asked him, sensing this was what was fueling the idea of us staying here on a permanent basis.

“What if we get back and…” His voice cracked. I held still in his arms. Never in all our years together had his voice cracked that way.

“And what?” I whispered into the darkness.

“You don’t smile anymore. We stop talking.”

“That isn’t going to—”

“What if I lose you?” he continued. I tried to steady my own heart. The fear and regret in his voice were clear as day.

“Owen, that’s not—”

“How do you know?” he asked, finally looking at me. His conflicted gaze made me fall deeper in love with him than I knew was possible.

“You’re worried.” I blinked once. Twice.

“Aren’t you?” his deep voice vibrated. I shook my head.

“No,” I answered honestly before resting my head on his shoulder. His arms wrapped around me.

“For reals?” he asked, obviously dumbfounded by my answer.

“We’ve been working on fixing things,” I tried to explain and knew I wasn’t doing a good job.

“We’ve had three weeks,” he pointed out. I smiled, giving his neck a small peck.

“We’ve had longer than that together,” I whispered against his corded neck. “We’ve been together for fifteen years, Owen.”

“I know that, but how long—” I knew where he was going, but we were done going back. We were moving forward. There was no need to go backwards.

“These last three weeks…” I paused trying to find the right words. “We have worked on us.”

“I know that.”

“The challenge was a great idea. It’s helped us find the skills for us to keep going. To make us stronger.”

“Do you really think that?”

“No.” I shook my head and smiled. “I believe it,” I softly responded, melting into his arms. “We are stronger together. We just have to keep going.”

“Together,” he repeated almost to himself as his arms tightened around me.

“Always,” I whispered as we stared out into the darkness of our backyard under the bright stars and big moon.