Ch 4: Tea

Tea. It was funny that he didn't even consider that Mrs. Walker would refuse him, but not many women did no matter how old they were. "Okay, Owen."

She hung up, and true to his word five minutes later Mrs. Walker was knocking at her door. Sitting there in his car now, she realized that he'd answered his cell phone in the middle of a meeting and knew it was her.

He must have her number programmed in his phone. Just hearing his voice and the reassurance in it made her feel better. It always did.

Also, she recalled the slight crack in his voice when he responded to her news. Yet, here he was now, sitting across from her with all the composure she remembered about him.

It was if nothing had happed at all, but then again she knew Owen a little better. She broke her arm falling out of a tree at fourteen when a neighbor kid, Jaxson Powell dared her to climb it.

He was always daring her to do silly things, and now that she looked back on it, like a fool she did. This particular oak tree must've been a hundred years old and reached over their little house like an old man's hand.

The neighbor kids seemed to think it was a challenge, not just because of its height, but because of the creepy feeling it gave you to look at it. Now, it didn't look so creepy.

It was just the thrill that went around kids her age at that time to be frightened of something and to use it to dare other kids. One of the rumors was that the previous owner of the house buried his dead Doberman at the base of the tree and on the full moon it would dig its way out of the roots and look for kids that were walking home late.

Abigail almost laughed at that story now. It did seem silly. Jaxson gave her a boost to the first branch which was about eight feet off the ground. When she hesitated he goaded her which caused her to get angry and make it to the third branch which was about fifteen feet up.

It was when she reached for the next one that she lost her footing. Owen was home for the weekend from college and visiting Joseph when he must've heard her scream because he was the first one at her side. Jaxson Powell was long gone.

He bent down and soothed her in the same voice that he used with her now while picking her up and taking her in the house.

Along with Joseph, he even accompanied her to the Emergency room and was the first to sign her cast. Joseph told her years later that Owen went to Joe's parents and threatened them if Jaxson came near her again.

It made sense to her then, because Jaxson wouldn't even look at her in school anymore and she could never figure out why. On the other hand, Joseph seemed to think she needed to learn a lesson of not listening to dares.

Although he was the second one to sign her cast and told her he loved her anyway, even if she was foolish.

Owen never called her foolish, in fact, she remembered him telling her that Jaxson only got her to climb the tree because he was too scared to do it himself, so she was braver than a boy. It wasn't the words that made her feel better as much as his handsome smile at that time.

Again Owen was there to save her from herself at her cousin's funeral. Within hours he was back in their hometown.

He made all of the funeral arrangements without batting an eye and paid for everything that the military didn't cover, no matter how much she protested or begged him to take what little money she had. But she was in shock and combined with the grief she allowed him to take over.

He stayed in Joseph's room in the house over the next two days while her cousin's body was shipped home, not wanting to leave her alone.

She seemed to move through those days in a fog. He made her eat even though she didn't want to, but she didn't cry again, not until now.

Still, it wasn't much. It was only enough to release some overflow of grief she was dealing with. Owen had always intimidated her a little.

He came from money, old money, but he had a genuine friendship with her cousin and their lack of money never seemed to bother him.

Yet, it wasn't the money, it was his presence that unsettled her. She thought he was perfect, and as long as she could remember, she knew she was utterly in love with him. She also knew that he was way out of her league, especially with his track