Owen, page 14
“Because she came from her heart,” he said. “So treat her the same way.”
After the doctor was gone, Owen thought about that. It wasn’t hard because he really cared for—no, he loved Penny. He hadn’t thought to find love in a place like this, but he’d certainly seen couple, upon couple, upon couple here find love themselves. It was an amazing added benefit of Hathaway House, something that he had never expected.
Neither had he expected to end up with future business ties to Gunner. But Owen should have known that would always be a possibility. Gunner had wanted him to do a couple things for him, years ago. When Owen had refused, saying that he would be his own boss, Gunner told him to let him know when he was ready, that he should come to Gunner and that they would do something together. Owen had forgotten about so much since he’d been injured; it was like time was frozen, and he hadn’t moved forward. But he was now in a big way.
Even as he thought about it, he got an email from Gunner, outlining some of the issues they faced on one of their projects.
Owen sent back an email message, asking if Gunner knew of a house for rent locally. When his phone rang, Owen wasn’t surprised. It was Gunner.
“Lots of them,” he said. “Give me a list of your requirements, and I’ll have somebody pull up a bunch of the houses in your area and see what might suit. Are you looking to buy right away?”
“Not yet. I’ll get her input on that first.”
He chuckled. “Do I get an invite?”
“If she says yes.” And Owen left it at that. He had lots to consider, and he would discuss it all with Penny.
Owen was happy to see Penny today, since he had missed her visit the day before. This was their first face-to-face exchange since that evening spent with her father and Gunner. He kept thinking back to that night and was so proud of her. Yet why was he so tongue-tied today?
Finally, at the end of her visit, Penny stood, tilted her head. “You’ve been off today.”
“I’m just tired,” he said, as an excuse.
She gave him a gentle hug and then laughed. “And you said sleeping here was not an option.” With a wave and a smile, she left.
Owen really didn’t deserve her, but he had no intention of not accepting everything she had to offer because he really, really cared. What he had to do was find a way to tell her and soon. And he didn’t quite know how to do that.
Another week went by, as Owen dealt with more of his psychological issues than his physical rehab. He told Shane, “It almost feels now like I don’t belong here.”
“And that’s when you know it’s almost time to leave,” he said.
“It feels good,” Owen said. “I didn’t think that, when I first got here.”
“And now?” Shane asked.
“Now I’m so glad I came,” he admitted. “It’s been a heck of a journey but a really worthwhile one.”
“Keep that in mind when you head out into the bigger world and when you come up against things that may be physically challenging. They’re just things you learn to deal with in smaller bites, and you’ll get there.”
“I wonder. It feels like everything’s completely different now.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Shane cocked his head at Owen.
He grinned. “It’s good.”
“And, of course, you have Penny too.”
“I do, but I must do something about that too.”
“In what way?”
Owen shrugged. “I haven’t solidified that relationship yet.”
“Probably,” Shane said, “because you’re in here, so you still feel more invalidity, than a man on his own.”
“That’s true,” he agreed. “I’m about to take a trip into town and look at a place that I might rent from Gunner.”
“That would be good. If you have a prospective place to move into, that would mean independence in a big way. But she might have other plans too.”
Owen raised his eyebrows. “Like what?”
At that, Shane just laughed. “You’re a couple now. I suggest you talk to her first.”
Owen thought about that a lot. Just hours later, he smiled as Penny approached him.
She smiled back and asked, “Are you really out of here in three weeks?”
“A little faster if I can,” he replied. “Now that I’m getting so close, it’s like I can’t wait.”
“But remember,” she said. “It’s all about accepting the gift of being here.”
“It’s been a huge gift.” Owen snatched her up into his arms and held her close.
“You feel so different,” she said, chuckling against his neck.
“I feel it too. I feel strong. I feel vibrant.”
“Good,” she’s murmured, looking up at him with a gentle gaze. “So, I was thinking, how about you move into my place when you leave here?”
“I was actually thinking about renting a house from Gunner.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “I didn’t want to push you.”
“Push me?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I thought that, if we had a few months together in my home, in that time we could find a place that we could buy, the two of us.”
“Oh.” He understood her plan, and he looked at her in delight.
“I was thinking my brownstone was probably not big enough.”
“It depends. Are you ready for something different?” he asked. “You could still keep that one.”
“I could. I don’t know. I’ll think about whether that’s important. It was my hidey-hole for a time, but I don’t need that anymore.”
“Besides, before we move in, I guess I’m old-fashioned,” he said. “I would like for us to have something formal, more than what we currently have.”
She frowned, not understanding.
He slid his hand into hers. “I haven’t been able to get out and do very much yet. I planned a trip yesterday to go to town, but I didn’t get it squeezed in.”
“And?”
“So, I feel like I don’t really have anything to offer.”
She shook her head, frowning, and he placed a finger on her lips and whispered, “No, I’m not in a feel-sorry mood. I had hoped to hit a jewelry store.”
Her gaze widened. “Oh.” She didn’t know what to say.
He grinned. “And then I figured that a woman like you probably has a ton of jewelry.” She nodded. “So, if possibly you say yes, I thought we could go ring shopping together later.”
Her gaze widened, and her cheeks paled. “What are you saying?” she asked in a faint voice.
He winced. “I’m not doing it very well, am I?”
“You need to get it out,” she said. “So that we’re under no misunderstandings here.”
He reached for both of her hands and then kissed her knuckles, first one and then the other. “Will you marry me? Spend the rest of your life with me? Raise our children together hopefully, if we get so lucky? And be at my side—through the thick and the thin, the good and the bad—and maybe, if we’re really lucky, get to sit side by side in matching rocking chairs and watch the world go by.”
He studied her gaze, seeing the tears in the corner of her eyes. “I’m not sure if those tears are a good thing or a bad thing,” he said. “So I need you to tell me.”
She rubbed her eyes on her sleeve, like a child, and she whispered, “It’s a very good thing, and the answer is yes. I feel like I’ve been waiting for you forever.”
“I’m really glad to hear that,” he said. “I’m sorry I made such a muck of it.”
She laughed, threw her arms around his neck, and held him close. “You didn’t make a muck of it.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He tilted her head up, and he looked into her eyes. “I don’t want to rush you. I know that you’re exploring a new relationship with your father, and we’re having such fun together that I didn’t really want to push our relationship further at the same time. Plus, I didn’t want my release from the center to be something that took us forward faster than we were ready.”
“We still aren’t moving fast enough for me,” she said quietly, “but I didn’t want to pressure you. Look at you. You’re about to finish your PT, launch your new business, and move into a new home, all while sharing your life with me. I figured you might need time to return to whatever physical world you were setting up, and that may be down the road. So we can talk about it all, whenever you are ready.”
“But you would just move me into your brownstone anyway?” he asked in a teasing voice.
“I was just trying to help out.” She shrugged, then smirked. “And keep you close.”
“Keeping me close is always a good thing.” He chuckled.
“And I don’t quite know if the brownstone is big enough, but we can certainly take a look and see.”
“I am still here for a couple weeks though.”
“I must warn you,” she said. “With my family, I’m not likely to get away with a small wedding.”
He nodded. “On the other hand, nobody said that we can’t get married more than once. So I was wondering if you would maybe marry me first in a simple just-us ceremony, and then we’d let your family have a big wedding.”
She looked at him in wonder. “You know what? I always thought that was a great idea, to go get married quietly, just the two of us, something private and special between us, and then let the family and friends know that we’re married. I would prefer a big reception later to celebrate with family and friends, but Mom will demand that she orchestrate a big wedding.”
He nodded. “I like the reception idea myself. That big fancy society wedding would cost a lot of money. Is she expecting us to foot the bill?”
Penny immediately shook her head. “I’m not paying for that. And I’ll make that very clear to her. That’s not my thing, and luckily you agree with me. If she wants that big fancy wedding for me that she keeps talking about, then she’s got to be willing to spend her money, not mine. All of mine goes to my charities, except for living expenses.”
“Right, so we’ll get married ourselves, save our money to put into various charities,” he said calmly. “Then, when it comes to family, we’ll let them do what they want to do, because, well, it’s family.”
She grinned. “And we’ll try to rein in my mother, but we won’t succeed.”
“Exactly,” he said.
She nodded. “Family. What are you going to do?”
“What about gifts, registering?”
“Not my thing. I’d rather people donate to a charity, preferably one of ours.” She smiled broadly.
“Exactly.” He held her close and asked, “You sure?”
“I’m absolutely sure,” she said. “I thank you so much.”
He looked at her in surprise. “What are you thanking me for?”
“For putting me out of my misery so fast,” she replied. “I was afraid that you’d wait months and months before doing this. And I didn’t want to go through that kind of agony.”
“Nope, I’m not into waiting,” he said. “That’s why I thought that, maybe in the next few weeks, we could make plans and quietly get married on our own. I wouldn’t even mind getting married here.”
She looked at him, her eyes wide. “That is an awesome idea,” she breathed. “Too bad a minister isn’t here.”
“I don’t know if there is or not,” he said. “There might even be a patient who’s one, but, if not, maybe we can just bring one here?”
“We’ll look into it, and, of course, we’d have to ask Dani.”
“Why don’t you just consider that question asked already.”
They spun around to see Dani, with Shane behind her, both grinning like fools. “I keep trying to tell you guys that there’s no such thing as privacy here,” she said. “And, when you didn’t show up for your appointment”—she cleared her throat and gave a pointed glance at Shane and then back to Owen—“I came to see what was up.”
Owen grinned. “We got sidetracked.”
“And sidetracked is good. And, yes, to a wedding here,” she confirmed. “It’ll change the atmosphere completely, and I think a lot of people would really love that.”
“Perfect,” Penny said, “but small.”
“Small, it is,” Dani said, rolling her eyes. “If you count a couple hundred as small.”
At that, everybody laughed.
Owen looked at Penny and asked, “Are you okay with that?”
“I am so okay with that,” she confirmed. “As a matter of fact, it’s perfect.” She laced her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly.
He chuckled, as soon as he could lift his head. “I think this will be a heck of a beautiful life.”
“No thinking about it,” she said. “I guarantee it.”
And Owen held Penny close, absolutely loving the fact that, at this stage of his life, something so unexpected and so precious had happened and that she was all his.
He was truly blessed.
Epilogue
Percy Erwin stared down at the application. It had come in the mail from his old friend Aaron. He read the letter that went with it, looked at the application, and shook his head. He immediately picked up his phone and sent a text to Aaron. Got your application.
Good, fill it out.
Are you sure, man?
Get your butt to Hathaway House, he texted. With any luck, I’ll be there too.
You still healing?
No, read the letter. I’m almost a vet by now.
Animal vet? At that, his phone rang.
“I’m almost done with school to become a veterinarian,” he said. “And I’m marrying the owner of Hathaway. But you need to be here because here’s where the magic happens.”
“I’m not sure I’m up for it, man. That last surgery was three months ago, and I’m still not back on my feet.”
“Which is why you need to be here,” he argued. “Besides, you’re missing a foot. How can you be on both feet, if you’re missing one?”
“Ha, ha,” Percy said. “The leg’s all messed up.”
“So, if you don’t have a leg, you don’t have a leg. If you got a bum leg, you got a bum leg. Come here and start dealing with it.”
“What makes Hathaway so special?”
“You know what? I’ve been trying to explain that to a lot of people for a long time,” he said. “I don’t really have anything as an answer. Except for incredible results. What I can tell you is, it is special. I guarantee it.”
“Hmm,” he said.
“Just deal with it, get that application in, and come.”
“If it’s that good, I’m sure there’s a heck of a waiting list.”
“There is,” he said. “But I put your name down when I heard you went back in for surgery again.”
“You what?”
“Yep,” he said. “I know you weren’t ready three months ago, and you still had a lot of work to do, but you’re only as healed as much as you feel it.”
“And that isn’t very much.”
“Which is why you need to come here,” he said. “I can’t force you. So, fill it out and send it in. Or better yet, just fill it out, take a photo of it, and send it to me.”
“It’ll hardly be that fast,” he said.
“No, there’s all kinds of paperwork to be done.”
“I don’t do paperwork.”
“Stop being difficult,” Aaron said. “I mean it, man. I carried your sorry butt through the jungle to save you one time, and I’ll do it again, if I have to.”
“This is hardly to save me.”
“And that’s where you’re wrong. This is to save you. You have no idea what a different person you’ll be after a few months here.”
“Are you serious?”
“Never more serious in my life,” he replied. “Please, if you can’t do this for you, do it for me.”
“Man, I don’t think I’m ready for more of this.”
“Like I said, you don’t know what you’ve got, and you don’t know what you’re capable of, until you’re here.”
He sighed and said, “Okay, but I’m only going to fill this out, take a photo of it, and then I’ll come whenever it’s approved.”
“Good,” he said. “I’ll do the rest.”
“Not likely,” he said. “There’ll be all kinds of things to deal with for this to go through.”
“But it’s worth it,” Aaron said cheerfully on the other side.
“I’m only doing this because you say so.”
“I saved your life back then,” Aaron said. “and, honest to goodness, this will save your life too.”
This concludes Book 15 of Hathaway House: Owen.
Read about Percy: Hathaway House, Book 16
Hathaway House: Percy (Book #16)
Welcome to Hathaway House. Rehab Center. Safe Haven. Second chance at life and love.
It was Aaron who convinced Percy to take a chance on Hathaway House. Yet, when he arrives, Aaron is back at school, and Percy’s alone after all. The place is everything Aaron said it was, but the trip getting here set his progress back, from slow to nonexistent.
Giada has worked at the center for several years and always went home happily to her brother at the end of the day. Only now her brother is engaged and planning to marry in six months. Change is happening, whether she likes it or not. And, in this case, it brings up a lot of turbulence in the family dynamic. Dani offers Giada a place of her own here at Hathaway’s staff quarters, but the path forward is not so easy. Thankfully Percy is there as both a comfort and a friend.
Now if only he could find the progress he’s looking for, and she could find the new beginning of her own …
Find Book 16 here!
To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Owen: Hathaway House, Book 15! If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment and leave a short review here.
Dear reader,
I love to hear from readers, and you can contact me at my website: www.dalemayer.com or at my Facebook author page. To be informed of new releases and special offers, sign up for my newsletter or follow me on BookBub. And if you are interested in joining Dale Mayer’s Reader Group, here is the Facebook sign up page.
