And, in Owen’s opinion, her father did look like a huge weight had come off his shoulders.

  “You may want to talk to Mom when you get home,” she suggested, “because I know that she’s worried too.”

  “We’re all worried,” he replied, “but I’m glad that it appears we were worried needlessly.”

  “Not needlessly,” she said. “Dad, I understand. At least now I understand. I promise that I’m not planning on being so foolish as to not look after myself.”

  “No, I think you just get caught up in all the stuff that you’re doing that food doesn’t even matter.”

  “And I’ll work on that too,” she said.

  “Good. I’d like to have you around for a few more years.”

  “How about a year or two?” she said in a teasing voice. “So, Dad, when did you last have a checkup?”

  He rolled his eyes. “I don’t like doctors,” he replied. “I’m not going there.”

  She burst out laughing, as she looked over at Gunner. “I suppose you’re the same.”

  He gave a mocking look of shock. “Yep, I don’t like doctors much either.”

  “I can’t say I do either,” she said. “I spent more than my fair share with them, growing up.”

  “It seemed like you caught everything,” her father said, with a reminiscent tone. “And it didn’t matter how well sheltered we kept you, it just came in the neighborhood, found you, and bam. You were down.”

  “But I’m stronger now,” she added. “Way stronger.”

  “And that’s a good thing. Now if we could just keep up that progress.”

  “I’m almost thirty, Dad.”

  “And still, that last bout knocked what? Ten pounds off you?”

  She winced. “Maybe a little more.”

  “Exactly. That’s what I mean,” he said. “So, it is what it is, but let’s make sure that we get you as healthy as we can.”

  She grinned. “Fine. And you’ll stop meddling in my life?”

  “It seems,” he said, with a note of approval to Owen, “it seems like you’re finally getting your life straightened out.”

  “I am,” she said. “I definitely am.”

  Owen smiled, realizing that he’d passed whatever test he had to pass. The beginning of the meeting had been stiff and formal, with very few words spoken and more drinking going on. Her father knew both Gunner and now Owen, but he had no idea about the connection between Gunner and Owen, only that they knew each other too.

  As soon as her father had heard that Gunner was an old family friend, her father had had his suspicions that something else might be going on here. But Gunner hadn’t come right out and said anything. And, for that, Owen appreciated that strategy. Gunner let this play out, just catching up on business with Penny’s dad and telling of Gunner’s recent successes.

  Watching the polite interactions at the table had been amusing, since Owen knew what the ultimate goal was here and her father was still searching for that. Owen had seen Penny’s father’s expression when his daughter had shown up. Owen had frowned initially, thinking that she might have gone against his wishes or had come to pressure him. But her words had completely disarmed him in a second. And that was worth so much.

  Not only had Owen witnessed a father’s love but also a daughter’s love, and, for that, he was very grateful.

  Chapter 11

  The next morning Penny woke with a smile on her face. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done that. But she felt this sense of acceptance inside—with her mom and her dad. The men had met for drinks and a talk, but, with Penny’s appearance, it had morphed into dinner. So last night had been a wonderful affair; she’d almost phoned her mom to come and join them but realized that it was a unique opportunity to be with her dad, one-on-one. The fact that she had been there with Owen as well was just even that much more special.

  At the end of the evening Hani had delivered Owen back to Hathaway, and she’d given him a good-night kiss and then she had gone home again.

  As she got out, she looked over at Hani and said, “It was all good.”

  “Good.” He nodded. “Life’s too short for all this strife.”

  “I agree.” Now she’d walked inside and realized that she had not only turned a corner in her relationship with her parents but also with Owen. They hadn’t actually talked about tomorrow; they hadn’t talked about anything except that they really wanted to make sure that today had happened. When she thought about this morning, she realized that the tomorrows weren’t even important because she already knew that she and Owen would be together. It was just such an oddity, a peculiar feeling, to sense that knowing inside her. It was so strange, so special.

  She got up, had a shower, and walked into the kitchen to put on coffee. Then she stopped, remembering the conversation last night. Then determinedly she walked to the fridge to see if she could get down any food. She found a container of yogurt and thought that was a good place to start; she mixed it with little fresh fruit and some seeds, and then sat out on the sun deck with her breakfast.

  She loved her little brownstone, but Owen’s comment about maybe some adaptations made her realize that her time here might be coming to an end too. If she wanted a life with Owen, then they would look at a more open house plan. Maybe a one-story home. She didn’t know.

  He walked and used a cane some of the time; she knew she hadn’t seen him with crutches or in a wheelchair in a while. Of course, the day her father had seen him, Owen was in a wheelchair. So it was an interesting problem. She’d talk to him more about it and didn’t really want to push it. Her phone rang, and she looked to see that it was her mom. “Good morning, Mom,” she said, wondering just how this conversation would go.

  “Good morning,” she replied. “I don’t know how the two of you did it, but your father’s singing a completely different tune this morning.”

  “Perfect,” she replied. “It was a lovely dinner last night.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, and I still don’t know how you managed to make that happen.”

  “You were actually instrumental, Mom, in helping me to figure out what was going on. Once I did, then, well, that was easy.”

  Her mom still sounded confused, when they rang off ten minutes later, but Penny wasn’t; she was content and happy within her own little world now. It was already getting to be late morning. As she checked her schedule on her phone, she knew it would be a crazy busy morning. If she could, she would try to make time to get out to Hathaway House. And, if it didn’t work out, well, unfortunately that would be a day that she didn’t get to see Owen.

  And those days were hard days; she missed him terribly. It was like finding another half of yourself, and then only being allowed to be complete with that other half on the odd occasion. The tearing apart, the separation, was getting worse. Last night she’d had a hard time with it. It had been a good evening. And all the rest? It still wasn’t quite their time yet. She knew it was coming but just not now. It was noon before she walked into Hathaway.

  Dani looked up from the front desk, where she was sitting, and said, “Just in time for lunch.”

  She threw up her hands. “I don’t do it on purpose, you know.”

  She chuckled. “And you know that it’d be totally okay if you were.”

  “It’s hardly in the associate agreement,” Penny said.

  Dani laughed. “But it’s in your employee packet.”

  “Really?”

  “You didn’t read it, did you?” Dani asked, smirking.

  “No,” Penny admitted. “Plus, you guys have enough mouths to feed.”

  “Did you have breakfast?”

  “I did,” she replied. “I had yogurt.”

  “Good, that’s excellent,” Dani said.

  “Does everybody really think I don’t look after myself?” she asked.

  “I think your basic scrawniness is enough to make everybody think you never eat,” Dani explained. “We care and we worry.”

  “And that’s the nicest thing people have said to me in a long time,” she noted. “But you’re right, and I am working hard to look after myself better.”

  “Good.” She nodded. “I’m pretty sure Owen will take a hand in that too.”

  “And yet I don’t want him having to mother me,” she complained. “I’m finally getting my own mother into her rightful place.”

  “How’s that going?” she asked.

  “Much better after last night.” She explained briefly everything that had gone on, from her mother’s phone call to dinner.

  When she explained about the dinner, Dani’s gaze widened. “That’s huge.”

  “It is. I should have done it a long time ago,” Penny said. “I just never even knew.”

  “And you can’t blame yourself for that,” Dani replied. “Life is so full of twists and turns. It’s hard to even see where we’re supposed to go, without questioning things where we’ve been.”

  She chuckled. “I hear you.” She looked down at her watch. “If you’ll excuse me.” Then she raised her eyebrows.

  “Yes, I’m sure you’re off to see Owen. He’s been with the psychologist this morning.”

  “Oh, that could be good or bad.” She frowned.

  “Trust,” she said. “Even if it was bad, remember. It’s a process.”

  “Right,” she replied, as she walked down the hall. She wondered just what they talked about in those meetings. She could imagine, but, at the same time, it had to be rough on everybody. Particularly with her, hearing this newest information about her childhood, she should probably go. She used to as a young child, but maybe, if she’d gone since then, it would have taken her less time to have sorted herself out.

  As she got to Owen’s room door, it was closed; she knocked but there was no answer. She frowned and looked up and down the hall and then walked back to the front desk. “Can you tell me where Owen’s supposed to be right now?”

  Melissa was back to manning the front desk now. “I thought Dani said that he was in his shrink’s appointment.”

  “His door’s locked, closed,” she said. “I don’t want to interrupt or to wake him.”

  She checked the schedule in the computer. “His appointment’s over. So either he’s in the dining room or he may be resting.”

  “Okay. I’ll check to see if he’s in the cafeteria. If I don’t get to see him, I just don’t get to see him.”

  “But you know you want to.”

  “Yep, I sure do,” she said, with a bright smile, “but his health is more important than anything.”

  She headed to the dining area and stopped just inside the door; it was lunchtime, and a lot of people were here. Why she hadn’t assumed that Owen would be here, she didn’t know. As she walked forward, she saw Dennis at the counter. She called out to him and asked about Owen. Dennis shook his head, understanding what she was asking, and telling her that he hadn’t shown up yet. That meant Owen was in his room.

  She sighed with disappointment as she headed back to his room. When there was still no sign of him, she stepped out to the front of the building, determined to leave, figuring that today just wouldn’t work out; that was the way some days were. Whether she liked it or not. She drove on out and headed home again. By the time she got through the rest of the paperwork she’d been pushing off, she noticed a message on her phone; somehow she’d missed a call too.

  She checked, and, sure enough, it was from Owen. She called him back and got him. “Hey, I stopped by, but I couldn’t find you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, I knocked on your door, but you didn’t answer, and I didn’t want to wake you if you were sleeping.”

  “What time were you here?”

  “Just past noon.”

  “Ah,” he said. “Yes, I was lying down. I guess I zoned out. When I woke up, it was past one.”

  “In that case, I’m glad I didn’t wake you. You need to heal.”

  “I’m getting there,” he said. “How are you doing after last night?”

  “I’m doing fine.” She smiled to herself. “You?”

  “Much better,” he replied. “And, as long as everybody is talking and working toward having relationships, it’s all good.”

  She chuckled. “Thank you for making the effort last night.”

  “I was pretty surprised when I saw you show up,” he said. “But you know what? I think you did the right thing.”

  “Thank you,” she replied, happy to hear his praise. “I wasn’t thinking it was the right thing. I had nerves the entire way.”

  “They didn’t show when you got there. And that’s something anybody in business can appreciate.”

  She chuckled. “Are you really looking at doing a project with Gunner?”

  “Absolutely, we’ve done some in the past together,” he said. “This one is just a little bit different.”

  “In what way?”

  “We’re looking at doing an animal hospital in town,” he explained. “One of the vets needs to expand, for emergency care, and they also want to do a certain amount of pro bono work.”

  “That’s the Penta Coast project?”

  “Oh, you’ve heard of it,” he said.

  “Yes,” she said. “I was really hoping that it would go forward. It’s one thing for me to donate a little bit, but that’s going to require a big amount of money.”

  “It is,” he agreed. “Which is why we’ve been talking together about it. We might even drag your dad into it.”

  She laughed. “Oh, I’d love that,” she said in amusement. “Hey, I’m really sorry that I didn’t get to see you today. I’m actually finding all this time apart very frustrating.”

  “Then maybe you’ll be happy to hear that I’ve got about four more weeks, according to Shane.”

  “Is that all?” she asked, looking at the calendar. “That would be huge.”

  “Yes, it also means I need to make some plans for when I get out of here.”

  “Oh, wow,” she said. “When you’re done there, you need a place to go to.”

  “Absolutely, a lot of people have family already, and my brother is not here in my corner of the world,” he said. “So, something I need to think about. Shane didn’t guarantee it would be a month, but it won’t be much longer than that anyway, and that’s really good to know.”

  “You’ve done so well,” she said warmly.

  “And I still have a ways to go, so I want to make the best out of what I’ve got here.”

  “Exactly. I’ll stop by tomorrow morning.”

  “Do that,” he said, with a smile. “I’ll be sure I’m not asleep.”

  “Sleep if you need to,” she said. “Remember? That’s why you’re there.”

  “To sleep?” he asked, with a note of laughter.

  “Ha, ha,” she said. “One month, wow!”

  The next morning, a knock came at Owen’s door. “Come in.” He looked up to see Dr. Madison.

  “Hey, just coming to check on you.”

  “I did crash after our session yesterday,” he admitted. “It was not the easiest.”

  “And yet it was a triumph,” he said, walking forward and pulling up the chair beside him.

  “I achieved all kinds of things,” he acknowledged. “I’ve still got to deal with the fact that I don’t feel like I’m presenting as an able-bodied man.”

  “And yet you’re so much more able-bodied than when you came here.”

  “More so, but obviously that’s an issue, as I had to come in on crutches, not a wheelchair, but is more so enough?” he asked.

  “Nobody can answer that but you,” the doctor said.

  “And I get that, but, at the same time, I worry.”

  “I think if you don’t worry, then it’s a problem. But, as long as you’re worrying, it’s keeping you on target. It’s a learning process. Remember that.”

  Owen sank back and thought about it. “It was an interesting dinner the other night.”

  “And interesting that she went to the restaurant.”

  “And that she didn’t defend me,” he said, with a lopsided grin. “It was a unique twist.”

  “It just shows that she loves her father very much.”

  “It does, and I like that,” he replied.

  “It also means that she understands you,” he said.

  “How do you figure?” he asked.

  “Because she didn’t undermine your own confidence. She didn’t try to take that away from you. She was perfectly secure in letting you have your able-bodied moment.”

  He chuckled at that. “It sounds so foolish when you say it that way, doesn’t it?”

  “Absolutely,” the doctor said, with a grin. “But, just because we have a slip from time to time, doesn’t mean that it isn’t of value. You’ve been working on this since you arrived, and it’s just as important that you deal with it and understand that you’re likely to still deal with it. First impressions are important. You have a business life, and many needs are out there. So, as far as you’re concerned, you want people to see you as a strong capable person, not as a disabled person.”

  “Because I’m not disabled,” he said honestly.

  “Exactly, and having made that decision that you’re not disabled, then you don’t have to worry about it. You’re in transition right now. You know perfectly well that everything is shifting. So I think, after the sleep you got yesterday, you’re probably doing just fine.”

  “I missed Penny’s visit yesterday and then slept through the rest of yesterday—lunch, dinner, all of it,” he noted.

  “And yet you’re still pondering something.”

  Owen looked over the doctor, smiled. “Yes, but I do feel much better. Now I have some weighty matters to deal with.”

  “They should be done with heart,” the doctor said gently. He stood and smiled. “I know you know how to take care of that part from here.”

  “Thanks, Doc,” he said, lifting a hand.

  “You’re welcome.” He nodded. “You’re a good man. Don’t be afraid to show it.”

  “I’ll try not to be a jerk,” he said. “I had that pretty well taken out of my résumé, after that dinner. I learned a lot from her actions. They were completely coated in love.”