Page 11 of His Secret Wish

He pushed away from the wall, his gaze scanning the sea of people in search of Izzy. He heard her laugh—the throaty, melodic sound he hadn’t heard in what felt like eons—to the right, so he veered in that direction. Yaya’s living room wasn’t that large, but it took forever to get to the other side mainly because Izzy’s family kept stopping him to say hello, and tell him how much they’d missed him. It was nice, and they were an incredibly friendly bunch, but he was getting incredibly annoyed at the delays.

Which wasn’t helped when he finally broke through the crowd and saw Izzy and some jackass huddled together near the corner, having what looked like a very intimate conversation. The guy touched her elbow, and an acid green streak of jealousy slid through Owen. Who was this asshole, and why was he touching Owen’s wife?

Owen walked up behind Izzy and slid his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her back against his chest. She was small enough that her head slipped underneath his chin. A perfect fit.

It was a possessive hold, one he used to do all the time when they were together. And yes, he was being an asshole, but he couldn’t seem to stop. Not now, when he’d just realized what an idiot he’d been, and how much he wanted her back. How much he wanted his old life back.

She stiffened against him, her spine like a steel spoke. “Hey, honey,” she said, her voice just as stiff as her body.

“You going to introduce me to your friend?” There was a frostiness in his voice that he couldn’t help. He eyeballed the guy up and down. He was slightly shorted than Owen, with blond hair and a couple of day’s worth of scruff on his chin. His build was slim, almost wiry, although Owen could tell there were muscles underneath his clothes, the kind you got by either working the land or going to the gym. Somehow, Owen knew it was the latter with this dude.

“This is Ben Simmons. His family owns one of the restaurants in town. Ben, this is my husband, Owen.” There was something that sounded an awful lot like annoyance in her tone, although Owen wasn’t sure anyone other than those closest to her would hear it.

Ben inclined his head in Owen’s direction. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Owen grunted, which was his usual go to, especially these days. Izzy dug her elbow into his stomach, and he grunted again, but got the hint. “Nice to meet you, too. I’m assuming you and my wife go way back?“ He couldn’t stop from emphasizing the wife part. Childish, yes. But he wasn’t standing here letting this fool flirt with his wife. Because, until he signed those papers, she was his wife.

“Yeah, we used to hang out during the summers when Izzy and her family came to stay with Yaya.” Ben took a sip of his drink, something that looked a lot like a margarita. Not that Owen was judging the man by the type of alcohol he drank. Not much, anyway.

“Ben’s family lives down the street, and his sister was my summer best friend when we were little.” Her voice had gone back to normal, the usual sunniness returning. “And then when we got older, we used to all hang out as a group.”

Owen’s vision turned hazy and red, and he had to blink a couple of times to get his anger under control. Those summers when she and her family had come here, when he’d been forced to stay in Redding and work the ranch with his dad, she’d been hanging out with this guy. Every day Owen had spent missing her, counting down the seconds until her return home, and she’d been running around town, having fun with Ben and his friends.

He tightened his hold on her shoulders, the move involuntary. He wasn’t normally a jealous asshole, mostly because he knew Izzy would never cheat on him. He trusted her implicitly, and always had, even back then, during those long, hot summers. They’d been together since they were kids, he knew she’d never betray him like that. But there was just something about this Ben guy that rubbed him the wrong way.

She shifted in his hold, and he could tell she wanted to squirm away but didn’t want to make a scene. He let her go and stepped back. Being a possessive jerk would not help things. Besides, he’s just told himself she would never cheat on him.

Of course, if he signed the papers, they’d be divorced soon, and then she could see and date and sleep with anyone she wanted. Not to mention the fact they’d been officially separated for more than a few years. She could have been dating all kinds of people in that time. Just because he’d been a monk since she’d left didn’t mean she was the same.

That thought sent a wave of panic through him. His stomach did a couple of somersaults that threatened to reintroduce the beer and pork rinds he’d consumed to the real world. He took a couple of deep, quiet breaths. No, if that was the case, he would have heard something. Redding had a small town vibe, and gossip traveled fast and far. Especially when it came to the cowboys on the ranch. Nothing was secret for long. If Izzy had gotten serious with anyone, he would have heard about it.

It was how the rumors about him and Becky Lynn Collins had started. His barber had been closed due to a death in the family, and he’d really needed a haircut. So, he’d gone to her salon. She’d cut his hair and chatted him up, and at then end of the appointment, she’d asked if he’d like to go for coffee with her. For some stupid reason, he’d said yes.

Although, if he was being honest, it wasn’t a stupid reason. It had been because he’d wanted it to get back to Izzy, to make her jealous. Which he’d realized was super shitty, to both Izzy and Becky Lynn, so after they’d grabbed that coffee, he’d told Becky Lynn he wasn’t looking for anything relationship wise. She’d agreed, as she hadn’t been looking for anything serious either, since her divorce had been bad. After that, they sort of became friends.

Not like joined at the hip, best buddies or anything, but the kind to commiserate with one another about the implosion of their marriages over a drink. Not that he did much talking, but she could talk enough for the both of them, so he mostly just drank and listened.

He glanced from Izzy to Ben, who were still catching up with one another. Fuck, he’d missed her so much. He was such an idiot. His fingers twitched with the need to grab her, squirrel her away somewhere where they could be alone, and he could tell her how big of an asshole he’d been and apologize for not fighting for them. Convince her to him, to give them, another chance. Somewhere where it was just the two of them, no prying eyes, gossipy relatives, or flirty family friends.

But even as the idea formed, he tossed it aside. It would never work. She’d be spitting mad if he even tried it. In fact, he was lucky his balls were still attached to his body after the stunt he’d just pulled with Ben. Izzy didn’t appreciate the whole macho, possessive thing. She’d made that perfectly clear back in the ninth grade when she’d refused to speak to him for a week after he’d punched Josh Samuelson in the face for slow dancing with her at the Sadie Hawkin’s Day dance.

Ben laughed at something Izzy said to him, knocking Owen out of his head and back to the present. “Yeah, those were great times. Like that night we spent at the Anderson’s farm during the fourth of July fireworks, when we fell asleep in their back field. Had the whole town out doing search and rescue the next morning.”

Owen tried not to scowl. He wasn’t sure he managed too well. “That sounds like an adventure. I spent my summers working the land at the family ranch.” He didn’t add the bit about having no choice. It wasn’t something he ever broadcast to folks. His dad had been a real hard ass, in love with the land more than even his family. And once Owen’s older brother Mason had decided to go to West Point and join the army, all of their dad’s focus fell on him. Owen had been expected to take over the ranch, to become the next Calvin Callahan, and damn everything else.

Not that Owen had ever had any aspirations outside of the ranch. But he’d honestly expected he and Mason would run the place together. That had always been the plan when they were kids. But somehow, in their teens, Mason’s priorities changed. He got involved with JROTC and decided to go into the military.

It had come out of nowhere, as far as Owen was concerned, and had felt like the ultimate betrayal. He’d been so angry at his older brother that he’d stopped talking to him. They hadn’t been in contact for more than fifteen years, not until Mason got injured in the line of duty and had moved back to Redding and the ranch a few years ago.

Their relationship was still a work in progress, and was nowhere near the same as it had been when they were kids, but it was a start. Much to their mother’s happiness.

Izzy glanced up at him over her shoulder, the understanding and hurt in her gaze like a punch to the kidneys. She knew how much stress and strain his relationship with his father had caused, and that his biggest fear had always been that he was going to turn into his dad.

And then, because he’d been too afraid to deal with his emotions, he’d gone ahead and turned himself into the thing he’d always feared. A man who put the ranch and the land ahead of his family. A man who was obsessed with working the land to the detriment to his relationships.

He’d been such a fool.

“Anyway,” Ben said, clearly feeling the tension in Owen. “It was great to see you again, Izzy. I’m sure we’ll get a chance to catch up some more later.” And then he turned and disappeared into the crowd.