Page 73 of His Secret Wish

Antonio stepped up to him, clapping him on the shoulder. “I just wanted to say thank you for coming this weekend. I know it couldn’t have been easy, but I know Izzy really appreciated it. Yaya was a bit old-fashioned, you know?”

Owen wanted to shout about how not old-fashioned Yaya had been, and how there was no way Izzy appreciated his sacrifice. He’d handed his heart to her, and she’d stabbed it into extinction. He never should have come here. This entire thing had been a mistake.

“Yeah.” There was a weariness to his tone, which was unsurprising given everything that had happened this weekend. “Sorry, but I’ve got to go. have some stuff I need to attend to at home. It was good to see you.” He turned toward the door.

Antonio grabbed his arm. “Wait. Isn’t Izzy going with you?”

Owen shook his head. “No, she has some things to do here with regard to the funeral home and stuff. She’s going to get a ride with your parents.” It was a huge lie, they hadn’t even gotten to the ride home portion of their discussion, but at least it was plausible.

“Oh, okay.” Antonio whacked his shoulder again. “Have a safe trip.”

Owen nodded and then hurried toward the door. He needed to get out of here before someone else tried to talk to him.

Thankfully, he made it outside without being waylaid any further. He sucked in a deep breath of the cool, fresh air. It did a lot to settle his stomach, which had been rolling around like a ship in a storm all day. The snow had almost all melted, only a few small, dirty piles left.

The memory of helping Claudia and Marissa build the little snowman in the backyard flashed in his mind. How could that have only been yesterday? It felt like a thousand years had passed since that precious moment.

The girls had only been gone for a few hours, and yet he missed them like crazy. It was really shitty of Yolanda to not even let Izzy and him say goodbye. She had to have seen the way the four of them had bonded. Then again, it was Yolanda. He’d be surprised if she knew her ass from a hole in the ground.

He made a beeline for his truck, an ache building at the base of his throat. Tossing his bag in the bed of the pickup, he rubbed at the spot, trying to erase the pain. Of course, it didn’t work. He got into the truck and started the engine. One last glance at the house, and then he was pulling out of the driveway and onto the road.

The idea of the four-hour drive ahead of him was less than appealing, especially since it meant he’d be alone with his thoughts the entire time.

His phone buzzed, and he pushed the hands-free button. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me, Simon.”

“Hey.”

Simon sighed, and Owen could almost see his brother’s eyeroll. “I was just calling to see how you were doing. You didn’t tell anyone where you were going, so I am just checking in.”

“I’m good.” Owen’s voice came out rough, and he silently cursed and cleared his throat. “Just had something I had to do this weekend.”

“Okay, cool.” There was a pause, and Owen glanced at the console to make sure his brother hadn’t hung up on him. Nope, the call was still connected.

“Something else you wanted to say, Si?”

“I just wanted to let you know Noelle and I got married this weekend.”

The words were like bullets, slamming into already damaged flesh. He could hardly breathe it hurt so bad.

Not that he wasn’t thrilled for his brother. Simon had been dealing with something serious when he’d met Noelle last year, although Owen didn’t know what. Simon hadn’t volunteered any information, although everyone could see his struggle. Simon’s relationship with Noelle had been healing for him, as had his weekly therapy sessions. It was just that his marriage had officially ended this weekend, and the idea of weddings and marriages was a painful one.

“Are you still there, Owen?”

Owen cleared his throat. “Yeah, yeah, I’m here. Just got distracted for a moment.” He hoped Simon wouldn’t be able to hear the hoarseness of his voice over the connection. “Congrats, man. But why didn’t you tell me it was happening. I would have stayed in town.” And not had his world shattered.

Simon laughed. “It was actually a surprise wedding. No one other than me, Noelle, and Declan knew it was happening. He officiated the ceremony.”

Owen’s lips twitched. Leave it to Simon to throw a surprise wedding. Ever since he’d started seeing Noelle, he’d come out of his shell, doing weird things. Like quitting his job at the family ranch, and deciding to buy a dairy farm and become a dairy baron. Owen was still annoyed he’d lost his best veterinarian.

“That’s definitely different. And fucking unexpected. Although I have no idea how you managed to get Dec to keep his mouth shut.” Declan, who was Simon’s twin, was a major blabber-mouth. If you wanted to keep anything a secret, you steered clear of Declan. He was like a chatty old hen, gossiping every chance he got.

Simon laughed again. “Yeah, Noelle threatened to castrate him if he breathed a word, and my wife can be quite intimidating when she wants to be.”

Owen laughed, even though inside he was dying. He shouldn’t be jealous of his brother, Simon deserved to be happy. But it didn’t stop an acid green streak that slid through him. “Well, thanks for letting me know. I’m on my way home now, so I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Sounds good. Talk to you later.” Simon hung up.