Page 198 of In at the Deep End

Callum sighed. “I might have got this wrong.” Owen blinked, and he let out another sigh. “Yeah, there’s no might about it.”

Owen took a deep breath. “Go get yourself another beer. There’s nothing you can do. The damage is done.”

Callum stared at him. “No.”

Owen frowned. “No what?”

Callum shook his head. “I know you. And I know Matt. And this isn’t you two being over.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know you’ve spent years convincing yourself that loving someone means eventually losing them.”

That hit too close.

“But Dad… you didn’t protect Matt from losing you.”

Owen swallowed.

“You taught him what it feels like to lose you while you’re still standing right in front of him.”

For a moment, Owen couldn’t speak.

Callum seemed miserable. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “No. Don’t do that.”

“But—”

“I made the choice. And I’m the one who has to fix it.”

Callum studied him. “Then do it. Fix it.”

Owen stared at the garden gate. “I don’t know if I can.”

“Neither did Matt, probably.”

Owen closed his eyes for a heartbeat. That was the part he couldn’t bear.

“But you can at least try.” Callum’s shoulders sagged as he turned towards the house.

Owen had tortured himself with the same thought during the last twenty-four hours. Matt would come home from Edinburgh. They would see each other. They would be polite. Perhaps, eventually, the friendship would find its old shape again.

Except Owen knew better. There was no going back to what they’d been before.

He closed his eyes again, as if that would shut out the thought.

There was something far worse than losing Matt—making him believe he’d never truly been wanted.

“Owen.”

He opened his eyes. Jeff stood a few feet away. “Can I have a word?”

Owen glanced around the crowded garden. “Of course.”

“Somewhere private.”

That wasn’t good.