"Okay..." Isabel said, a large grin breaking across her face. "But this is definitely the best cup you've ever made me."
"Nice save." Penny laughed, her good humor returning as she gestured toward the grand staircase. "So, now that I've paid my moral dues..." She started leading the way up the polished steps. "Come see what I'm doing with the layout in the main bedroom."
"I've been dying to see it," Isabel admitted, following her up to the second floor that spread out like a penthouse.
When they reached the landing, Penny turned around, blocking the hallway with a massive, smug grin. "Okay, but there's a secondary price for admission."
Isabel rolled her eyes, letting out a dramatic sigh. "Oh, good grief. Is this some kind of payback?"
"You bet," Penny said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "I have to get my moral currency back somehow."
"Fine," Isabel sighed, shifting her weight. "What's the price?"
"You need to tell me exactly what is going on between you and your gorgeously dreamy boss." Penny's grin widened, her expression becoming even more smug as she watched the sudden color flood Isabel's face.
"There is nothing going on with us," Isabel blurted out, the words tumbling out a bit too fast and far too loudly.
"Uh-huh," Penny nodded slowly, her hand resting on the heavy brass handle of the primary bedroom door. "That's not what your eyes are telling me. Or that over-excited pulse currently throbbing in your neck."
"Good grief, what’s wrong with everyone today?" Isabel grumbled, crossing her arms defensively. "Owen is my boss, and I am simply helping him coordinate the artifact grids down at the pool excavation."
"Then explain this," Penny said, pulling her phone from her pocket and sliding her thumb across the screen. She thrust the display directly in front of Isabel's face, revealing a crystal-clear photograph. It was a shot Emma must have snapped the exact second she and Owen had collided in the lobby, capturing the moments where his strong arms were holding her securely against his chest. "That looks pretty cozy to me."
Isabel stared at the screen, her jaw dropping. "What a traitor my granddaughter is," she hissed.
OWEN
Owen stood at the center of the deep pool basin, organizing the tactical alignment of the technical grid boards before the afternoon sun could warp the markers. The air down in the excavation site was heavy and hot, the midday humidity radiating off the reinforced concrete foundation as he adjusted a set of measuring tapes. His phone rang loudly in his pocket, the sharp vibration breaking through the quiet drone of the nearby student group. He pulled the device out, noting the contact name flashing across the glass screen showed it was Maggie.
He slid his thumb across the screen to answer the call, keeping his tone cheerful. "Hi, how is George doing?"
"Where is Linda? I can't get hold of her, and I need to find her urgently." Maggie's voice came through the small speaker like a soft vortex of frantic emotion, the frantic pacing of her words instantly setting off alarms in his head.
Owen froze, his grip tightening around the tape measure's metal casing as his breath stalled in his throat. "What's going on? Is it George?"
"He... it's George," Maggie's voice trembled violently, the desperate strain as she tried to hang onto her composure completely evident over the line.
Owen's heart stuttered against his ribs, a cold sliver of shock sliding straight through his nervous system.
"What happened to him?" Owen snapped. He didn't mean to use such a harsh, demanding edge, but the older man had been more of a genuine father to him since he had arrived in Sweet Blossom Bay than his own father had ever managed to be. George meant a massive amount to him, and the sudden threat to his life made Owen’s protective instincts flare to life.
Maggie rushed through the medical details in a quick beat, her words tumbling over one another as she explained the sudden collapse inside the recovery wing.
"He suffered an acute hypertensive crisis from the emotional stress, causing a severe blood pressure spike that resulted in an angina episode. He's currently hooked up to the main arrays in the intensive care unit, and the medical team is prohibiting visitors for the next forty-eight hours until his vitals are steady. We need to alert Linda immediately, but she isn't answering her device. Is she anywhere around the hotel property?" Maggie seemed to say it all in one breath, dragging air into her lungs once she was done.
Owen remembered the brief conversation in the foyer with the girls right before they headed down to the dig. "Isabel mentioned that she went out to Penny's estate a short while ago. I'll call Penny right now. I think she might be out there."
"Thank you," Maggie said, her breathing ragged over the crackling line. "Tell her she needs to get to the medical center right now."
Owen nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see the motion through the phone line. "I'll call you back the second I track her down."
He disconnected the call, his fingers shaking slightly as he prepared to pull up the contact numbers for the lighthouse property. Before his thumb could tap the glass screen, a familiar voice cut through the quiet air from the top of the concrete basin ramp.
"Is everything alright? I heard you shouting about George," Isabel asked, her steps quickening as she hurried down the slope, her dark eyes filled with a deep, protective concern.
Had his voice risen that much? Owen wondered, a dull numbness settling over his thoughts as he looked up at her approach. He hadn't even realized he had been yelling into the receiver under the pressure of the news.
"I..." He swallowed hard, trying to steady his hands as he slid the device into his palm. He broke the news to her in a few brief, factual sentences. "Is Linda still out at Penny's? Maggie has been frantically trying to get ahold of her."
