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He probably had made that swing himself, just like he took on the rest of this house.
The swing stopped moving when he noticed her coming up to him. He sat up and padded the seat next to him on the bench.
“This is incredible,” she said as she sat down, resting her back against the pillows of the backrest.
“Thanks. After I bought this house, I sat down in the shadow under this tree and had a cold beer. I pictured a little girl running after a soccer ball in this field and decided to let this part be exactly how it is.”
She took in the view of the grass field leading up to the back of Owen’s two-story house and the endless open space on the left side of the house with the lush green mountain hills. She spied the few houses down the street leading down to the town center ten minutes away on the other side.The location of the house couldn’t be any better.
“I can see why you bought the place. There must have been a long line of buyers for this house…”
She could never in a million years afford this house. She was thankful that at least Owen could give Frankie a house like this to grow up in. Hopefully Frankie would want to stay with her mother in whatever run-down apartment Tara would end up in.
“There were. It was a good thing that most of the potential buyers ran from this place once they had a good look inside.”
“And the rest?”
Owen’s foot stilled for just a fraction before he let the swing move again. “I had a good talk with Mrs. Bear. I told her if she really wanted to make things right, she should let me buy her house so I could let Frankie grow up here.”
“Make things right?”
She had no idea if Owen knew about Mrs. Bear being the one to file a police rapport on her mother for stealing pocket chance.
“Let’s just say that Mrs. Bear and her cousins had been a thorn in my family’s side for years and they finally got what they had coming to them. They moved to Park City after Mrs. Bear’s cousin Justin got a sponsor deal to snowboard over there.”
There had to be more to this story but she didn’t want to get sidetracked so she kept quiet. Owen took a last drag of his cigarette before he put it in a scrunched up beer can next to his foot. She moved along with the swing as his weight shifted.
She nudged her chin toward the beer can. “I thought smoking wasn’t cool, anymore?”
“Nah, I only smoke once in a while. Whenever I get a bit… I don’t know…” he shrugged but she had the feeling that he knew exactly how he felt whenever he lit one up.
She arched a brow and prodded, “A bit…?”
“You know… sentimental?”
“Oh…”
“I started smoking after you left. I don’t have a fucking clue why, but I guess it helped me calm down as I sat up on the roof of the big house, looking up at the stars and wondering if you were looking at the same stars I was.”
She shifted on the swing, placing a hand on his knee. “I’m sorry. I know I hurt you by leaving and not picking up the phone when you called me those first few weeks. I thought I was doing the right thing by cutting ties abruptly.”
“Well, you fucked me up good with that shit so guess what: it wasn’t the right thing for me.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I thought I needed to cut ties to do what’s best for you and your family.”
He stopped the swing. “My family? What do they have to do with this?”
“I need some air.” She got up from the swing but he held her arm and made her sit back down again.
“Tell me, Tara. I deserve to know the truth. Why did you leave town six years ago?”
She took a deep breath as she rubbed her temples.
“I’m going to tell you everything, but you need to promise me you’ll let me talk without interrupting me. I now know I was wrong for leaving you the way I did, but I truly thought at the time I did the right thing. So bare with me, and please keep that in mind.”
He grabbed a smoke from the pack on the floor and lit it up.
“Okay. I’m ready…”
