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off some steam.”
    “Good for
you,” I smiled, imagining him with his friends, then and now.
    “You’ll miss
me though, right?  Since I won’t be bothering you all day?”
    It would be
strange to go through a work day without his constant companionship. 
“Actually, I’ll be gone part of the time too.  I have a business trip next
week.  I fly out on Thursday so it all works out. I won’t have to miss you too
much,” I said.
    “Hmmm, I was
kind of looking forward to you missing me,” he said quietly.  Here came the
blush again. It was comments like these that had me wondering if there was more
to us than simple friendship.
    “I guess I
could fit a little bit of missing you into the schedule,” I said pretending to
consider it. 
    “Good.  I like
that better,” he admitted, laughter in his voice.
    We talked for
an hour before I convinced him to go back to work.  As we hung up, I could feel
the tingle that went through my entire body.  It was too easy to like this man.
Really like him.  He was everything I remembered and so much more.  He had
become a great man and I found myself falling for him.  I was fighting it, but
I feared it was a losing battle. It was probably a bad idea, but at this point
it didn’t matter.  He was my Owen from the past and he was quickly becoming the
new Owen I didn’t want to live without.

Chapter
Seven
     
     
     
    Owen- Past
     
    The graduation
party out at the Johnson Farm was in full swing by the time I showed up. People
were dancing and groping one another on the makeshift dance floor. There was a
roaring bonfire going with plenty of drunken seniors gathered around carrying
on loudly. I grabbed a beer from a nearby ice chest and scanned the crowd. I
spotted Brendon near the bonfire, talking to his buddies, but there was no sign
of Ally anywhere. Upon further inspection, I noticed that he was well on his
way to being trashed. I was sure that explained it. Ally hated it when he got
this way. She was no goody two shoes, but she didn’t put up with his
belligerent behavior either.
    I finally
spotted her.  She was sitting alone on the tailgate of a truck, swinging her
feet and staring at the ground.  I made my way over.  “There you are,” I said. 
I stopped when she looked up at me and I saw that her eyes were red and puffy. 
What the hell?  What had I missed?  “Hey….what’s going on?” I asked setting my
beer down on the tailgate.  I hated seeing her hurting. It brought out my
protective side in an instance. Ally sniffled a little and shrugged, avoiding
my eyes.
    “Brendon broke
up with me,” she admitted softly. I was stunned. A rush of emotions were
hitting me all at once; anger at that asshole, Brendon, for being a prick, sympathy
for Ally, sitting there with puffy eyes, on what should have been such a happy
night. And an immense elation for the fact that she wasn’t his anymore. That
last part had me fighting a smile, but damn, the thought made me downright
giddy.
    But then she
looked back at me and it brought me back to reality. Ally was upset, that was
all that mattered. I chided myself for being a selfish prick. The hurt in her
eyes cut me. I thought about Brendon back at the bonfire, laughing with his
friends like nothing was different. Asshole.
    I moved to
stand in front of her, looking down into her big sad brown eyes. My heart felt
tight. I hated seeing her sad over that bastard. “What happened?” I asked.
    She sighed.
“He said that we were going to be moving in different directions and that he
didn’t want to try and continue things long distance. I mean, I knew it was a
long shot that we would make it being in different cities, but today? I don’t
get it. We have the entire summer and he’s going to break up with me after
graduation? It pisses me off,” she said.
    I couldn’t
help but laugh a little. “You should be pissed off. But face it, Kat…it’s for
the best. That guy doesn’t deserve you. He’s an asshole,” I