Forgiving History

by Jenni M. Rose

Logan had been calling Owen since he’d gotten to town last night and he’d never heard a word back from him. He’d called Spencer and had gotten nothing there either. He didn’t know any of the other guys well enough to get in touch with them.

  Wherever Owen was, Jenna had no idea anything was amiss. He’d texted her and she’d gone on and on about seeing them at the wedding. Problem was, there was no them. He was supposed to fly in this morning and meet Owen at Spencer’s but the place was deserted.

  He climbed down the stairs from Spencer’s fourth-floor apartment, above the bar, and back to his rental car. Going to Owen’s meant going to Andy’s since they’d moved in together. That seemed like a particularly bad call.

  Mike seemed like the go-to friend to call, but Logan wasn’t sure how to reach him. Without any recourse, he took out his phone and dialed the one person that could help.

  “Hello?” Her voice was like fresh water, sharp and crisp.

  “Hey, Sugar,” he greeted, a smile in his voice despite the way they’d left things the last time they’d spoken.

  “Logan,” she said on a breath. “You’re in town?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Wondering if you could give me Mike’s number.”

  “Owen doesn’t have it?”

  “He’s unavailable at the moment. You know, it’s not just the bride that gets a bee in their bonnet on the big day.”

  “A bee in their bonnet?” She laughed.

  She’d always liked when he pulled out some especially southern phrases.

  “You know what I mean. He’s got other things going on, and I needed to get ahold of our favorite cop.”

  “I figured he’d be with you anyway,” she said.

  “Not just yet.”

  She was quiet for a minute and he could practically hear her thinking across the phone lines.

  “What’s going on, Logan?”

  “Not a thing, Sugar. Not a thing.”

  “You’re lying,” she accused. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing y’all need to be worrying about. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Logan,” she whispered.

  “What’re you wearing, Sugar?” he interrupted.

  “Stop it.”

  “Mike’s number then?”

  He’d known that would change the subject. Ever since the night she’d called after her bar incident, any mention of sex or their attraction made her spine stiffen.

  “I’ll text it to you.”

  “Glad to know you haven’t lost my number. You sure haven’t been using it lately.”

  “I figured you didn’t want to hear from me after the last time we spoke. If I remember correctly, you told me I was ruining your life.”

  Yeah, he’d said that. He’d been tired from physical therapy and frustrated as hell. Then she’d called and they’d started their usual back and forth. It hadn’t ended well.

  “I’m an idiot who says mean things when he’s tired and cranky,” he told her.

  “I’m an idiot who does stupid things when she drinks too much,” she replied. “Have you forgiven me yet?”

  He needed to find Owen, and over the phone, before her sister’s wedding, was not the time to hash out any of their relationship issues.

  “I need to talk to Mike, Sugar. Send me his number and I’ll see you later.”

  After a brief silence she said, “That’s what I thought.”

  She hung up and her text came through a second later.

  “It’s not just me, right?” Beth whispered to Alex. “Owen should be here by now?”

  “They all should be here by now,” Alex whispered back. “Did you call Spencer?”

  “I already told you, I called him three times. I called him and Owen; neither are answering.”

  “Call Logan again!”

  “He didn’t answer. I told you something was going on when he called. He was acting weird.”

  “I can hear you, you know,” Andy said as she watched out the window of the church. From where she was standing, she could see the front of the building so she’d have seen Owen if, and when, he showed up.

  He would show up. There was no doubt in her mind.

  For him to not be at the church yet, meant there was something wrong.

  She looked down at herself in her perfect wedding gown and felt almost silly. Owen was out there somewhere, needing her, and she was sitting on her hands waiting for him.

  That was not the kind of woman she was. Not anymore. She was strong and would handle things.

  She strode to her bag and riffled through it, heedless of her manicure. When she came out with her phone, she dialed her friend Mike.

  “What’s going on?” she asked when he answered.

  “Nothing, nothing,” he said, though he was out of breath.

  “Don’t bullshit me, Mike. Owen was supposed to be here a half-hour ago. You all were. I’m supposed to be getting married in five minutes. Five! I know something’s wrong and I want to know what it is. Now!”

  “Yikes,” Beth whispered.

  “Mama bear, on the loose,” Alex commiserated.

  Jenna was silently looking out the window where Andy had been standing.

  “I just don’t want you to worry,” he explained.

  “Too late. Tell me what’s going on?”

  “Owen’s missing. No one’s seen him since last night when he took off from the bachelor party.”

  Andy froze, a fear unlike any she’d ever known weighing on her chest.

  “Missing?”

  “I’m sure everything’s fine. Maybe…you know…he got cold feet.”

  Cold feet? Her eyes shot to Jenna and she knew, there was no way. Owen loved them. She knew that more than she knew anything else in the world. There was no way he ran out on them.

  Something was wrong.

  “No,” she argued. “Something’s wrong, Mike. I know Owen—”

  “I know, Andy, and I’m not saying that’s what happened. Me and Phil and Logan are out looking for him right now.”

  “And Spencer?” He was the only other person she had yet to see on her wedding day, and it seemed strange.

  “I figured he’d be with you.”

  “Well he’s not. It’s time to rally the troops,” she told him. “Let’s all meet here and figure out what’s going on.”

  “Andy, you should stay there—”

  “And what? Wait around like a damsel in distress while you all save the day? While you all whisper about how Owen left me again? He did not, and if he isn’t here, it means he’s in trouble somewhere. Get your asses over here.”

  “We’re just a few minutes out,” he said, resigned. “We’ll get this figured out, Andy, I promise.”

  She turned to her sisters who were watching her, waiting to see her reaction, most likely. Would they need to hold her up when she fell down or hold her veil while she kicked some ass?

  It was going to have to be the latter, because Jenna’s eyes were wide and she looked nervous.

  “Jenna,” Andy began, holding her arms open. When her daughter came closer, she didn’t wrap her in her arms or hold her in a soft embrace. She kept her at arm’s length so she could look her in the eyes and show her daughter what steely determination looked like. “You know your dad better than anyone, don’t you?”

  Jenna nodded.

  “Do you think he’d run out on us without a word?”

  “He did it to you before,” her daughter whispered.

  Yeah, he had, Andy agreed silently.

  “I’m not talking about before,” she said. “I’m talking about now. I’m talking about your dad. The guy that always calls if he’s going to be thirty seconds late. The guy that waits the hour through band practice just in case you need something. You know that guy, don’t you?”

  Jenna nodded, some of the desolation clearing from her face.

  “Do you really think he’d let us down like this on purpose?” Andy asked quietly.

  “No,” Jenna agreed. “He’d never do th
at to me.”

  “No. He wouldn’t.” Andy looked to her sisters. “Stop looking so worried about me. Help me get this dress off so I can go find my groom.”

  “How long have we been down here?” Owen asked miserably.

  To him, it seemed they’d been in that basement dungeon for an eternity. He’d officially missed his wedding, and if he wasn’t trying to hold it together in front of Spencer, he might have wept.

  “Just passed twelve hours,” Spencer replied, sounding bored.

  They’d tried the door more times than he could count. There were no windows—just a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling, and he’d lost all sense of time.

  Minutes ticked by like hours as he watched his future slip away, one second at a time. The moment he’d have seen Andy walking down the aisle. The moment he’d have taken her hand and said I do.

  He wracked his brain, wondering what Andy must be thinking. How devastated she and Jenna must have been when he didn’t show up at the church.

  “They’ll find us soon,” Spencer said confidently. “You not showing up they can explain away, but me?”

  Owen glared at him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “You know exactly what it means. You’ve done this shit before. They’ll just think you changed your mind and took off again. Me, they’ll know something’s wrong. I’ve been there for every single important thing that’s ever happened in this family. You think anyone will believe I skipped out on Andy’s wedding?”

  Owen wanted to argue, but he knew Spencer was right. He’d cast that shadow onto himself when he’d run out of town years ago. What would stop them from believing the same thing now?

  What would stop Andy from believing that?

  “We’ll all split up,” Mike instructed. “You two, back to Andy and Owen’s to help the guests get settled in the reception tent.” Alexa and Phil scurried off, orders in hand.

  “You two, let’s retrace some of our steps and make sure we didn’t miss anything.” He pointed to Beth and Logan.

  “I’ve been everywhere you’ve been,” Logan replied and looked down at Beth. “Anywhere you can think of that we missed?”

  “Let’s start back at Spencer’s and the bar.”

  “We weren’t over there. Why don’t you head to my place, and I’ll go talk to Owen’s aunt and uncle at the reception,” Mike said.

  “I’m going to the bar,” Beth insisted. “If Spencer isn’t answering his damn phone and he’s with Owen, they sure as hell aren’t on the run somewhere. I’m going to Spencer’s.”

  “Let’s go then,” Logan said, not bothered by the fact that Beth had her own plan in mind.

  They’d been looking for hours now without success. If Beth had an idea, he was willing to follow her just about anywhere.

  Well, he was willing to follow her just about anywhere on any day, so that wasn’t saying much.

  She’d changed out of her dress, not that he got to see her in it, but her hair was styled and softly curled. She’d had her makeup done and she glowed under the autumn sun.

  He held open the door of his rental car and she slid in.

  “Did I tell you how nice you look?” he asked when he got in and started the car.

  “Twice,” she replied with a small smile. “Not that I mind hearing it again.”

  “I hate that this is happening, but I know Owen and he—”

  “Wouldn’t do something like this,” she finished. “I agree.”

  Spencer lived less than a mile from the church, and it took no time at all to get to the bar where Walker’s was. Spencer owned the whole building, including the bar on the ground floor and apartments on the upper three floors, as well. Andy and Jenna, before Owen moved back to Freehope, used to live on the second floor with Spencer on the fourth. The third he rented out, but if Beth remembered correctly, it was empty at the moment.

  Logan parked in front of the building and they both climbed the stairs.

  “Why the hell does he have to live on the top floor?” Beth huffed, out of breath. “It’s not like it’s a freakin’ penthouse.”

  “That’s what he calls it,” Logan pointed out. “The penthouse.”

  “He’s an idiot,” Beth complained. “This is Freehope, not New York City. No one cares. When I find him, I’m going to smack him and then make him move to the second floor into Andy’s old place.”

  Logan laughed as they rounded the last set of stairs. “You’re not around much, from what I hear. Not sure why it bothers you so much.”

  She rounded on him and found him looking at her backside. When his hot green eyes flipped up to meet hers, there wasn’t an ounce of guilt in his gaze. Just a sexy half-smile on his lips.

  “You’re just mad you can’t find him. I get it,” he said before she could say anything.

  She scowled and spun around, climbing the rest of the stairs. When she got to Spencer’s door, she banged with her fist, loud and angry.

  “Spencer!” she yelled, peeking in the glass of the window.

  Logan had already done the same thing earlier, but if it made her feel better, he’d let her have her moment.

  It took her longer than he thought it would but, eventually she turned around, hands on hips. He leaned against the railing, his damn knee throbbing.

  “He’s not here.”

  “I see that,” he agreed. “Want to break in?”

  “Yes,” she answered without hesitating. “No,” she sighed. “He’s not in there.”

  “So, Spencer’s not home. Owen’s not home. We know neither of them would take off, so what are we left with? Foul play?”

  Beth shook her head and looked out over the landing, toward the street. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

  Logan didn’t say anything as she worked through whatever was going on in her head. He just hung back, arms crossed, watching every emotion that played across her gorgeous face. Her eyes flashed with anger and frustration, her lips pursed, and then the lower one got caught between her teeth.

  It still amazed him, the feelings that came over him when he laid eyes on her. Like every time he saw her, he fell all over again, despite telling himself he was going to stay far away from her.

  She’d ripped his heart to shreds, called him after screwing another man, and he still melted when she was around. His heart still sped up when she was in the room and despite her penchant for running, he still wanted to chase her.

  Not that he was up for that physically, but metaphorically, he was all over it.

  She moved to the other side of the landing, overlooking the alley.

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered and let out a laugh. “They’re in the dungeon.”

  Logan straightened from the railing and she grabbed his sleeve, pointing.

  “Spencer’s truck!”

  4

  Mom?”

  Andy was doing a pretty good job of pretending everything was fine, she thought as she straightened the monogrammed coasters at the bar. The wedding guests had all left the church and were now at the reception in her and Owen’s backyard.

  It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

  They were supposed to get married at the church, like they planned. They were supposed to run through a crowd of onlookers throwing rose petals. They were supposed to have pictures taken and make a grand entrance.

  Instead, she’d ushered the guests, with a smile on her face, no less, to the reception because Owen had gotten hung up. That’s what she’d told them all. Sometimes, life was unavoidable and he was running late. She’d told them Owen would arrive in a little while and they’d figure it out from there.

  They were eating and drinking, though the occasion was far more subdued than she’d planned.

  They were supposed to be celebrating. Instead, it felt like they were all just waiting for the news to come that Owen wasn’t coming.

  “Mom?”

  Andy turned to Jenna who was nearly dancing in place, the smile on her face brilliant.

&
nbsp; “They found him?” she asked, hurrying over.

  “He’s on his way.” The excitement in Jenna’s voice nearly moved Andy to tears. “He’s with Auntie Beth and Logan. They’ll be here in a few minutes.”

  Andy couldn’t control the smile that came across her face and she didn’t want to. She’d known, all along, that Owen would show up. Giddy, she grabbed Jenna’s hand and headed for the front of the tent. She bypassed her guests, hoping to be the first thing Owen saw when he arrived.

  She was too late, though, and by the time she got halfway across the tent, Owen was making his entrance.

  He looked frantic and worried. And dirty. She didn’t care. Every worry she had for him fell away and she was just left with relief.

  “Owen,” she called, a laugh in her voice.

  Their eyes met and when she’d hoped he would look as relieved as she felt, he just looked more worried. Her heart skipped a beat. Maybe there was something wrong after all.

  He was before her in a few quick strides and he scooped her into his arms. She held on, arms around his neck, for all she was worth.

  “Where on earth have you been?” she whispered. “I was so worried about you.”

  His arms tightened before he set her back on her feet. “I am so sorry, Andy. I wanted to be there but your brother and I got stuck in the basement of the damn bar.”

  “The dungeon?” She’d have never thought to look there. “What were you doing down there?”

  “It doesn’t matter now. I’m so sorry. There isn’t anywhere on this earth I wanted to be more than at that church with you this morning.”

  “I know,” Andy told him.

  He shook his head. “I was sitting down there stewing with your brother, and I just knew you’d think I skipped out on you.” There was a tremor in his voice, his eyes filled with regret met hers. “I would never do that, Andy. I’m not that guy.”

  “I know,” she whispered again with a smile. “I never doubted you.”

  “You didn’t?”

  The surprise in his voice nearly broke her heart.

  “Of course, I didn’t, Owen.” She lifted a hand to cover his heart. “I know you. I know you better than I know myself. I knew if you weren’t here, it was because you were out there somewhere, needing help.”