Page 51 of In at the Deep End

Whatever he’d expected to find in Owen’s DVD collection?

It hadn’t been this.

Silence settled over the conservatory.

Owen hadn’t realised how tightly he’d been gripping his mug until his fingers began to ache.

Jeff stared out into the garden, elbows on his knees, saying nothing.

Babs was crying, and the sight made his heart ache. She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, laughed weakly, then shook her head. “Oh, Owen.”

His throat tightened. “I’m sorry.”

She stared at him in disbelief. “Why are you apologising?”

He huffed. “Because I seem to spend half my life apologising.”

Babs reached across the coffee table, took the mug from him and put it on the table, then grasped both his hands. “You stupid man.”

He blinked.

“Hey, she’s only saying what I’m thinking.” Jeff rubbed a hand over his face. “Do you know what really pisses me off?” Owen gave him an inquiring glance, and Jeff shook his head. “You spent years thinking you had to carry all that on your own. Idiot.”

Owen’s vision blurred, but he laughed through the tears. “Yeah.”

“You really are. You should have told us.”

“I couldn’t.”

Babs frowned. “Why not?”

He looked between her and Jeff. “Because if I’d told anyone…” He swallowed. “Then it would’ve become real.”

Jeff stared at him. “Did you honestly think we’d have turned our backs on you?”

Owen gave a tiny shrug. “I didn’t know.”

Jeff blew out a long breath. “I wish you’d given us the chance.”

The regret in those words hit him with unexpected force.

Babs squeezed Owen’s hands. “Do you know what hurts me most?”

He shook his head.

“Cyn.”

He closed his eyes for a second, until he felt another squeeze of his hand.

Babs swallowed hard. “I’ve been sitting here trying to rewrite every memory I have of the two of you.” Her sad smile created a knot in his stomach. “Everyone knew you and Cyn belonged together. You were inseparable. You made each other laugh. You looked after each other.” She shook her head. “I remember thinking, ‘Well, those two are inevitable.’” A single tear trickled down her cheek. “Now I’m wondering how much of what I thought I saw was real—and how much was just what I assumed.”

Owen’s chest constricted. “It was real.” His voice was quiet. “Every bit of it.”

“Did she know how much you loved her?”

Owen nodded. “I hope so.”

“I don’t mean as a wife, but as your best friend.”