It was definitely a step up from a nursing home, with all residents having their own apartments and all the amenities that money could buy. As Owen opened up the door to her apartment, he stepped into a little kitchenette where his mother had a table. It was lunchtime, but his mom wasn’t sitting there.
Instead, he could see her through the glass doors in the small living room that led out to the concrete patio. There was a table out there and his mom liked to sit there in the afternoons, enjoying nice weather and breathing in the scent of flowers in the garden lining the patio.
She looked back at him with a smile as he slid the glass door open and stepped outside. Every apartment had a patio, and he could see that several of the other residents were sitting out here.
“Owen, I didn’t know you were coming today,” his mom said. She started to stand, but he crossed to her quickly, pulling her into a hug and easing her frail body back down into the chair. There was a tray of food in front of her, and he noticed that she’d barely eaten any of it.
“It’s Tuesday,” he reminded her. “I always come by on Tuesdays.”
“Oh right.”
His smile felt stiff as he took his seat across from her. He’d put her in here six months ago because of her health problems, but that didn’t include dementia at the time. He was starting to worry that her memory was slipping.
“How’s the food?” he asked.
“I hate this low-salt diet the doctor put me on,” she grumbled as she poked at the chicken breast on her plate. “Nothing tastes as good as it used to.”
“Your heart appreciates your taste buds’ sacrifice.” His mom laughed, and he relaxed back in his chair. “Go on, try to eat.”
She rolled her eyes but picked up her fork and stabbed at her green beans.
“Tell me how you’re doing. And Declan.”
Owen filled her in on what was going on with them without mentioning their business much. His mother knew all about it, of course. She was married to his father while he was running the organization with an iron fist, so it would have been impossible for her not to know. Still, Owen liked to keep the ugly side of it from his mom. She didn’t need to know the details of what was going on. Somehow, his mom was a gentle soul, despite the man she was married to for nearly forty years.
“That’s all great,” she said after Owen filled her in on his life. “But haven’t you met a nice girl yet?”
Owen shook his head. “No, Ma. No girl.”
Despite his words, Ruby’s face popped up in his mind and he had to wonder if he was lying. After their kiss last night, he certainly felt like she was his.
8
RUBY
She kissed her boss.
Ruby couldn’t stop thinking about it, wondering if it was a mistake. Would she get fired for that?
But he kissed her back. Maybe he even initiated it. She wasn’t entirely sure. She wanted it to happen so much that the way his lips ended up molded to hers was a blur in her mind. It was still wrong.Right?
She’d never been in a situation like this before. All she knew for sure was that she wanted the man. Their chemistry was off the charts, and it didn’t seem to matter how different they were from each other.
She was torn about how to handle the situation. Walking into the restaurant for her shift, she was just as nervous as she was when she showed up for her interview. Making her way down the hallway, she peeked into each room she passed, but she didn’t spot Owen. Clocking in, she headed to the dining room. He wasn’t there either.
“Are you looking for someone?” Stevie asked as she spotted her.
“Oh, no. Not really.” She held up her bandaged hand. “It’s just that Owen helped me with my hand last night, and I wanted to thank him.”
“Oh, he’s not here. Not even up in his office.”
Stevie walked away, and Ruby tied a little black apron around her waist, trying not to let herself be bothered by Owen’s absence. It probably had nothing to do with her and their hot kiss. It would be crazy to think so.
The night seemed to drag on without Owen around. He usually showed up at some point during the dinner rush, walking around the dining room and checking out how things were going. It seemed that he always knew at least a couple of people that were dining and would stop to talk to them. But not tonight.
As customers started to clear out, she found herself at the drink station with Claire. They were both rolling silverware.
Owen was still on her mind, and she decided there wasn’t any harm in mentioning him to her coworker. “So…it’s kind of weird that Owen wasn’t in the dining room tonight.”
