“I want to show you something.”
She reluctantly got out of the truck, following Frankie and Owen who laughed and talked all the way to the two-story home nearby the town center but far enough to have a grand plot of greenery around the house.
Owen held still in front of the squeaky garden gate. He seemed nervous as he cleared his throat and brought a hand through his longer hair on top.
“Welcome home.”
Tara scrunched her nose. “Home?”
Frankie jumped up and down on the spot and squealed. “Is this our home?!”
Tara held on to the dark green fence for balance. “You’ve got to be kidding…”
Owen’s wide smile fell from his face, making room for a snarling lip as he said, “I’m not kidding, Tara. I’ve bought this old house and I’m fixing it for us.”
The thought of living in this old witch’s home made her nauseous. If it weren’t for Mrs. Bear her mother would still be alive. And Tara would have raised Frankie together with Owen, just like any other normal couple in love. She wouldn’t have been on the run for a madman in these past years.
She didn’t want Frankie growing up in Mrs. Bear’s house. Her head pounded as she rubbed her forehead in vain. “Why would you make such a decision without consulting me? Who says we want to live with you in the first place?”
“Mom! I want to live with Owen!”
Just great. Of course he dropped this bomb in front of Frankie and now she had to wait for Frankie’s bedtime to talk Owen out of this stupid idea.
“Sweetie…”
Frankie took Owen’s outstretched hand and the two of them left her standing behind the garden fence. There was no way she would let Owen dictate where she would live with Frankie. He could try—but he would quickly discover she wasn’t the same pushover anymore.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Owen knew he hadn’t played fair by not informing Tara of his plans of them living together in old Mrs. Bear’s home and by telling her in front of Frankie. He’d bought this house so he could get to know Frankie in the privacy of their own home.
His parents’ B&B was crowded on a good day, but with them needing space to make this work for Frankie, his family would get in the way of Tara opening up and trusting him.
Of course they just wanted to protect him. The Mills family closed ranks if someone messed with one of their own.In this case, they were treading murky waters because every single one of his family members had once considered Tara as one of their own.
Tara had been a part of his family for just a little over a year, but Owen knew they had already opened up their hearts to her.She not only had Owen to make amends with but also his parents, and his two brothers and two sisters.
He’d spent hours searching for Tara after he found out from Jenny that Tara and her mother had left town. The fact that he had to hear it from the person who had rented Tara’s mom an apartment, stung even more.
His dad even went with him four towns over to check on the last place where Gloria had worked as a chambermaid. But the one lead they had turned cold because that hotel had been burned to the ground just the night before.
“Can we go see?” Frankie asked when he took a moment too long to open the front door.
“Sure, sweetheart. Let’s have a look inside.” Owen stepped inside of the house while holding his daughter’s hand.
“You need to stay close to me, Fluff. We’re still working in some of these rooms and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Yes, Owen.”
Frankie proved once again to be his lookalike when not a second after her promise, she picked up a roll of tape from the floor, holding it up in the air to show off her find.
He smiled at his daughter. “Cool stuff, eh?”
“Yeah. Why does it look like this?” Frankie asked as she glanced around the living room with the barren walls and flooring.
“I’ve been working on this house in the past few weeks to get rid of all the old stuff.”
“Okay.”