Page 33 of Squatch Out!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

OLIVIA

“ S o, is this going to be an intervention -type talk?” Sean pouts from his recliner.

“It’s definitely an intervention.” Owen laughs. He’s sitting beside me on the couch.

As soon as Owen walked through the door, I ran to him and hugged him, putting everything I’ve bottled up into it. I hugged him until Sean started growling, and then I hugged him even longer just because I could.

“Olivia, honey, I’m so glad you’re here. I was afraid this asshole ran you off.”

Sean glares at his brother.

“Well, he tried.” I glance over at Sean then wink. “Luckily, I’m too stubborn to take a hint.”

Owen laughs, and I don’t miss the way Sean’s lips press tightly together. The way he can’t keep his eyes off me makes me hope he’s glad I’m here too, even if he won’t admit it.

“Okay, so for this to be a proper intervention, you’re gonna have to tell me exactly what happened.” Owen leans back and braces a heavy work boot across his knee.

“What part?” I snort.

“Start at the airport.”

“You don’t know?” I tilt my head so I can look over at him. I figured Sean would have told him something .

“Sweetheart, my brother is an idiot.” His statement comes out matter-of-factly. Like he is clueing me in on one of the universe's greatest mysteries. “And when you left, he just,” Owen shrugs, “shut down. He hasn’t talked to anyone.”

“You can quit with the honey and sweetheart bullshit,” Sean grumbles to his brother. “And quit talking like I’m not right here.”

“Would you like to tell your side first, then?” Owen asks.

When Sean snaps his mouth shut with a click of his teeth, I lean into the couch cushions and tell my side of everything that happened, starting with the day he dropped me off at the airport.

Owen and Sean listen quietly as I pour my heart out, telling them how I texted and called but never got a response.

While I talk, the sun slowly sets outside.

“Getting the silent treatment hurts the worst,” I say to Sean. “It made me think maybe I imagined everything. Or maybe I read you wrong. I started to wonder if I was just a hook-up for you, and that I was acting like a desperate Tinder-ella by texting you over and over…”

“What? No!” Sean suddenly barks. “You were —you're not a hook-up !”

“Well, that’s a relief. But it doesn’t explain why you ghosted me.

” I wait a moment for him to give me the explanation I’m waiting for, but when Sean only grinds his teeth, I continue, “I started looking at jobs that would bring me back here. When I found one, I applied, and when I got it, I put in my notice and packed up my whole life. For you. To be closer to you. Because I felt something with you that I don’t think I’ll find with anyone else.

And not just with you, but this place, too.

“It was a big gamble,” I admit, “moving here like I did. So now I want to know why ? Why did you push me away? Why are you still trying to push me away?”

The room goes eerily silent until Sean leans forward—toward me—with his elbows braced on his knees. He keeps his dark eyes on mine but still stays quiet.

“Did Sean tell you about our parents?” Owen asks quietly.

Reluctantly, I turn away from Sean, curious how their parents tie into our conversation. “Yes. A little,” I say, Then I look back at Sean. “Your mom was…like me, and your dad was… like you. And that they died in a car accident.”

Sean’s eyes flick to the side, to his brother, before coming back to me.

Owen lets out a heavy sigh, “Yeah, that’s the bare bones of it.

Sean was sixteen, and I was twenty-one, when the accident happened.

We grew up down south, along the Oregon coast. It’s all small towns down there, and with the coastal range so close, it made being who we are easy.

It was a good place to grow up. But life on the coast can be a hard one, especially if you’re not used to it.

“Our dad met my mom when he was working out in California. They fell hard and fast for each other. When she accepted his secret, he brought her back to Oregon with him. Only, she hated it.”

I don’t miss the way Sean squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, like he’s reliving some uncomfortable memory.

Part of me wants to ask Owen to stop, because I get it.

But also, I want to know more about these people who helped shape the man I’ve moved clear across the country to be with and who I’ll never get a chance to meet.

“She tried to make it work. For him. Then for us. But by the time Sean and I were teenagers, all the light had dimmed from her eyes. The seasonal depression had morphed into something more. The love she had for our dad, and for us, wasn’t enough for her anymore. So, she left.”

Owen straightens his long legs with a sigh and then leans back into the couch cushions.

“My dad tried to let her go, but in the end, he couldn’t handle it.

So, he went after her to bring her back.

We’re not sure what happened then. He was gone for about a week, but we would talk to them every night.

Our last conversation was positive. They’d worked something out, and our mom decided to come back home with him. The next night, we didn’t get a call.”

Owen lets out a long sigh. “The next day, they were both found in her car at the bottom of the seaside cliffs. The police report blamed poor road conditions and a bad squall that came through.”

“Oh no.” My hands fly up to my mouth to stifle my gasp. “I’m so sorry.”

Sean gives me a sorrowful look that breaks my heart. I think I’m beginning to understand why he pushed me away when I left.

“Did you think I would end up hating it here and then hating you?” When he looks away, I jump to my feet and cross the room to stand in front of him.

He watches me carefully, then stiffens when I climb into his lap.

I expect him to push me away, but when he doesn’t, I curl against his chest like a child might.

“Is that why you tried to push me away? Because I meant to tell you a million times how much I love it here. When I arrived, I felt like I was coming home, which is something I’ve never felt in Virginia. ”

I watch the sides of his jaw tick as he clenches his teeth.

“I’m so sorry about your parents,” I whisper. “I know how hard it is to lose your family, but your mom isn’t me. And you aren’t your dad.”

Sean closes his eyes and leans forward so his forehead is resting against mine. His breath puffs, warm and minty, against my lips. I circle my arms around his neck and lean into him.

I hear a rustling behind me as Owen pushes himself up from the couch, but I don’t move or look over at him, even when I hear the front door open.

“If I come back down here tomorrow and see her shit still in her car, I will personally string you up and knock some sense into your thick skull with a tree branch!” he warns Sean. Then, to me, he adds softly, “Let me know if you need anything else.”

I can’t stop the grin that spreads across my mouth. “Thanks, Owen. I think I’ve got it from here.”