things or something.”
“And here I thought it was so you could be as far away from your ex as possible.” He gave her a teasing smile and squeezed her hand.
She laughed. “That, too. What about you? Did you move to Premonition Pointe to get away from someone?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe?”
“Maybe?” She shook her head. “I call foul. You know all about my messy divorce. Meanwhile, I know next to nothing about your past. It’s only fair that you elaborate. Any failed marriages or long-term relationships I should know about?”
“No marriages,” he said immediately. “But I did live with someone for a few years. It didn’t work out.”
“That was vague.” She descended down a path of wooden stairs that would take them right to the beach. Once her feet hit the sand, she said, “Care to share?”
Owen chuckled. “Not really. But the short version is she wanted to get married and I didn’t. So we broke up.”
Grace took a seat at the picnic table and immediately poured them both a glass of wine. “Commitment issues?” she asked out of pure curiosity. After her divorce, she was done with marriage altogether.
He picked up his wine glass and watched the liquid as he swirled it around. “Not necessarily. I was committed to that relationship. I guess I just didn’t see us as forever. She did and told me she’d never have moved in with me if she didn’t think we were moving toward something more permanent. Looking back, I probably should’ve seen that, but I was happy just cohabitating. When it was clear she wasn’t, I left.”
“Did you love her?” Grace propped her chin on her hand as she watched him.
He raised one eyebrow. “You really want to know this?”
“Only if you want to tell me. I was married for over twenty years and never really did the dating thing much. Bill and I got together my freshman year in college. So I find the dating dynamics of adults fascinating.”
“I think I thought I loved her. Or at least that I wanted to.” He pulled the sandwiches out of the bag and handed the one marked Turkey to her. “She was fun, accomplished, and sexy.”
“She sounds wonderful. What was the problem?”
“To be honest, I don’t really know. When she started talking about marriage, I couldn’t see myself in that life. And then it all imploded.” He unwrapped his roast beef sandwich and held it up, but he didn’t take a bite. Instead, he looked her in the eye and asked, “What does that say about me? Maybe I am a commitment-phobe.”
Grace took a bite of her sandwich as she thought about what he’d said. After she washed the bite down with a gulp of wine, she asked, “Do you miss her? Or regret the decision?”
“No. Not really. I think I just miss the companionship.” He gazed out at the ocean and pointed to the left near an outcropping of rocks near the shore. “Look. Seals.”
Grace squinted until she spotted their heads bobbing in the water. “This is my favorite part of the day.”
“I can see why.”
After tearing her gaze away from the water, she said, “Based on what you’ve told me, I don’t think you’re a commitment-phobe at all. I think you knew that forever wasn’t in the cards with her and you were honest about that. I’d say that makes you a decent guy. As long as you didn’t make her promises you knew you couldn’t or wouldn’t keep, then I think this is just a case of a relationship that ran its course. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not like you cheated on her and upended her entire life.”
Grace winced when she heard the words come out of her mouth. They sounded so bitter. She didn’t want to talk about Bill while she was on a date with this man who was not only incredibly sexy, but smart and attentive, too. He didn’t deserve to have her dump her baggage on him. “Sorry.” She forced a chuckle. “I got a little heated.”
“It must’ve been rough losing your husband and your career all in one blow,” he said, reaching for her hand and lacing his fingers between hers.
“My entire life blew up.” She gave him a small smile. “But you know what?”
“What?”
“I’m not sorry it happened. After I left and only had myself to worry about, I realized I have spent my entire life taking care of someone else’s needs. He owned the business, right? So I