One of his ears was forever damaged from past abuse, and he’d been at the shelter for months because he wasn’t exactly pretty. But the intrepid animal had turned out to be so loving once I’d gained his trust. His favorite place to rest his head was on my thigh. “How do you know that?” I questioned him.
“Come on, Layla. It’s pretty obvious you two adore each other. He’s probably the ugliest dog in town, but I don’t think you care.”
“He’s adorable,” I said admonishingly. “It’s pretty amazing that he would give his trust to anybody after the horrible life he’s had so far. But he does, and it’s kind of humbling.”
“What are you going to do once he’s adopted?” Owen questioned.
I took a sip of my soda before I answered, “I’ll probably want to stalk the new owner to make sure he’s well loved. It would be selfish of me to want him to stay there just because I’ll miss him, but I hope that he goes to a home where they’ll take good care of him. He’s such a good boy.”
“You’d be heartbroken if he goes. Admit it,” Owen challenged me.
“I would,” I agreed. “But I don’t want him to live the rest of his life in the shelter.”
“Then let me buy you a damn house. You could be close to him every day.”
I nearly choked on my Diet Coke. “Owen, you can’t just walk around offering to buy everybody a home.”
“I’m not asking everybody,” he corrected. “I offered one to you. Andie’s house is going up for sale. Although, I am definitely convinced now that it’s cursed. Everyone who has owned that place ended up married to a billionaire. First Jade, then Riley, and now Andie.”
“I can’t afford a house on the beach.”
“It’s not exactly a mansion.”
“Owen, I couldn’t afford a one-room shack in this part of town,” I said.
“You don’t have to afford it if I pay for it. Brutus would love it. If you could get him to stay awake long enough, he’d love to play on the beach.”
Owen’s willingness to help me after not seeing me for a decade, and then having me call him a liar and sleazy cheat, was beyond remarkable. It touched me that he was so damn worried about my welfare, especially when he didn’t need to be.
“I’ll get a place someday, but it will probably be in our old neighborhood.”
He turned his head and scowled at me. “That area sucks.”
“You didn’t think so when we lived there as kids.”
“It’s gone downhill since then, but it wasn’t the greatest area even when we were younger. Please tell me you don’t still live there,” he said in a concerned tone.
I avoided answering him directly. “Not everyone can afford a house on the beach. Owen, we don’t exactly have slums here in Citrus Beach.”
He let out a groan. “So you do live there,” he guessed.
Dammit! The man could still tell when I was hiding something.
“It’s not so bad. My apartment building is nice. And I don’t want to pay an astronomical rent, because I’m saving for my own home.” My decision not to upgrade my residence once I’d become a nurse practitioner made perfect sense. I wanted a new home where I could have pets of my own, and keeping my place with a modest rent was going to get me there faster.
“You wouldn’t have to save anymore if you’d just let me buy you a place,” he argued stubbornly. “Dammit! It’s not like I can help my family with this sudden wealth. They’re all as loaded as I am. So why can’t I help the other people I care about?”
I melted as I looked at the frustrated expression on his face. How many people would immediately want to reach out and help their friends if they became an instant billionaire?
Furthermore, how many would make a free clinic their first concern?
Owen was a giver. He always had been. It was obviously driving him crazy because all he wanted to do was use that money to help other people, but nobody in his family needed anything.
I reached out and put a gentle hand on his arm. “You’ll figure all of this out eventually, Owen. Give it some time. I know you didn’t plan on becoming a billionaire, and even though it’s confusing, it’s a good thing, right? Your plan for starting a free and low-cost clinic is amazing, and knowing you, that isn’t the only way you’re going to make a difference in