Page 33 of Sparks Still Fly

“Hey. Wait.” Her eyes move to look at the spot where my fingers wrap around her small wrist. I let go, hoping she won’t take off again. She doesn’t. “We gotta figure this out, right? How to be more than just civil when we’re in the same room? So let’s talk about this.” I pause as she nods and turns to face me.

I huff out a breath. “Okay, we can start with Arthur. He doesn’t know anything about us. I don’t even think he knows I got married. He’s not much of a talker.” Before I can ramble any more about Arthur and give away the fact that I’m lying, I stop myself. “Anyway, he might think we’re weird if we don’t know how to be around each other, but his opinion doesn’t matter. He’s not making any decisions about either of our futures, so he’s a good test subject.”

Lies, lies, lies. Arthur knows about Maeve and why I bought this house with horses I hardly know how to ride. But he’ll be a good test subject because he’ll tell me the truth. I can always count on him for that.

“So you’re saying we should start now? We should pretend to be a happily married couple in front of Arthur?” She crosses her arms, but not in an act of defiance, almost like she’s protecting herself.

“Only if you’re comfortable with it.” I put up both of my hands in a motion of surrender, and to my shock, she nods.

“Yeah. Okay. Let’s test this out on your pal Arthur, then.”

Here we fucking go.

19/

this is a very,very bad idea.

maeve

I guess we’re doing this thing now. Like right now.

It’s fine. I can do this. I can handle touching and being touched by Owen, just as long as it’s not my arse touching his crotch.

Once I’m outside, I turn around, realizing I don’t know where we’re actually going. Owen is a few feet away staring at my white trainers.

“You wanna drive there so you don’t get those dirty?” He points at them as if I don’t know what he’s talking about.

“No. They’re just shoes.” He raises an eyebrow at me, and I roll my eyes. “Go on, cowboy. Lead the way.” That gets his lips twitching, but seriously, all the man needs is a cowboy hat to replace his baseball cap. He’s got the tight T-shirt, worn jeans, and boots look down.

“If you say so.” He walks past me and... yep... his bum looks positively biteable in those jeans. It’s entirely inappropriate. Sort of like my thoughts.

We walk past the garden—there are several raised garden beds that look ready for some vegetables to grow in them but are currently empty—and my heart tightens a little at the sight, remembering what Owen told me about his dad the day of the funeral.

“Do you think you’ll ever plant anything in those? Some potatoes, maybe?” I wave a hand toward the garden beds and look up to see Owen smiling softly.

He chuckles, and the sound makes me feel lightheaded. “Yeah, I was hoping for some potatoes, strawberries, too since Lainey loves them.” He seems so at ease here, and with the fresh air and mountains in his backyard, I can see why.

I consider telling him that his dad would be so happy to see the garden beds full, but I stop myself. It feels too intimate. Too close to the conversation we had on that night; the one I’ve tried time and time again to wipe from my memory.

“So… Why Ojai?” I settle for a rhyming question, which makes me cringe on the inside.

“Lots of reasons, I guess. The mountains, the small-town feel, being just far enough away from LA…” It seems like he has more to say, but I don’t push it. It doesn’t surprise me that Owen picked a place like this. He’s never liked LA, but this way he can visit his sister and work with Raf whenever he needs to.

We arrive at the edge of a wooded area, a wide path cut out in front of us. Owen looks at my feet again. “Last chance to change your shoes or drive.” I nod at him, and we start walking through the trees side-by-side.

“It’s not very far, but sometimes this path gets really muddy. In case you want to come out here on your own, ever. Arthur wouldn’t mind. You’ll see. But, uh, don’t go alone at night, all right? It’s not dangerous or anything, but I wouldn’t want you getting lost. These woods go for a lot of acres, and some of the paths here just take you in big circles, so if you don’t know?—”

“Hey, Owen? Take a breath.” He does. “I won’t be walking through the woods alone. K?” The worry eases off his face as he gives me a small smile before looking straight ahead again.

“So, how many horses are there?” He seems to relax further, hands no longer in fists at his side.

“Uh, six, I think. Arthur said something about getting some more though.” I can’t believe he lives in a house with a view of the mountains and horses next door. It’s my literal dream, and he just shrugs as though it’s perfectly normal to live on a property like this. I suppose for him it is.

“Wow. I can’t wait to meet them all.” A smile spreads across my face. My insides bubble up at the thought of being near horses again. As we walk, I swear I can smell the shift in the air. Like we’re crossing over some invisible threshold. But as we take a few more steps, the stable is right up ahead, and there’s a bulky sort of man leading a horse out.

Owen walks in silence, and I walk trying not to squeal at the sight before me. As we get closer, the man I assume is Arthur, waves at us, then goes back to his task with the horse.

“Should we be, like, holding hands or something?” Owen rubs his hands on his thighs, and I wonder if he’s nervous about this whole thing, even though it was his idea.

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