Chapter 2：Ch 2: she knew he shared her grief

Already she knew she wasn't thinking with a full deck, but she was in shock. Usually, she was well grounded and responsible, but this, all of this, completely threw her world into chaos.

When her parents died, she remembered the funeral then and at twelve years old didn't understand why someone had to stand among a bunch of strangers and friends and cry. She wanted so badly to be alone with her grief, not weep in front of people.

It was a horrible experience back then. Now that she was older, it was even worse. She was alone, horribly alone. Everyone kept looking at her like she was a pity case and because of it, she couldn't let go and cry like she wanted to.

It was almost if everything was a dream, a ghastly dream that she couldn't wake up from. There were more people here at this time. Joseph was well-liked and everyone knew him. Like then the looks of pity were too much for her to bear.

Except for Owen, his expression was unreadable and although she knew he shared her grief, you wouldn't know it from the steeled expression he wore. As odd as it seemed, she found that comforting.

sixteen minutes later, the door opened and Owen slid in across from her in the large interior placing the American flag on the leather seat beside him. She was holding it graveside when it was given to her.

She must've dropped it numbly forgotten she even had it. He noticed and that's why he told her to go to the car. He didn't say anything else to her except lean forward and hand her his handkerchief.

Shortly after she heard the engine start and the car began to move.

Owen was her cousin's best friend. They had gone to school and college together and when her parents had died in a tragic car accident, Joseph quit college and took a job at the local hardware store while Owen went on and became his father's prodigy son taking over the family empire and prospering while she and Joseph struggled from paycheck to paycheck.

Yet through it all, they somehow remained close, and although Abigail never understood the connection between them, it was quite strong.

Owen came from money and Joseph didn't, nevertheless, he never acted as though he was better than either one of them.

He looked at it. Every bit of him looked as though he was worth a million dollars when he was worth more, much more.

Even in her grief, there was no mistaking the expensive crisp cut of his suit and the way he carried himself with an utter and unbelievable confidence.

However, she knew that underneath all of that was a man who was grieving and she was possibly the only one on the planet that knew that.

Owen didn't let many people close to him but he did with her and Joseph. He loved Joseph like a cousin, and they'd known each other for almost twenty years. They had gone through school together.

It was odd really because Owen's family was very wealthy and yet he went to a public school. She overheard him explaining it to Joseph that his mother was raised in a middle-class family and thought that Owen needed to understand that side of life.