Chapter 12：Ch 12: Stability?

It couldn't' be possible that he'd been considering this for two years, could it? He couldn't have. If he had been, he would have approached her sooner, instead, she couldn't walk by a newsstand without seeing his face plastered all over the front covers of the tabloids with some gorgeous woman on his arm, "I do have friends."

She said narrowing her gaze on him and continued, "Owen, what is going on? What is with all of these offers all of a sudden? College?

Alice? And marriage?" "Your friends can't give you the stability I can." He said firmly ignoring her questions. Again, he didn't answer her, "Stability? Lord, Owen….nothing in my life has been stable! Hadn't you noticed?" "Yes."

He said simply. Well, score one for me, she thought. "And I'm twenty-two years old." She continued exasperated that he seemed to still think she was a teenager. "I'm old enough to be on my own." He shook his head, "You're still too young Abigail.

You need someone in your life. You may be twenty-two, but you are very trusting and naïve of things around you. I know your life hasn't been easy, and Joseph has done his best considering the circumstances, but I have a responsibility…."

"A responsibility! Is that how you see me?" she said hearing her voice rise. He denied it on the ride to the city, but now he brought it up, so she could help but think this was all out of pity.

"No." he corrected quickly not raising his voice one fraction to counter hers. He was a master negotiator and it came

in handy more than once outside of the business. "I meant I made promises to your cousin." Is that what all this was about? She refused to be a crutch for his guilt toward a promise that was unreasonable. Joseph should have never done that to him or her for that matter.

"I won't hold you to them!" she shot back and turned around intending to leave when he grabbed her arm. "Abigail give me two minutes to explain. Don't leave, please." She spun around to face him and opened her mouth to speak but his eyes held a pleading she hadn't seen before.

Remembering that he still held her arm she looked down to see his hand on her. It was odd to have him touch her beyond those few incidents over the past decade like that fateful night when she was assaulted by that older boy.

However, he'd touched her more today than he'd done in all the time they'd known each other and every time he did, it sent a wave of uneasiness through her. Not a fearful uneasiness, but an uncomfortable one, because she wanted him to touch her.

Lord did she ever. Guiding her eyes back up to his, she couldn't forget that he was there for her through all of this. He comforted her, held her when she wept and now offered her a way out of all of her pressing problems.

He was right, none of her other friends could have done this for her even though they meant well. Owen was completely unselfish with her and she knew not another could brag about this, except Alice. She owed him more than she could repay, so she definitely could give him a few more moments of her time.

Although she wanted more time to ponder his motives behind the proposal, she couldn't help but ask, "So why now after all of this time do you throw an offer like marriage on the table?" "I told you."