Nine

Owen sighs deeply. She is avoiding dicussing the real issue here, which is what she just overheard. The accusations against him. By her not discussing it, either she does not believe it so she is giving it no credit or she does believe it and is far too afraid to bring it up in conversation within striking distance of him.

To which he understands. Olivia was naturally graced with the power of self preservation, which is shining through in this scenerio. He just wishes that she had never heard any of that hateful drivel that Trudy Bellmer was spewing at the hardware store.

“I am making furniture for them.”

Olivia looks at him with wide eyes and grins. “Like furniture furniture? Real stuff like you find at a store or like..?”

“Well, it can certainly be found at a store but it's also different. But to answer your question seriously, yes, it is real furniture.” He tells her as he pulls up outside of the furniture store.

She looks at the building and then turns to him, asking “Are you here for research or something?”

“Or something.” He tells her as pushes open the door and gets out. Before he can get out of the vehicle and can close the door, she is already out. “Uh, it's okay. I am only going to be in here for a few minutes. You can wait out here if you would rather.”

“No, that's fine. I would rather go inside with you.” She tells him plainly, as she shuts the door and waits for him on the sidewalk.

Owen has to admit to being confused. If she were truly scared of him, just now would have been a good time to get away from him. Instead she wants to spend more time with him. He can not figure out if she believes what she heard or if she does not believe it. He can't get a read on her o he has no idea what she is thinking, which causes him a fair bit of anxiety.

“Let's go.” Once again Liv grabs his hand in hers and tugs him behind her as they enter into the store.

Liv turns to walk through the furniture but he stops, tugging her back. “I actually have to go over here to the office. I need to talk to Burt for a few minutes.” He nods toward the thin, old man behind the counter.

“Well then, by all means, let's go talk to Burt.” Liv says aggreably, heading towards the counter.

“Owen! Nice to see you!” The wiry man calls out when he notices their approach.

“Nice to see you too, Burt.” Owen tells the man, meaning every word. Burt is one of the few people in this town that does not hold Owen accountable for his family's actions, to which Owen is grateful.

“Who is your lady friend?” Burt asks with a sly smile and Owen turns red.

Olivia just chuckles, reaching out a slender hand to him for a shake. “Olivia Jordan, sir. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, as well, hun. The name's Burt Castrem, but you can call me Burt.” She nods and he turns to Owen, focusing on business. “We sold out.”

“What?” Owen asks, surprised by the news. Every piece that he sold to Burt has been sold. That means that both he and Burt have both made a pretty penny off of the sales.

“The women's pinnacle club. They decided to redo their houses on their husbands dimes, so they came in here looking for the best. Elsie saw the dining room suites that you made and she just had to have it before Gladys or Mae could get it. Tommy had a bit of a bidding war on his hands, but he drove the price up to a high as Elsie was willing to go and he closed the deal.”

“Wow.” Owen says, impressed.

When Burt reaches into the drawer and pulls out a folded check for Owen, Owen takes it from him and opens it. A strong wind would have blown him over, he was so shocked by the amount printed on the paper. “Um, is this, real? It's not a mistake?” Owen wants to double check, not wanting to screw his friend over.

“No mistake. That is the agreed upon percentage of sales for you. I told you, Tommy drove them up. Elsie put Dave's retirement pension to good use, forking over all of that dough. So, you made bank, my boy.” Burt tells him in a gloating tone.

“Wow.” Owen repeats, not knowing what else to say. He made a few extra thousand that he was not expecting to have made. He was ecstatic and was riding a high from it.

“That is not all, Owen. You got a few custom orders. I priced him real high, what with that money blowing craze that them ladies was under. Elsie wants a matching cabinet and side tables for her dining room and living room. Mae wants a dining suit like the one Elsie bought, only bigger and better. She is also coming in today to discuss a bedroom set, that I priced her at ten.”

“Ten grand?”

“Yes, sir. With the price's I named them, and with my cut coming out, you will be making about fifteen, when it is all said and done.” Burt tells him and Owen's eyes involuntarily widen.

“Woah.”

“I told em that it would be after the holidays, cause I know you are busy with the motel and everything else, plus your family. I told them that it would be late spring or summer before you got it done and they aggreed.” Burt tells him and Owen chuckles, amused that the old codger seems to have thought of everything.

“Well, right done specifics of what they want. I am ahead of schedule with my Christmas gifts, so I can probably start working on them soon, so they can get done early. I will let you handle deposits and fees, since you are the business man. You just tell me which needs to be made first and it will be priority. I can have the materials in a week and start after that.”

Burt nods. “Sounds good.”

The three of them talk for a minute more before Owen and Olivia make there goodbyes and leave. They are in his truck and headed to the bank when she unleashes all of her questions on him.

“So you make furniture. Expensive, top of the line, make little old women fight over it, furniture?” Olivia asks him with a frown. “Not exactly the hobby that you made it out to be. Why?”

“Because I keep it a secret that I make the furniture. If there was a name attached to that furniture, they wouldn't be clammering to buy it. They would more than likely be gathering it up to use as kindling at my feet when they burn me at the stake.” Owen quips glibly, letting more of his bitterness than he wanted to show in his words.

“What?”

“If you haven't noticed, by Trudy's words at the hardware store, I am not exactly well liked in this town.” He tells her, pulling up to the window at the bank. “I would like to deposit this in my account.”

He gives Liv a look like 'see?' as the teller handles the transaction without saying a single word to him. When they pull away, with out the customary 'have a good day', Liv turns to him.

“What was all that about?”

“It is a long story but I will cut it down for you. Pretty much my father and brother were horrible, terrible people and the town thinks that I am exactly like them. They hate me and want me gone, but I won't leave the motel. It is mine and I am not leaving it.” Owen tells her.

“And you shouldn't.” Liv agrees.

They lapse back into a comfortable silence after that. Neither knowing what to say or how best to say it, so they both say nothing. They just enjoy the ride and the passing scenery.

They pull up to the motel with Owen's good mood still entact. He had a pretty good day. He got to spend time with Olivia, which he enjoyed imensely and he got even more money than he was expecting, which is helping him grow his savings account and get him closer and closer to his dreams.

Nothing can bring him down today.

Or so he thought.