“But there’s also something behind your smile. Something you try to hide from the world. If you’re willing to talk about it, I’d love to hear.”
Owen just looks at me for a long moment. “You noticed that?”
I nod.
“You go right to the heavy-hitting topics, don’t you?”
“In my defense,” I say, holding up my hands, “you started it by asking about my dad.”
Owen gives me an amused smile, and then he nods. “Fair enough.” He pauses a bit first, absently reaching a hand forward to rub his left knee.
“I told you I played football in high school.”
“Quarterback, right?”
“Yep. And I was pretty good at it, too. It got me a scholarship that would cover tuition, my dorm, and even a meal plan. I’d be able to focus all my time and energy on college and football. Everything seemed perfect.
“I had a great final season my senior year. Our team even made it to the state finals. I was on cloud nine throughout our entire end-of-season banquet. They gave out awards as we were finishing our meal, then moved on to the speeches, and then showed our highlight reel.
“I found out later that a few of the guys had snuck out right after the presentation of awards because one of them brought alcohol. They drank all through the speeches and came back just in time for the video. One of them was my running back, Cordell.
“I stayed late to help clean up, and Cordell left to drive some of the guys home. By thetime I left, Cordell had dropped everyone off and was driving back to his house, and I was headed to mine. I had a green light and was going through an intersection when he came from my left, running a red light, and he T-boned me.”
I gasp. “Were you okay?”
He shakes his head. “Cordell’s truck crashed into my driver’s door, pinning my left leg and arm. He had the bigger vehicle, and the impact was mostly on his passenger side, so he only had a few bumps and bruises. They had to cut my car apart to get me out. I was in the hospital for a while. Plus, I had several surgeries, physical therapy for a year, and I missed most of the last half of my senior year as I was recovering. And I lost my scholarship and my spot on the team.”
“Oh, Owen. I am so sorry.” I know my words aren’t enough for something so awful, but I don’t know what else to say.
“I did get to go to my senior prom, though! With a knee brace.” He chuckles. “I tell you, if you ever need an accessory to go with formalwear, that’s one that will get you all the care and attention.”
That easy smile of his is back. “And there were a lot of great things that happened because of it. You know, sometimes life doesn’t go like you had planned. It takes you down a path that you never saw coming and ends up being pretty amazing.
“For example, I’m left-handed, but because of surgeries, my left arm was out of commission for quite a while. So I had to get good at using my right hand. And for a guy working in construction, I can tell you that it sure comes inhandy now. See what I did there?”
I chuckle.
“Since I couldn’t be on the football team in college, I spent more mental energy on school. And since I no longer had a scholarship, I had to work my way through college, which I did by working part-time for a construction company. Most architectural restoration specialists research, assess, evaluate, plan, and oversee. Which are all parts that I love. But I also love getting in there and doing the hands-on construction work, too. Having that extra experience is a big part of what allowed me to do both.
“It also made me a hard worker. More focused. And it opened a lot more opportunities to me. Sometimes you don’t get what you want, but you get what you need, you know?”
I nod and study him for a long moment. Then I say, “It sounds like there were a lot of things that really worked to your benefit in the end.”
“Yeah.”
“So why is there still a sadness behind your smile?”
He rubs his forehead with his fingertipsand then shakes his head, chuckling. “I should’ve guessed you would figure out that wasn’t all there was to it.”
He is silent for a long moment, and I can see him working through things. Finally, he says, “It took so many months of pain and so much effort to get past those injuries. There may have been plenty of good things that came from it, but Cordell’s poor choice cost me so much. My knee still gives me pain almost daily. Especially during some tasks or when the weather is bad. It even stops me from doing some things.
“I’d heard that Cordell had driven drunk before, but he’d never been caught. So for our crash, he was considered a first-time offender. He was a good running back—he had a scholarship, too. Since he did, he had such a bright future ahead of him, and no one seemed to want to destroy that future. So the court let him off easy.
“It felt like they were saying that it was okay to ruin my future, but not his. My coach didn’t feel the same way, so Cordell was kicked off the team, but at that point, it didn’t matter. The season was over, and it was his senior year.”
“Do you know what happened to him after that?”
He shakes his head. “I’d like to say that things went poorly enough for him that it seemed like he got what he deserved, but from what I know, everything is going well for the guy. I heard he turned his life around. Maybe he did, or maybe it’s all smoke andmirrors—I don’t know. I just know that it never seemed like he got any kind of punishment.
