Clawen ♡ Second Time's the Charm

Chapter 16: Finally Found

"Zach! Zach, get over here!" Claire yelled as she let Gray go. Zach shambled over to her and his eyes widened in surprise when she pulled him into her fierce embrace. He shared a startled look with his younger brother. This can't be our aunt, can it? What happened to her while we were gone?

"My God, I was so worried about you two. The both of you gave me the biggest scare of my life! Where did you go? Why didn't you come back?" Claire cried, releasing Zach. He stared at her dumbly, just as speechless as Gray. That's when he noticed Owen standing a distance behind his aunt.

"Who's that?" Zach asked sharply, cutting Claire off. She hesitated before casting a quick glance at Owen.

"We, um, work together. We see each other at work," Claire explained hastily. Her change of tone was too obvious. Owen stepped closer to her.

"Yeah, but we've recently been seeing each other a lot more," Owen added suggestively. Claire gasped and spun around to face him.

"Can you not right now?" Her cheeks turned pink and she hoped that the dust on her face would be enough to cover her blush. Unfortunately, Zach immediately caught on to what was happening between his aunt and this Owen guy.

"I'm happy you made a new friend, Aunt Claire. What do you call him?" he remarked, emphasizing his use of "friend." Do you call him babe? Claire turned a darker shade of red and looked at Owen desperately. Luckily, he came to her rescue.

"Hey, man. I'm Owen," he said, reaching out to tousle Gray's hair. Zach nodded, impressed, when Owen shook his hand casually as if they had already known each other for quite some time.

Claire smiled despite her embarrassment at the way Owen treated her nephews. He acted like they were his own nephews, and it made her heart warm up.

"You two nearly gave your aunt a heart attack, you know?" Owen teased them.

"We didn't mean to!" Gray protested in a high pitched voice. "We got attacked in the gyrosphere by this huge dinosaur, and then Zach lost his stupid phone, and then we got lost, and then we found the Jeep, and then-"

Claire interrupted him before he could pass out from not taking a single breath as he rambled. "But you're fine now, so we can discuss this later. Right now, we need to get back to the resort in that Jeep that you somehow managed to fix." Zach grimaced at this, shooting Gray a guilty look.

"Uh... Aunt Claire? We forgot about a slight problem," Gray said. Claire raised her eyebrows and turned to her older nephew.

"The damn Jeep got stuck in the mud," Zach explained sulkily, though he knew very well that he had gotten it stuck.

"You mean that you got it stuck in the mud, right? You wouldn't listen to me; I told you that it looked pretty muddy there!" Gray snitched, much to Zach's irritation.

"Shut up, won't you? If it were you driving, we'd be in a much worse situation than we are now," Zach snapped. Claire sensed that an argument was on its way, so she stepped between the two brothers.

"Well, why can't you get it unstuck instead of fighting loudly?"

Zach shook his head in frustration. "We've already tried every method possible. That crappy Jeep won't budge." Gray nodded sullenly.

"Lemme see it," Owen said. Zach shrugged and led them all to the Jeep. Its two back tires were buried deep in the thick mud. Owen studied it carefully, an idea forming in his head. Claire stood beside him.

"Can you get it out of there?" she asked him nervously.

He looked at her and grinned. "I'll get this thing out even if it's the last thing I do." Claire smiled.

"Well, I don't know about that, Owen," she said with a laugh.

"Well, I do!" Owen replied confidently, placing a discreet hand on the small of her back. Zach and Gray watched this little interaction between their aunt and Owen with pure fascination. Has Aunt Claire finally found "the one" for her? Because I could've sworn that last time I checked, she was completely against people like Owen...

"Okay, so I need you two boys to join me at the back of this Jeep. Claire, hop in the driver's seat." Owen took charge of the situation. He crossed his fingers that his idea would work. If it didn't, he would probably seem like the biggest idiot in front of Claire's nephews. Wait, why do I care about what they think of me?

Claire climbed into the driver's seat and took the wheel while Gray followed Zach to the back of the Jeep. They turned to Owen, ready to do what he asked.

"Claire, when I count to three, I need you to accelerate with all you've got. And at the same time, I need you two to push this thing forward with me. Got it?"

Zach and Gray nodded determinedly. Already, they were putting so much trust into this stranger simply because he had accompanied their aunt all the way out here for their sake (and because they knew Claire trusted him, too).

Claire clenched the steering wheel tightly. She prayed that Owen's plan would work. She didn't want him to seem like a complete moron in front of them. Wait, why do I care about what they think of him?

"One... two... three!"

Claire pressed the pedal and put all her weight down on it. Behind her, Owen and her nephews groaned and pushed. The mud held onto the Jeep stubbornly, but slowly, Owen felt the vehicle creep forward.

He shouted in encouragement at the others. Inch by inch, the back tires lifted out of the mud and onto more solid ground. Finally, the mud completely lost its hold, surrendering to the strength of four people working in unity. The Jeep lurched forward and Claire let out a triumphant cry.

"Aaahh!" Gray lost his balance as the Jeep careened away. But before he could topple into the mud himself, Owen grabbed his arms and hauled him backwards. Zach's heart pounded. He could've almost lost his brother to the mud if it hadn't been for Owen. They shared a relieved smile as Gray caught his breath.

"C'mon!" Claire called. "Get in!" She waved them enthusiastically, still beaming at their success (and Owen's success). Her energy was contagious. Zach and Gray raced each other to the Jeep and hopped in the back row. Owen jogged to the driver's seat.

"Scooch over. I'll drive us back," he told Claire. She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

"Sorry, but I'd like to get back to the resort in one piece. Go around to the other side." She dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

"C'mon, Dearing. Just let me drive. I promise I'll drive slowly now that there are innocent kids sitting behind us," Owen joked, winking at Zach and Gray. Zach was surprised to hear someone call his aunt "Dearing." Everyone always called her either "Claire" or "Ms. Dearing."

"So you're telling me that if it were the two of us, you wouldn't go slowly?" Claire asked dubiously as she moved into the passenger seat. Owen shrugged carelessly.

"Probably not. I mean, you don't want it slow, do you? I thought you'd want it fast..." he commented innocently. Zach choked on his saliva, knowing exactly what Owen was referring to. Claire reddened.

"Just drive, will you?" she sighed.

"Yes, ma'am."
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