Authors: Tessa Dayne
The man who had invaded her thoughts and dreams came into the kitchen, his duffle bag over his shoulder. She silently offered him a cup of coffee. When he shook his head no, she frowned.
“You aren’t even going to eat breakfast?” she asked.
“I called the airlines first thing this morning. I have a flight out this afternoon to New York City. I have to get on the road if I want to make this flight.”
“What about your things at Darcy’s?” she asked, wanting to stall him, if even for an hour.
“Darcy is packing everything up for me as we speak. I know, right?” he said noticing the shocked look on Paige’s face. “I guess she really likes the two of us. I had better get going,” he said tugging on his earlobe.
Paige ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry things worked out this way,” she whispered.
“When you have things figured out, you know where I will be. I love you, always,” he said, kissing her cheek. “Good bye, Paige.”
Paige stood in the doorway, watching him drive away, her heart breaking. She knew right at that moment, that she would always love him.
~*~
March 25th
Darren searched the apartment for the hundredth time, looking for the address to the cabin, or the phone number to the caretakers. What the hell was he going to do when Paige called and wanted him to come to the cabin? He had no idea where it was or how to get there.
He had already tried to track her using the GPS in her car. It had led him to her father’s house, where he found her car parked in the driveway.
He had tried looking it up in the phone book. There was no entry for Paige besides the apartment phone. He was at the end of his rope. He had no ideas left on how to find the cabin.
It had been several days since she had gone to the lake and she hadn’t called him yet. Maybe he would get lucky and she would just come home. He couldn’t worry about it anymore. He straightened the desk, returned her date book and her address book to their proper place and pushed in the chair. Looking around, Darren found nothing out of place.
Satisfied that he had returned everything to where Paige had left it, he headed for the bathroom. A long hot shower was just what he needed to relax and wash away the worries he had over her. He would deal with getting to the cabin if, and when she called.
~*~
Paige hefted her duffle bag, purse and overnight bag out of the car and headed for the elevator. She had spent a week at the cabin, clearing her head and making tough decisions about her future. Even after Jonas had left, she had stayed, making plans.
The first thing on her list to do was talk to Darren about the baby. He deserved to know the truth. No matter what else she decided to do, that was number one. The second thing she was going to do was talk to Darcy about the job offer. She wasn’t ready to go back to work. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but working at Watkins & Milian was not it.
Stepping out of the elevator, Paige searched her purse for her keys. She found them and unlocked the door, slipping into the apartment. Just as she entered, Darren came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his hips.
Startled, Paige dropped her purse and bags to the floor. The memory of his betrayal assaulted her senses, causing a sharp pain to race through her temple. Reaching a shaky hand up to her head, she flashed on the day back in December when her world had come crashing down.
She left the kitchen, circling the end of the bar into the living room. As she re-entered the living room, she tripped over a high-heeled shoe. Her heart hammering in her chest, she bent down and picked it up. The shoe was not hers. She had never seen it before. What the hell was going on?
There could only be one explanation, one that she didn't want to believe. Darren wouldn't do this to her. Silently, she headed for the bedroom. With a determination she didn't know she had, she turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. A feeling of sick dread filled her as her gaze rested on the bed. Their bed with the sheets rumpled and the pillows on the floor; a sure sign that it had recently been slept in or at least used well.
Paige placed the back of her hand over her mouth, her teeth sinking into her knuckles. Tears welled in her eyes. How could she have missed this? Darren was having an affair, sleeping with someone else in their bed. How long had this been going on? Who was she? Did she know her? The random questions ran through her mind until she was dizzy with all the complications they presented. Pain and hurt circled her heart, followed by anger.
The bathroom door opened and Darren stepped out, a towel wrapped around his waist. He had water droplets on his shoulders and his hair was wet. He was laughing at something the woman behind him had said. Laughing until he looked up and found Paige standing in the doorway of the bedroom, holding the discarded shoe by the heel strap.
"Lose something, Darren?" Paige asked, her voice full of venom.
"Paige...it’s not what you think…” Darren stammered, suddenly aware that he had been caught and there was no way to explain.
"What am I supposed to think, Darren? That you aren't having an affair? That you didn't sleep with another woman in our bed?"
"I think I had better go, Darren," the woman said, stepping from behind Darren. She eased by Paige carefully and gathered her clothes from the bedroom. She would dress in the elevator if she had to, but she knew she had to get the hell out of there.
When she passed by her again, Paige shoved her shoe at her. "Don't forget this. And throw the towel in the dumpster on your way out."
"Paige...please, you have to listen to me," Darren pleaded, stepping toward her, the towel still wrapped enticingly around his waist.
Paige stepped away from his outstretched hand, angry tears in her eyes. "Don't touch me, Darren. How could you?" she hissed.
Darren ran a hand through his wet hair, sighing. "It just happened, Paige."
Paige looked at him, shock on her fine features. “You cheated on me. I remember now,” she whispered. “I found you with her, here. You had slept in our bed. That’s why I was in New York City two weeks before the wedding.”
“Paige, I can explain,” Darren said, watching as she sunk to the couch. “I…I made a mistake.”
“How many women, Darren, how many did you bring into my home while I worked to pay for everything?”
Darren threw his hands in the air. “See! That’s what I mean. Your home, your work. What was there for me, huh? Where did I fit into your plans?”
“I loved you! I supported you while you painted. I paid all your bills. I let you move in when you were thrown out of your apartment. What more did you want from me?”
“I don’t know, Paige. I guess we just drifted apart. There wasn’t an us anymore. There was a you and there was a me, but no us. Maybe we were trying too hard, or maybe we weren’t trying hard enough. I don’t know anymore.”
“So you cheated? Instead of talking to me, instead of coming to me and working things out, you brought some woman into our home, into our bed? That was your way of dealing with what you thought was our problem?”
“I’m sorry. For everything, Paige.”
“That’s what the card on the flowers meant. That you were sorry about cheating. And the accident? Are you sorry about that too? Yes, Darren, I remember what happened New Year’s Eve, too. I remember everything.”
“It was an accident, Paige. You know I didn’t push you into the path of that car.”
“Yes, well, you didn’t pull me out of the street either. You killed our baby, Darren. Our baby. And you nearly killed me.”
Darren groaned, ran his hands through his wet hair and turned on his heel. The baby had been his. He had been right. She had lied about Jonas being the father. What had he done? What had he done?
“I am going to Darcy’s. I don’t think you should be here when I get back,” she said, retrieving her bags.
“Paige, for what it’s worth I am sorry.”
Paige looked over her shoulder as she opened the door. “I’m sorry too, Darren. For all the lies, for losing what we had, for working too hard, for everything. Goodbye Darren,” she said, stepping into the hallway, closing the door behind her.
~*~
Chapter Twenty-Five
~*~
Paige sat in her car, staring at her father’s house. She had just come from the police station and after speaking to Officer Gabriel and Detective Robinson, Darren was no longer a suspect and the accident was ruled just that, an accident. It had been tragic and nearly deadly, but it was only an accident. The driver had been cleared of the DUI charges and the case was closed.
Her father wasn’t going to be happy that Darren was going to get away with everything that he had put her through, but she just couldn’t lie to get even with him. He wasn’t the man she thought he was. Even after three years, they had gotten no closer, had in fact drifted further apart. Still, that did not give her the right to lie to get him in trouble with the law. He didn’t deserve that, no matter how he had treated her.
Gathering her purse, she slid from the car and headed up the walkway to the front porch. As she approached the porch, the front door opened and William stepped out. He had a dishtowel on his shoulder and a cup of coffee in hand.
“You sat out here a while, Paige. I was beginning to think you were debating on whether you wanted to come in or not.”
“Well, I have good news and bad news and I wasn’t sure how to tell you,” she said, stepping up onto the wide sweeping porch.
“Well, perhaps we should sit down,” he said, gesturing to the rocking chairs that graced the porch.
Paige sat in the rocker nearest the door and waited for her father to join her. “Well, I guess I am ready for your news. Tell me the good news first,” he said. “I am assuming it will take the sting out of the bad news.”
“I remember everything,” Paige said quietly, looking at her hands clasped in her lap.
“Everything?” her father asked. “Shouldn’t you be a little more excited? You have been working for this day for weeks. You have your life back.”
“I guess I should be more excited, but I just realized that my mind knew better. It was a good thing to forget all about Darren’s infidelity and losing the baby. It didn’t hurt so much. Reliving it all is not easy. Then there is the possibility that I have lost Jonas too.”
“What do you mean? Didn’t he come up to the cabin?”
“He did, but he left the next morning. I told him I had to know the things I couldn’t remember. That I needed to know what had happened between Darren and me. So, he left for Madrid early.”
“And now you remember it all. So what will you do now?”
“Darren and I are over,” Paige said.
“I should hope so! He deserves to go to jail!” William thundered. “He nearly killed you. He did kill your baby.”