One More Promise

by Samantha Chase

  “I know, I know. I worry. It’s a mother’s natural instinct and right to want to take care of her children.”

  That made Paige smile. If only her father were this compassionate, they’d be the perfect parents. “Honestly, Mom, I am so tired from not sleeping well in the hospital, I’m probably going to sleep for days.”

  “That’s not the worst idea, Paige. Your body needs rest. I know you normally get antsy and want to get up and run around and work, but you have to force yourself to stay put and let your body heal.”

  “Trust me, no forcing will be necessary. I’m so sore that I plan to move as little as possible.”

  Her mother reached over and patted Paige’s knee. “My poor baby. I hate this for you. Do you have your prescriptions?”

  “They’re all called in to the pharmacy and being delivered later this afternoon. I told them not to come until after three.”

  “It’s only noon now, so you’ll be home and settled in by then. Your father said the aide should be arriving by four. I’ll stay with you until then.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  They drove the rest of the way in silence, and Paige couldn’t wait to be alone in her own home. Even though there was going to be an aide there, Paige didn’t think that would be an issue. More than anything, she wanted time alone to call Daisy. The few times they had spoken, her mother or her sister or her father always showed up, so Paige didn’t feel free to talk. They would yell at her for trying to work from her hospital bed.

  What they didn’t realize was she wasn’t trying to work.

  She was trying to find out information about Dylan: Where was he? Was he okay? And why hadn’t he contacted her?

  The day after the accident, her father had come to see her and tell her Dylan wouldn’t be coming back. He’d been so apologetic and sympathetic, but…Paige knew her father and something didn’t sit right with her about the whole thing. For starters, there was no way Dylan would break up with her through her father. Never. They had talked about her family issues enough times that she was confident in that fact. Then there was the way her father told her. He was never sympathetic about anything. He was kind, sure, but he was never particularly compassionate about things like this.

  The whole situation stank, and she wanted to find out what was going on.

  It was possible her fight with Dylan had been a breaking point for him. She also knew that even if it were, he’d still tell her to her face that it was over. Dylan didn’t shy away from anything. Over the last several months, she’d noticed that about him—it didn’t matter if a situation made him uncomfortable or if people made him feel like an outcast; he stood his ground and took whatever they had to throw at him.

  So either he was injured more than anyone was telling her, or something else was going on. And if anyone could find out for her, it was Daisy.

  Soon they pulled up to her town house, and Paige almost wept at the sight of it. Getting out of the car was a little easier than getting in was, but it also put a lot of strain on her abdominal muscles. Together, they got into the house and Paige immediately went to her bedroom door and froze.

  Her bed was still unmade.

  Dylan’s things were still scattered around the room.

  Not that there was a lot of them—he didn’t believe in keeping too much there—but there was enough that it made her heart still for a moment.

  A brush, a shirt, a jacket…

  “Oh dear,” her mother said as she came up behind her. “I guess we should have sent somebody over to clean up and put fresh sheets on your bed.”

  Probably, Paige thought to herself. But…the thought of sliding between the sheets they had last shared together gave her a little peace too.

  “What can I do for you, Paige? Do you need help getting changed? Or are you going to take a nap right now? Tell me and I’ll help you.”

  “I…I think I’m going to change into some pajamas and sleep for a little while if that’s okay.”

  What she wanted to sleep in was Dylan’s shirt. What she ended up sleeping in was one of her own. Her mother had pulled a nightshirt out of her drawer and helped her change.

  “You know, when you’re feeling better, we can take you to a plastic surgeon and I’m sure he can do something about those incisions,” her mother said very matter-of-factly.

  Paige didn’t respond. She carefully slid under her blankets—no easy feat with her casted foot. Her mother fussed around and stuffed a pillow under the blankets to keep her foot elevated, but she knew in a matter of minutes, she’d end up moving it away.

  “Thanks, Mom,” she said instead, and within minutes, she was sound asleep.

  * * *

  She slept much longer than she thought she would.

  When Paige woke up, it was dark out. Turning on her bedside light, she saw it was after eight. She called out and smiled when a middle-aged woman in scrubs poked her head into the room. “Ms. Walters?”

  Paige carefully sat up and said, “Hi. You can call me Paige.”

  The woman stepped into the room and smiled back at her. “I’m Kathy, and I’m going to be your roommate for the next five days.”

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t awake when you arrived. I didn’t get much sleep in the hospital and it felt good to be in my own bed.”

  “I’m sure. Why don’t I help you up, and you can use the bathroom? Your mother mentioned you needed fresh sheets on the bed, so if it’s all right with you, I’ll change them now.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to say no, that the faint smell of Dylan’s cologne helped her sleep, but she didn’t want to seem pathetic. “Sure,” she said instead. “That would be great.”

  The next few minutes were spent navigating around her bedroom and bathroom on crutches and making an attempt to freshen up by brushing her teeth and washing her face. Her reflection was enough to make her shudder, but really, who did she need to impress?

  Out in the living room, she met up with Kathy.

  “Are you hungry?” Kathy asked. “Your mother went shopping and stocked your refrigerator with some of your favorites.” She walked over to the refrigerator and opened it so she could tell Paige what was there. “I’m sure you’ll have a hard time choosing from all these wonderful dishes.”

  Somehow Paige doubted that. Her mother was a health-food fanatic and thought everyone was. “Did she get any cake?”

  “Um…no.”

  “Any ice cream?”

  Kathy opened the freezer. “No.”

  “Anything to make a sandwich? Cold cuts? Cheese?”

  “Um…I don’t see any.”

  “Frozen pizza?”

  With a chuckle, Kathy closed the refrigerator and turned toward her. “So this was a case of your mom buying her favorites.”

  That made Paige laugh too. “Bingo!”

  “Okay, I can go to the store for you, or I can call in an order for some takeout. Which would you prefer?”

  Paige hobbled along on her crutches into the kitchen and over to her pantry. She pulled out a bag of tortilla chips and handed them to Kathy. Then a jar of salsa and another of queso dip. Next, she went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of soda and turned and smiled. “Chips and salsa—not exactly the loaded nachos I prefer, but in a pinch, it will do.”

  “A girl after my own heart,” Kathy said with a grin. “Why don’t you sit down on the sofa, and I’ll make you a tray and bring this out?”

  “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  Once on the sofa, she reached for the remote and turned on the TV. Flipping through the channels, she ended up on HGTV and settled in to hunt for houses with tonight’s couple.

  “I love these shows,” Kathy said as she came in and put the tray down beside Paige. “Some of the houses these people look at are amazing.”

  “Oh, I know. I love my home, but I wouldn�
�t mind some of those million-dollar houses,” Paige said as she reached for a chip.

  “If I had that big of a budget, I would want a swimming pool, a gourmet kitchen, and a guesthouse for relatives. What about you?”

  “Definitely with you on the pool and kitchen, but I would need a spa-like master bathroom. Something with a huge soaking tub and a shower that had a dozen jet sprays.”

  “Now that does sound nice. Very decadent.”

  They watched the show and commented on the couple’s choices, and when it was over, Kathy changed over the laundry. Paige asked for her cell phone, and while Kathy was doing her thing, she took advantage of the time alone to call Daisy.

  “Oh my God! Are you home? Are you okay? Do you need anything? I could totally go on a bakery run for you! Do you want me to? It’s not too late, I can—”

  “Daisy,” Paige interrupted.

  “Oh, right. Sorry. How are you?”

  “Sore but so happy to be home.”

  “I’m sure. Your mom picked you up from the hospital, right?”

  “She did. And now I have a very nice home health aide staying with me. I fell asleep as soon as I got home, and my mom left as soon as the aide got here I guess. Not that I mind, but I feel bad that I slept for so long.”

  “Don’t feel bad. It’s good for you.”

  Paige asked about work and the campaign and general business stuff before she asked what she really wanted to know. “Have you heard from Dylan?”

  On the other end of the phone, Daisy sighed. “Only when I called to give him next week’s change of schedule.”

  “What change of schedule?”

  “Ariel figured with his injuries, he wouldn’t be up to doing the appearance at the Fishing for Books event at the pier. So she asked me to call and let him know he didn’t have to do it.”

  “Oh.”

  “You haven’t heard from him?” Daisy asked, concern lacing her voice.

  “No.”

  “What did he say to you when you saw him at the hospital? Did he act funny?”

  Paige paused. “I…I didn’t see him at the hospital. He never came to see me.”

  Daisy was quiet for a moment. Normally that was a good thing, but right now Paige had to wonder why.

  “Okay, I’m going to apologize if I’m out of line…”

  “But…?”

  “Your dad made a huge scene at the hospital. Seriously huge. He was yelling at the doctors to test Dylan for alcohol, and then he was yelling at the cops to arrest him for drunk driving, telling everyone how Dylan had done this sort of thing before.”

  Paige gasped in horror. “No!”

  “Unfortunately, he did,” Daisy said. “It took a while to calm him down and the nurses threw him out at one point. The police officers came and explained what had happened, and I thought he seemed okay with it…”

  Paige sighed. “But…?”

  “But when Dylan and Riley came up when you were having surgery, your dad was just…glaring at him. After the surgeon came out to give us an update, I was standing with them when your dad came over and sort of…you know…prompted me to leave. Last I saw, the three of them were standing together and Dylan promised to call me with any updates. When he didn’t, I thought it was because he was recovering too.”

  “Do you… I mean… Do you think my father is the reason I haven’t heard from Dylan?” Paige asked weakly.

  “Honestly, Paige, it wouldn’t surprise me at all. Things were tense, and while I don’t blame your dad for being upset, he was sort of rough on Dylan.” She paused. “Have you tried calling him?”

  “No. I was so upset that he didn’t come to see me, even though I know he’s hurt too. I thought he would have at least called or…something.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Daisy said quietly. “I really am.”

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  “So what are you going to do? Are you going to call him or…?”

  “I don’t know. Part of me wants to, but now that I know what happened, I’m even more confused about it.”

  “Why?”

  “He should have called me and talked to me about this—about my dad. We’ve talked about how…complicated my relationship with him is, and I thought he would understand that by now. We…we fought about it that morning. If he’s still mad about our fight, that’s fine. But he should respect me enough to at least call and see how I am.”

  “I agree,” Daisy said. “But…in his defense, he’s hurt too, Paige. And not just physically. That had to be hard on him—another accident and then having your dad throwing accusations at him like that.”

  While Paige knew Daisy was right, she was still torn. And as much as she wanted to go to him and comfort him, as well as confront him, she couldn’t. She was a mess in her own way right now and needed to think about all this and figure out what she was going to do.

  “I can’t believe I’m going to miss the big launch,” she finally said, deciding to change the subject.

  “There’s no way you can do it,” Daisy agreed. “I think if it were only your ankle, it would be one thing, but you need to take it easy for a while.”

  “What’s going on with the campaign? Is everything set for the launch?”

  Daisy sighed. “I don’t know. Ariel took it over and I’m out of the loop. But I can find out for you tomorrow if you’d like.”

  Did she even want to know, or was it better to put this whole thing behind her? By the time she was able to go back to work, the Literacy Now campaign would be a done deal and PRW would be onto something else, another cause, another campaign.

  “You know what? It doesn’t matter. It’s probably best if I take myself out of work mode and focus on getting better.”

  “I think that’s a great idea. Hey, how about I pick up lunch from your favorite deli tomorrow and bring it to you and we can eat together? It’s been a while since we’ve done that.”

  Paige couldn’t help but smile. “I would love that. Thank you. But are you sure? It would mean taking an extended lunch break.”

  Daisy laughed. “Are you kidding? I’m not even clocking out! I’m going to tell everyone I’m coming to see you to do work stuff.” Then she paused and cleared her throat. “I mean…if that’s okay with you.”

  “Tell you what, you bring me some cake pops and a Frappuccino and I’ll tell payroll you need to take a four-hour lunch at least once a week while I’m recovering!”

  “Yeah!” Daisy said excitedly. “It’s a deal!”

  When they hung up, Paige reached over and munched on her chips and salsa and thought about what her assistant had shared with her.

  If her father had done what Daisy had said—caused a scene and accused Dylan of causing the accident—then she could understand Dylan being distant.

  If Dylan was still upset over their argument from that morning, her father’s accusations certainly hadn’t helped matters.

  But if she meant something to him—anything at all like he meant to her—shouldn’t he have called by now?

  “That’s the million-dollar question,” she said with a sigh.

  Kathy came into the room with a smile. “I still think you need something a little more nutritious than nachos,” she said and winked. “But we’ll start to worry about that tomorrow.”

  That made Paige grin. “My assistant will be bringing me lunch tomorrow, and it’s somewhat on the healthy side—turkey and avocado on whole wheat.”

  “And…?”

  “And what?” Paige asked innocently.

  Studying her for a minute, Kathy gave her a look that said she didn’t think that was all.

  “Okay, fine. It also has bacon.”

  “And…?”

  Paige told her about the cake pops and Frappuccino. “They’re my weakness.”

  Kathy’s smile grew. “Mine too.
Ask her to bring extra for me and I’ll pay her when she gets here.”

  “Not a problem,” Paige replied. “Did my mom show you to the guest room?”

  “She did, and it’s a beautiful room. I almost feel a little guilty sleeping in there.”

  “I wish I could go up and show you where everything is,” Paige said. Her home was two stories, with the guest rooms upstairs. She loved the floor plan because it managed to give everyone privacy. “I know the bathroom is totally stocked, but if there’s anything you need and can’t find, let me know.”

  “It’s all good, Paige. I brought everything I needed with me and you keep your guest rooms stocked like a five-star hotel. This is almost like a vacation for me.”

  Somehow she doubted that, but she appreciated the sentiment. And as Kathy went about doing her thing, Paige sat and only half listened to the television, her mind immediately going back to Dylan. Should she call? Text? Wait him out?

  “No,” she finally said. From the beginning—or close to it—she had vowed to go after what she wanted where he was concerned, and she wasn’t going to shy away now. Grabbing her phone, she pulled up his number and dialed. Her heart was racing madly in her chest as she silently prayed he’d answer and tell her this was all a mistake—his staying away.

  But he didn’t answer.

  It went directly to voicemail.

  “Hey, this is Dylan. You know what to do.”

  Even with the mental pep talk, Paige couldn’t seem to make herself speak, and reverting to her old ways, she simply hung up and prayed that he’d at least see the missed call and know she was thinking of him.

  Chapter 10

  “How long has it been like this?”

  “A week.”

  “Doesn’t anyone think it’s…odd? That maybe something else needs to be done?”

  “I think right now they’re grasping at straws and doing what they can.”