Eleven
“Why can’t he go to a hotel?” Reed asked in a hushed tone.
Paige placed the blankets and pillows in his hand. “That’s the same question he asked when I told him you were staying here.”
“He’s a hotshot attorney; I’m a lowly PD. He can afford a hotel; I can’t.”
Paige added a couple of sheets to the stack Reed was holding. “Stop whining, Reed. Now, take those things into the great room. You and Daddy will have to flip for the sofa.”
“Well, don’t be surprised if you wake up in the morning and one of us is no longer here.”
Paige laughed. “I hope you two don’t kill each other.”
Reed grimaced. “You’ve got that right.”
“Oh, Reed,” Paige said, punching him playfully on the arm. “It won’t be that bad. You two may grow to like each other.”
“Well, we’re off to a bad start as it is. Because of him, you’re sharing the bedroom with Big Momma and I’m still on the floor in the great room.”
She kissed him softly on the lips. “Don’t complain so.”
“Kiss me again and I’ll stop,” Reed said in a husky voice. He wished his hands were empty so he could wrap them around her.
Paige leaned over the armload of bedclothes he held and planted a kiss firmly on his lips. He dropped the bedclothes on the floor. “Forget this,” he said, pulling her body into his.
Paige responded to his kiss freely, glad she had broken her engagement to Dexter, glad she no longer felt guilty. She still wasn’t sure where things were going with Reed, but she wanted to find out.
She pulled away first. “Now, pick up the bedclothes and go talk to my father. Remember, no more complaining.”
~ ~ ~
“I love her,” Reed said in the darkness. He had kept his word to Paige and not complained. He’d even tried to be nice to Thomas, but Thomas wasn’t having it. Since Big Momma and Paige had gone to bed, the older man hadn’t said more than five words to him.
“So does Dexter,” Thomas answered.
Reed pushed back his blanket, got up from his pallet, and turned on the light. He pulled a chair up next to the sofabed. “We need to have this out, man-to-man.”
The bright light invading the darkness caused Thomas to squint. He mumbled, then sat up in bed, the covers neatly folded around him. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s talk man-to-man. What can you offer my daughter, other than dreams?”
“Love, Mr. Thomas,” Reed said, extending his arms in supplication. “Faithfulness. Trust. I can make her happy.”
Thomas wasn’t impressed. “Dexter can offer her that and much more.”
Reed leaned back in his chair. “You can’t make me believe this is about money. You’ve never liked me. Even when I was at McCurdy and McCurdy, you didn’t like me. What is it about me that threatens you?”
Thomas gave his most arrogant laugh. “You don’t threaten me, Lewis.”
Reed steepled his fingers in front of him. Though he’d never considered it before, he was now convinced that he was a threat to Mr. Thomas. “I’m not trying to take her away from you. I want to be a part of your family, as Paige will be a part of mine.”
Thomas narrowed his eyes. “You’ll never be a part of my family.”
Reed was taken aback by the anger in Thomas’s voice. What had he done to alienate the man? He shook his head. “It’s your loss, Mr. Thomas, because I’m not giving up on Paige. I love her, and I believe she loves me.”
“Then why is she engaged to Dexter?” Thomas asked.
It was Reed’s turn to laugh. “Don’t tell me you didn’t see the ring. Its not Fine’s ring she’s wearing, it’s mine.”
Thomas was not moved. “Paige is playing a game with you, Lewis. Your grandmother found a warm spot in her heart, and you’re playing on it. But mark my words, as soon as your grandmother is gone, Paige will come to her senses.”
Thomas’s words were the same words that Fine had used, and that caused insecurity to rise up in Reed, but he wasn’t going to give Thomas the satisfaction of knowing that. “We’ll have to see, won’t we?”
Thomas slid back down in the bed. “I guess we will,” he said, before turning his back to Reed.
Reed sat in the chair, staring at Thomas’s back for a long while. He didn’t understand it. What had he done to cause such hostility? He thought and thought and he continued to come back to the same answer: for some reason, Thomas was threatened by him.
For the life of him, Reed couldn’t think why.
~ ~ ~
When Paige got up the next morning and readied herself for her daily run, Reed and her father were both up. Her father was dressed for a run; Reed wasn’t. “Did you guys sleep well?” she asked.
“I did,” her father said, kissing her on the cheek. He turned back to Reed. “How was your pallet, Lewis?”
Reed walked over and kissed Paige on the lips. “Good morning, sweetheart,” he said, as he pulled away.
“Good morning, Reed,” Paige said, stirred by the kiss, yet also understanding the reason for it. Something had passed between her father and Reed during the night, and it hadn’t been good. She looked from one to the other before deciding not to ask any questions.
“You’re not going running with us?” She looked at Reed. The uncertainty in his eyes made her reach out and touch his arm to reassure him.
He smiled as if her touch made a difference and shook his head. “Not this morning. I’m sure your father wants to spend some time alone with you. And I want to be here when Big Momma gets up. You know she’s leaving today.”
Paige’s smile faltered. “I’m going to miss her. I’ve really enjoyed having her here.”
“I know,” Reed answered.
Paige detected a tinge of sadness in his voice. “Is something wrong, Reed?” she asked.
Reed forced a smile. “No, nothing’s wrong.” He looked at Thomas. “You two’d better get going. We’ll be here when you get back.”
Her father smiled. “He’s right about that, Princess. Let’s go.”
Paige followed her father out of the apartment, her mind still on Reed. She wished she could have spoken privately with him, but she knew she had to talk with her father first.
They ran in silence for the first mile. Her father was still in good shape so he didn’t have a problem keeping up with her. She wasn’t surprised when he stopped in front of the Donut Shoppe.
“Let’s stop for breakfast,” he said. It was a command, not a suggestion.
Paige agreed because it was better they had it out now.
She saw Dexter as soon as they were inside. All she could do was stare at her father. There was no way she’d ever believe this was a coincidence.
“Good morning, Paige,” Dexter said, when he reached their side. He extended his hand to her father. “Matthew, it’s good to see you. Paige and I had a wonderful time over Christmas. How’s Lillie?”
Paige felt her annoyance grow as her father told Dexter about her mother’s plans for New Year’s. When the waitress asked for the size of their party, she was tempted to answer one. “Three, please. No smoking.”
They sat in a booth near the front—Dexter and her on one side, her father on the other. Paige focused her attention out of the wall of windows, studying the joggers who passed by. She knew if she looked at her father, she’d scream.
Dexter nudged her arm and handed her the menu. “What do you want, darling?”
Paige took the menu and stared at him. She was tempted to ask him why he was still calling her darling, since their engagement was now off, but good manners made her hold her tongue. “Thanks,” she snapped.
As her father and Dexter talked, her thoughts wandered to Reed. She wished she could be home with him, instead of here.
“Paige,” her father said, “Dexter is talking to you.”
Paige turned. Dexter was talking about the New Year’s Eve party they had planned to attend.
“I didn’t think we were still go
ing to that, Dexter,” she said, in as kind a way as she knew. Surely, he didn’t think their plans were still on.
“Why not?” her father asked. “You two talked about this party all during Christmas.”
Paige looked at Dexter with pleading eyes, hoping that he’d answer her father so she wouldn’t have to. Dexter didn’t move. He smiled at her with an “I got ya” smile that she’d seen him flash before in the courtroom, but directed at a hostile witness, never at her. And that’s when it hit her: Dexter didn’t think she’d stand up to him with her father present. He’d called her father and brought him here to make her toe the line. She was sure of it.
When she looked at her father, she was hurt to the core to see the satisfaction on his face. He thought he was going to get his way. It didn’t matter to him what she wanted. All that mattered was what he wanted.
She placed her menu firmly on the table. “Dexter and I aren’t going to the New Year’s Eve party together because we’re no longer engaged.”
Her father dropped all pretense of calm. “When are you going to stop this nonsense, Paige?”
“Nonsense?” she repeated. “You call my decisions nonsense? I think you’re out of line.”
Her father’s confident pose slipped a little. “You’re the one out of line, young lady. What are you doing breaking your engagement to Dexter because of that Lewis character?”
If Paige had been sitting on the outside of the booth, she would have gotten up and left. But since she couldn’t leave, she had to speak her mind. She looked at Dexter. “I’m sorry, but I don’t love you, Dexter. I never should have allowed things to go as far as they have.”
Dexter reached for her hand. “We don’t have to talk about this now, Paige,” he said, obviously realizing that he was taking the wrong tack with her. “We don’t have to go to the New Year’s Eve party. We can discuss this after the new year.”
Paige snatched her hand away. “Aren’t you listening to me? I said I don’t love you. I don’t want to be engaged to you, and I don’t want to spend New Year’s Eve with you!”
Dexter got up and slapped his napkin on the table. “If you want Lewis that much, you can have him, but don’t come running to me when he can’t give you the life you want.”
Paige slid out of the booth and stood nose-to-nose with Dexter. “I don’t know how I could have ever thought I loved you.”
“All right, you two,” her father said. “Don’t say something you’ll regret later.”
Paige looked at the man who was her father and wondered how he could sit there and ignore her words, her feelings. “I think we’ve passed that point, Daddy. You can stay here with Dexter or you can come home with me, but you’ve got to make a choice.”
~ ~ ~
“She loves you, Reed,” Big Momma said. The two of them sat on the sofa in Paige’s great room. Paige and her father hadn’t come back from their run yet and Reed didn’t have to guess what they were doing.
“I hope so,” Reed said, letting his facade slip. “There’s something I have to tell you, Big Momma.”
She placed her care-worn hand over his. “There’s nothing you have to tell me. There’s something I have to tell you.”
“But—”
“No buts,” his grandmother interrupted. “I’m not yet blind, Reed. I know things aren’t as they should be between you and Paige.”
“You’re right about that.”
“Oh, hush up,” she said. “I know something else. That girl loves you and you love her. And she’s not going to let her father or that Dexter guy convince her otherwise. You have to have faith in her, Reed. If she’s the woman you think she is, she’ll make the right decision.”
Reed felt hope spring up in his heart. Once again, he thanked God for his grandmother. “How did you get so smart?” he asked.
“I’ve always been smart,” Big Momma replied. “It just took you a while to figure it out.”
Reed and Big Momma were laughing when Paige stormed into the room. “What happened?” Reed asked, immediately attuned to her feelings. Her face closed up and he knew she wasn’t going to answer.
She put on a fake smile. “Nothing.” She walked over and kissed Big Momma. “Good morning,” she said, and then she leaned down and gave Big Momma a big hug. The hug lasted so long that Reed knew Paige sought comfort in his grandmother’s arms. For the first time since his grandmother had come to visit, Reed wondered if her visit had been a good thing. Had Paige fallen in love with him, or with his grandmother?
Twelve
Paige hadn’t spoken to Reed since they’d seen his grandmother off earlier today. He had taken his things with him when he’d left her apartment. She’d hoped he would call, but inside, she’d known he wouldn’t. She could still hear Grandma Lewis’s words in her ears.
“It’s your turn,” she’d said, and then she’d rushed to the gate to board the plane.
Paige had wanted to ask her what she’d meant, but she hadn’t had time. Reed had escorted her out of the airport and driven her back to her apartment. They hadn’t talked much. In fact, he’d said only a few words.
He’d dropped her outside her apartment and driven off, with not so much as an “I’ll call you later.”
She began to wonder if all the things he’d said had been part of his plan for Grandma Lewis, but she quickly discarded that thought. No, Reed had explicitly said that his feelings for her were real. By God, he’d said that he was in love with her. Was she in love with him?
She heard her father enter the room. He looked suitably contrite about the fiasco with Dexter this morning. He’d tried to make up for it by being especially nice to Grandma Lewis before she’d left. That helped, but it didn’t make things right between them.
“Would you like to go out for dinner, Princess?” he asked.
Princess . . . he’d called her that for as long as she could remember. To him, she was still a little girl. “Not tonight, Daddy. You should be getting back for Mom’s party.”
Her father sat down next to her. “I don’t think she wants me there.”
Paige was surprised by the moist brightness in her father’s eyes. “That’s silly. Why would you think something like that?”
Her father dropped his gaze to his hands. “I told her what happened over breakfast this morning. She thinks I was wrong.”
This was a first. Her mother always supported her father. That was the one thing she could count on growing up. They’d always presented a united front. She was glad her mother had chosen to break rank this time. “What do you think?”
He looked up at her and the unshed tears in his eyes almost made her forgive him. Almost. She forced herself to wait for his answer.
“I love you, Paige,” he began. “I want you to be happy.”
She knew this was hard for him, and it touched her heart that he was making the effort for her. “Reed makes me happy. I love him, Daddy.” The words came out unplanned. But they were true. It was what she felt in her heart. She loved Reed.
Her father laughed before wiping the lone tear that fell from his eyes. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
She dropped down on her knees in front of him and pulled his hands into hers. “Why do you dislike him so much, Daddy? Reed’s a good man. He’ll make me happy, and I’ll make him happy. Why can’t you see that?”
Her father rubbed her hands with his. “I remember the first time I met him.” He chuckled. “I didn’t like him then.”
“What did he do, Daddy?”
“Princess, it wasn’t what he did. It was who he was.”
Paige didn’t understand. “Who he was?”
Her father dropped her hands and stood. “It’s a man thing. I knew from the minute I met him that he played by his own rules, that he wasn’t a man to follow the dictates of others. Reed makes his own rules.”
Paige’s heart beat faster. “But that’s a good thing, Daddy. Aren’t you like that?”
He laughed a real laugh then, “That was the pro
blem. We were too much alike. With him in your life, you wouldn’t need me. I didn’t want to lose you.”
Paige sat back on her heels. “You won’t lose me. You didn’t think you were losing me when I was marrying Dexter. Why do you think it with Reed?”
Her father placed his hands in his pockets. “I’m ashamed to admit this, but Dexter’s not a very strong man. He’d do what I wanted him to. He’d make you happy, or by God, I’d make him make you happy. Reed is more of an unknown.”
Paige smiled, finally believing that this whole mess would have a happy ending. “What you see in Reed is passion, Daddy. Dexter doesn’t have that. And I need it.”
Her father turned his back to her. “Am I going to lose you, Princess?”
She walked up behind him and rested her head on his back. “You’re not going to lose me,” she repeated. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m just getting married. At least, I hope I am.”
“Oh, he’ll marry you, all right. The man won’t give up.”
Paige hoped that was true, but if it was, why wasn’t Reed by her side now?
~ ~ ~
It was almost midnight. In less than ten minutes the new year would ring in. Everybody was celebrating . . . everybody but him. What was he doing? He was sitting alone in his apartment, wondering if the woman he loved was thinking about him as she rang in the New Year with her ex-fiancé.
He hoped she wasn’t with Fine, but where else would she be? He’d thought about getting dressed, getting a date, and showing up at the party to spite her, but that seemed such a juvenile thing to do. He was beyond that. He wanted a serious relationship with Paige. He’d laid his cards on the table. The next play was hers.
Reed got up and turned on the television. If he wasn’t going to be a part of the action, he could at least be a spectator. He flopped down on his well-worn brown plaid sofa and stared at the screen. All he saw was Paige’s face.
When the doorbell rang, he debated opening it. Who would be visiting on New Year’s Eve? Probably some partygoer looking for an address.
Paige was standing in the doorway when he opened it. She was dressed in her trenchcoat and house shoes. A part of his brain registered the shoes, but that thought was overcome by the fact that she was at his door and not out with Dexter. He stared at her.
Friend and Lover Page 9
