Nathan almost dropped his coffee when Paige walked out of the bathroom wrapped only in a towel. He realized he must have been staring because Paige blushed a deep red.
"Sorry, I...forgot to grab my clothes before...umm" She didn't finish, just walked to her suitcases.
Nathan did his best to look away, though it was the last thing he wanted to do. He grabbed a couple of the bags from the shopping trip the day before and walked to the bathroom door. He stopped before entering and said, "Your drink is over there bubbles..um Paige. I mean your bubbles are...your soda is on the nightstand."
Her laughter filled the room as he slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him, his face almost as red as hers had been.
When he finished showering and dressing he exited the bathroom and found her standing by the window, soda in hand. She was dressed in faded blue jeans and a pink button up blouse with her hair being held in a ponytail by a matching pink ribbon. She turned and saw him staring at her and began to blush when he said nothing.
"You look fantastic," he finally said.
"You don't look so bad yourself." And she had to admit that was the truth. Their jeans almost matched and his green and white striped Polo shirt looked great on him, but then she had to admit she thought he likely looked good in almost anything. She shook her head. What was she thinking? How could she be letting herself fall for him? Just how many shades of wrong could that possibly be?
"Are you ready?"
She frowned, but nodded. "I guess we better get this over with."
He returned her nod, grabbed his laptop bag and held the door for her. He looked back at the room and was struck by a feeling that they might never see it again. He tried to dismiss the thought, but couldn't. He felt a bit queasy and was thankful Paige had suggested they skip breakfast.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Julie wondered how Jason's night had been. She resisted the urge to drive over to him as soon as she woke. She wasn't ready yet. She still had things that needed to be done. She finished packing her small gym bag.
She looked around her bedroom and frowned. So many memories. She wished she could take it all with her, but there was too much. Of course there was. There was nearly her entire adult life in the rooms around her, but she was going to have to leave it all behind.
She made a circle of the bedroom once more looking at everything. Was there anything she hadn't already packed that she simply needed to have? Not that she wanted, but really needed. More importantly, was there anything she was leaving behind that might somehow tip off any pursuers on where she might be going? She didn't think so.
She repeated the same steps in each room of the house. She did not find anything else she needed to take, but she stopped several times to touch or hold objects and recall the memories associated with them. She fought not to let her emotions overwhelm her, but it was a hard battle and she was forced to pull tissues from her purse on more than one occasion.
She finally decided she either had to leave now or she would lose her nerve. She went down the hall and stopped before reaching the bedroom. She pulled the framed picture of her and Jason from the wall. Behind it there was a small hole. She reached in and pulled out a key ring before returning the picture to its rightful place. She fussed with it until it hung straight. She knew it was foolish since she wasn't planning to ever return, but she couldn't help herself.
As she left the house, she turned on her alarm and doubled checked the locks on her door. It was her usual routine. She did not know if anyone was watching her, but wasn't willing to risk acting suspicious if someone was.
The trip only took a few minutes. She had started to make routine trips to the bank quite a while back, almost a year now, when she'd first come up with the plan. She always went into the bank, never the drive-thru.
She had come to know several of the employees quite well, so when she had phoned earlier and asked that someone be waiting for her, it hadn't drawn any extra attention. Douglas Mills smiled at her when she entered.
"So good to see you Ms...Julie."
She smiled. "You finally got it."
"Yes ma'am, only took six months."
"Now, if we could only get rid of the ma'am part."
Douglas' laugh was polite. "Of course."
"Shall we?"
Douglas nodded and motioned for her to follow him. They passed the teller area and moved down a hall into the vault area. They stopped a short ways down the hall. A guard was stationed outside the door. He nodded to them and then unlocked the door and moved aside to allow them entrance to the safety deposit box room. The sole piece of furniture in the room was a metal table in the center of the room. They crossed to the far wall to where Julie's box was located. Douglas inserted his key into one of the locks and waited for Julie to do the same, before they both turned their keys and the lock on the box released. Douglas slid the box partially out of the wall and then stopped and addressed Julie.
"I know you know the routine. Slide the box back in when you are done and then let Rusty know you are ready and he'll allow you out."
"Thank you."
She waited until she heard the door shut before she pulled the box the rest of the way out of the wall. She stood looking at the closed box for a minute, taking slow deep breaths. She wondered why she felt even more nervous now than when she had injected Jason the day before. Certainly yesterday had been the riskier part of the plan. She reached out and flipped up the lid.
For a moment she thought the box was empty. Cameron had somehow found out and had taken everything. But that wasn't true. She blinked and saw everything was still there. Still she worried that somehow Cameron actually had found out.
"Too late to be worried about that," she said aloud to the empty room.
She began to transfer the stacks of cash and rolls of gold and silver coins from the box to her purse. She grabbed the two envelopes of documents and finally the handgun. The weight of it in her hand was unnerving. She didn't think there was a chance in hell she could ever bring herself to use it, but knew it was best to be prepared for anything.
She held the gun for a moment longer. She considered putting it back in the box, but in the end she buried it at the bottom of her purse.
She walked to the door, knocked and then said, "Okay, I think I am ready, Rusty."
Chapter Fifty-Five
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Paige had to try twice to get the key in the ignition. She did not turn the key but gripped the wheel hard and took slow breaths, trying to calm herself.
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive?"
"I can do this," she insisted. She wished she felt as confident as she sounded.
She turned the engine over and moments later they merged into traffic. As they twisted and turned down the streets, Nathan was glad that Paige was driving. He had no clue where they were going. After a few minutes they were driving down a long residential road. He knew the school was close, but something didn't seem right. He recalled the stories his wife had told him about the school, the magnificent grounds and lavish buildings. This did not look a thing like she had described.
Two minutes and a few turns later he took it all back. Paige turned onto Ochre Point Avenue and slowed as they entered the campus. Nathan did not know if she was slowing out of a sense of nervousness, if she was reliving her past or just to give him a chance to look around.
On the sidewalks on both sides of the streets, college students were milling about, some coming and others going to class. Nathan's jaw dropped as he looked out the window to his left. Beyond an iron gate was a massive white limestone mansion that looked to him like it belonged in the English countryside. It rose three stories and spread out wide along the meticulously manicured lawn. There was a subtle, but elegant garden area on either side of the main entrance.
"Holy crap. That's not part of the school is it?"
Paige smiled.
"Yeah, that is Ochre Court. I think that was the entire college when t
he school was first established. It is now the administration building."
"It was the entire college?"
"Yeah."
"She wasn't kidding."
"Your Paige? Did you think she was lying to you?"
"Well no, but being told that mansions were part of her campus and actually seeing it. Wow."
"On the other side, behind the building, is part of Cliff Walk."
"Cliff Walk?"
"Think of it as a self guided tour of the area. It is a three or four mile trail along the cliffs of Newport that allows you to see some of the most impressive mansions in the area. In fact, if we went to the end of this road we'd come to what most people consider the grandest of all the mansions of Newport, The Breakers."
A horn behind them beeped and Paige realized she had stopped the car in the middle of the road. She waved at the driver behind her and took her foot off the brake. They continued on slowly. They passed several more buildings, smaller than Ochre Court. She slowed again pointing to another massive building, this one red stone, set further back. Nathan watched her, she was practically beaming, everything was obviously as it should be, as she remembered.
"That's McAuley Hall. I had many classes in that building and it was horrible."
Nathan stared at the building, still unable to contemplate how such an amazing building could hold college classrooms.
"Horrible?"
"Yeah, the view out of those windows on the back side is absolutely hypnotic. The ocean just stretches on and on. So hard to concentrate on school work."
Nathan laughed and nodded. "I can definitely see how that might be a problem."
A moment later they were passed the building and Paige turned right into a small gravel parking area. She pulled into one of the few spaces still available. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened.
Nathan noticed her breathing had gone shallow and her knuckles were white. He followed her gaze to the huge grey granite building. While he wouldn't say the building looked out of place, there was no question that this was not a converted manor. The building was all granite and glass. He looked from Paige to the building and then back again.
"Paige?"
She released the steering wheel and with a trembling hand, killed the engine.
"What is it?"
She didn't trust herself to say anything, but reached into her purse and pulled out the photo she'd obtained back in San Diego and handed it to him.
He studied the doctored picture once more and was about to ask what it meant when he finally stopped looking at the people in the picture and instead at the background. The building in the picture was the one they were currently looking at. He studied the picture again, matching it with what was before him. It was an exact match, except for one thing.
"Where is the tree?" He looked at the picture once more, then back at the campus. The massive weeping beech tree from the photo was no where to be seen.
Paige shrugged. "It should be right there," she said pointing slightly to the right.
Nathan opened the door and stepped out. He began to walk towards where the tree should have been, but stopped and looked back. Paige was still sitting in the car, her hands back in a death grip on the steering wheel. He walked back and opened her door and hunched down next to her.
"Come on, Paige. We both figured that this would be the best place to find some answers. We can't stop now."
"I'm scared." Her voice was barely a whisper.
He reached out and lightly gripped her chin with his thumb and index finger and turned her head to face his. The joy that had danced in her eyes only minutes ago was gone, in its place now was fear.
"I know you are. So am I, but I am not going to let anything happen to you. That is a promise."
She said nothing, but reluctantly allowed Nathan to help her out of the car.
They didn't take the stone walkway, but went right over the grass to where Nathan guessed the tree should have been according to the picture. He didn't know what he expected. Maybe a giant gaping hole or freshly dug ground perhaps, but there was nothing. It looked no different from the rest of the area around them.
"It was here. I swear. I remember that tree. We had study sessions and did homework out here all the time. You have to believe me."
"I do. I really do. What is this place?"
She looked at the building before them. "It's the library."
"Okay, sounds like as good a place as any to start."
"Ar...are you sure?"
He reached out his hand to her and reluctantly she took it. He squeezed it and gave her a gentle tug, then together they headed for the entrance. With each step, she gripped his hand tighter.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Julie parked in front of the building and turned off the engine. She sat in the car for a moment. She could feel her heart hammering. She needed to calm down. She looked at herself in the rearview mirror.
"You can do this," she said to her reflection. "He's in there waiting for you."
She hoped that was true. The truth was she had no clue what awaited her inside. She took another moment, silently praying, and then got out of the car. She double checked to make sure all the doors were unlocked and then headed up the ramp to the front door.
She let out a sigh of relief when she saw him. She didn't realize until just then how much she feared she might have caused some irreparable harm to him. The darker part of her mind reminded her that she still didn't know that she hadn't. He was seated at the far end of the room looking out the window. Sarah was setting a tray table before him. She was glad to see she had timed things so well, it looked like she was just getting him ready for lunch.
She saw a few other residents and their caregivers moving through the room. Doris Flanders was again at the front desk, she waved and smiled at her. Julie returned the wave but hurried over to Jason, trying to control her pace as best she could.
"Sarah, hello. How is Jason this morning?"
Sarah let out a startled little yelp and turned to see Julie approaching,
"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to startle you."
She waved a dismissive hand and laughed. "That's okay, just didn't hear you coming up behind me. Look, Jason, Julie is here to see you again."
He continued to stare out the window.
"How is he doing today?"
Sarah sighed and continued to set up the dining tray table. "Honestly I think he is a little stiffer. Paula also said she heard him coughing last night. We did a chest x-ray first thing this morning, but it's clear. Lungs sound fine. I really think the weather change is just hitting him hard."
"Nothing else unusual?"
Sarah finished with the table and turned to face her. "Unusual? Like what?"
Julie shrugged. "I don't know. After yesterday I was a little worried so I decided to play hooky from work this morning and come join Jason for lunch."
"Well you know he is always happy to see you." Her tone was pleasant, but Julie could tell that Sarah was not pleased by the unexpected visit. She patted Jason on the shoulder. "Give me a second to go grab his lunch."
Julie pulled another chair next to Jason and sat down. She watched Sarah disappear and then turned her attention to him, reaching out and taking his hand, she almost let out a scream by the firm grip she was greeted with.
"Jason? How are you?"
She watched his eyes flick onto her, sharp and focused. He gave her an almost imperceptible shake of his head. She understood the meaning of the gesture and was flooded with a mix of relief and fear.
She opened her mouth to say more, but saw Sarah returning. She waited for her to join them. Sarah placed his lunch down on the table. A bowl of soup and a glass of water.
"Why don't you take a break, Sarah. I'd be more then happy to feed him."
Sarah looked as if she wanted to protest, but in the end she merely nodded and left them alone.
Julie picked up the spoon and slowly began to feed Jason.
"I've prepared as
best I could. The tricky part is going to be getting you out and into the car. I hope I can do that fast enough. I also hope I don't hurt you too much doing it."
He looked at her again and then down at his legs, he lifted his left leg up just a fraction. Julie did her best to hide her smile. She nodded, understanding that not only did he intend to try and help, but he might actually be able to. She began to feel a bit more hopeful about their chances.
"Well, two days in a row. How wonderful."
Julie turned and saw Doris coming up behind them.
"Good morning, Doris."
"I suppose you heard about Jason? Nothing to worry about. The doctor said his chest was perfectly clear. Sarah thinks it is the change in the weather. I think it might be dust and told housekeeping to give special attention to Jason's room.
"Thank you so much."
"I hope these visits aren't going to get you in trouble with your work."
Julie shook her head. "No. I have a fair amount of freedom. Besides, Jason is my priority.
"I wish all our residents had someone in their life as devoted as you. Of course Jason is so young. Most of our residents don't have...." She stopped and put her hand over her mouth. She looked around to see if anyone else was near enough to have heard her, but the rest of the room was now empty. "My goodness. Please don't tell anyone I said a thing. Last thing my resident's families will want to hear is that I am some kind of gossip."
Julie laughed. "They won't hear a thing from me."
"Well I better let you and Jason get back to lunch. I just wanted to make sure you knew that he was okay."
"Thank you, Doris."
She watched the woman retreat back to the front desk and out of sight.
"Okay. I am going to get a wheelchair. I will tell them I want to take you for a stroll, like yesterday. Hopefully no one will be outside and we can get you into the car and out of here before they even realize what is happening."
Second Chances Page 21
