Here to Stay

by Debra Webb

  She bounded through the courtroom doors, sweeping her gaze over the milling crowd for Denise. Her hands felt like ice and every nerve ending in her body vibrated. One pair of curious eyes after the other inspected her disheveled appearance.

  “What happened to you?” Denise asked as she emerged from the throng of people.

  “Don’t ask. What am I going to do?” She peered down at herself and shook her head. “I can’t go to court looking like this and there’s no time for me to go home and change.”

  “Come with me,” Denise ordered. She pulled Paige into the ladies’ room and locked the door behind them.

  “Water won’t help,” Paige protested, trying to decide on some sort of strategy.

  “Take your clothes off,” Denise told her, already removing her own.

  “Excuse me?” Totally confused, her gaze shot to Denise.

  “Hurry, Paige,” Denise urged. “You can wear my outfit to court and I’ll wear yours home and change.”

  “I can’t wear your clothes,” Paige denied. She stripped off her blazer despite the denial she’d just uttered.

  “We’re the same size,” Denise insisted.

  “Size isn’t the problem.” Paige shucked her blouse and skirt, her body doing the only logical thing while her brain struggled to arrive at any other alternative. She quickly slipped on the lavender dress Denise had taken off. “Oh, my God,” Paige muttered as she viewed herself in the mirror. The dress hugged everything from collar to hem. Denise’s taste in fashion varied greatly from Paige’s. Night and day would be a good comparison.

  “This is why I can’t wear your clothes,” she muttered, still trying to convince herself she couldn’t do this even though she knew she had no other choice.

  Denise stuck Paige’s briefcase in her hand. “You’re due in court right now.” She pushed Paige out the door. “By the way, Mr. Redmond won’t be here this morning.”

  “What?” Paige pivoted to face her.

  “He had to be rushed to the emergency room early this morning for an appendectomy. It was too late to reach you when I received the call. He’ll be out in a few days.”

  Paige shook her head vigorously in an effort to force her grey matter into activity and out of its current catatonic state. “I’ll have to ask for a continuance.”

  “That’s right, counselor. See you later.” Denise patted her on the back and scurried away.

  “Thanks.” Paige smoothed her hand over the soft, clingy fabric of the dress she now wore. She steeled herself and strode in the direction of the courtroom. She was still a professional no matter what she wore. Right? Silence echoed inside her head, effectively diminishing her already waning confidence. Look at the bright side, Paige. When you get through this you can be with Jesse. She smiled. Now there was something to look forward to.

  Judge Mattson had just given the order to be seated when Paige entered the filled-to-capacity room. The judge’s mouth gaped, as did Mr. Myers’s when their eyes came to rest on Paige.

  Paige hurried to her place on the left side of the bench.

  “The people versus Redmond,” the bailiff announced.

  “Your Honor, defense requests a continuance due to Mr. Redmond’s unexpected hospitalization. He was taken early this morning for an emergency appendectomy. I am prepared to proceed; however, in light of my client’s unavoidable absence, I feel a continuance is warranted.” Paige took a breath and tried to keep her expression calm though humiliation had consumed her. She felt every eye on the courtroom on her back.

  “Your Honor, I have no objection to the defense’s request,” Joe Myers stated, his eyes hardly leaving Paige long enough to give the judge a compulsory glance.

  “Miss Weston, approach the bench,” Judge Mattson requested.

  Paige moistened her parched lips and stepped forward. Her face burned with embarrassment. “Yes, your Honor?”

  The judge leaned forward, his gaze full of concern. “Somehow you don’t quite look yourself today. Is there something I should know?” he asked for her ears only.

  “I had a little accident on the way into the courthouse, your Honor,” Paige whispered, mortified. “I had to change clothes with Denise.”

  “Oh,” he said knowingly, a smile peeking past his judicial demeanor. “Just so long as your attire wasn’t a ploy to throw Mr. Myers off balance.”

  Paige shot a sidelong glance at Myers, who quickly averted his gaze. “No, your Honor, I can assure you there’s no hidden agenda behind my appearance this morning,” she told him meekly.

  “Good,” he whispered, and then leaned closer. “Personally, I kind of like it.”

  Paige smiled and returned to the defense’s table.

  “This case will be rescheduled at such time as Mr. Redmond is physically able to be present. Counsel will coordinate a new date with the court.”

  Paige snatched up her briefcase and strode out of the court room as the bailiff called the next case. Myers dogged her step. Once out in the marble-floored hall, Paige whirled to face him.

  “Is there something you need, Mr. Myers?”

  “That’s some dress, counselor.” Myers gave her another slow perusal.

  “That’s an inappropriate remark, Mr. Myers,” Paige said frostily.

  “Sorry,” he offered humbly. “I was just wondering about Calvin Jefferson. His employer says he’s been out sick for a few days and no one’s seen him around his grandmother’s house.”

  “My client’s health is no concern of yours,” Paige told him briskly. “Good day, Mr. Myers.” Paige stormed away. Oh, how she had wanted to light into him about the little deal he had offered Calvin, but she held back. She didn’t want Myers to know that she knew just yet. The beginning of a plan had formed in her mind. Paige smiled. Maybe the morning hadn’t been a total loss after all.

  ~*~

  She parked in front of Robert’s garage, got out of her car and slammed the door shut. Except for her time with Jesse, the day had been the pits so far. Surely it couldn’t get any worse.

  Nathan’s white Corvette roared up behind Paige’s car. “Whoa, Mama,” Calvin shouted as he hopped from the convertible. “That’s one bad dress, Miss P!”

  Oh, yes, it had just gotten worse. Now her humiliation was complete. “Don’t give me any lip, Calvin. I’ve had a bad day and this dress represents only part of the overall disaster.” Her gaze skittered over to where Nathan stood.

  He leaned against the car, crossed his arms over his chest and crossed his feet at the ankles. The breeze shifted a strand of long, silky black hair across one shoulder. His gaze slid over Paige as if she were an enticing entrée and he were a starving man. Nathan’s smile was slow and easy, but the heat in his eyes flashed strong and wild. He nodded a silent hello.

  Not one word. The man never uttered a single syllable, yet Paige’s pulse reacted as if he had told her he intended to throw her across the shiny, classic car and make love to her. She didn’t need this. She stalked across the yard, up the steps and to the door. She jammed the key into the lock and let herself in. Her keys landed on the hall table with a heavy rattle as Paige headed toward the stairs. Calvin followed right behind her. Maybe if she ignored him, he’d go away. She didn’t want to talk right now. She only wanted to get out of Denise’s clothes and into something of her own. Something comfortable…something with absolutely no sex appeal.

  “Me and Nathan rode over to Jackson to look at a hose he’s gonna buy,” Calvin told her as he continued to trail her up the stairs. “That’s one tough car. It’ll fly.”

  Paige stopped and turned to face him; she had to look down since he had stopped three steps below her. “Just how fast is flying?” she asked, irritated that Nathan would drive too fast, thus breaking the law, with a teenager in the car.

  “Ah, I don’t know…pretty fast, I guess,” he stuttered. “I’m telling you that Nathan is one cool dude. Everybody respects him. And the ladies”—Calvin shook his head and shrugged dramatically—“they just crazy about the ma
n. Everywhere we went he got the look.”

  “The look?” Paige asked, putting the question of speed aside.

  “You know,” Calvin urged. “The I-want-you look. The baby-you-hot look.”

  Paige shook her head. “I get the picture.” She held up a hand to prevent any further explanation. “I’m glad you had a nice day. But, if you’ll excuse me I have to get changed. I have a meeting with Silas in thirty minutes. You can tell me all about your day at dinner tonight. Okay?” She gave Calvin the best smile she could manage in her foul mood.

  “Sure thing, Miss P.” Calvin returned her smile and started back down the stairs.

  He was a good kid. She sure hoped she could get him out of the mess that circumstances and poor judgment had gotten him into. She hurried up the remaining steps. And somehow she had to straighten out the mess she had made of trying to tell Nathan about Jesse.

  “Hey,” Calvin called from the foot of the staircase. Paige paused and looked down at him from the landing.

  “Yes.”

  “He ignored all of ‘em.”

  “What?”

  “He didn’t look at nobody the way he looks at you.” With that said, Calvin sauntered across the entry hall and out the door.

  Paige remained perfectly still for a long while. She closed her eyes and willed back the surge of emotions tugging at her heart. Tonight. She had to tell Nathan tonight. Any further delays were only going to lead to trouble. Heart trouble.

  With renewed determination, Paige cut a trail to her bedroom. She quickly shed her borrowed clothing and slipped into a comfortable pair of worn jeans and a pink cotton shirt. Her sneakers tied, she trotted down the hall and then the stairs. She would run her idea about Calvin and Myers by Silas to get his feedback. Personally, she thought the plan would work, but it never hurt to get an objective opinion.

  Paige locked and pulled the door closed behind her, then bounded off the porch toward the car. The guys had disappeared. Probably in the barn checking on the horses, Paige decided. She sat down behind the wheel and reached for the ignition.

  No keys.

  “Blast,” she hissed. Paige got out and ran back to the house. She turned the doorknob and pushed. Brick-wall resistance met her. The door didn’t budge. Paige turned the knob again and at once realized her mistake. She had locked the door behind her. An unconscious habit of city life.

  “Oh, Lord,” she muttered, suddenly picturing her keys lying on the hall table. She was locked out. All five keys to Robert’s house were inside. Each contractor had turned over their respective key when they had finished the job. How could anyone lock themselves out with that many keys lying around?

  Paige shot a weary glance toward the barn. No way would she tell Nathan or Calvin what a stupid thing she had done. She’d had all the humiliation she could stand for one day.

  What could she do? Use the phone in the barn to call a locksmith? No, then Nathan and Calvin would figure it out for sure. A smile spread across her face. Her bedroom window. She dashed to the far end of the house.

  A huge old maple towered next to the house. Limbs from the tree scraped at the siding and her bedroom window in the breeze. She’d done it hundreds of times growing up, Paige reminded herself. She could do it now. She wasn’t that old.

  Paige hoisted herself up onto the lowest limb and began to climb up the tree. She and Nathan had used this route for after curfew visits and midnight rendezvous when they were kids—long before the tangled web of emotions had snared them. The climb proved easy enough. Paige paused to catch her breath before making he jump to the roof. The roof that covered the wraparound porch sloped gently, allowing for a fairly even landing.

  She shot another glance toward the barn. All clear. The curtains in her bedroom window shifted in the breeze, beckoning her inside. Paige took a deep, fortifying breath and tried to forget that she was thirty years old, not thirteen. Three steps out the limb shifted beneath her. Time to jump. It couldn’t be more than three or four feet, she told herself.

  Paige leaped to the roof. She landed squarely on her feet. She smiled at her success and released a pent-up breath. That wasn’t so difficult. She reached for the window ledge but lost her footing. For two or three seconds she teetered, off balance. Her heart surged into her throat, her stomach plummeted to her feet, and then it was over. Paige fell forward. Down and across the asphalt shingles she slid. She clutched at the sandpaper-like surface to no avail. Her body dropped over the edge, legs dangled. She grasped the gutter in desperation.

  “Oh, God” She held on tightly, glanced at the ground some ten or so feet beneath her and then back at her white-knuckled hold on the gutter. A distinct groan sounded as the gutter shifted away from the fascia.

  “No…” She tried to scream, but her voice trapped in her throat. She was going to fall. Paige tried to swing her leg up onto the roof. The gutter shifted again. Her heart lurched and she knew it was over. The gutter gave way and she felt herself falling. Fear coursed through her body.

  She knew when she hit the ground, though it didn’t hurt a much as she had expected. The air rushed out of her lungs on impact. She stared up at the tangled length of gutter and blinked. Robert wouldn’t be too happy about that. She blinked again. She’d have to make sure Jesse never did anything stupid like this. She sucked in a breath. Pain zipped through her as she tried to push up to a sitting position.

  “Don’t move,” Nathan commanded.

  He was on his knees at her side. Paige wondered vaguely how he’d gotten there. He seemed to be examining her. His hands moved over her body, touching, testing.

  “I’m okay,” she mumbled and tried to sit up again. Nathan didn’t protest, instead he helped her up. Pain shot through her backside and she winced. Her head throbbed insistently.

  “What the hell were you doing?”

  Paige lifted her gaze to his and the intensity of the fear she saw there tied her insides into knots. “I locked myself out. I thought I could—”

  “Dammit, don’t you know how dangerous that was?” Anger replacing the fear in his eyes, he stood, pulling Paige up with him. “You could’ve broken your fool neck.”

  She tried for a smile, but didn’t quite make it. “I’m okay. Just shaken.” Her face heated with delayed humiliation. And here she’d thought this day couldn’t possibly get any worse. Groaning, she stretched her neck and shoulders just to make sure everything still worked properly. God, what an idiot she must look like, she realized as she dusted herself off.

  Shaking his head, Nathan turned his back on her and took a couple of steps toward the house. He ran his fingers through his hair, then braced his hands against the side of the house.

  Hesitantly and wincing with every step, Paige moved to his side. “Really, Nathan, I’m all right.” He wouldn’t look at her, he just kept staring at the ground. “I know it was a stupid thing to do, but I—”

  The look in those black Apache eyes when his gaze connected with hers silenced her. Paige recoiled from the mixture of rage and fear she saw there.

  He straightened and took the step she’d retreated. “You scared the hell out of me, Paige.” A muscle flexed in his tense jaw, He took another step, and Paige found herself trapped between him and the house. “Do you have any idea what went through my head when I saw you fall?”

  She shook her head, then wished she hadn’t.

  He focused that hot, piercing gaze just past her shoulder for a time while he obviously struggled with his anger. It didn’t help. “I can’t—” He closed his eyes and exhaled.

  When he tried to draw in his next breath, he trembled. She’d never seen him this way before. Nothing scared Nathan. She reached up to touch his face. His eyes opened and in that instant she knew for certain that he still cared. Deeply. It was more than she could have hoped for. Her heart reacted. And she suddenly wanted to show him how much she still cared.

  ~*~

  Nathan couldn’t take this. He couldn’t lose her...not again. Didn’t she understand? He ha
d never stopped loving her. He wouldn’t until the day he died.

  “Paige,” he whispered against her fingers as they trailed over his lips. Slowly, he lowered his head until his lips brushed hers in the promise of a kiss. She tiptoed to make the contact complete. She slid her arms around his neck and time stood still for him. The only sensation he felt was her soft, sweet lips on his. Her tongue slipped into his mouth and he groaned with pleasure as she stroked his tongue. Desire flowed swiftly through him, hardening his sex. He cupped her bottom and pressed her intimately, against him. Her responsive moan proved his undoing.

  He knew he should be the strong one and stop before they did something Paige would regret, but he couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t do it.

  “Take me home with you, Nathan,” she breathed against his lips. “I want you to make love to me. Now.”

  His heart hammered in his chest, nearly ready to explode. He had waited so long to hear her say those words, for a second he couldn’t believe he’d heard right. But when she arched against his hardened body, he knew he had. Want sizzled inside him. He held her tighter, kissed her harder. He stabbed his tongue into her mouth and explored, teasing and thrusting. He ground his hips against hers.

  Paige plunged her fingers into his hair and held him firmly against her mouth, demanding more. “Nathan, I need you now,” she said softly between desperate kisses.

  He stilled. This was all wrong. She hadn’t said Nathan, I love you—she had said need you. No matter what they shared right now, she would be leaving and he just couldn’t endure exposing his heart to that kind of pain again. Who was he kidding? He didn’t have to lose her again. She was already lost to him.

  “Nathan?” She caressed his cheek, tried to read him.

  He searched her eyes, saw the desire and uncertainty. The fall had shaken her. She couldn’t be thinking straight. As much as he wanted her, this just didn’t feel right. He pulled out of her arms. His whole body shuddered at the loss of contact with hers. He had to close his eyes for a long moment to steady himself against the ache.