“Yes.” Ted straightened. “Thank you. Let’s head out to the truck stop for a burger. Aunt Jenny doesn’t do burgers like they do.”
“Deal. You in, Noah?”
“Are you buying my lunch too?”
“Sure, and for the record”—he turned to face Ted—“I appreciate the hell out of you, kid.”
“And yet you continue to call me ‘kid.’”
Ryan chuckled. “Sorry. I’ll try to remember you’re all grown-up.”
“Moron,” Ted muttered.
Noah cranked some tunes, and the three of them went back to work. Ryan settled in and soaked it all up—the sound of the table saw, Ted tapping two dovetailed edges together, and Noah’s off-key humming to the country music. Ryan was full to bursting.
He loved working for Langford & Lovejoy, loved working with Noah and Ted. Now all he had to do was figure out how to convince Paige that she belonged here with him, and his world would be complete. And if he failed to convince her? His mind detoured away from the possibility. He’d find a way. He had to.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
HAD SHE REALLY BELIEVED DISTANCE would bring relief from this choke hold on her heart? Paige stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. She couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, and even breathing had become a chore. And now her clothes were beginning to feel loose. The heartbreak diet—maybe she’d write a book, start a trend, and get rich on her misery.
Monday, she’d begin her new job. Surely things would get better then. She’d have lots to learn and tons to occupy her mind. Four more days to get through, and things would start looking up. Running a brush through her hair, she took a good look at the dark circles under her puffy eyes. “Great.”
The persistent, irritating prickle of wrongness that had accompanied her the entire drive home continued to plague her. Still, Langfords didn’t go back on their word, and she’d accepted the job. No turning back. Move forward. She went to her bedroom and got dressed, choosing an old pair of jeans and an even older T-shirt. What would she do today? She’d already cleaned her condo from top to bottom, including going through the closets—all in an effort to get her mind off Ryan. It hadn’t worked.
Coffee. She’d been living on nothing but. Too bad she didn’t smoke. Paige imagined herself turning into one of those skinny old ladies who drank coffee and chain-smoked their days away, their leathery faces etched with all the disappointments they’d suffered during their lives. Gah! I need to get out and do something.
Maybe she’d use her credit card and go shopping. This funk certainly qualified as an emergency. Dragging her sorry butt to the kitchen, she decided to at least eat a piece of toast so her stomach wouldn’t turn on her. She started a pot of coffee and went to the fridge for bread.
Her cell phone rested on the counter where she’d plugged it in to recharge. The tiny red message alert was on. Maybe one of her friends had called to see if she wanted to get together for lunch. One could hope. She popped two slices of bread into the toaster and picked up her phone.
Ryan! His name and number appeared in the call history. She’d missed his call. Cradling her phone in both hands, she moved to her dining room table and fell into a chair. Her heart pounded so loud she heard the echo in her head. All she could do was stare at the screen through tear-blurred eyes. Her hands shook so badly it took a couple of tries before she could get them to work well enough to get to her voice mail. The wonderful sound of his voice washed over her.
“Hey, darlin’, it’s me. Listen, I shouldn’t have let you go without telling you how I feel. Even if it makes no difference, you have a right to know. So…Here goes. I love you, Paige. I know I’m not much to look at, and I don’t have much to offer in the way of…well, shoot, in any way, but I’m yours if you want me. I love you with everything I am and everything I’m ever going to be. You make me want to be a better man, and I…” His voice broke. “I miss you like crazy.”
She heard him move around on the other end and pressed the phone closer to her ear, waiting with her breath held.
“Aw, hell. I came back to life the day I met you, Paige. The truth is, I need you. I want you, and I love you.”
A long pause followed, and tears dripped down her cheeks in a salty deluge.
“I’m going home to Oklahoma this weekend to visit my folks.” His voice dropped to barely a whisper. “I wish you were going with me. Sure could use some of that hand-holding through this. I was hoping maybe we could talk when I get back. Call me—if you want to, that is. If not, I’ll respect your decision. But I hope you do. Call me, Paige. I’ll be back Monday night.” Another long pause. “I love you.”
She replayed the message three more times. “Oh, God. What have I done?” Loving Ryan wasn’t something she’d get over. Ever. And she’d left him for a stupid job selling machinery. Who did that? How thickheaded could she have been? Everyone had tried to tell her—Ceejay, Jenny, Ryan—and she’d been too pigheaded to listen.
Leaving Perfect moved to number one on her dumbest-things-I’ve-ever-done list. She grabbed a paper napkin from the holder on the table and blew her nose, snatching another to wipe her eyes, then hit speed dial and pressed the phone back to her ear.
“Hi, Paige,” her mother answered in a chipper voice.
“Mom,” she said, sobbing. “I think I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life, and I don’t know what to do. I’m so confused.” She swiped at her eyes.
Her mother didn’t respond for several seconds. “I’m on my way,” she finally said and hung up.
Paige moved to the balcony door, wrapped her arms around her middle, and stared out at the Philadelphia skyline. What could she do? Perfect was the right place for Ryan to be, and a long-distance relationship would be a strain on him and less than satisfying for either of them. She’d already accepted the job with John Deere. What kind of reputation would she have if she walked away? Fired from her first job and a no-show for her second? What would her dad think of her if she kept ping-ponging from job to job?
No one in their right mind would put her in charge of anything, much less an enterprise as huge as Langford Plumbing Supplies. After this debacle, she shouldn’t be allowed to make any decisions on her own behalf for at least a year. Man, she really knew how to make one mess after another. Too bad she had no clue how to clean them up.
She remained fixed where she was until she heard her mom’s key in the door. She swallowed against the tightness in her throat. “I hope I haven’t ruined any plans you had for the day.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Her mother got two mugs out and filled them with coffee. “Sit down, honey.” She placed the coffee on the table and went back for sugar and spoons. Taking a seat, her mom studied her for a long moment. Her forehead creased with worry. “You look like hell.”
“Gee, thanks, Mom.” Paige reached for another napkin. “I knew I could count on you to make me feel better.”
Her mother’s mouth turned up briefly. “I’m going to wait until your father gets here to ask you what this is about. I don’t want you to have to say it twice.”
“You…You called Dad?” Her eyes widened. “Oh, God.” She groaned and thunked her head against the table. “Wonderful.”
“I have a feeling your mistake has a lot to do with his mistakes. You two are like peas in a pod when it comes to stubbornness, and it’s time for a good long talk.”
“Ohhhh, I hate my life right now.”
“Mistakes are how we learn, sweetheart.” Her mother chuckled. “You’ll live. You’re only twenty-five. You’re entitled to take a few wrong turns along the way.” She reached across the table and patted Paige’s arm. “I’d worry more if you didn’t make mistakes or if you never learned to admit to them.”
“Really?” She straightened just as her front door opened.
Her dad strolled in, carrying two bags from his favorite deli. “I brought bagels and lox.” He set down the sacks in the center of her table and slipped his off suit coat, draping it over
a chair.
“My life is coming apart at the seams.” Her eyes widened. “Do you think bagels and lox are going to put it back together?”
“I brought cream cheese too.” He grinned and helped himself to coffee.
“Oh, well, that makes all the difference.” She crossed her arms in front of her.
“Tell us what’s going on.” Her father took a seat. “Then we’ll talk about damage control.”
She studied the surface of the table. For so long, all she’d wanted to do was to prove to her father she was tough enough to survive at LPS, and now she was a blubbering mess over a guy. No. Not only the guy. Working with Noah, Ted, and Ryan had been a joy. Life had laid a gift at her feet, and she’d trampled all over it.
“Go on, honey.” Her mom reached over and patted her again.
“I…I screwed up…again.” She couldn’t help the tears springing to her eyes.
“How do you figure you screwed up?” Her dad leaned his elbows on the table.
“Well, the first was getting fired from Ramsey & Weil, and the second was walking away from…from…”
He grunted. “Ryan Malloy?”
Anger flared. “Not just Ryan. I walked away from L&L.”
“Malloy said you were going to turn yourself inside out trying to prove yourself to me.” He crossed his arms and scowled. “Why do you feel like you have anything to prove to me?”
“Because you won’t even consider me as your successor at LPS,” she cried. “Why do you think I got my master’s in business administration, Dad? Why do you think I look for jobs in construction or…or selling tractors and riding lawn mowers?”
“Tell her, Ed.” Her mom shot him a long, expressive look in that silent-communication thing they did.
The uncanny way they carried on a conversation without saying a word always freaked her out a little. Paige straightened in her chair. “What?”
Her dad gave her mom an almost imperceptible nod. “I had no choice when I was your age. My grandfather and father started putting pressure on me to take over the family business almost as soon as I could talk. It was expected. No discussion.” He sighed. “It might surprise you to know I never wanted to go into business at all. I wanted to become a doctor.”
She blinked. “You did?”
“I did. Instead, the day after I graduated from college with a business degree I didn’t want, I went to work at LPS. I was only twenty-two and already locked into a career I never would have chosen.”
“I had no idea.”
“Listen, princess.” He shifted in his chair. “Every single day, I face resentment from employees who believe I’ve been handed the world on a silver platter because my last name is Langford. No matter what I do, they refuse to see that I’ve earned my place. My entire adult life I’ve put in sixty- to seventy-hour workweeks at a job I never wanted and don’t enjoy.” His jaw tightened. “The resentment gets to you. Then there’s the labor force constantly demanding a better standard of living than you can afford to give them—unless you’re willing to lay off a lot of the younger workers. The younger guys have families to support, mortgages to pay, while the older guys have kids in college and retirement to think about. You can’t win.” He shook his head.
“You’re talented, Paige, and so creative and enthusiastic. Do you really want those qualities crushed by the weight taking over the family business would put on your shoulders? It’s not that I think you couldn’t do the job if you set your mind to it, it’s that I love you too much to put that on you.”
Her perceptions were shifting and altering so quickly she couldn’t get a handle on anything. “This hasn’t been solely about proving myself to you, Dad. I got fired. I had something to prove to myself. Get right back on that horse and all that.”
“We understand.” Her mom nodded. “So? You managed to get a job at John Deere selling tractors and lawn mowers. Is this what you want to do with your life? Are you passionate about green and yellow?”
“No.” A watery chuckle broke free. “Neither of those are my favorite colors.”
Her mom smiled. “You proved you could get a job after being fired from your first one, right?”
“I did.”
“You can check that off your list.” Her dad shrugged a shoulder. “You did it. Feel good. Now, just because you got the job doesn’t mean you have to take the job.”
Huh? Her insides twisted. “I don’t? But I accepted, and they’re expecting me to show up on Monday. Langfords don’t go back on their word, and we aren’t quitters.”
“Maybe it’s time we started bending a little.” Her dad gave her a pointed look. “Noah has taught me a lot about being flexible. I tried to put the same pressure on him that my dad and grandfather put on me. I almost lost my son, and I’ll tell you, princess,” he said gruffly, “nothing is more important to me than family.”
He leaned back. “There’s something else you need to know. I’m retiring as of September first.” Her parents exchanged another look, this one disgustingly hot. “Your mother and I are planning our second honeymoon, beginning with the South of France and then Barcelona, Spain. We’re leaving after Thanksgiving. Don’t expect us home until the snow melts.”
Her mom reached for his hand, and he took hold, his thumb sliding back and forth across her knuckles. “We want to spend more time with our grandkids. Your mother and I want to travel, take up a few new hobbies, and never again do anything we don’t want to.”
“Wow.” Stunned, she glanced between them, her heart filled with warmth. After all these years, her mom and dad were still so in love it filled the room with a tangible force. Like gravity. She wanted that. With Ryan. “I’m happy for you both.”
“If you’re still bound and determined to work for the family business, I’ll hire you right now.” Her father’s gaze fixed on her. “You won’t start at the top, and it won’t be easy. The decision is yours.”
All along, she’d been listening to her head. Maybe it was time to listen to her heart. So much of her energy had gone toward achieving her one and only goal—taking over the helm of LPS. Letting it go should have left her feeling bereft. Instead, the relief almost made her giddy. “No. I’m not any more passionate about toilets and drainpipes than I am about green and yellow combines.”
“What about L&L? Didn’t you enjoy working there?” her mom asked.
“I did. I loved it.” Ryan had it right all along. Working with the guys, connecting with customers and crafters, lit her up. She wanted to be the one to finesse their way into the future, and she’d blown it. “I walked away. What if Noah won’t give me another shot?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Her dad pulled his cell phone out of his coat pocket and made the call, putting it on speakerphone. “Hey, son. How’re things in Perfect?”
“Fine, Dad. How are things with you and Mom?”
“Good. There’s somebody here who wants to talk to you. Do you have a minute?”
“Sure.”
He took it off speaker and handed Paige his phone. She took it, her hands shaking again. “Noah, I made a huge mistake.”
“I know. We all know. We were hoping you’d figure it out soon.”
“Can I have my job back?” Her heart skipped a beat when he didn’t answer right away.
“If something better comes up, are you going to bail on us again?”
“There isn’t anything better.” She meant it, and the rightness reverberated through her. “I want to help L&L grow. I’m in for the long haul.”
He hesitated again. “What if things don’t work out between you and Ryan?”
“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?” She closed her eyes. “I’m a professional, and so is Ryan. We’ll work it out the same way he and Ted have worked it out.”
“All right. Here’s the deal. Ted is overextended, and I’m worried about him. I want to shift things around and give you a few more responsibilities. I’m offering you the same crappy pay with a bigger workload,
and I’m taking the VP title away until you prove to me that you’ll stick around. You also have to join the monthly poker games.”
“Deal.” She smiled so hard her facial muscles hurt. “Do me a favor. Don’t let Ryan know. I want to be the one to tell him.”
“Done. When are you coming home?”
Home. Perfect, Indiana, had become home, and she would be working for the family business, after all. “Monday evening.”
“I’ll let Ceejay and the kids know. Your room will be ready.”
“Thank you, Noah.”
“See you Monday, sis.”
She hung up and beamed at her parents. “This feels right. For the past week, I’ve been miserable, and now I’m…starving.” She reached for the bags and pulled out the containers of lox and cream cheese. “Let’s eat.” She sprang up from the table and went to the kitchen for plates and silverware.
“Incidentally,” her dad said, “I had an interesting conversation with Roger Weil the other day.”
“Oh?” Paige turned to face him. “How did that come about?”
“Ryan told me what happened between you and that Rutger fellow. I wanted to alert Weil that he had a snake in the grass.”
She frowned. “When did Ryan tell you all that?”
“When I came to Perfect. Anyway, it might interest you to know that Rutger is no longer employed at Ramsey & Weil. Turns out, some security guard named George pieced together what happened and alerted Roger Weil.” He grinned. “Anthony Rutger was fired shortly after you left.”
“Awww.” She grabbed plates and silverware and brought them to the table. “I always did like George.” Her appetite returned, and she ate bagels and drank coffee while listening to her parents talk about their travel plans. Once she walked them to her door and hugged them good-bye, Paige floated around the condo and made plans. She’d be using her emergency credit card, after all—for a plane ticket and a rental car. At least she knew Ryan’s uncle’s name, and that gave her a place to start.
Grabbing her laptop, she sat on her couch and Googled the Malloy’s ranch. Several mentions popped up, and she scrolled through them until she found Shawn’s name. From there, it was easy. They even had a toll-free number under their contact info. She hurried into the kitchen to grab her phone, a notepad, and a pen. Excitement thrummed along her nerves as she entered the number into her phone.
The Difference a Day Makes (Perfect, Indiana: Book Two) Page 27
