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“No, we can’t. Look, I’m still going home, it was just delayed by Greg and Brent going missing. Take care of my father. You two seem to have a better relationship than we ever did.”
“Paige, baby, would you stop it? We belong together and you damned well know it.”
“I don’t know that, and I don’t care to know it,” she stated hurrying into the house. She hated feeling this way, half of her wanting to reach out and kiss him and the other wanting to run as fast as she could and never look back. Leaving was the only way she could figure out what she wanted…it was the only way she could survive.
Chapter 13
“Are you going to get over here and stop her or what?” Cord inquired the moment Joel answered the phone.
“Damn it man, its five o’clock in the morning. How do you think I’m going to be able to stop her anyway? She was pretty damned insistent on leaving when I dropped her off.”
“But she’s sore and you can use that to your advantage. Look, get over here and do whatever you have to in order to keep her around here. I’ve lost too many years with my little girl and I don’t want to lose anymore. She’s hurting and it’s more than just physical. You were always the one to soothe her, comfort her, whatever she needed back then…get over here and do it now.”
“Cord, she doesn’t want me, not anymore.”
“When did you become a quitter Joel Wright? If I thought you’d changed your mind about my little girl I’d have kicked your butt out of my mine years ago but I knew you hadn’t. She’s stubborn I’ll give you that, but she’s still head over heels in love with you boy. She always has been.”
“She’s stayed away for ten years because of us Cord, because we interfered and wouldn’t listen to her. So, this time I’m going to, no matter what happens I’m going to let her be. Let her decide. If she decides to stay then I’ll pursue her, there’s no way I’d be able not to, but if she goes…that’s her choice. It’ll be completely up to her this time.”
“If you let her go, she’s not going to come back, not unless I have another heart attack and I don’t plan on that happening. I’ve avoided bacon for far too long to ensure that. So, get off your ass and get over here. I don’t know what’s going on with her but she’s not Paige. She’s a shell of herself and I want her back.”
“Alright…” Joel sighed knowing the man wouldn’t give up. “I’ll see what I can do. Just don’t get your hopes up that I’ll make a difference.”
“Just get over here, would you? She’s likely to be up anytime and I don’t want her calling the chopper to come pick her up,” Cord said hanging up.
“Damn it, Paige, can’t I get one night’s sleep?” he muttered under his breath though no one was around to hear. He quickly got dressed, grabbed the plans they’d worked on since the cave-in, and jumped in the Jeep. It didn’t take him long to pull up in front of the Brighton house and he found the front door open. Cord was in the study eating his breakfast and he nodded towards the stairs.
“She’s still asleep. What little of it she got I’d say,” he told him.
“Sam and Kendra?”
“They’re in the east wing, decided to stay here until the baby comes so someone will be with Kendra all the time.”
“Got it…you have no qualms about sending me into your daughter’s room while she’s still sleeping?” Joel asked folding his arms across his chest.
“None at all. I’m not senile, I know exactly what’s likely to happen. Well one of two things is likely to happen. She’ll either throw you out on your ass waking the entire house as she yells at you or she’s going to give in and the two of you will find some bliss between the sheets.”
“Cord Brighton…you would have skinned me alive if I’d snuck into her room ten years ago.”
“That was then; I know she’s not a little girl though to me she’ll always be one. The two of you need to find that spark you had back then. I’ve seen shades of it this last week, but I want her happy and if the only way to get her there is for you to sneak into her room, then so be it. You two seemed to enjoy your interlude in the mountain just fine and she was engaged at the time.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Cord,” Joel stated feeling a faint flush on his neck.
“Sure you do boy. Most people wouldn’t have noticed but I saw the soot on Paige’s skin. Places where soot wouldn’t have smeared like it did without some help. Now go before she completely wakes up.”
Joel couldn’t believe the audacity of the man, but he wasn’t going to complain. He’d take all the help getting through to Paige he could. He didn’t want to lose her again, not after the confirmation of the attraction they still felt and the connection they still had in bed shown to him. He’d do whatever it took to convince her to stay but she had to make the choice. It had to be her decision this time.
He turned the doorknob and pushed it open, thankful that sometime in the last ten years they’d fixed the squeaky hinges, and shut it without a sound, flipping the lock so they wouldn’t be disturbed. Maggie lifted her head from her spot at the foot of the bed and gave him a glare almost daring him to send her away. He eased across the room to the balcony doors and opened them bringing a fresh breeze into the room hoping the dog would get the hint. After a few moments, Maggie got up and walked outside but not before ensuring that her owner was okay and giving him another look that said to behave or deal with her.
Paige looked tiny lying in the huge bed and the hollowness in her cheeks worried him. She’d lost weight this last week and the bruise on her shoulder seemed to have grown three times as big overnight. He wanted to pick her up and take her home with him. Wrap her in the down comforter on his bed and hold her until she promised to stay…promised to take care of herself the way she took care of everyone else.
The alarm on the bedside table began to buzz and he hurriedly turned it off, not wanting her fully awake yet. He still needed to think of a way to convince her to stay, a way to get her to forgive him and her father for trying to do what they thought at the time was best for her.
She rolled over flinging her arm out to hit the alarm and instead found his hand still resting on it. Her eyes fluttered open and, in her sleepiness, she smiled up at him. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
“Shh, we’ll wake your dad,” he told her as he sat down on the edge of the bed.
“He’d be mad at you for sneaking in here again…oww…” she groaned as she tried to push herself up with her hurt shoulder.
