He sprang to his feet with his chair falling to the ground behind him, and held a hand to his heart. “My sweet little flower with such fiery locks, like the very flames of the sun, I love you. Here and now, I say it, for all to hear. I. Love. You.”
She slid farther down into her chair as snickers rose all around her. She cast a furtive glance in Jed’s direction to find him fixated on his water glass. But then he looked her way, and his eyes held hers. Her breath caught, and she stared at her hands, which were twined tightly in her lap.
“Ricardo, are you harassing the guests again?” Someone approached from behind, and she turned to see a tall blonde woman glaring at Ricardo, as she’d called him with her arms crossed. “Why haven’t they fired you already?”
“On account of my beautiful singing voice. Shall I sing for you now?” He sidled up to her, batting his eyes. “I know how you love to be serenaded, my sweet bouquet of daisies.”
The two continued their banter as the guests returned to their seats, and soon the drama was underway again. But the look Jed had given her continued to play on her mind.
On the way home, they once again fell into casual chatter, though it felt stiff. Awkward.
But as they neared Paige’s mom’s house, Jed grew quiet, serious. As though he were thinking hard about something.
“I have no doubt your Wild West theater is going to be a huge hit,” she said.
He pulled up to the curb and then shifted into Park. “Thanks. I really appreciate your help.”
“No problem.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I had a great time tonight. Believe it or not, the drama sparked my muse.”
“I’m glad.” He rotated toward her. “Listen, Paige, I...” He cleared his throat. “I’m really glad you came tonight.”
His deep brown eyes pulled her in.
He leaned closer.
She raised her face to his, feeling her pulse spiking as memories of their most tender moments resurfaced. What would it feel like to be in his strong arms once again?
Then, suddenly, light flashed in her peripheral vision. She jerked back and looked out her window. Lovely. Mom had turned all the lights on and, based on her shadow in the living room window, was watching them.
Making Paige feel like an awkward teenager. Thirty-one years old, living at home with her mom spying on her first date with the grown-up Jed Gilbertson.
Except this wasn’t a date.
Was it?
And if it was, what did that mean?
She grabbed her purse from the floorboard. “I better go. I’ll see you.” She shoved her door open and dashed out.
She was moving back to Chicago soon. Falling in love with him now wasn’t a good idea.
* * *
The next morning, Jed stopped by New Life Furnishings to check on the status of his order and then headed to his grandmother’s.
Nearing the Literary Sweet Spot, an independently owned bakery and bookstore on the end of Main Street, he slowed. Paige sat outside under a tabletop canopy, hunched over an opened notebook. Other materials—books or brochures of some type and a yellow legal pad—were spread out in front of her.
She was probably working on the script. How far had she gotten? Maybe he could help her. He’d enjoyed their brainstorming session much more than he’d anticipated.
And after their outing to the dinner theater, he’d been wondering: Had she felt the same feelings he had? She’d loved him once. Could she do so again? Or had her feelings been nothing more than an immature crush back in high school, one she’d since outgrown?
All these what-ifs were knotting him up inside. He parked along the curb, stepped out of his truck and stood, watching her. She was too engrossed in her work to notice him. After adjusting his Stetson, he hooked a thumb under his belt and ambled over.
He paused a few paces away.
What if he bared his heart and she didn’t feel the same? Would things get awkward? She’d still have to finish the script. She’d signed a contract, but their interactions could turn tense. And there was nothing stopping her from leaving town, heading straight for Chicago, once she fulfilled her commitment.
Then again, she planned on doing that anyway, didn’t she?
He stepped closer. “Howdy.”
She startled and then smiled. “Hey. What’re you up to?”
He sat across from her and surveyed the magazines spread out in front of her. A picture of a woman in a black shorts suit with white stripes. Another of a lady in orange heels and silver pants that poufed out from the waist to the knees.
“What’s all this?” he asked.
“Back issues of fashion magazines.”
“You working on more article queries?”
“Not exactly. I’m... There’s a writing conference coming up, and...” Her gaze dropped and then bounced back to his. “I’m hoping to land a job with another magazine.”
“Working remotely?”
She shrugged and looked away, almost as if she couldn’t look him in the eye. “Those are hard to find.”
Meaning she’d likely have to move.
He suddenly realized he wouldn’t let her go that easily. Somehow, someway, he’d convince her to stay in Sage Creek. For good.
He scooted his chair closer. “I don’t want you to leave, Paige.”
“Don’t worry—I’ll honor my commitment.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“I’m applying to a lot of places, but there’s no guarantee anyone will hire me on.”
“If they do? You’ll have to move to their offices, wherever that is.”
She looked at him for a long moment with her eyes searching his. But then she looked back at the magazines spread out before her.
“I wish I could go back, do things differently. I wish I would’ve made you listen to me regarding that whole Christy mess. I would’ve fought for you and kept fighting for you.”
Her eyes locked on his, as if trying to read his thoughts. Or maybe deciding whether or not to believe him. But then she shook her head. “That was a long time ago, Jed.”
“But you’re here now.”
“My life has been in flux. In chaos. I’m still trying to get my feet under me.”
“So lean on me. I’m not going anywhere.”
What would it take for her to believe that?
The look in her eyes said she wanted to. “I need time, Jed.”
Chapter Sixteen
Mira’s driveway was full when Paige and Mom arrived, so Paige parked along the curb.
“This is it.” She eyed the beautiful brick single-story home in front of her. A picture of success with its three-car garage, tall white columns and covered porch. Even her flower bed with its yellow, red and lavender tulips, looked cheery and pristine without a dandelion in sight.
Mom clutched her purse in her lap. “Kinda strange we’re invited to a family birthday party. Are you sure they want us here?”
“Of course.” Not really, but Mom needed to interact with people, and Paige needed time with her friend. They hadn’t been able to connect lately. “Now, come on before we melt.” With the engine turned off, the temperature in her car had already begun to climb. “You’ll have fun.” She flashed a grin, cast a glance at her sleeping little one in the back and opened her door.
“Promise?”
“I can promise there’ll be cake.” She moved to the back seat to get Ava. “Can you grab the gift bag?”
“Sure.” Mom climbed out and then waited in the driveway for Paige to unbuckle her groggy-eyed little one.
“You ready to play with some kids, sweet girl?” She brushed a kiss against her warm cheek.
Ava rubbed her eyes with fisted hands, looking like the little darling she was. Paige gave her a squeeze, breathing in the sweet scent of her strawberry shampoo.
She and her mom merged onto the walkway and continued to a tall mahogany door. Paige rang the bell and then waited while Mom shifted from foot to foot beside her.
Mira answered wearing an adorable mint-green dress accessorized with a corded leather belt. “Hey. Thanks for coming.” She pulled Paige into a hug and then did the same to Mom. “It’s so good to see you again, Mrs. Cordell. Oh!” She held a hand to her mouth. “Look at your little one! Hey, sweetie, how are you?” She ran a hand over Ava’s head.
Ava buried her face in Paige’s shoulder.
“It’s been so wonderful having them home.” Mom tugged on one of Ava’s curls.
“I bet.” Mira led the way past a formal living room with cathedral ceilings, and through a tiled kitchen with food covering every surface area.
In the spacious backyard, adults gathered in groups of threes and fours while giggling children ran, skipped and bounced across the lawn. To the far right, a couple of teen boys tossed a Frisbee between them.
“You remember my parents?” Mira looped an arm through Mom’s and crossed to where an older couple sat with a handful of others.
“I’m not sure I do.” Mom glanced at Paige with a creased brow, looking as though she were about to be thrust into a pack of Black Friday shoppers.
Ava toddled toward an empty sandbox a few feet away. Paige shifted so she could keep one eye on her while remaining engaged with Mira and her parents.
The conversation felt stilted at first. They asked her about Chicago and how she was enjoying her time in Sage Creek.
They asked her mother what she did for a living.
“I’m a tier-three security-support manager for PhoneTel Communications,” she replied.
“Interesting. Are they based in Texas?” Mira’s father asked.
She nodded. “Though we service Fortune 500 companies nationally, our headquarters are in Houston. I telecommute from home.”
“How nice.”
Mom took a soda Mira offered. “It’s so convenient. And with all my health concerns—I’ve been battling numerous issues for some time...” She rubbed a hand up her arm. “I don’t know what I’d do otherwise.”
Paige grinned at her friend’s parents, who sat side by side with the husband’s hand resting on his wife’s knee, looking goo-goo-eyed in love. “Mira said the two of you met at an outdoor concert?”
Mira’s mom smiled at her husband. “That we did, back when we were both in college. But I was there by accident.”
Paige raised an eyebrow. “How’s that?”
“My friend dragged me along, but it really wasn’t my thing. The music was so loud, and a genre I had no interest in. So I found a quiet place to sit in the shade of a flowering dogwood tree. That’s when Donald saw me and decided to make his move.”
He laughed. “You were smitten with me from the beginning, and you know it.”
“Hardly.” She turned to Paige and shook her head. “But he wouldn’t leave me alone. Kept pestering me for my number.”
“I wore her down eventually.” He winked.
She patted his hand. “That you did, but my parents weren’t so quick to join the Donald fan club.”
He let out a low whistle. “I’ll say. First time I came to pick her up, her father met me with his rifle. Cocked it, then asked me what business I thought I had with his little girl.”
“But Donald refused to give up.” She twined her fingers with his. “He eventually won my dad over.”
Paige smiled. “I love stories like that—where two people fall in love and hold tightly to each other, despite the obstacles.”
“Oh, it wasn’t like that,” Mira’s mom said. “I told Donald to go away. Thought we had too much stacked against us.”
He wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulder and tugged her closer. “Good thing I didn’t listen to her—otherwise she would’ve missed out on the best thing that ever happened to her.”
She gave him a playful swat. “Took a stubborn man like Donald to teach me love’s worth the risk. Truth is I used my parents as an excuse, but I was scared. Scared of what would happen if I let myself fall too deep and things didn’t work out.”
Paige’s mind flashed to Jed, and her stomach flip-flopped.
Was her fear of getting hurt again keeping her from experiencing the love she’d always hoped for?
The rest of the afternoon, though she did her best to stay engaged in the various conversations, her mind kept drifting back to that question.
She had a lot to think through, but one thing was certain. She wouldn’t gain any clarity from avoiding Jed—or her feelings for him.
* * *
Jed removed his Stetson and swiped a rag across his sweaty forehead. The late-morning air felt sticky and thicker than a midsummer storm cloud. At least they hadn’t disrupted any copperheads during their demolition.
Mr. Fischer’s barns had been better off than Jed had suspected. Other than some jagged fragments scattered across the tall grass, most of the wood was usable. Seemed they’d salvaged enough to panel the theater’s walls and floor the lobby. Maybe even with some left over for accents.
Drake pulled off his gloves and grabbed a water bottle from a nearby cooler. “Want one?”
Jed nodded, and his buddy tossed one his way, and then threw others to the rest of their crew.
He took a long drink of water, then removed his hat and poured the rest over his head. “Appreciate you fellas helping me clear all this out.” He grabbed himself a second bottle.
“Wait a minute.” Drake sauntered over to Jed. “You’re paying us, right? Figured I’d tag this on to my remodel invoice.”
“Oh, I’ll pay you all right.” Jed gave him a playful shove. “With a five-buck knuckle sandwich.”
Drake laughed, picked up a piece of straw by his boots and stuck it in his mouth. “What about the rest of this?” He motioned toward the wood splinters spread out across the field. “Want us to stick around to clean all this up?”
“The smaller pieces will decompose, but I figure we best do something with the rest of it. What do you think about lighting a big ol’ fire and roasting some dogs on it like we used to?”
Drake and the others, four in all, grinned, and each voiced his enthusiasm for the idea.
“I’ll call my wife.” Seth, a buddy from way back, leaned against the side of his truck and pulled his phone from his shirt pocket. “See what she’s got going on.”
“Tell her to bring a pot of her baked beans, heavy on the bacon.” Drake took a long swig of his water and glanced to another one of their buddies, who was still pulling rusted nails from wood planks. “Hey, Ty, think Shelby will make a jug of her sweet tea?”
Tyler shrugged, carried a plank of wood to his truck and then tossed it in the back. “Probably. Soon’s we unload all this, I’ll give her a call.”
All the talk about calling their women to bring them to the cookout made Jed acutely aware of his single status. That fact hadn’t bothered him—until now, when his thoughts kept drifting to Paige. But he didn’t want to push too hard and risk scaring her off. He knew she had a lot to process, and that everything probably felt all jumbled in her heart and brain after all she’d gone through during and after her divorce.
But he also didn’t want to give her so much space that she would up and take off for Chicago.
He’d lost her once, but God had brought her back to Sage Creek. That had to mean something, right?
With all of their trucks loaded, Jed and his buddies drove to his dinner theater. He entered to find the place in the latter stages of demolition.
Forty minutes later, he and the guys had all but one truck unloaded, and Jed was covered in grime, sawdust and sweat. He could sure use some of that sweet tea Tyler’s girlfriend made. And a big slab of venison, slowly roasted over open flames.
He de
posited his handful of boards along the wall and then turned for more. Then he stopped. Paige stood in front of him, dressed in jean shorts and a ruffled blouse with a scoop neckline.
“Hey.” She fiddled with her bracelet. “Um... Are you busy?”
He pulled the hand towel he’d been carting around from his back pocket and mopped the sweat from his face. He could feel his buddies eyeing him, probably wondering what was up with Paige and him talking again.
“Let’s go to my office.” He led the way, ignoring the soft chuckle from one of his buddies behind him.
When they reached his office, he considered keeping the door open to stop folks from flapping their jaws more than they already would be. But with all of the banging, hammering and sawing Drake’s crew was doing, the place was too loud for decent conversation. And Paige’s pinched expression told him whatever she wanted to say would be awkward enough.
“Have a seat.” He motioned to the chair in front of his desk and then sat across from her. “Everything all right?”
She nodded and then took a deep breath. “I enjoyed going out with you the other night. To the dinner theater.”
So that was what this was about.
“It reminded me of old times.” Her crystal-blue eyes studied his with her delicate brow furrowed. But then her features relaxed into the most genuine smile he’d seen from her in some time. “Before...you know.”
He nodded. “Want to talk about it?”
“I think we should.”
“You have to know I never cheated on you.”
“But you didn’t really stick around, either. I needed you, Jed. It felt like my life was falling apart.”
“I know.” He released a breath. “And I’m sorry.” Something told him this was about much more than him. It’d all gotten jumbled together in her mind—her dad bailing, their family struggling financially, her mom withdrawing emotionally. “I didn’t leave you, Paige. You pulled away from me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You changed. You were so...angry. All the time.” He winced. That sounded bad. “Like you wanted nothing to do with me.”
Hometown Healing Page 13