“How did you manage to get away?”
Paige closed her eyes. “The night after Thorne dropped Joan at the bus stop, she and Uncle Craig returned and parked in a wooded area about a hundred and fifty yards from the compound. They waited nearly all night. I don’t know what they would have been thinking, not knowing if I was coming or not. I was awake all night, waiting for a chance to run. Finally, by four o’clock in the morning, I was able to wrap up Lucy and break for the wooded area. It wasn’t long before I heard voices behind me and four-wheelers powering up. When Uncle Craig saw lights flash on at the compound, he gunned it. They picked me up with seconds to spare.
“Uncle Craig just kept driving. We didn’t stop for a break for six hours straight. No car seat for Lucy, no nothing. We made it across four states in record time.”
“How did Lucy end up with Mara and Peter?”
“We knew the safest place for her was, unfortunately, away from me. Thorne would be looking for me as a way to find Lucy. Aunt Joan contacted an old friend of hers, a doctor who had always had a soft spot for her, and he agreed to help expedite a private adoption.”
“I don’t think Dr. Bob told Mara or Peter any of this.”
“He doesn’t know any of it. Joan said I had been in an abusive relationship and wanted to give the baby up for adoption. We pretended Lucy was my child.”
“It’s as easy as that?”
Paige’s eyes moistened with tears. “There was nothing easy about any of it.”
He sucked in a breath. “Of course not. I’m sorry. Is that the real reason you changed your name?”
She shrugged. “The name Willow is a part of my past I never want to revisit, Charlie. After I changed it, we moved to Ohio. Thorne had only ever known Joan by her first name. He didn’t have much to go on to find me. But now, after all these years, he’s managed to track me and Lucy here, and for that I am truly sorry.”
He ran a hand down his face. He believed her, but what good did sorry do now?
“Why did you come here in the first place, Paige?”
“It’s been ten long years thinking about Lucy and praying for her. I wanted to know if she was okay, safe, happy. I wanted to meet her and feel a connection to...my family.”
“Okay,” he muttered. “But doing that has jeopardized her future with her own family.”
At this, Paige’s face twisted in misery. “I know that,” she cried, bringing a hand to her mouth. “I never meant for him to find her. All I ever wanted to do was make sure she was all right.”
“And what was I, then?” Charlie said, moving to his feet. If her trip to Roseley had been to find Lucy, then what had he been? Collateral damage? She obviously had had no intention of staying in Roseley, therefore no intention of pursuing things with him. As he lumbered toward the woods, his body aching in places he didn’t know could feel rejection, he realized everything he had felt for Paige was built on a foundation of straw and lies. “I’m no more than a chump to you, huh?”
“Anything but,” Paige said, following. “Charlie, I never meant... I mean, I never thought...”
“What? You’d find such an easy mark?” His gut wrenched as he put it all together. This was what he got for taking a chance on love again and man, had he deserved it. She had just convinced him she had had feelings for him. She’d used him and he’d let her. He knew he should have been more cautious and taken things more slowly, but his heart was always skipping off ahead of his brain. He had made the same mistake in love all over again.
Paige scowled, shaking her head violently. “Of course not. How could you think—”
“That you used me? Do you think I don’t see what’s happened here? I see now that you must have facilitated our meeting so you could get access to Lucy.”
“I didn’t! Charlie, I wouldn’t.”
“That day at the sports shop. That day I invited you along to meet Lucy, did you already know I was her uncle?”
“Right then I did, yes, but...”
“You made me feel something for you when all this time I was just a way to get to Lucy.”
“Charlie, no,” Paige pleaded, reaching for him. She tried to pull him to look at her, but the flick of hurt and betrayal was too much.
“I am a chump. Again.” He couldn’t believe he’d been so blind. Paige’s face burned hot and red as tears welled.
“You came along at a time when I didn’t think I could love anyone, Charlie. I’ve never met anyone like you before. You made me fall so deeply in love with you I began to question everything, especially how I could live a future without you. That’s why I didn’t leave after I met Lucy. That’s why I can’t bear to leave now. I never meant to hurt you, Charlie.”
“But that’s exactly what you did. How could I ever be certain you didn’t flirt with me just to get what you wanted?”
“Because all along I’ve wanted you!” Paige clasped her hands to her heart. Her words echoed against the aspen trees, ringing in his ears and trying to navigate a path to his heart. He had never wanted another woman as much as he had wanted her. Even with the little voice in the back of his mind warning him not to move too quickly, not to be too impulsive, he hadn’t been able to stop. He’d fallen in love with her completely, and that’s what made the hurt cut so deeply.
“And Lucy,” he said. Paige stopped, bringing her hands to her cheeks. “You wanted me and Lucy.”
“She’s my family. I wanted to be a part of her family.” Hesitantly Paige came closer and peered up into his eyes. “I wanted to be a part of your family, Charlie. I wanted to be yours, and I still do. Please believe that.”
He wanted to curse her for making him listen. Even if she had met him out of coincidence and they had fallen in love that night at the bar, talking and dancing, where did that leave them now? How could he accept a woman into his life who was partly responsible for a brewing custody case over Lucy? If it came to that, his family would never forgive her or ever accept her. And how could he?
“That night at the bar,” he said. “When you had to leave so suddenly. Tell me the reason why.”
Paige’s face fell as she recalled the memory. “I knew I had to give you up, because I had no intention of staying in Roseley. You were turning out to be everything I had ever dreamed of in a man, Charlie. Every minute we spent together would just make the inevitable harder, and I didn’t know if I’d recover.”
“Did you know the night in the bar that I was Lucy’s uncle?”
Paige grazed fingertips over his hand. “I didn’t know until the pitch meeting with Mara and Peter.”
He hated her answer because it made it harder to write her out of his life. If she’d felt the same way he had felt that night, it made saying goodbye more difficult. Fate had a wicked sense of humor, pairing the two of them up only to land a shocking blow like this. He needed to clear his mind.
“Take the truck,” he said, handing her the keys. “I’ll find my way back.”
“Charlie, please,” she said, tugging on his arm. “Please don’t leave me like this.”
“I don’t know if this is real!” he snapped. “Can’t you see that?”
“It’s real,” she said, pleading. “I promise you, it’s more real than anything I’ve ever known.”
“But I don’t know you anymore.”
“You know me. You know how I feel about you,” she whispered, pulling his face closer to hers. “It’s real, Charlie. I promise, it’s real.”
When she kissed him, he wanted desperately to believe her. To believe everything he’d thought was true. His fingers entwined in her golden locks as he cradled her head with one hand and ran another down her back. He kissed her with the longing of a soldier heading off to war, though he didn’t know if he’d find his way back into her tender embrace ever again now that the truth had come to light.
“What have you done to me?” he
said, pressing his forehead to hers.
“Charlie,” was all she could manage as she clasped his face between her palms and cried. He could believe anything and everything she told him in this cozy, secluded spot where nothing could hurt them.
She’d captivated his heart from the moment he’d first seen her in front of the sandwich shop. It was crazy to admit it now or ever, but in that moment, he had been certain he would fall in love with her. She’d drawn him in like a daydream he’d happily revisit over and over. By dinner that night, he had already been visualizing a forever with her.
But what did he visualize now? Where would they be after they’d reemerged to a reality where Lucy could be ripped away from her family? The grim possibility jolted him back to his senses.
He pulled away as she reached to keep him. Putting several paces between them and avoiding eye contact as self-defense, he called back to her.
“Take the truck to the shop, Paige. Like I said, I’ll find my own way home.”
“Charlie, please!” she shouted after him, but he slipped into the woods and out of sight before she could convince him to stay.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
PAIGE DROVE WEARILY back toward the shop, her body numb and weak. Applying pressure to the gas pedal took all her effort, as did keeping the truck on the road. Finally, as her tears clouded her vision too much to see, she pulled onto the gravel shoulder and parked. Charlie had left his cell phone in the center console. Fumbling her fingers along the numbers, she dialed home.
“Hello?” Uncle Craig said hesitantly.
“It’s me.”
“Honey, are you okay? I’ve been dialing the motel. We’re going out of our minds sick with worry. Thorne—”
“Is here in Roseley. He went to the police and they want to see me as a person of interest in Lucy’s kidnapping.”
“Come home,” Craig said. “Don’t talk to the police. We’ll get you a lawyer and build a case. Heaven knows Joanie and I need representation for what our part was in all this. Once a court hears who Thorne really is, they’ll understand what you did. What we did. We’ll face this together if you just come home.”
“They hate me, you know,” Paige said as she dried her tears. Somehow, talking to Uncle Craig managed to toughen her up. He never frowned upon a person crying or breaking down, but something in his steady voice helped Paige think.
“Who does?”
“All of them, but Charlie most of all. He thinks I used him.”
Craig started softly. “Didn’t you?”
“Of course not.” Paige’s tears had dried completely at the suggestion. She was ready to verbally come out swinging and say everything to Uncle Craig that she had meant to tell Charlie. “I didn’t ask to meet him. He approached me. He invited himself to lunch, and he invited me out to dinner, and he was the one who was completely kind and charming and impossible to stop thinking about. Even if I hadn’t learned he was Lucy’s uncle, I would have—”
She caught herself, imagining their conversation on the sidewalk when he’d said he was Lucy’s uncle. At that point she had been intent on never seeing him again. She had wanted to, of course, but the truth was, if he hadn’t been Lucy’s uncle, that conversation would have been their last.
“What am I going to do now?”
“Come home.”
The cell phone began to vibrate in her hand. Paige pulled away to check the caller ID. It was Tully.
“I have to go,” she said. “I have to clear things up first. Tell Joan...”
She knew she’d only return to Ohio if the police let her, but she sensed Uncle Craig already understood.
“I’ll tell her, honey.” Paige clicked over to the other line.
“Where are you?” Tully’s voice boomed. Even using his urgent, commanding tone, there was still something she liked about him. He was protective and honest and just. If circumstances were somehow different, she imagined they could have become friends.
Paige drew a breath. “It’s Paige. Charlie is wandering around somewhere in the woods. I have his truck and phone.”
“Then where are you?” he asked. “It’s really you I need to see immediately.”
“Are you going to arrest me?”
“Do I need to?”
Paige tipped her head back against the headrest. “I did what I thought was best for Lucy. I’ll take the consequences, whatever they are, Tully.”
“Good.” His emphatic one-word answer said it all.
“I’ll meet you at the station.” Paige dropped the phone into the center console and pointed the truck toward the police station. She loved Lucy dearly, and if given the chance to do anything differently, she wouldn’t change a thing. Lucy didn’t belong with Thorne any more than she belonged with the devil himself, and she was ready to say that to anyone who asked, including face-to-face with Jared Thorne.
* * *
AT THE POLICE STATION, Paige recognized Mara’s car and Tully’s truck. She assumed Thorne was already there, waiting for her to arrive, and the thought made her wish Charlie was by her side.
Cutting the engine and drawing a determined breath, she made her way into the station. An officer buzzed her through the security doors. On blue scoop seats, Lucy and Mara huddled together. Mara looked distraught, but Lucy’s head popped up excitedly once she spotted Paige. She slipped from her mother’s arms and sprinted straight toward her.
“Lucy!” Mara commanded, but the little girl didn’t look back. She sprang toward Paige and this time, instead of stopping short, leaped into her arms.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Paige whispered, squeezing the life out of her. “I’m sorry you have to come here.”
Lucy stared up at her. “Mom’s mad at you.”
“Yes. Do you know why?”
Lucy shook her head as Paige faced Mara, stalking toward them. Mara wrapped a protective arm around her daughter.
“Thorne is talking to Tully. He says he’s her—” She jerked her head down at Lucy.
“He is. But I’m not her...” With Lucy listening, Paige hoped Mara understood. The situation would be solved if only she was Lucy’s birth mother, but justice had its limits. Mara’s narrowed brows lifted in surprise.
“I don’t understand. Aren’t you the one who contacted Dr. Hathaway the other day?”
“Not quite. Can we talk?”
Mara glanced back at Peter, who had emerged from Tully’s office. His sunken face led Mara to dig through her purse.
“Lucy, I want you to sit right here near Officer Kirk and play on my phone. I have to speak to Daddy and Paige.” Officer Kirk glanced up from his paperwork and nodded.
“Can I do one of the game apps?” Lucy asked.
“Whatever you want, sweetie.” Mara smooched a kiss to her temple and ushered Paige toward Peter.
“We should have been suspicious of you all along, huh?” Peter said, his voice grim.
“Peter, she’s not her birth mother. You’d better spill it, Paige, and quick. That Thorne fellow is talking to Tully.”
Paige nodded. For the second time that day, she relived the worst period of her life and tried hard not to leave out important details. The story came easier this time, but so did the tears. Neither Mara nor Peter had interrupted her, letting her tell the entire story from start to finish, and when she was through, they stood slack-jawed before her.
“Thank heavens you got her out of there,” Mara said, glancing back at Lucy.
“What else could I do? My only regret is that he’s found her now. That’s on me, because I came here, led him here. And I’m sorry I lied to the both of you. It was never my intention to jeopardize your family.”
“There’s nothing that can be done about that now,” Peter said. “What you need to do is tell Tully everything you told us.”
“No,” Mara said. “She shouldn’t have to see Thorn
e. Just one look at him makes my skin crawl. You don’t have to go back there, Paige. We’ll wait until he’s left before we talk to Tully. We’ll wait until—”
“No.” Paige shook her head. She’d have to face Thorne in court eventually so she might as well march in and face him right now. She wasn’t a seventeen-year-old girl anymore. She was a woman with a strong mind and a strong will, and she couldn’t live in fear anymore. “He’s expecting a fight for Lucy and that’s exactly what I’ll give him,” Paige said, turning toward Tully’s office.
“Hold on, honey,” Peter said, taking her elbow. “You’re not going in there alone. You never have to go in there alone ever again.”
Paige saw the determination and sincerity in Peter’s eyes and when she turned, Mara’s face reflected it too. Mara reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly.
“We’re in this together. Got it?”
Paige nodded, and she did.
* * *
CHARLIE ARRIVED AT the police station and stopped short when he saw Lucy. He nodded to Officer Kirk before plopping down on the chair beside her.
“Hey, munchkin,” he said. “Where are your mom and dad?”
“They’re in Tully’s office with Paige.”
Charlie had spotted his truck but had figured Paige had dropped it off and headed for Ohio. He knew she was packed and ready to leave. Heck, she’d made it clear enough times over the last day that she needed to return home. He just hadn’t understood why at the time.
“Have you been out here a while?”
“I’ve played eighteen rounds of Alien Explorer.”
“Do you have any idea what they’re talking about in there?”
“Not really. Mom made us leave the ski show before it even started. Then she started sobbing to Dad. Then Tully called and we had to come here.” She peered up at him with round eyes. “Is this because I found Paige’s driver’s license? I already told her I was sorry.”
Where the Heart May Lead Page 20