by Rachel Hanna
He loved her.
There was no denying it anymore.
And if he wanted to be with her, he was now going to have to fight for her.
But should he? Wouldn’t that be making her choose? Was that fair to her?
He loved her too much to have her always question if she made the right decision.
He wanted to throw up or punch somebody or scoop her up and run away with her.
Instead, he walked out into the hallway and then outside to get some air. The nurse said she’d be out at least another hour.
“Who are you?” Daniel said from behind Brett as he stood in the rooftop garden.
“I’m her boyfriend,” Brett said, even though Paige never got to finish saying the words.
“Boyfriend. Wow. Okay…”
“Where the hell have you been? You faked your own death?” Brett turned and exploded in a barrage of accusations.
“Of course I didn’t fake my own death! When I found out what my mother did, I was in rehab, trying like hell to get my speech back. Learning how to use a fork again. Learning to walk without a cane. I thought Paige abandoned me because I was damaged goods.”
“She would never do that. You should’ve known that.” Brett walked to the edge of the garden and looked out over the small town of January Cove, breathing in deeply in the hopes that the salty sea air would somehow make things better.
“As soon as I was able, I started looking for her. I’ve never stopped loving her.”
There was a quiet between them. Brett struggled with being angry and feeling sorry for what Daniel had gone through. It was definitely one of those “rock and hard place” kind of moments.
“I think you should know that I intend to do everything in my power to take her back home to New York with me.”
And there it was.
Brett turned and looked him in the eye. “Don’t you think Paige should make that decision?”
“Look, I can give Paige the world. Traveling, contributing to her favorite causes, a life spent not wanting for anything. Do you really think this small town life is what she wants? Come on, man. You know she deserves better.”
“That’s where we agree,” Brett said before turning to walk back inside. “She deserves better than either of us can ever give her.”
Paige opened her eyes, hoping that she was at home, warmly snuggled into her bed and not actually in the hospital. But when she heard the beeping of a heart monitor in the distance, she knew her situation hadn’t changed.
And she knew there was a lot she had to deal with.
She looked around the room, but no one was there, so she pushed the button for the nurse.
“Miss Emerson, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” the nurse said when she entered the room.
“Groggy and quite confused.”
“That’s to be expected. You’ve missed a whole day of your life,” she said with a reassuring smile. “I’m Marlene, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you. Is anyone here with me?”
“You have two gentleman in the waiting room,” she said. For some reason, the thought of seeing either Brett or Daniel made her anxious. “And a young woman.”
That part was confusing. Maybe it was Addison or Rebecca. “Do you know her name?”
“Sandra? Sandi maybe?”
“Sandi’s here? Can you send her in?”
“And the men?”
“Not yet,” Paige said, sending her a knowing smile.
Marlene walked out and came back with Sandi beside her, who promptly swooped in and hugged her friend tightly.
“Thank God you’re okay!”
“I’m not sure I’d say that.”
Sandi tilted her head and poked out her bottom lip. “I know this must be a lot to take in, sweetie.”
She sat down in the chair next to Paige. “I don’t understand how all of this happened. How is Daniel alive? How are you in January Cove?”
“I’ll let him explain. I wish I could’ve gotten in touch with you this weekend. I was texting and calling, trying to tell you…”
“I turned off my phone.”
“Yeah, probably not the best idea. When Daniel showed up at my apartment, I almost had a heart attack myself.”
“Brett and I… we’re…”
“He told me. I like him, Paige. He’s a wonderful man.”
“But Daniel…”
“Listen to me,” Sandi said, leaning in to Paige’s bedside. “You don’t have to make any decisions right now. Take your time. Let’s get you feeling better and then get you home. Then you can get the full story and decide what you want to do.”
“You mean decide who I want.”
Paige wanted to go back to sleep and let someone else make her decisions, but life just wasn’t that easy.
Chapter 13
Paige was glad to be going home. Brett was driving her there, Sandi riding along in the backseat, but she still hadn’t seen or spoken to Daniel again. She just hadn’t been ready, but everyone in the truck knew that she was going to soon.
There was an air of discomfort around her no matter who was there. No one knew what to say, what to do. The whole thing reminded her of that Tom Hanks movie, Castaway, where the guy gets stranded on a deserted island and comes home years later to find his fiancee married to someone else.
Only she wasn’t married to Brett. There was still time to make a choice between the two men, and it was a choice she didn’t want to make.
Daniel was alive.
The thought made her so happy. He wasn’t dead, still had a chance at a great life. Would it be with her? And if it was, what about Brett?
Her stomach flipped and flopped as they pulled into the driveway. Sandi would be staying with her for a few days, making sure she was feeling good. Even though the doctors weren’t worried, Sandi most definitely was.
“I’ll unlock the door,” Sandi said, taking the keys from Paige as she got out of the truck.
Brett stood there, not overly close to her, obviously giving her space. He looked at the ground, fidgeted a bit more than usual.
“You need to talk to Daniel.” There, it was out in the open.
“I know,” she said, simply. What else was there to say?
“I can stay if you want…”
She looked up at him, a sad smile playing on her face. “No. It’s okay. I think I need to do this alone.”
Brett nodded, his face more serious than she’d ever seen. She knew he was looking for an answer, an assurance that she would choose to be with him, but she couldn’t say that right now. Loyalties that were there before him couldn’t just be wiped away that easily.
“I know this isn’t easy, Paige. You make the choice that’s right for you, okay? Somebody’s going to get hurt either way you go, and I’m strong enough to handle it if that person is me.”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” she said softly. He took her hands and brought them up to his mouth, kissing them softly.
“You deserve the world. Go with your heart, okay?”
She nodded, and he kissed her quickly on the cheek before turning and walking away without looking back.
She watched him drive off and then walked inside. Sandi was sitting on the sofa, looking as nervous as Paige did. Paige sat down beside her, leaned her head back against the sofa and sighed.
“When did you know?” she finally asked.
“A couple of days ago. Hampton tried to contact me first, about a week ago. I ignored his calls, assuming that the Richmond family wanted me to cater an event. I wanted nothing to do with that.”
“Hampton?”
“Yeah. Apparently he left Tori. Couldn’t stand it anymore, I guess. Spilled the beans to Daniel who was finishing inpatient rehab at a place in Connecticut.”
“Wow. So Madeline whisked him off, told me he died and told him I abandoned him?”
“Seems that way.”
Paige put her head on her knees and screamed. “God, why didn’t I do more diggin
g? Why didn’t I go to the courthouse and look for a death certificate?”
“Who does that, Paige? You trusted the guy’s mother to tell you that he passed away.”
Paige stood and paced the room. “She put me through hell. She probably laughed so many times about how she got me. I hate her. I don’t believe in hating people, but she’s not even human.”
“Agreed,” Sandi said. “Listen, Daniel is on his way over. Do you want me to stay or…”
“I need to do this alone. But thank you.”
Sandi walked toward the front door. “I’ll take a nice long walk along the beach. Why don’t you text me when you want me to come back?”
“Okay. Make sure to go by Jolt. It’s a great coffee place.”
Sandi nodded and closed the door behind her. Paige could feel the anxiety rising in her body, her hands sweaty, her heart racing.
And then she heard the knock at the door. When she opened it, Daniel was standing there holding a bouquet of fresh, red roses - her favorite - and smiling.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he said, with that perfect white smile. So familiar, yet so unfamiliar at the same time. Conflict raged in her gut.
“Come in,” she said softly, stepping back and allowing him to enter.
She closed the door and put the roses in a vase on her side table before turning back to him. Daniel stepped forward and pulled her into a tight embrace, and she melted into a puddle.
Was it still love? Or was it relief?
“God, Paige, I missed you. I’m so sorry this happened. I thought you didn’t want me…” She could hear his voice shaking, his own heart pounding as he held her close to him. He smelled the same - clean and sexy. He felt the same. But at the same time, nothing felt the same.
Tears streamed down her face. “I should’ve pushed harder to see you. I should’ve checked for a death certificate or something. I didn’t know. I would’ve never left…”
He kissed the top of her head. “The good thing is we only lost a few months.” She stilled.
Stepping back, she looked up at him. His eyes were the same, but he had some small scars on his face from the accident. She noticed a slight limp when he walked, but otherwise he was the same Daniel who kissed her goodbye that morning.
And to him, it was time to pick right back up where they left off.
“Let’s sit down,” she said, pointing to the sofa. He held her hand and sat down right beside her, holding both of her hands in his and occasionally bringing them up to his mouth and kissing them. “You met Brett?”
Daniel took a deep breath and nodded, not making eye contact. “Do you love him?”
She hadn’t been asked that question before. “I… don’t know. It’s new.”
Daniel smiled slightly. “Paige, we aren’t new. We have history. We had a life planned before…”
“…Your mother.”
“…My accident.”
They spoke at the same time. She chose to ignore their different answers for now.
“I want you to come home with me,” Daniel said. It was part request, part demand, it seemed.
“Daniel, I can’t just walk away from here. I have a job and friends and…”
“Brett?”
She paused for a moment. “Yes, and Brett. He certainly factors into the equation.”
“Come on, Paige. You’ve known him, what, a few weeks? We were engaged! I have to say, I’ve been a little surprised - and let down - by your reaction to seeing me.”
Frankly, she was surprised too. She loved Daniel. She always would. But seeing him had thrown a wrench in the new life she was starting to create for herself, and trying to imagine going back to New York was very difficult for her.
All she could think about was the blue waters of January Cove and the crisp spring breezes of Clover Lake. Nowhere in there were skyscrapers and pigeons.
She stood and walked to the kitchen, pouring herself a random glass of wine. She rarely drank, but right now she wanted to down the whole bottle.
“Paige?” he said softly from behind her. She didn’t answer. “I love you. I never stopped loving you.” She didn’t turn around. “Are you still in love with me?”
Slowly, she took a sip of her wine and then turned. “If I’m being honest, I don’t know.”
Daniel’s face looked like she had punched him in the gut. “I wasn’t expecting that.” He turned and walked back to the living room and sat down on the edge of the sofa, his elbows resting on his knees. “What changed, Paige?”
She sat down next to him on the sofa. “I grieved your loss for a long time. I didn’t think it was possible to cry that much, to hurt so deeply that I literally wanted to curl up in a ball and die with you. I sat in that hospital waiting room, day after day, begging every member of your family to let me see you. To let you hear my voice. And then when your mother told me you died, I begged to come to the funeral.” She shook as she spoke, anger and outright fury boiling under the surface.
“I’m so sorry, Paige. I had no idea. You have to believe me.”
“I do believe you,” she said, turning to look at him. His eyes were soft, welcoming, the same ones she’d planned to stare at each day for the rest of her life. Now, they were a source of confusion for her. Could she really let him go a second time? Not even give him a chance? Was he right about Brett? She had only known him a short time, but she had history - and life plans - with Daniel. Didn’t he deserve something from her too?
It was all so confusing. And heartbreaking no matter which choice she made.
“There’s something you need to know, Daniel.”
“Okay…”
“Right before your accident, your mother came to a banquet hall where I was working and offered me any amount of money to leave you.”
His face looked stunned, and he sighed audibly. But he said nothing about his mother.
“Please come back to New York with me. Give us a chance, a new start. Move in with me at the penthouse. We can start making our wedding plans again.”
“It’s not that easy, Daniel. It’s just not. I can’t just pick up where we left off like nothing happened. It wasn’t either of our faults, but there are aftershocks.” She stood and walked toward the front door, looking out the window at the ocean a couple of blocks over.
“Okay, I get it,” he said, walking to her and putting his hands on her shoulders. “We can take it slow. Just come back to New York with me. You can stay at one of our hotels or get your own place. We can delay the wedding.” He took her hand and then looked at her with confusion. “Where’s your engagement ring?”
She swallowed hard. “I sold it to get the money to start over here.”
His eyebrows shot up and he let go of her hand, stepping back. “Wow. Okay.”
“I couldn’t stay there, Daniel. Everywhere I looked, I saw the Richmond name.”
“And that’s so bad?”
“When it’s connected with your mother and sister, yes.”
He licked his lips and then bit the bottom one. “But you didn’t want to remember me? Because I am a Richmond, Paige. And you will be too… hopefully one day soon.”
The thought of becoming a Richmond made her feel queasy. And then she realized there was a question she had to ask - didn’t want to ask.
“Daniel, did you cut ties with your mother and sister after you found out?” She stared into his eyes, waiting for an answer.
He swallowed hard and stepped back a bit more. He rubbed the back of his head, a move she had seen many times when he didn’t want to have a confrontation with her about something, even as simple as where they would eat dinner. She could tell that the answer wasn’t going to be a good one.
“They’re my only family, Paige.”
Knife.To.The.Heart.
“How could you?” she breathed out, only half able to form a coherent sentence.
“Paige…”
There was nothing he could ever say that would make it okay. She leaned against the front door. Tears s
treamed down her face while rage bubbled under the surface.
“There were so many times, sitting in that uncomfortable chair in the hospital waiting room, that I begged your mother for mercy. Begged Hamp to help me. Begged Tori, even. I tried everything I could, fell to pieces right there so many times. I was willing to do whatever it took to get to you, Daniel, because I was going to be your wife and I needed to be strong for you.”
He walked forward and reached out in an attempt to put his hands on his upper arms, but she waved him off. “And I’m so grateful to you. I can’t imagine what you went through. But now I’m here, and I want to be strong for you for the rest of our lives. I love you, baby.”
Her eyes welled again and she shook her head. “No, Daniel. You had a choice. Maybe not a few months ago, but recently. You chose your mom and sister, which means I can’t be your family.” She opened the front door and stood there, stoically, not looking at him. In a rush, the scene with Brett and Amira in that very same living room played in her head. He had stood up for her, took care of her, gone to bat for her. Daniel had never done that. The reality of the fact that Daniel would’ve never cut ties with his mother for her set in, and it was a hard pill to swallow.
“Paige, come on, please. You know my family is complicated. We have businesses together. My Dad is gone and I’m the man of the…”
“She told me you were dead, Daniel. She put me through unimaginable hell, and yet you can forgive her. Let her stay in your life?”
“She got me through rehab. She was there for me when I had no one else. I can’t just kick her out of my life now. She’s my mother, for goodness sakes.”
“Let me ask you a question,” she said, staring up at him. “If I said I’d be with you but only if you moved here to January Cove, what would you say?”
He swallowed and looked away. “Paige, be reasonable.” And there it was - she had never been worth it to him. She was a convenience, a way to irritate his family, a way to feel like he was a good person.
“Daniel, please go. And have a good life. I truly mean that. But I won’t be in it. Because this time, I choose me.”