by Julia Gray
He crashes into the dining room window at the front of the house. It cracks and starts to shatter. The sound of glass breaking covers the noise of him catching his breath. I hear more cheers around me, and a crying hostess. I wait to see if my opponent has more fight in him. He clutches his stomach and stumbles a little.
"Gavin!"
I barely hear the voice shouting my name over the chaos around me. I turn my head and see Paige. Seeing her again isn't like old times. I don't just see her as my summer fling or friend with benefits. I see her as Paige, the girl carrying my baby.
It scares the crap out of me, but I can't stop staring at her.
PAIGE
Chapter Twenty Nine
"Is it mine?"
I wait outside of Rosie's house because I know Gavin will follow me. Dane yells at me to get moving when the three of us hear sirens getting closer. As I predicted, Gavin runs outside. He looks at me like I'm a fragile teacup sitting in a china shop. He takes my hand and begins walking. Mikki and Dane are in front of us. Dane looks back every few seconds, making sure I am still behind him. His eyes go wide when he recognizes Gavin.
"What are you doing here?" I mutter. The last time we spoke, I was upset with him because he didn't even seem to care when I told him I would be gone for the rest of the summer. He acted like it wasn't a big deal that he might not see me again.
"Working," he answers. We turn a corner just as a couple of police cars speed to Rosie's.
"Whatever," I reply. "Lie to me all you want, but I will figure it out eventually." His face looks different without the piercings. I glance at his chin and the gleam in his eyes. My stomach leaps when our eyes meet.
"I'm not lying," he whispers. "I'm here with . . ." He helps me across the street like I'm a two-year-old.
"With who?" I ask.
"Your dad."
"What?" I yell.
Dane steps into an alley and stops. He lets go of Mikki's hand and takes a step towards Gavin. I gulp. The look on Dane's face is not a good one. He is going to start something, and then the two of them are going to fight until the other one is unconscious on the ground.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Dane says, looking at Gavin. "And why are you wearing my shirt?"
"Dane," I scold him. "Cut it out okay."
"I'm here because your dad hired me."
"He is here?" Dane replies. "Why?"
"I," Gavin hesitates. "I can't tell you that."
"You tell us now or-"
"Stop it," Mikki cuts in, holding Dane back. "Can we talk about this somewhere else like the café maybe?"
"Yeah," Dane agrees. He takes a deep breath to calm himself down. "Good idea, babe."
"I have places to be," Gavin responds. "And I'm only interested in talking to Paige anyway."
"You little-" Dane leaps forward, but I stand in front of Gavin. My heart starts racing, and I feel anxious as I look at the disdain in Dane's eyes.
"No Dane." I hold up a hand to stop him from starting something I don't want to see. "You and Mikki go back to the house. Myra will be looking for us, and she can't find out about Gavin, or she will probably give him up to the cops to avenge her friend Rosie."
"Okay," Mikki agrees. She grabs Dane's hand.
"I won't be long," I continue. "Gavin and I need to talk."
"Make sure she gets back to my aunt's without a scratch," Dane murmurs, glaring at Gavin. Mikki pulls him down the sidewalk, and he reluctantly follows her. "You and I aren't done," he adds.
"Peace out little D," Gavin mutters jokingly. He shakes his head.
"Gavin," I say. "You can't be here right now." My pinky finger twitches and my hand lightly shakes. I can't handle all this drama all at once. A tear runs down my cheek. I look away.
"Hey," Gavin responds. He takes my hand. "Let's get out of here and go somewhere else."
"I don't know if that's a good-"
"Paige, I know your secret." He cuts right to the chase. He was never one for games, not even flirty ones. One of the first conversations we had was when Gavin told me I was intrigued by him. He told me right away that he was attracted to me. I was speechless.
"Sam," I say quietly. "That blabbermouth. But that doesn't explain why you threw him into a window."
"He is an idiot."
"We hit it off until he-"
"Paige." Gavin takes my hand and gently rubs my wrist with his thumb. I've never seen his gentle side before. "Is it mine?"
"Is what yours?" I play dumb, but it doesn't work on him. He sees right through me.
"The baby, Paige."
I didn't think it would be this hard to tell him yes. It is only a word, but it is a word that is going to change my life forever. My stomach churns. I don't know what he's going to say or how he is going to act. Maybe he will say the same thing that Sam said?
"It's yours," I reply. "I am sure of it."
He looks up at the night sky and then nods. He keeps my hand in his as he glances down at my stomach. More tears run down my face. I look at my feet like I've seen Mikki do. Another police car heads for Rosie's house, and the sound of sirens interrupts my thoughts.
Be strong, Paige.
"I thought we were careful."
"Apparently not careful enough," I respond, frustrated.
"And have you decided what to do?" he asks. I look up at him, but the sincere look on his face only brings tears to my eyes. I glance at my heels again.
"Sort of," I mutter. "I mean, I don't want to get rid of it." I sniffle.
I imagine myself carrying a baby on my hip. I've never really been around babies. I don't know the first thing about changing diapers or swaddling an infant. I have never really babysat either. Alana babysat a family down the street from her almost every weekend from the time she was twelve years old. Even she has heated up a bottle before. I wouldn't know what to do if the baby cried. But there is a good chance that the fetus chilling in my stomach right now will love me more than anyone else on this earth.
I start to smile.
"Then . . . I'll help."
"What?" I wasn't expecting him to say a thing like that.
"Yeah," he says, matter of factly. "I know your family has money and everything, but I don't want the kid to wonder who the hell his father is. I want to help."
"You would change a diaper?" The thought of it makes me laugh.
"If it makes it so he's not messed up like me then yeah."
"He," I repeat.
"If it's mine than it has gotta be a boy," he answers.
"Gavin, promise me something." I think back to all the times I've felt lonely. All the times I've wandered alone around the house because Mom and Dad are too busy with their own engagements.
"Okay." He leans in closer, and I get a good look at the empty holes in his face.
"Do you promise that you will slap me good if I ever start acting like my mom?"
He chuckles.
"Just because you said that you are already nothing like her."
Chapter Thirty
". . . that's private."
Dane is pacing the hall in front of my bedroom door. When I jog up the stairs, I see him anxiously watching me. He looks at his phone and clears his throat. I am starting to wonder if he has taken it upon himself to act like my dad now.
"You made it," he says.
"Yep." I open the door to my bedroom, hoping that he won't follow me inside. My room is empty. I check the closet to make sure Mom isn't changing or searching for her silk pajama bottoms. I quickly unzip the dress I borrowed. I hope it doesn't reek of alcohol or vomit. "Um, do you mind?"
Dane walks into my room with me and shuts the door.
"Oh sorry." He turns around so I can change and put Mom's dress back where I found it.
"Let me guess," I begin. I throw on my pajamas and retreat to the sitting area. It feels good to change out of my heels and recline on the sofa. "You want to know everything Gavin said to me."
"You know me so well," he replies with a str
aight face.
"Every day you remind me more and more of Dad," I comment. "It's starting to freak me out."
"Dad told me to watch out for you," Dane answers more seriously. "After what happened to Mikki at the beach house, I'm not going to let anything like that happen again. Especially since you're-" He stops himself.
Dane and I haven't talked face to face about my situation. Since Mikki knows that I'm pregnant, Dane also knows. Dane and I don't usually talk about personal stuff. First of all, Dane isn't usually around. And second, I don't think he trusts me. At all.
"You know," I say quietly. "Mikki told me that you found my pregnancy test."
"I tried to talk to you about it back home." He shrugs. "So . . . have you told Stephen?"
"Surely, Mikki has told you that Stephen is not the father."
His eyes go wide. He shakes his head disapprovingly.
"No, she didn't tell me anything. She said you would tell me when you were ready."
"And the surprises keep on coming," I mutter. "Well, there you have it. Stephen isn't the father." I wait for Dane to sit down because I know he is going to get upset when I tell him who the actual father is. "It's Gavin."
"What?" Dane's cheeks turn a fiery red. "How . . . when?"
"Uh that's private," I respond. "Ew."
"Paige." He takes a deep breath and looks up the ceiling as if he is trying to tame all the thoughts in his head.
"I don't need a lecture from you right now, okay?" I fold my arms. "I'm going to hear it nonstop for the rest of my life when Mom and Dad find out." My voice is quiet, and Dane stays still in order to hear me. It makes the room so silent that I get goose bumps. Dane softens his disappointed stare. "Please, just let the past stay in the past."
Danes slowly nods.
"Okay," he agrees. I look him in the eyes to make sure he isn't kidding. It is like looking at an entirely different brother. He just agreed to keep my secret safe, and not hold it over my head like our parents surely will.
"And Gavin," I add. "He isn't all that bad."
"One step at a time, Paige." Dane clears his throat. "Let's just take this one step at a time."
When Dane rolls up his sleeves and takes a few deep breaths, I decide he's relaxed enough to hear more. I lean forward, sitting with my elbows bent on my knees.
"We didn't have much time," I tell him. "And all we talked about was . . . well, us."
"Figures." He stands up.
"All Gavin told me was that he is here for a job. That's it. I promise."
"You didn't ask about Dad?"
"I told you. We didn't have much time."
"Something weird is going on," Dane says quietly. "Mom has hardly spoken a word to me since she got here. Has she said anything to you?"
I shake my head.
"Maybe Dad was messing with you or something?" My voice gets lower at the end of my sentence. That was a stupid thing to say. We both know that Dad isn't one for games or jokes or even laughing really. He wouldn't have told Dane that Mom was kidnapped if it weren't true. "Maybe that woman isn't Mom? Maybe it's some kind of robot person?"
Dane rolls his eyes.
There is a quiet knock on the door. The door knob slowly turns, and Mom walks into the room with a giant smile on her face. She has an empty wine glass in her hand, and a rolled up copy of Vogue.
"The plans have been made," she announces. She tosses her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Everything is set for tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow night?" Dane repeats.
"What can I say?" She puts her feet up on the bed and makes herself comfortable like we are both visitors in her room. "I am that good." I might choose to sleep on the sofa tonight if Mom insists on sharing the bed.
I watch Dane to see if he is going to gather the guts to ask Mom up front what is going on. For a minute, he stands up straight with his chest puffed out and eyes watching her thumbing through her magazine. Then he takes a few steps towards the door as if giving up. He glares at me.
"Fine," I mutter. I walk towards the bed where Mom is holding her empty wine glass like it is still full of liquid. "Mom?"
"Yes, honey." She barely glances up.
"Is everything okay?"
"More than okay," she answers. "I talked your aunt out of royal blue place mats. They're so 80's."
"That's not what I mean." I look to Dane, but he is just as stunned as me by how hard it is to keep her attention. "Dad called and-"
"Your father called here?" she interrupts. I take a step back just as she jumps to her feet like she has seen a ghost. She barely misses knocking me in the face with her elbow. "The nerve of that man!"
She races towards the bathroom.
"I don't want to hear another mention of him again, do you hear me?" Mom slams the bathroom door. I can hear her stomping her feet on the tile like a toddler throwing a tantrum. She turns on the tub faucet.
"That went well," Dane comments, staring at the bathroom door. "I guess I'll just have to wait for Dad to call back."
"Or for him to stop by to say hi," I joke. Dane frowns. "Sorry."
"I don't understand why Dad would fly all the way out here without even telling me," Dane says quietly. He steps into the hallway.
"He's a man of few words," I reply.
GAVIN
Thirty One
"She'll just run again."
I open the door to the empty flat a few streets away from where Paige is staying. The apartment is dark. I flip on the lights. Matt isn't back yet. I grab a glass of water before heading to my room for some sleep. When I walk past the bathroom, I notice that I'm grinning. My strides were longer my entire walk home. I feel different tonight than I did yesterday.
All my life I've focused on one thing at a time. Learning to steal. Learning to lie. Learning to pickpocket so Dan and I can pay our Landlord once in a while. I lived from one moment to the next. People like me don't have the stomach to look to the future. What future? My future is always right now. You can't find your purpose in life when you're only surviving.
Seeing Paige tonight changed all that. I have found my cause, and she didn't push me away. I collapse onto the bed and close my eyes. My lids feel heavy, and it doesn't take long before I'm dreaming of living on a quiet little island somewhere with a pocket full of cash and fridge full of cold brews.
When my eyes open, it is light outside. The sun peeks through my window and wakes me up. I hear a clicking noise in the front room. At first, the sound confuses me. Then I jump to my feet, my heart racing. I take slow steps until the front of the apartment is in view.
"It's only me," Matt Haskell says quietly. He has his laptop set up at the kitchen table, and he is typing furiously like I've seen his computer guy Skip do.
"Oh." I rub my eyes and scratch my head.
"I told you not to go out last night." He mutters it calmly, but my chest continues to pound.
"I was hungry." I swallow the lump in my throat. I hate being called out.
"Next time order take out," he responds.
I glance over his shoulder and see tiny pictures of street corners on his screen. I try to change the subject. He will be mad at me enough as it is when his daughter tells him she is pregnant. And when Matt figures out that I am the father there is a good chance that he might strangle me.
"What's all this?"
"I've installed cameras," he answers. He keeps his eyes locked on the screen. "My wife is definitely in town."
"You spotted her?" I ask.
"I didn't have to." His eyes dart from picture to picture. Every few seconds he stops on a particular picture and looks at something close up. He pulls up a camera around the corner from Paige's aunt's house and zooms in on a car parked across the street. "She is here, and she has the information chip she stole from me with her. See this car?"
"Yeah." I squint and look at it more closely.
"This car and a couple of others have been lurking around since she came into town." He zooms out and continues scanning his cam
eras again. "I followed one last night. A lowlife they call Burns is in town, and his posse has been watching her. Eventually, he will make a move, and it won't be pretty."
"Shouldn't you warn her?"
"She'll just run again," Matt answers. "And then we will have to start this process all over again. I need you to find the chip first." He clears his throat and begins typing. "It is small, black and no bigger than the size of a penny.
"So it could be anywhere," I sigh.
"You are giving up already?" Matt stops and glares at me. His harsh expression is so solid that it looks like it is chiseled into stone.
"I didn't say that." I start to feel sore, and I realize that most of my muscles have been flexing this whole time. I can't let the stress get to me. I need to get back to my usual state of mind when I didn't care about anything or anybody, and nothing really mattered to me. That is what made each job so easy. I've never had something to lose.
"You don't have much time," he points out.
I nod and close my eyes. I think of my options, and smirk when my thoughts jump to a conclusion. I rub the rest of the sleep from my eyes and turn towards my room. I am going to need a clean shirt.
"I know exactly what to do."
"Good," Matt responds. He still looks stern even when he turns away and gets back to work. "But first, it is my turn to get some sleep." I try to get a closer look at his surveillance cameras.
"Mind if I uh-"
"Go ahead." Matt stands up, giving me permission to study the cameras he set up while he takes his turn to sleep. He points to two screens, both of which are recording separate streets that aren't far from the house we are watching. "But if anything happens here or here, wake me up immediately."
He heads for the bathroom, rubbing his forehead. It is almost a relief to see him tired like I am. It lets me know that he's human.
I focus my attention on the cameras facing Paige's aunt's house. I zoom in on each window, each step, and any possible point of entry. I will be sneaking in and having a look around myself for the chip. At first, it seems impossible to do without getting caught. But then I remember a very, very important detail.