by Adele Huxley
The words came out before I realized I’d given them a voice, but it was true. The stalker, her crash, my permanent weakness… I felt like I wasn’t the man I’d promised her I’d be. When we first met, I swore to keep her safe and what kind of job was I doing?
“Bryan, you can’t do this to yourself. You don’t always have to be my knight in shining armor, it’s not what I want anyway. We’re partners, right? Us against the world?”
“Us against the world.”
“You always look out for the little guy,” she continued. “It’s one of the things I love most about you. But I’m not the little guy anymore.”
Liz reached across the table and pulled the rest of her lunch closer, her left hand resting on my lap. Already, I felt a weight lifted from my shoulders, the barrier between us gone. I knew I should’ve been upfront about everything from the start. I didn’t give Liz enough credit. I always forgot she was so much stronger than she looked.
We continued to chat but a few minutes later, she stiffened beside me. She stopped mid-sentence, her gaze traveling beyond me and over my shoulder. I turned to look and spotted Paige walking briskly in. Her hair was pulled up, a backpack stuffed to the brim on her back. She looked stressed and worried, unlike the bubbly girl I’d gotten to know.
“I need to get back anyway,” Liz said tightly. When our eyes met, there was warmth and trust there. I was still confused where the jealousy came from, but it felt good to know she trusted me to fix it.
“I’m glad we got to have a surprise lunch together. Are you sure you’re okay to go back out? Take the afternoon off. We can spend it in bed…” I tempted her.
She kissed me tenderly, her tongue darting out for a moment to graze my lips. With a longing smile, Liz stood and stretched. “As good as that offer sounds, I can’t afford to give up the practice time. And really, I’m fine. I’ll be sore as hell tomorrow morning, but my ego is probably bruised the most.” She zipped up her suit and bent at the waist. “You can give me a proper inspection later if you want.”
After saying goodbye to Liz, I threw away our plates and made my way over to the bar, but couldn’t spot Paige anywhere. I waited for a minute or so before waving down the bartender, a young guy with an arm of tattoos.
“ ‘Ello mate,” he said in a deep, English accent. “What can I get ya?”
“Ummm, I was hoping to speak with Paige. I just saw her come in.” I couldn’t have sounded more awkward if I tried, which he took to indicate I was some interested guy.
He gave me a knowing nod. “Lemme see if she’s still back there. Hang tight.”
I tapped my fingers against the edge of the bar, feeling completely sick to my stomach. I really didn’t want to have this conversation with her, but if it was going to make Liz feel better, then I had to. The fact was, Paige hadn’t done anything wrong… I had to make that abundantly clear. I didn’t want to just disappear and be rude for no reason.
The Englishman was gone longer than I expected. I started to grow a little concerned, along with a few patrons running dry down the end of the bar. I couldn’t be sure, but he seemed irritated when he popped back out of the swinging door.
“She’s back there, wants to see you.”
I moved to step behind the bar but hesitated. “You sure?”
“Yeah, mate. I’m the manager. Go ahead. She’s all yours.”
I pushed through the door into a small store room filled to the ceiling with liquor bottles and crates of beer. I heard a faint sniff from the right and followed the sound around a rack to an even smaller office. Paige stood hunched over the desk, mumbling to herself as she counted out a stack of brightly colored money.
“Everything okay?” I asked tentatively as I approached.
She wheeled around, her face blotchy from crying. She barked a short laugh and sneered. “Yeah, peachy.” She wiped the tears away with the heel of her hand and started stuffing the money in her bag. “Thanks for being so nice to me. You were one of the few guys that came in here that didn’t try to jump into my pants. We had some good conversations.”
“Yeah, but wait… what? What’s going on?”
Paige violently zipped up her bag and twirled to face me. “It’s all bullshit. I need to get out of town, but I’m glad I got to say goodbye.” She moved to push past me, but I stopped her short.
Alarm bells were going off like crazy in my head. “Are you in trouble? Can I help you somehow?”
I hadn’t realized how much shorter she was than me. She peered up into my eyes, her own filling with fresh tears. Her jaw clenched and unclenched as she fought some inner demons. “It’s not your problem,” she finally said.
“I’m making it my problem. Tell me what’s wrong and maybe I can help.”
She adjusted the bag on her shoulder and crossed her arms, looking more like a petulant teenager than young woman. She checked over my shoulder to make sure we were alone and when she spoke, her voice was low and fast. “The cops showed up at my flat today, asking questions about your girlfriend, fiancée, whatever. This apparently spooked a few of my cousin’s… business associates,” she said using her fingers as air quotes. “No sooner did the cops leave, then they showed up and took her God knows where. I barely got away, managed to grab this bag and that’s it. Now I have to get out of here and get home before…” her voice cracked.
A pit formed in my stomach as she spoke. I could tell she was trying to act tough, even shock me with her edgy life, but true emotion shattered the bravado.
“These guys dangerous?” I asked quietly. “They’re going to come looking for you?”
“I don’t know… to both questions. I never saw them until today but the way they treated Lyndi…” She hugged an arm around her waist and looked away. “She got herself into this, she can get out of it. I’m done. I’m gone.”
I chewed on my tongue for a minute, considering my options. I met her eye and swallowed hard. “Where were you going to go?”
“I don’t know, okay?” she snapped. “I didn’t have a freakin’ escape plan mapped out or anything. I was gonna leave town somehow, hopefully get out of the country by tomorrow.”
“It’s that bad?”
She nodded, a single tear escaping the corner of her eye. She deftly caught it and looked away, embarrassed.
“All right,” I said, my mind made up. “If you want, you can come with me. No one knows we know each other. Our house is under police surveillance right now anyway.” Her eyebrows shot up in protest but I held up a hand. “It’s a long story, but if you want to come, we can leave right now.”
Paige considered the offer, eying me suspiciously. Even though she’d been singing my praises only minutes earlier, she was wisely hesitant to get in a car with a complete stranger. “Then what?”
“We can figure it out, but if you really are in danger and people might be looking for you, we need to get you out of here.” I spoke as I plucked my phone out of my pocket in the hopes of reaching Liz, but it went straight to voicemail. I hung up, not knowing how I was going to explain all this with a thirty second message. I remained quiet, letting Paige process my offer. If I pressured too hard, she’d push away and disappear completely. You always look out for the little guy, I could hear Liz say in the back of my mind.
“All right, let’s go,” she said in a quiet voice.
I nodded, already moving into action. “You stay here for a couple minutes. I’m gonna get the car, pull it up front. You make your way there as quickly as you can. Don’t stop to talk to anyone, and try to look as natural as possible. For this to work, no one can know we’re together.”
“What about Dave?” she asked, referring to the bar manager. “I just told him I quit, and he knows we’re back here talking.”
“People quit jobs all the time. Thank him, slip in there that I was just a creep looking for your number after all. Then come find me.”
____________
Paige hugged herself the entire trip back to the house. I couldn’t shak
e the weird flashbacks of driving Liz away from the vacation house, fleeing from Rick, only a few years before. Two women, each in trouble, and me swooping in to save the day.
Maybe the Blizzard isn’t a skier anymore. Maybe he’s become a superhero. I should buy a cape…
The thought made me chuckle, which earned a dirty look from Paige. I couldn’t begin to explain my thought process there, so I kept my mouth shut. We reached the house after an uneventful, silent trip.
“This is your house?” she asked in awe as she climbed out of the car.
“It’s not ours, we’re just staying here until the race. Liz’s sponsors set everything up for us.” I offered to carry her bag inside, but she clutched it tighter.
“It’s all right for some, isn’t it?” she muttered, following closely behind.
I wanted to describe the tiny house Liz and I normally lived in back in Colorado, somehow defend myself, but I doubted she’d believe me anyway. Once people got an idea of fame and fortune in their heads, not a lot could change it. She’d never believe we shopped at Walmart and rarely ate out.
I led her to the kitchen and peeled the plastic wrap off a plate of shortbread cookies one of the staff had left. She climbed onto the tall chair, leaned against the counter, and gripped her elbows tightly. At some point, she’d pulled the thick hood of her sweatshirt up, her blonde hair spilling down the side.
“There’s a policeman watching the house all hours of the day. You’re safe here. No one can get to you,” I reassured her.
“Heh,” she snorted before inhaling two cookies at once.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
Her green eyes flicked up to mine before looking away. She fixed a brave face and shook her head. “It’s probably best if you don’t know.”
“It’s not like I’ve lived a sheltered life. Was your cousin selling drugs?” She shrugged. “Organized crime?” Shrug. “Did someone get killed?” She shrugged again, but a tiny quiver of her lip betrayed her. I stepped around the corner of the island and touched her shoulder. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but you should really talk to the police. They can protect you…”
“You don’t have a fucking clue what you’re talking about,” she snapped. Her eyes were filled with desperate, frantic dread. The intensity startled me for a moment but quickly faded, almost melting before my eyes. She shook her head and wiped her face with one hand. “I’m sorry.” She reached for another cookie.
“Let me get you something more substantial,” I said as I moved to the double-sized fridge.
“You really don’t have to,” she protested quietly.
“Pick,” I said holding up a bottle of soda in one hand and water in the other. She nodded towards the sugary soda, which I opened and set in front of her. “Are you a vegetarian or anything?” She shook her head before taking a big gulp of soda.
“I was for like, a heartbeat when I was younger,” she replied. “When I realized the cute little piggies I fed at the petting zoo were made of bacon…”
We talked while I set out all the ingredients for one of my epic sandwiches. I’d hold up an ingredient and she’d nod or shake her head, all while maintaining our mundane conversation. I tried not to notice how badly her hands were still shaking. Something has really spooked this poor girl, I thought. I knew I needed to take her mind off it before pressing the issue again. My gut instinct told me that her cousin had dragged her into something, that she didn’t bring the trouble on herself.
“So where exactly are you from? I don’t think you ever told me,” I asked while spreading a thin layer of aioli on the grain bread.
“North Carolina.”
“No way,” I said as I set down the knife, genuinely surprised. “Liz is from there too.”
Paige’s gaze dropped to the sandwich before she continued. “I was born there but we moved when I was a baby. I grew up in New York.”
I nodded, sensing she wasn’t telling the entire truth. “City?”
“State.”
“Ah.” I layered thick pieces of turkey on top of the bread and gestured to a tomato. She shook her head indicating she didn’t want it.
“So, do you ski?” I asked, trying a different direction.
“I board.” She picked the black nail polish off her nails, flecks of it scattering across the counter.
“Of course, young girl like you. Snowboarding is much cooler.” At this point, I was grasping at straws, anything to keep her talking, keep her from focusing on whatever horrible stuff had just happened to her. A part of me considered that she could be lying. Maybe she’s actually some expert con-artist, I thought. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt, though…
A small smile spread across her lips. “I’m not that young. I’m old enough to remember when those photos of you came out.”
A blush rose in my cheeks. I hadn’t thought about those photos in years, and I certainly hadn’t expected her to bring them up. “Ancient history,” I laughed nervously.
Paige leaned forward on her elbows, her attention completely on me. “What was the story with those again? I just remember the actual pictures, not how it all happened.”
I gave her a friendly scowl. It really wasn’t something I should discuss with her, especially given the conversation I’d had with Liz about establishing boundaries, but I was glad to see her emerging from her shock. Maybe if I could reestablish our friendly banter, I’d discover the truth of her situation.
“I lost a bet,” was my simple explanation.
“And that was the punishment?”
“Yeah, except no one was supposed to have a camera.”
A long silence spread between us, and she finally giggled. “Still, impressive… equipment… considering how cold it probably was.”
I rolled my eyes and plopped the sandwich down in front of her, hoping my face wasn’t nearly as red as it felt. “Yeah, yeah. Eat up, smart ass.”
“I’m just sayin’,” she giggled, taking a bite. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
I tried being direct. I tried a more oblique tactic, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t get her to open up. I’d hoped that she might try to fill the silence between us as she ate, but nothing came out. Maybe it’s still too fresh, I thought. Give her a little space and she might start talking.
Once she was finished, I offered her the guest room. I was all out of options and I thought she might appreciate the time alone. But after I offered, the look she gave me knocked me back on my heels.
“What? What did I say?” I started.
She squinted at me, pulled the hood back, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Why did those cops come looking for me today? No offense, but if your girlfriend is so jealous she’s sending police over to any girl who talks to you…”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” I said. I crossed my arms and leaned against the counter. “I can’t really tell you what’s going on, but it doesn’t have anything to do with her jealousy.”
“So she is jealous?” she asked, her eyebrow quirked in amusement.
“No, that’s not…” I stammered. “I shouldn’t talk about it.”
“Then I guess I need to go. Because of her, my cousin is God-knows where. Plus, I get the feeling she won’t exactly be happy to see me here when she gets home.” Her eyes shimmered with tears again, but she held back from crying.
Sensing a small crack I could exploit, I sighed and pushed myself from the counter. I leaned forward on the island, meeting her gaze directly. “Liz has a stalker. Something happened at the lodge yesterday, that’s why she was so harsh on you. We had to call the police and your name came up as someone who knew she was there, nothing more.”
“That’s it?” she asked dubiously.
“That’s all.” I sighed, my patience coming to an end.
“What do they know? Do they have any ideas who it is?”
Something in the way she phrased the question caused me to pause. “I don’t think I should tell you
any more and besides, I’m more concerned about you right now.” Her hard facade rose again and she looked away. “Listen, you don’t have to tell me anything, but please let me at least keep you safe.”
I opened the door to the small guest room and stepped aside, letting her walk past. She stopped short, just inside the doorway and hesitated. Only a few feet away, she peered up at me and cocked her head to the side.
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
My heart thumped in my chest as I looked down at her, seeing the intent in her eyes. “You needed help,” I said, as if that were enough of an answer.
Paige tossed her bag to the ground and inched forward. I pressed my back against the frame in an effort to maintain the distance. “So, you’re just a nice guy then?” she practically purred.
“No, not really,” I laughed awkwardly.
She placed a hand on my chest before pressing against me. I could feel the heat of her palm through the fabric. “No. You’re a nice guy. And sometimes, nice guys finish first.” She stood on her toes and kissed me lightly on the cheek.
“Paige, this isn’t why I helped you. I can’t…”
She blinked at me innocently, her lip curling. “Can’t what?” she asked, before trying to kiss me fully.
A door slammed down the hallway and startled both of us. It was enough to break the moment. I frowned in the general direction, surprised to hear someone else moving around in the middle of the day. I took the opportunity to back off completely, pushing her shoulders gently away for good measure.
“I can’t do this, Paige.”
For a moment, her expression didn’t change, almost like she thought I was playing hard to get. A wash of embarrassment turned her cheeks pink as she spun around. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I think I’m just…”
“You don’t have to explain anything. You’ve had a hard day, I totally get it. Why don’t you lay down for a little bit. Come out and find me when you’re feeling better. Do you want me to wake you for dinner?”