by Debra Webb
“Why would you need friends like me when you have friends like Celine?” Paige glared at him for the space of a heartbeat before she stormed out of the room.
Nathan closed his eyes and tried to think. If he could only turn off the jackhammer in his head. He didn’t answer to Paige. Why would she care what he did? What did she want from him? Better still, what did he want from her? He had no idea. The only thing he knew for sure was that he didn’t want to hurt her. And he’d done a bang-up job so far. Maybe they could be friends. Too much time had gone by for anything else. Being friends might just work. Right now Nathan had to get some caffeine in his bloodstream before he died from his hellacious hangover.
Chapter Four
“Your Honor, my client has no prior record and holds down a part time job. He’s an honor roll student. Refusal of bail could prove devastating to him academically as well as financially,” Paige countered the DA’s request to withhold bail for her client.
“Your Honor, the State has reason to believe Mr. Jefferson might flee,” urged the young, handsome deputy district attorney.
Paige turned and swept a measuring gaze over her adversary. “Perhaps, Mr. Myers would like to share with this court his compelling reason to make such a request?”
“That’s my line, counselor,” the judge chided Paige.
“Sorry, your Honor. Just thinking out loud.” She smiled apologetically.
“Perhaps you’d like to share with this court your compelling reason for making such a request, Mr. Myers?”
Paige bowed her head and tried to hide her grin. Judge Mattson had always been her favorite judge. He was one of the few who still had a sense of humor.
“Your Honor, the State has learned that Mr. Jefferson has made statements to several of his friends that he intends to avoid testifying.”
“Are these witnesses present this morning?”
“No, your Honor, they are not.”
“Request to withhold bail is denied. Bail is set at one thousand dollars.” Judge Mattson banged his gavel.
“Court is adjourned.”
“All rise,” the bailiff called.
Paige smiled at Calvin Jefferson, who proceeded to give her a big hug. Beatrice, his grandmother, reached over the bench and pulled Paige against her bosom.
“Thank you so much, honey,” she whispered, tears threatening.
“Everything is going to be fine, Beatrice.” Paige drew back and smiled reassuringly at the older woman dressed in her Sunday-go-to-the-meeting clothes. Beatrice had been like a mother to Paige since her own mother’s death, and she had been more than happy to take care of Jesse as well... at least when Elliott Weston was away.
“Thank you, Miss Paige.” Calvin grinned widely.
Paige gave her eighteen-year-old client a speculative look. “Myers better not know what he’s talking about, Calvin.”
“Don’t worry, Miss Paige, I won’t let you down.”
“I’ll make sure of that,” Beatrice put in firmly.
“You can make the bail?” Paige asked Beatrice.
Beatrice smiled and patted her hand. “Don’t worry none about that. Your daddy has always paid me fairly. I got the money to take care of my boy.”
“Okay, see you in two weeks then,” Paige told them.
Calvin nodded before disappearing with the guard; Beatrice followed to post the bail. Paige packed up her briefcase and steeled herself for the wrath of her opponent. Myers was new and ambitious. His political aspirations gave her the willies.
Myers met her in the center aisle, a statement in taste from his styled blond hair to his Armani suit and handmade Italian shoes. “You’re making a mistake, you know.”
“You really think Calvin will run?” she asked, wondering how he could be so sure of himself about her client. Especially since Paige knew her client personally.
“Yes, I do.”
She nodded and suppressed the smile that yearned to make its presence known. “I’ll guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we, counselor?”
“We will indeed, Miss Weston.” Myers gave her a curt nod and started to walk away.
“I plan to push for change to youthful offender status,” Paige called after him. She’d get one last jab before he got away.
Myers turned back to her and raised one aristocratic eyebrow. “Don’t waste your time, Paige. I won’t go for it.” With that said, he strode away.
Paige sighed and shook her head. She wanted to shake him and tell him that Calvin Jefferson was a good kid. His grandmother had served as both mother and father while holding down a full time job. For as far back as Paige could remember, Mrs. Jefferson had worked as the cook and head housekeeper in the Weston home. Though she’d never met Calvin until his unfortunate run-in with the law, Paige knew he was innocent. His grandmother’s word and Paige’s own instincts couldn’t be that far off the mark. Calvin deserved a break. Somehow she had to make Myers see that.
Paige started toward the exit. The silent presence on the last bench, near the courtroom door brought her up short. She blinked twice to make sure she hadn’t imagined Nathan Blackrope. He stood and walked in her direction. Nope. No figment of her imagination could move like that.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, surprised as much as annoyed. The image of black pearls ricocheted through her mind.
“I’ve never seen you in the courtroom, I was curious.” He rotated his black hat in his hands. “Pretty impressive.”
Paige acknowledged the compliment with a slight dip of her head. “Windborne?”
“She’s terrific and so’s her little filly.” He smiled, which melted some of the ice between them.
Paige breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll call Robert.”
“I already did,” he said. Nathan’s gaze settled heavily on hers. “Look, I thought we could have lunch. Maybe try and actually act civilized around each other.”
“Civilized?” Paige bristled. “The only person acting uncivilized is you,” she told him tersely. “First you break into Robert’s house in the middle of the night and—”
“I did not break in. I had a key,” he reminded calmly.
Paige shook her head. “Whatever. You say all kinds of hurtful things to me and then you flaunt your girlfriend in my face.” Good gravy! She hadn’t actually meant to say that last part, but anger had overruled her better judgment.
Nathan shrugged. “Trinity’s a small place. There aren’t that many places to go out. Can I help it that I took my date to the same place you took yours?”
“Silas Dutton is a friend, not a date.” She clamped her mouth shut. Paige would not say another word on the subject. She didn’t care if Nathan Blackrope had ten thousand dates! And she wasn’t about to give him the impression that she did.
“I had no idea you were so concerned about my social life.” He grinned.
Too late, the impression had been made. “I couldn’t care less what you do, Nathan Blackrope.”
“Is that a fact? Then what’s all the fuss about?”
Paige willed herself to stay calm. “I hope you enjoyed the show, but I have places to go and people to see.”
“I guess that means you don’t want to have lunch with me?” Disappointment shadowed his handsome face.
“It was nice of you to come, Nathan, but I really have to run now. I have another appointment and then I have all those chores back at the ranch.”
“You don’t have to worry about the chores, I sent over a couple of my hands to do them.”
“I told you I didn’t need your help with the chores.” When would he learn that no meant no?
“You did need my help, you just wouldn’t own up to it. Since James will be back tomorrow, it’s a dead issue.”
“I’m glad James is better.” Paige would never admit it to Nathan, but her aching muscles rejoiced at the idea of having James back. “I really do have to go.”
“Paige, I’m sorry about yesterday, last night and this morning. I never meant
to hurt you.”
He looked so sincere, and she desperately wished she could believe him. But he’d let her down before. The image of how he had looked that morning, nude and sprawled across the unmade bed flitted through her mind. Her eyes had reveled in rippling muscle and glistening skin. The memory made her knees weak. She would never forget the way all that hair looked spread across his pillow. No man should look that good. Especially not this man.
“Why don’t we forget the whole thing happened?” she offered. She had to get him out of here. Besides, why should she be angry that he had a beautiful woman spend the night with him? He was single, unattached. She fought back the gigantic wave of hot, green jealousy that rose instantly at the thought of the redhead.
He shifted and raked a hand through his hair. “That’s a little too easy, don’t you think?”
“Honestly, Nathan, I don’t know what I think,” she said finally. One minute they were screaming at each other and the next she wanted... she wanted... never mind. “I just know that we can’t go on like this.”
Nathan nodded. “I agree. Now, how do we fix it?”
“Let’s think on it for a while and we can get together later and discuss it. How’s that?” She smiled, a little stiffly.
“All right. You’ll be back in Trinity tonight?”
“Ye-es,” she answered slowly.
“I’ll call you tonight then.”
“Fine.” Paige took his arm and ushered him from the deserted courtroom. Her nerves jangled as much from touching him as from the mounting anxiety.
“One more thing,” he said, pulling her to a stop.
Oh, Lord. “Yes?”
“About Celine—”
“Really, Nathan, you don’t have to explain. It’s none of my business. You have every right to date whomever you choose. It doesn’t matter to me what you do.” Liar, her subconscious chided.
“Nothing happened,” he said flatly.
“What do you mean nothing happened?” Paige forgot all about convincing herself that she didn’t care. She wanted to hear this. She really wanted to hear this. “That was Celine’s necklace.”
“It could have happened. She wanted... I asked her to leave,” he admitted hesitantly.
“Why did you do that?” Paige held her breath. Every particle of her being wanted to believe that it had something to do with her.
“I don’t know. It just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t stop thinking about the way you’d looked at me last night and what you must have thought,” he said softly.
He looked vulnerable, needy. Paige’s nurturing instinct surged. A lifelong bond, though deeply buried, still made her want to protect his feelings. She could see the confused little boy in his dark eyes. The one she had grown to love so very much.
“I really have to go,” she urged, afraid to say anything else or linger a moment longer for fear she would truly gather him into her arms to comfort the hurt. She didn’t want to feel the strange sensation she felt in the vicinity of her heart right now. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
Nathan nodded and followed her out into the corridor. “I’ll call you tonight,” he told her before walking away.
Paige watched Nathan disappear around the corner toward the stairwell. Why did just being near the man make her ache with need?
Chapter Five
Paige stretched one last time and then dragged herself out of bed. She had turned off the telephone last night to avoid Nathan’s call. She had to think some more before they talked. Lucky for her he hadn’t come pounding on the door in the middle of the night.
Today she needed to be far away from everything and everyone. To think long and hard about the future. Hers and Jesse’s. Paige pulled on a pair of navy blue stirrup pants and matching sweater. With James back today, she didn’t have the barn chores to worry about. Maybe she’d take a long ride and then an even longer walk on the far side of the Weston property.
Hair brushed and riding boots pulled on, Paige bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen. The sound of chatter registered in her brain as she came to a screeching halt just inside the kitchen door. A woman about Paige’s age stood on a stepladder, while another, older woman stood on the floor next to her. A long, damp length of flowery paper hung between them. The large oak table held the sundry items necessary to perform the task of hanging paper, including roll after roll of colorful wallpaper. Wallpaper that had been meticulously coordinated with the paint now gleaming on the kitchen’s wood molding.
“Hi, I’m Jenn,” the older woman said. “And this is Carol. You must be Paige, Robert’s niece.” She beamed a pleasant smile.
“Yes. Good morning,” Paige replied somewhat hesitantly before returning the smile.
“I hope we didn’t wake you. We were scheduled to start at seven. We have a—”
“I know,” Paige interrupted. “You have a key.” This was unreal. People just shouldn’t pass the keys to their house as casually as if they were lending a cup of sugar to a neighbor. Especially when their favorite niece—their only niece—stayed there all alone. Paige intended to have a serious discussion about security with Robert. Just how many keys did the man have, anyway?
“We’ll be through in no time,” Jenn assured her.
“Don’t mind me. I’m on my way out.” She smiled, grabbed a cola from the fridge, then headed out of the house and to the barn. She popped the top and took a long drink. It wasn’t coffee but it was caffeine—and today she needed it.
“Good morning, James,” she called out as she entered the stables. “I’m sure glad you’re back.” She rubbed her still aching back.
“Morning, Paige,” James drawled. He set down his feed buckets, then pushed his hat up on his forehead. “You look like a lady who’s hankering for a ride.”
“Yes, sir.” Paige trashed her cola can and surveyed the stalls. “What about that pretty Appaloosa down there?”
“That’s Ariel and I believe she’d be tickled pink to be your mount today.”
James expertly saddled up Ariel, while Paige visited Windborne’s new foal.
“Gotcha fixed up, little lady,” James announced when he’d tightened the cinch.
Paige thanked James and slipped into the saddle atop Ariel. The squeak of smooth leather brought a smile to her lips. The mare felt good between her thighs. It had been a long time since Paige had ridden. She felt almost giddy sitting astride the powerful animal.
“Making a day of it?” he asked.
“I’ll be back around lunch. I’m going down to the river to check out Robert’s favorite fishing spot.”
“You need a pole and some bait?”
“I don’t want to fish, I just want to relax. See you later.” Paige nudged Ariel, who pranced out of the barn. She headed across the wide, green pasture at a steady pace.
She smiled as she thought of James’s interest in her agenda. James had been with Robert for as long as she could remember. He seemed almost as much like family as Robert himself. He’d never let her go off alone without getting particulars. She supposed James hadn’t noticed that she wasn’t a little girl anymore; thirty was far from being a little girl.
Thirty. Boy, that sounded old. She thought of Jesse’s age as well. Four years old and an only child. Paige didn’t want to have an only child. Being one herself, she understood the loneliness. If her adolescent dreams had come true, she and Nathan would be married and have four children by now. That had been the plan.
That would never happen now. Paige didn’t resist the regret that washed over her with that thought. Getting right with the loss was necessary. Relaxing, she allowed her body to flow with the horse’s graceful movements. At one time, Nathan had been the most loving, considerate man Paige had ever known. Kind and compassionate. He had helped her to believe that anything was possible. So many dreams. None of which would ever be now. The only thing she could hope for was an amiable relationship with Nathan for the sake of their son.
The wide open space around her called
to something deep inside Paige. Her childhood days here had been so different from her life in Memphis. On the ranch, life had been slow and easy, horses and Nathan. In the city, it had been fast and stressful, social functions and her father’s expectations. She didn’t have one memory of a family outing that hadn’t carried some hidden agenda or professional motivation of some sort. Her Uncle Robert had allowed Paige to be a child—free and happy. Robert and Elliott had clashed many times over what was best for Paige. Elliott always won.
As she had grown into an adult, she had felt the tremendous pressure not to let her father down. He wanted so much for her to become just like him—a rich and powerful attorney. Marry the right man, Paige. Live in the right house in the right neighborhood and have the right children.
Paige rubbed Ariel’s neck as the mare trudged onward. Her life so far had been a huge letdown in her father’s eyes. She had borne an illegitimate half-breed child, become a public defender, and had no husband at all. Paige shook her head sadly. Elliott Weston still loved her, she knew that. He just didn’t want anything to do with the things that mattered to her. And Paige could no longer tolerate his indifference to her career choice and those he considered lesser forms of life, most especially her own son. Though he had tried to strong-arm his way back into her life since her cancer diagnosis and treatment, Paige hadn’t allowed him to take over. She took their fledgling relationship one moment at a time.
She shook off the depressing thoughts and focused on the paradise around her. Everything was green or getting that way as far as the eye could see. Gentle, rolling hills. Budding, leafing trees in the distance. And beyond that, she knew, was the little river that cut across her uncle’s ranch. The one she and Nathan had swam in hundreds of times. The place he had first kissed her when she was sixteen years old. A sweet, tender kiss that demanded nothing more than the meeting of lips.
Paige closed her eyes and summoned the image to mind. Nathan’s arms around her, his lean, young body close to hers, the warmth that flowed between them. His silky black hair shimmering down his back like dark, falling water. Bronze skin that glistened in the sun. It had been at that precise moment that Paige had known without a doubt that she would love Nathan Blackrope for the rest of her life.