CHAPTER 12
Kent noticed the light was on in Paige’s living room when the limo drove by her house and dropped him off a few hundred feet away. He stood on the porch staring at the empty pizza boxes. Gramps had company tonight and he wondered if it was Paige. He glanced down at the shoes on the floor. They were hers. He picked one up and examined it, size nine. She had good sized feet. He hadn’t noticed. There were so many things he didn’t know about Paige Hathaway and he wanted to know everything.
The night with Sasha had been abysmal. She argued with him after too many glasses of Champagne and ended up slapping his face when he told her he had to leave. Although he was exhausted from the tension of the evening, he had an urge to run – just go burn off the humiliation, the anger, with the hope he’d sleep tonight and not wake with tremors, sweating, yelling. He tossed the linen suit onto the bedroom floor and slipped into his jogging shorts and attached his running prosthetic. In the wee hours of the morning, he ran – slowly at first to warm up – then picked up the pace. It was quiet, all he could hear was the sound of his own breathing, his feet scuffing as they touched the ground briefly, and his heart hammering in his ear.
Every heartbeat seemed to say Paige. He wondered how Justin was doing and missed walking Thor tonight. At least the charity event raised a lot of money and Paige was happy about that. After all, he did this for her. The most important thing to him was that Paige was successful, happy with the results. As he rounded the bend to return to Gramps’ place, he noticed the light was still on in Paige’s living room. Maybe she was awake. He thought about knocking on the door, but when he got close to the porch he heard Thor bark and backed away. He didn’t want to wake them if they were sleeping. It was 2:00 AM, he was exhausted. He grabbed a cold glass of water, and walked softly to the back bedroom. He removed the prosthetic and sunk into the featherbed. He sat up and drank the whole glass of water as he swallowed a handful of pain pills. No tossing and turning tonight – every ounce of energy was spent. As he drifted to sleep, he mentally made a checklist of things he needed to do. Get a refill for the Oxy was top priority. He was running low. Then he thought about the work he wanted to complete at Paige’s place. Her garage door was not working properly. The screen door on the porch needed the screen replaced. He wanted to ask Justin to help him clean out Gramps’ barn. Before he could continue, his eyes closed and he was unable to think any longer.
* * *
A knock on the door woke Paige from a sound sleep on the sofa. The television was on and so was the lamp. She yawned, stretched and turned them off before moving toward the back door. Glancing at the clock she wondered who’d be knocking at 8:00 AM on a Sunday morning. When she opened the door, Kent was standing there with a grin on his face, holding her favorite coffee, something in a small paper bag, and her shoes.
“Figured you’d like breakfast on the porch, here, on a fine day like this. Oh yes, and you’d probably like your shoes back.”
“Well, yes – thank you. Hold on. I’ve got to wash my face. I just woke.”
Awkwardly self-conscious, she turned and ran to the bathroom. She washed her face, brushed her teeth and pulled her hair back into a low ponytail. As she approached Kent, she could see him sitting on the porch through the wavy glass in the old kitchen window.
“How’d the big date go last night?” She asked as she pushed the screen door open. She couldn’t wait any longer. She had to ask him. It had been gnawing at her.
“Okay, I guess. I don’t know what Sasha thought of me. But, it was dinner and a swim in the pool. She had some dude snap a few photographs, which made me feel a little weird. Then we had dessert in the suite. But, I did not stay the night.”
“Really?” Paige took a sip of coffee and nibbled on a freshly baked gingerbread muffin with cream cheese frosting. How did he know she loved these?
“Yeah. Sasha, she’s nice and all that, but different than you.”
“Different good, or different bad?”
“Let’s just say, she’s not my type.”
“Okay. What happened? Now you’ve got to tell me…everything.” Paige couldn’t stop herself. She felt a sense of relief and wanted to know every detail, especially if Sasha didn’t get her man.
“She was expecting me to sleep with her, I think…”
Kent glanced away as if embarrassed.
“And…”
“I told her while we were eating dessert, I’m just not into that.”
“And…”
“Well, I was sort of surprised – but she was drunk and slapped me across the face, hard. That was a first for me.”
“Oh yeah – that sounds like Sasha. If she doesn’t get what she wants, she can be downright mean.”
“Hey, look – I didn’t want to take up your whole Sunday morning gossiping about that. I wanted to know if Justin could help me with some chores. I have a few things to do around here, plus I’m cleaning out the barn for Gramps.”
“Sure. I’ll go get him out of bed. Hold on.”
Paige smiled as she ascended the staircase to Justin’s bedroom. Thor greeted her the moment she opened the door.
“Come on, Justin! Rise and shine – dog needs to go out.”
“Um, okay.” Rubbing his eyes, Justin sat up in bed.
“Kent’s on the porch waiting to talk with you.”
“He is?”
“Yup.”
Paige watched her son stumble into the bathroom and heard him flush the toilet. He dressed in record time and raced down the staircase with Thor to the porch. She had never seen him so focused, so excited, to see anyone. As she glanced at herself in the mirror, she realized she looked like an old hag, or at least felt like one. She quickly put on a sheer lipstick and tucked her shirt in, and felt the urge to take a shower and wash her hair.
When she stepped out onto the porch, Kent and Justin were taking Thor for a walk.
“Be back in a little bit, mom.”
“Okay. I’ll be here…taking a shower…”
They weren’t listening. She could see Kent with a pen and a small notebook in his hand. The two of them were colluding about something. Kent mentioned projects and she noticed he never went to the store without a list. Military training. He was prepared, organized, focused. She loved that about him. And, his honesty was refreshing. He didn’t drink to excess, from what McCabe told her, nor did he smoke or use drugs. Kent seemed unaware of the fact that he was incredibly handsome. He was comfortable in his masculinity. He didn’t have that strut Jeremy had – that ‘ain’t you lucky to be with me, babe’ look on his face. No. This guy was the total opposite of Jeremy. What a great influence Kent had been on Justin in the short time the two had been together. Kent would make a great father figure for her son.
Stop it. You’re moving too fast, the little voice in her head started. Kent was younger than her, seven years younger. Why would a 25-year old guy who’d never been married want a 32-year old woman with all the emotional baggage she had? And, it wouldn’t be easy to raise someone else’s kid. As Paige showered and lathered her long dark hair, she pondered these things. She’d only known Kent for a week…well, it was going on two weeks now. The night they made love was amazing. It was as if Kent could read her mind. She hadn’t had intimacy like that since…it had been years.
Her girlfriends constantly chided her about becoming a recycled virgin, living alone for the rest of her life. Justin was growing up, in ten years he’d be on his own. She had imagined that life of living alone – filled with visiting her parents in Florida in the winter, having the blue-plate special – hanging out with her friends in Crystal Cove. It was possible to imagine living without a man in her world ever again, but it was a dreary thought. Problem was: it wouldn’t be just any man. She wondered if Kent would be the type who could fully commit to one woman for the rest of his life.
As Paige stepped out of the shower, her phone rang. She barely said hello, when she heard Sasha’s voice on the other end.
“D
ahling, we really need to get together for dinner. I’m leaving tomorrow. Lisa, Natalie, Cloe, Melanie and Amanda are meeting me at the Crystal Cove Inn and I was hoping you could join us.”
“Well, let me make sure Justin has someone to watch over him. I’ll text you right back. Give me a minute.”
Paige really didn’t want to go to dinner with her friends tonight. She’d seen enough of them the past few days. She waited ten minutes, then sent a text to Sasha.
Sorry, I can’t find anyone to watch Justin tonight. Hope you had fun on your luxury date. I’ll have to catch you next time. Have fun with the girls.
As she pulled on her jeans and a T-shirt, she heard Justin’s voice outside in the driveway. She looked through the bathroom window, then noticed Kent was with him. They had a bag full of stuff from the hardware store and Kent was showing him how to do something.
Paige padded down the staircase barefoot and stepped onto the porch. Kent was fixing Justin’s bicycle, which had been in the garage for the last few months with a flat tire. Kent was pumping air into the tire and was performing a general inspection on the bike, showing Justin every piece and how it worked.
“Got to make sure it’s safe to ride. Here, look, the seat is loose.”
Paige watched as Kent tightened the seat and Justin climbed onto the bike.
“Let me take it for a test run, just up the street.”
“Sure. Be careful. Watch the cars.” Kent called out to him.
The sun highlighted Justin’s hair as he pulled away and Paige exhaled a sigh of gratitude. If she’d never seen the two before, she would’ve sworn Kent was Justin’s dad. She saw the way her son smiled at him before taking off. Kent treated Justin like a young man, not a little boy. Paige always hoped for a male role model for her son. She thought it would be her dad, but her parents relocated to Florida and weren’t in his life. For a moment, it seemed Kent McCabe appeared on her doorstep at just the right time. This was something she had never planned, but sometimes it seemed the best things in life never were.
Kent turned and saw her standing on the porch.
“Hey, beautiful – didn’t hear you come out here. Wow, look at you, just out of the shower. You are perfect.”
Paige giggled.
“Far from perfect.” God, she felt like she was in ninth grade again and the cute guy noticed her for a moment.
“How about dinner tonight? You, me, and the little man?”
“Sure. I’d love that.”
“Can we go to that lobster place again?”
Justin returned from his bicycle test run. “It’s good!”
Paige’s eyes met her son’s.
“How about dinner tonight with Kent?”
Justin nodded. “Sounds great.”
The remainder of the day, Paige did laundry and cleaned the house as she caught an occasional glimpse of Justin helping Kent in the yard. Kent was patient with him and sort of a big kid himself. She noticed him installing a beautiful front door replacing the old warped, weather beaten one.
“Where did you ever get that?”
Paige handed him a glass of iced water.
“Craig’s List.” Kent grinned. “I knew you needed one and I happened upon this and the measurements were perfect. I’ll have it installed in no time.”
“Yeah. I’m his assistant.” Justin took a glass of water from her.
“Good. Keep working. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
She kept peeking outside every so often. The screen got replaced on the porch door. Some pavers were laid in the garden after a path had been shoveled and filled with pea gravel.
* * *
At the dinner hour, Kent walked down to Gramps’ to take a shower. He wasn’t sitting on the porch, as usual. In the kitchen, Kent observed his grandfather sitting at the kitchen table scowling as he worked a calculator and a pencil.
“Whatcha doin?”
“Oh, just figuring something out. I have to get my ducks in order.”
“What ducks? I didn’t know you had any.”
“I have an appointment tomorrow, to see a man about a horse.”
Gramps always used that expression when he wanted to be evasive. Something was going on, and Kent didn’t want to push the issue. Gramps always told him everything, but it had to be on his own time, in his own way.
“I’m taking Paige and Justin to the Lobster Trap for dinner, wanna come?”
“Not tonight. But thanks for the invite. Can you drop me off at the VFW? The guys are making BBQ there tonight. Pete and his brother are cooking. It’s good stuff. Then we have a card game.”
“Sure. I’m taking a shower and will drop you off. Give me a few minutes.”
Gramps seemed buried in his calculator with a long list of numbers, more somber than usual. Kent suspected he was having money problems.
While he showered, he thought about Paige and how stunning she was straight out of the shower today – hair wet, eyes shining, lips ready to kiss. As he shaved, he studied his reflection in the mirror. Would he be good enough for her? He knew he was addicted to the painkillers the VA doctor had prescribed and he was nearly out of them. Even worse, he knew this was something he had to address and soon. He didn’t want Paige to know he had to take pain meds to get through the day and to sleep at night.
April had dumped him for another guy. Maybe Paige would too, after she got to know him better. But, he had to find out sooner rather than later. Any opportunity to get close to Paige was something he’d take; she had set his soul ablaze. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. He would never know if he didn’t pursue her. But, he also knew there was a fine line between pursuit and stalking – and she’d already experienced enough fear in her life.
The Lobster Trap was already filled with people when they arrived. Justin was excited and found the last empty table right away. Kent and Paige placed their order and slid into the booth with Justin. The townsfolk were craning their necks to watch every move made by the threesome. There were assumptions being made, Kent surmised. Good, bad, or indifferent – they were certainly the talk of the town.
“Gramps looked happy tonight when we dropped him off.” Justin noted.
“Yes, he likes to be with his friends. They keep him going.” Kent said, realizing the veterans were his grandfather’s support system, but they were quickly becoming his, too. Lately, more often than not, Kent would bring Gramps there and go inside with him. The men and women were welcoming, non-judgmental and it felt good to be able to relax and laugh.
Their number was called and Kent moved to the counter. He carefully balanced the bowls of lobster stew to the table on a tray, with a warm roll and butter for each. He smiled at Justin’s questions.
“Gramps always has fun at the VFW. How’d he get all those friends? Is it a secret club?”
Paige’s eyes met his and he felt his heart rate increase.
“Can I go there sometime? What does VFW mean?” Justin continued.
“It’s for soldiers…” Paige whispered.
“VFW stands for Veterans of Foreign Wars.” Kent explained. “It’s sort of an exclusive club.”
“Do you go there? You’re a veteran of a foreign war.” Justin stared at Kent for a moment.
“Yeah, I go there, quite a bit actually.”
“But, not as much as Gramps.” Justin added.
“I will be going more often, I think. They asked me to help with the project – you know, the money your mother raised. The place is going to be remodeled and we’re putting new heating and air conditioning in.”
“Wow, can I help?” Justin’s face was eager.
“I’ll find out if I can have an assistant. Let me check first.”
Kent reached out and tousled Justin’s thick dark hair. It was the same texture and color as Paige’s hair. His eyes studied her for a moment. She sipped her lobster stew and scooped up the succulent pieces of lobster meat with her spoon just so. She had a delicate feminine way of eating and he loved watching her. All he could
think of was kissing her again, making love. He had to find a way to be alone with her.
Later back at Paige’s house, Kent’s heart swelled with the praise heaped upon him as she admired his handiwork.
“This front door is beautiful…and the granite steps. Where did you get this? Oh gosh, Kent, I have to pay you for these things!”
“No. It’s a favor from me to you. I got it on Craig’s List, all of it. Amazing what you can find when you’re looking for it.”
His arm reached around and he pulled her to him. He’d been wanting to do so all night, but this was his chance.
His heart almost stopped as Paige’s upturned face nearly touched his. Her lips close, she whispered, “I can’t thank you enough.”
He murmured, “Yes, you can.”
The last of the sunlight slipped past the horizon and the three of them went inside.
“Justin, it’s time for you to shower and go to bed. It will be a busy day tomorrow. I’ve got to meet with the teacher and principal at school…and get you back into the classroom full time.”
“Okay, mom – I’ll go take a shower – you can sit and talk with Kent. He’s really interesting.”
Kent laughed as Justin scrambled up the staircase. He was flattered Justin thought he was interesting and hoped Paige felt the same way. Ever since the night of the charity event, she’d been distant – friendly, but it was as if she’d forgotten all about making love to him the night she helped him find a suit. Or, was she trying to forget about it? Maybe he wasn’t as good as he thought he was. Maybe she knew he was a drug addict with PTSD and wanted nothing to do with him. But, she was receptive to him tonight and that’s all he wanted – a chance.
Kent sensed the time was right while Justin was in the shower to gauge her feelings toward him. His arm moved around her and she willingly snuggled against his chest.
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