Return to Me (8 page)

     The morning after her rampage against all things Denmari, Paige woke to a cool clear mountain air type of morning, the sort that never failed to get her blood pumping in anticipation for the day ahead. It was barely nine o’clock and, having met with the lawyers in what had to be the fastest will reading in the history of wills and testaments-she got everything-Paige was faced with an entire day with nothing to do.

    
She could clean the house, as the place was beyond large and there always seemed to be more scrubbing and polishing just waiting to be tackled. Or maybe a quiet walk along the lake was in order-always a favorite way to pass a brisk morning, or a sleepy afternoon.

     Then again, she considered, propping one modestly heeled foot on the deck railing and cradling a hot cup of hazelnut flavored coffee, maybe it was time to pay a visit to some old friends. Not that she had many old friends to drop in on, she conceded. Between her step father, going away to school, and her own once-nervous tendencies, the only friends from her old life that she really had were Guy-out of the question-and Hailey. Yes, Paige decided on a spurt of impulse, she would pay a visit to her old friend Hailey. Today. Now.

***

     "You broke his heart, you know."

     "I-" Paige sputtered, seriously wishing she hadn’t been so bold as to get into the car a half hour ago and vehemently cursing the fact that Hailey still lived in the house in which she’d grown up in, a little blue and white cape cod on the Southern tip of Helena. Why hadn’t she had the good sense to stay home that morning? Better yet, opt for a walk around the lake, clean something, hell, sit and stare at the four walls of her own living room-anything but drop in unannounced on a woman who, if her flashing eyes and stiff posture were any indication, would just as soon see her in a ditch as on her front porch.

     That she was still, for some reason, majorly offended on Guys behalf, years later, was both obvious and puzzling to Paige as she faced down her very angry best friend who added insult to verbal injury by looking even better than Paige remembered. Life just wasn’t fair.

     "What? Was he not good enough for you? You should have seen how he cried." Hailey bit out, snapping a shell shocked Paige straight out of her silent rumination.

     "He cried?" She gasped, stricken despite her best effort to remain aloof. What it must have taken to make someone like him cry, the depth of emotion...she was stunned. The thought of him shedding tears over her tore at her in ways she couldn’t begin to explain. I never meant to hurt him, she cried to herself. Although in truth, yes she had meant to hurt him, in a way.

     Her mind flashed back to that night in the dark, under the Oak tree, almost six years ago. She had been compelled to protect him at all costs and in order to do that, she had broken his heart. At the time, and in the years that had since passed, Paige had rationalized it and worked it around in her mind to the point where he hadn’t cared enough about her to be devastated.

     In her mind, she had hurt his pride, wounded his ego, and maybe caused a fleeting hint of sadness. He had moved on a long time ago. She knew it to be true.

     Before she had fled to Alaska with Erik, it seemed that he was everywhere she went-with a girl hanging on his arm each time. Usually several girls. Her heart had cracked and splintered and bled each time she'd had to watch him smile down at something his date said, or lean in close to whisper in her ear.   She had longed to say something, anything, to make the hurt stop, her own more than his.

     And after her last confrontation with him...well, it had been plainly obvious that it was too late. Their time had passed. Still, she'd never known, never
considered that he had wept over the loss of her. Even now, it hard to image that anyone had ever cared that much.

     "He cried, he drank, and he picked fights with anyone who so much as dared to look at him for months. Then again, if you had bothered to stick around, you wouldn’t need me to tell you this." Disdain was clear in her former friend’s stance and narrowed violet eyes.

     "I didn’t stick around." Paige replied coolly. "And it wasn’t a matter of want or choice. If you were any kind of friend, that thought would have occurred to you long before now."

     "Oh please, you
dropped me in a flash, just like him. And now you have the nerve to come back here, like nothing has changed. Well, it has. We're not kids anymore, Paige. You can’t just pick up where you left off."

     "Hailey," Paige rubbed her temple with a sigh. "Come on, let’s not do this. I'm back in town for a while; I came here today to see how you've been. Can’t we be civil to each other for five damn minutes? Is that too much to ask?"

     "I'm sorry Paige but I have nothing to say to you. You hurt a lot of people around here you know."

     "I guess I did." She murmured
, silently wondering at the ‘lot of people’ comment, shifted her chocolate leather purse with the square silver buckles and turned to make her exit. "It was good seeing you Hailey. I won’t bother you again." Her soft spoken statement was met with stony silence from the girl turned woman who had shared her childhood years.

     Paige walked
away with her head held high and her dignity, for the most part, intact. She faltered only once on her walk down the pebbled sidewalk to her midnight blue z28. Pushing all thoughts of friendships lost and love left crying in the dark, firmly from her mind, she turned the key in the ignition and drove away without looking back. Screw strolling around the lake; what she really needed was a good solid hour of retail therapy.

***

     Erik was casually turning burgers on the grill when she returned. Normally the sizzle and hiss of barbeque would be enough to catapult her from dark mood to ravenous light, but not today. She had spent the entire fifteen minute drive from Hailey’s house to her own mulling over their less than pleasant encounter.

     "Well look what the cat dragged in." Erik drawled, replacing the shiny black metal lid on the grill and turning to give Paige a cursory once over. "Is that for me?"

     "I stopped for coffee. Heavy cream, heavy sugar, just the way you like it."

     "Thanks. What’s in yours?"

     "Mocha something of other." She waved her hand in a vague gesture, although she thought there may have been Carmel as well.

     "I like chocolate."

     "Well then here, you take it." She shrugged, extending the thick cardboard cup.

     "Really?" His eyes lit up.

     "Yeah, switch me."

     "You're a doll." He winked, handing over his own brightly colored cup. "How was it?"

     "The coffee or seeing Hailey?" She sighed, though she already knew the answer.

     "Hailey."

     "Oh, that." Paige ran a magenta red fingernail along the edge of the brick that lined the side of the patio. "Let’s just say some people around here have long memories." She raised her eyes to Erik’s, seeking shelter from the storm that still raged inside.

     "That good, huh?"

     He cried, he drank, and he picked fights with anyone who so much as dared to look at him for months. Then again, if you had bothered to stick around, you wouldn’t need me to tell you this.

     "Better."

     "Sorry Paige." He said, hunkering down beside her on the cool tile.

     "She doesn’t want anything to do with me. I understand, it’s just...I don’t know what I expected, really. Doesn’t matter."

     "I'm glad you understand because I sure as hell don’t. What’s wrong with that witch? She knew what your life was like back then, how you were forced to grow up."

     "I can’t change it, Erik. If she feels like I've wronged her, then so be it. And maybe I did, but you know what? I'm getting pretty damn sick and tired of forever defending myself for decisions I made while I was backed into a corner."

     "That’s the spirit." Erik nodded his approval. "So, did she get fat?" He asked idly.

     "Erik!"

     "Well did she?" He turned toward her, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

     "No." Paige sighed, deflated.

     "Shoot."

     "But her butt is still bigger than mine." She winked, the comment getting an uproarious laugh from her friend.

     "Good for you sweetie."

     "Yeah." She grinned before turning serious again. "She said something else, Erik. About Guy. Did he really fall apart after I left?"

     "You mean after he tried to beat me up for stealing you away from him?" He snorted. "I never saw him again after that. Why?"

     "Hailey said he was pretty torn up is all."

     "If he was I never heard about it."

     "Why don’t you ask me yourself?"

Paige and Erik both jumped, startled at the sound of his voice.

     "Guy?"

     "Hello Paige."

     "Is he wearing a police uniform? Why is he wearing a police uniform?" Erik murmured from the corner of his mouth, climbing to his feet and pulling a shocked Paige up with him.

     "I don’t know..."

    
"Are you surprised to see me?" Guy regarded her through hooded eyes, shifting his legs. Paige's attention immediately went to the gun belt slung low on his hips. When her eyes swung back up to his face, there was no mistaking the amusement she found glittering in those blue depths.

     "That depends," Erik took the liberty of answering for her. "Are you the stripper gram?"

     "Erik!"

     "No, I'm not." G
uy shook his head in disgust.

     "That’s too bad." Erik drawled, wincing when Paige brought t
he heel of her shoe down on the top of his foot.

     "Ah..." Paige wet her lips. "It's nice to see you."

     "This isn’t a social call. If I could have a word with you in private?"

     "Keep dreaming."

     "Erik, please. I'm fine. Guy, let’s go around front. We can talk there." She motioned over Erik’s protest.

     Her thoughts swirled round and round in a whirling blur as she led the way around the side of the massive house, to the wide redwood front porch. It was as though she had conjured him by simply picturing his face.

     But what in God’s name was he doing in a police uniform, unless....she shook her head. No way. Guy? A cop? The image didn’t fit, and yet here he was, walking purposefully next to her, not behind her, in the cool afternoon sun. And although it was mid-October she noted it was still way too early for a     Halloween costume.

     So he was a cop
; she accepted the only logical conclusion with mild shock. And he was here, on her front porch, gun and badge prominently displayed, sunlight reflecting off the shiny Silver Star pinned to his chest. Ten years hadn’t faded his razor edge beauty, she reflected, drinking in the sight of him. If anything, he looked even better than he had as a youth. There was no question that Guy filled out his navy blue uniform nicely; his hair was also darker and his voice, lord, his voice.

     "Paige." H
e brought her sharply back to the present.

     "Yes?" S
he returned his measured stare with a well-practiced one of her own, one she had perfected over time spent in the faced paced heart of New York City. "Won’t you sit down? Can I get you a drink?"

     "I'll stand. As I said before, this isn’t a social call, Ms.-" he raised one dark brow.

     "It’s still Frey." She ran her tongue along her bottom lip, the first seeds of apprehension taking root. If he wasn’t here socially...she wracked her brain, trying without success to remember if she'd done anything illegal since her return to Montana.

     She didn’t think so, unless one of the neighbors had complained about the racket she had made a few nights ago, although she d
idn’t think any of them were close enough to be bothered by any noise she and Erik made. Really, they were quiet for the most part anyhow. Had she been speeding this afternoon while she had run errands in town? Paige frowned, struggling to recall, giving up after a sliver of a moment.

     "Okay," S
he huffed, shoving her hands into her pockets and rocking back and forth on her stacked heel sandals. "I give up," She admitted, daring to meet his eyes. "What'd I do?"

     If he was shocked by her blunt approach he didn’t show it, rather he met her level gaze head on and rested one hand high on the porch column. "We received a call from Hailey Robertson this afternoon and at her request, filed a police report."

     "Police report?" Paige squeaked. "My God has something happened to Hailey?"

     "T
he report was for harassment." His frown deepened.

    
"Har-harassment?" Her eyes went wide.

     "Did you visit Ms. Robertson’s residence at three o'clock this afternoon?"

     "Her name is Hailey." Paige felt compelled to point out the obvious. "You went to school with her for twelve years. And my name is Paige."
And you used to love me.