Chapter Thirteen
Paige
“Oh, honey. I wish you would’ve come to us before you got yourself into this type of mess.”
Paige wiped her eyes dry as her mother set a mug of steaming black tea in front of her.
“I know,” she said. “I should’ve told you both the truth about what was going on, but I just loved New York too much to let it go.”
“We understand that you wanted more independence to do what you loved to do,” Harry said, nursing his cup of tea. “You’ve done so well on your own, but this mishap is hard to look past.”
“I know.”
Tears filled Paige’s eyes again just thinking of the past week. She had no idea where Luke had gone after leaving Peter’s office. The lobby had been empty when she’d returned an hour later after sitting in a small cafe drinking coffee to calm her wavering emotions. And for some unknown reason, that had stung worse than everything that had happened.
It had left her with no option besides calling her parents for a plane ticket home. She had called Jessica from the airport to explain that she wouldn’t be coming back to New York right away—if ever besides to gather her things from her dorm.
Luke was a businessman. They had signed a legal contract, and knowing how much money meant to him, he had probably already called NYU to cancel the payments. She had gone back on her word.
And then she’d done the one thing she knew would sting him just as much as he had hurt her—publicly admitted that the entire thing had been fake just to benefit him.
“It was my mistake,” Paige said. “I should’ve listened to my heart when it said this wasn’t going to be a good thing.”
“You’re right,” Harry said coolly. “You should’ve listened to what I told you about the kind of man Luke Turner—”
“Harry,” Marie cut in, giving him a pointed stare. “Now is not the time to lecture our daughter. She’s having a tough time.”
“I am not lecturing. I’m just angry at this man for taking advantage of our daughter for his own financial benefit. It’s been a week, and not once has he called to apologize?”
“I don’t know if he has tried to call,” Paige said. “I turned my phone off after telling Jessica that I needed some time at home to figure things out.”
“I guess we will wait and see what happens then,” Harry replied, sighing. “I doubt Mr. Turner is going to give up this easily when it comes to contracts.”
Paige chewed on the inside of her cheek. It had been a week, and no repercussions had come just yet despite her anticipation for it. Nothing. Nothing had happened. She scoured the news every single morning, but there was nothing there to provide clues on what Luke’s temperament was.
She spent the rest of the day helping her mother clean around the house before they ventured into town together to do some shopping. Even if she loathed the idea of never going back to New York, it still felt good to have the comforting presence of her family around her. It provided a distraction from the horrible ache in her stomach whenever her mind started to wander back to the night before they’d gone into Peter’s office.
She never wanted to admit it out loud, but she had fallen in love with Luke in such a short amount of time that it was surreal. She had a suspicion that Luke had fallen in love with her too. No matter what he said, she couldn’t forget that look in his eyes while they had made love. It was the type of look she had read about in books and seen in the movies—a hardened heart letting someone in to get close enough to love them.
The color of the trees had changed overnight it seemed, Paige noted while walking slowly down the sidewalk as she waited for her mother to finish up the grocery shopping. She took a seat on one of the benches. It seemed so strange that in North Dakota, there was already a couple feet of snow. Winter had hit there first, and while it felt chilly in the shades of the trees, the sunlight was warm.
A part of her did burn with curiosity to see if Luke had at least tried to call her. Reaching into her purse, Paige pulled out her phone to power it on with a pounding heart. There were a few text messages from Shannon asking what had happened, but nothing else besides a voice mail from a number she didn’t recognize.
“Paige, it’s Toby Patel.” She held her breath. “I know your phone is off, but when you get this message, call me back. It’s urgent.”
Don’t call. It’s none of your business anymore. It doesn’t matter. Her finger pressed down on the number anyway to call it back.
Toby answered within two rings. “I’m glad you finally called me back. I was wondering what the hell had happened to you.”
“You were?” she asked skeptically. “I figured you were calling to yell at me like I’m sure Luke wants to yell at me.”
“I have no reason to yell at you,” he said. “I’m on your side here, Paige. I warned Luke not to mess with you, or else it would get very complicated for you both behind the arrangement.”
“Well, it is complicated. That’s for sure.” Paige tilted her head up to feel the warm sunshine on her face. “What is it that you needed to talk to me about?”
“I wanted to make sure you’re okay first off.”
“I’m fine.”
“And then I wanted to make sure you got back home okay.”
She opened her eyes. “How did you know I went home?”
“Shannon asked your friend if you had gone home or if you planned on coming back to New York.”
“And what did Jessica tell Shannon?”
“That she had no idea what you planned on doing exactly,” Toby said. “You didn’t give her a straight enough answer.”
“That’s about right. I have no idea yet.” Bitterness washed over her. “I’ll probably stay here in Wyoming, maybe take some online classes.”
“What about NYU?” Toby asked, and she could hear the frown in his voice. “You were so adamant about staying enrolled there and not putting your education on hold for anyone.”
“I’m pretty sure my days are limited there,” Paige said. “Why are you asking me about it anyway?”
“I’m just confused is all about—” He cut off abruptly before changing topic. “You haven’t heard from Luke at all?”
“No,” she said tensely. “Why? Should I have?”
“No phone calls or messages?”
“No,” Paige replied impatiently. “Why do you sound so surprised about that?”
“No reason, I suppose. I just thought he would’ve contacted you by now judging from the last conversation I had with him.”
“What was the last conversation—”
A beeping sound filled Paige’s ear.
“I’m sorry, Paige. I’ve got to take this phone call real quick. Call me tomorrow to let me know what happens.”
“What—” The line went dead.
Paige stared down at her phone in bafflement. She had no idea what Toby knew exactly, but knowing he was close to Luke, she summarized he knew something about Luke.
He just didn’t want to tell her.
****
The drive back to the farm was a long twenty-minute drive in silence. Paige gazed out at the blur of scenery along the highway as she replayed her brief conversation with Toby.
What is Luke up to?
It made her uneasy knowing that he was up to something. What it was exactly, she had no idea, and Toby hadn’t seemed too keen on telling her anything. She tapped the screen of her phone as she debated calling Luke’s cell. He won’t pick up. Why would he? He got what he wanted from you, partly.
She was caught on that part of it all. Luke had taken something he knew meant the world to her and then trampled all over it on his way to get what he truly wanted—money.
“Mom,” she said, turning to look at Marie with a grimace. “I have to tell you something that I hope you won’t tell Dad. Just woman to woman.”
Marie looked at her with a grim expression. “I had a feeling you needed to tell me something. What is it?”
Paige spent the next ten minutes explaining everything that had happened over the past thirty days—including the night she had given in to her passions with Luke.
“It makes sense now how you feel,” Marie said once Paige had finished telling her everything. “Sex brings out complicated emotions. I’m not surprised you feel the way you do.”
“I’m not crazy then?” Paige asked, wiping her eyes dry. “I feel like I’ve gone crazy trying to figure out why I feel the way I do.”
“It’s a big thing, Paige. That’s why your father and I have tried to tell you that it’s better to wait for someone you love.”
“I thought I did love him.” She looked out the window at the acres of sweeping land filled with evergreen pines. “I do love him. That’s how I feel, and I know he feels the same way about me. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“You can love someone with everything you have but not have it be the right time, Paige.”
“I know. It wasn’t the right time.”
Marie reached over to pat her on the knee. “Everything is going to be okay, honey. We’ll help you through whatever you need help with.”
Paige smiled in appreciation. “Thanks, Mom.”
A black truck was parked in front of the farmhouse when they pulled up a few minutes later.
“Who on earth is that?” Marie asked, leaning over the steering wheel to stare at the truck in confusion. “I don’t recognize that truck. Do you?”
“No,” Paige said, also leaning forward to look at it. She caught sight of the paper tags on the back. “It looks like a rental though. Maybe dad knows whose it is.” She scanned the fields where he had been cutting hay. “I don’t see him in the fields, so he must be talking to whoever drives the truck.”
“Must be.”
Once the engine was cut, they hopped out of the truck to head around to the back door that led into the kitchen. Her arms full of groceries, Paige entered the kitchen and nearly drop them in sheer and utter surprise when she found her father sitting at the table with Luke directly across from him.
“Luke?” she gasped out, holding onto the bags before they could fall to the ground. “What are you doing here?”
Luke rose from the table where he had been nursing a cup of coffee. He reached out to grab the grocery bags from her hands.
“I needed to talk to someone about a few things,” he said. “You talked about how wonderful your dad was at giving advice.” He set the bags down on the counter. “And you’re right. He is.”
She was at an utter loss for words.
Paige swiveled to glance at her mother, who stood rooted in surprise as well with groceries in her arms. Her heart pounded furiously against her ribcage as she ran her eyes over him, willing him to disappear like she was in a dream, but he remained standing there.
He looked worn out from the dark bags under his eyes, but in much better shape than she had seen him in Peter’s office. His blonde hair was tied back. A bristle of a beard covered his strong jaw, and he wasn’t dressed in his normal attire of fancy clothes. He was in a pair of tattered jeans, sneakers, and a sweater.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Just seeing him for the first time since in Peter’s office brought a fresh wave of emotion over her. “If you came here to tell me off for going back on our deal, then—”
“I’m not here for that,” Luke said smoothly. He glanced back at her father, who nodded in some sort of understanding. “Can we go for a walk together? I only have an hour before I have to get on a plane to go to Florida.”
“Florida?” Paige echoed, but she reluctantly let her arms drop. “I guess we can talk since you’ve obviously won my father’s stamp of approval.”
Harry stood up from the table to help his wife with the bags of groceries. He sighed at Paige in exasperation.
“I am not heartless,” he said, and he patted Luke on the shoulder. “Mr. Turner arrived here after you two left to go to town. He came clean to me about everything that has happened between you two.”
Paige’s eyes widened. “And you're okay with that?”
“Not all of it,” Harry said. “I made my opinions very clear to him, and he has responded with respect. He respects what I told him.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Go for a walk,” her father said, ushering Paige out the door with Luke in tow. “Listen to what he has to say.”
Dizzy with confusion, Paige stood on the back patio as Luke gazed at her with an indescribable expression. There was nothing she could think of to say. She had no idea why Luke had come all the way out to Wyoming, and it unnerved her that he had just shown up without warning.
It gave her little time to sort through her feelings.
“I thought you would be in New York,” she said finally. “I’m a bit surprised you’re here.”
“I wanted to come find you,” Luke said. He glanced out over the acres of land stretched in front of them. “The only place I could think you’d go to was your parents’ house—even if you didn’t want to go back.”
“I was confident that if I went back to New York, I’d be kicked out for lack of payment.”
Luke sighed as he shook his head. “I know you’re upset—”
“Damn right I am,” she blurted out, fresh tears streaming down her face. “How could you do what you did to me?”
“I’m sorry, Paige. I shouldn’t have—” He stopped talking and turned to look at her. Gathering her cold and sweaty hands in his own, Luke looked at her with a passionate gaze. “Just hear me out. Yes, it started out with me not caring if I got you into my bed; I just wanted you there. But things started to change for me over the past thirty days. You saw parts of me that even Toby doesn’t see.”
Her eyes fluttered shut as confusion crashed over her. “Don’t do this to me, Luke. I’m already confused enough about how I feel toward you right now. I don’t even know if I want to see you.”
“Well, I know how I feel about you,” he said firmly. “After you left Peter’s office, I got drunk—drunker than I have ever been in my life—because I knew what I had to do to make all of this right.”
“Which was what?”
“I needed to tell you that I love you.” Her eyes opened in surprise at hearing that. “I had to tell you that in person, because I do love you. It took me some time this past week to figure out why I ran from you, but it’s because I love you. I didn’t want to prove my father right, but I realize he wanted me to be in love. He wanted me to have a good life and not turn out like him.”
Paige scanned his face intently for any flicker of deception. There was nothing but genuine love and care there. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had seen Luke appear so honest and carefree.
“And that involves me?” she whispered.
Her heart lifted in relief when Luke nodded. His strong and steady fingers gave her hands a tender squeeze.
“Yes,” he whispered back. “I came out here to apologize to your father too. I told him everything that’s happened, and what I plan to do to fix all the damage I have done.”
“What’s your plan?”
“I managed to get into a treatment center in Florida for alcohol abuse,” he said plainly. “I’m getting on a plane today to go there, but I had to see you first.”
“What about—”
“My inheritance?” he supplied, smiling slightly. “Peter agreed to look over my father’s business while I still run it after I take some time to myself. I want to do things properly— the way it was originally set up.”
Pressing a kiss to the back of Paige’s knuckles, he fished something out of the pocket of his jeans. Paige’s heart skipped a beat when she realized he was holding the ring she had taken off back in North Dakota.
“I still want you to be my wife,” he said. “Not tomorrow. Not even at the end of sixty days when I’m done with this program. I want it to be when you’re done going to school, or when you feel the time is right.”
He slid the ring on her finger with a smile. “This ring belonged to you in the first place. I know it’ll take some time to forgive me, but I hope that you do.”
It had to be a dream. That was all Paige could think as she stared up at Luke with the chilly fall breeze stirring his hair. But it wasn’t a dream. The past two weeks seemed to fade away from them.
He had come all the way to Wyoming to apologize, to tell her that he loved her and planned on waiting as long as it took to get her back. She couldn’t have asked for anything else.
“I love you,” she said. “I’ll be waiting for you too.”
Luke smiled at her before leaning down to kiss her. They kissed each other with a cold breeze circling them, but they were warm in each other’s arms.
***
THE END