Paige's Turn, page 18
He rubbed my back. “I had some help.” He reluctantly let me go.
There were several people waiting to greet me and hug me. And get their hands on some of Mabel Lu’s food. She catered the event. Maggie and Darrell were first, followed by the irreplaceable Jana. My dad and Sam’s parents took their turn and several people from the community, including the superintendent of the school district. She was so impressed with my idea that she was advertising my services on the district’s website and inside the high school.
It was all overwhelming, but nothing was more surprising than to see my mother standing in the corner away from all the chaos. She looked unsure as she leaned against one of the walls in the children’s section. We hadn’t really spoken since Father’s Day. A few polite nods, if we ever saw each other, but nothing beyond that. I knew, through my dad and Maggie, she was having a hard time adjusting to the changes in our family dynamic.
Sam gave me an encouraging squeeze, and I walked over to my mother. “Hi.” I tried to sound brave and kind.
She stood up straight in her form-fitted black dress. “You look . . . nice.” She had a hard time getting those words out.
I looked down at my champagne colored blouse and form fitting ankle pants. “Thank you. You should join Dad; he looks lonely by the cake.”
We both looked his way. His eyes were set on the two of us.
“Maybe I will.”
“Thanks for coming. It means a lot.” I walked away, not sure what else to say or do.
“Paige.”
I turned around.
She stepped forward, but kept her distance. “Do you and Sam want to have dinner at our house Saturday night?”
“We’d love to.”
She gave no response. She walked off and met my dad by the cake. No doubt to tell him to only have one piece and a small one at that.
Sam made his way to me and we took the moment alone. I kissed his inviting lips and gazed deep into his hazel eyes. I got lost in those eyes frequently. “I love you.”
A smile engulfed his face. “You know, that’s the first time you’ve ever said that to me.”
He had said it several times before. And I’m not sure why I never had. I guess I was afraid and overwhelmed by my feelings for him. As wonderful as it had been, it felt surreal that this was really my life. That my turn had finally come. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”
He kissed my forehead. “I wasn’t worried. I knew you would get there.”
I sank into him. “Thank you for loving me so well.”
“You make it easy, Princess.”
Epilogue
“Can you see through that thing?”
“No.” I reached up and touched the blindfold over my eyes.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. But I feel ridiculous wearing it.” He made me put it on as soon as we hit Bella Port’s city limits. We had just flown into Mobile from a glorious two-week honeymoon in Alaska. At first, I wasn’t sold on an Alaskan honeymoon, but Sam sweetened the deal with a promise to spend a couple of days in Seattle. Everything about it was perfection. Not only did I get to show Sam my town and my people, but we spent a fantastic week on an Alaskan cruise before we did his fishing tour. I had never seen him so happy as when he reeled in a seventy-pound Chinook Salmon. I was afraid he was going to sleep with the thing. After all, he did kiss it.
“You look sexy. I think we should save it and use it later in the bedroom.”
“You have a one-track mind.”
“I have you on replay.” He picked up my hand and kissed it. Even after a year, it still sent electricity coursing through me.
“So why am I wearing this?”
“You’ll see.”
“You’re not going to have a bunch of people at home waiting for us, are you?”
“There better not be. As far as I’m concerned, we’re still on our honeymoon until Monday morning, and anyone that interrupts us better fear for their safety.”
“You’re all talk.”
“Am I? I thought I proved to you last night when we flew out of Anchorage, I take my time with my wife seriously.”
I caught my breath thinking about our rendezvous on the plane. I silently relived every glorious minute. Yes, he was very serious. And I loved him for it. “So, no people. What, then?”
“You will have to be patient.”
We didn’t have a long way to go. Bella Port was small enough. When the car did come to a stop, he unbuckled my seatbelt while kissing me deeply. Then he turned me. “This is my wedding gift to you.”
“I thought that was what the honeymoon was.”
“That was your gift to me. By the way, thank you.” Seduction ran through every syllable.
“It was my pleasure.”
He kissed my lips. “I could tell. But we need to quit talking like this or we aren’t leaving the car.”
“I’ll behave.”
“Don’t do that. Sorry. I’m focusing.”
I didn’t think I had stopped smiling since he had asked me to marry him on Christmas seven months ago.
He brushed my cheek. “Thank you for agreeing to be my wife, for not running the other way when I finally came to my senses, and for making me feel like we are equals, even though I’m nowhere close to your level.”
My eyes were misting up.
“Are you ready?”
I nodded.
He reached behind my head and untied the black blindfold. He moved out of the way to reveal the most beautiful treehouse I had ever beheld. We had talked about rebuilding it, but hadn’t made any plans. I kissed him hard, just once, before racing out of the car and toward my paradise.
“Paige, wait for me.” Sam ran after me.
I didn’t listen.
“Princess,” he called.
I still didn’t stop.
“Mrs. Kennedy.”
That name got to me like no other. I stopped at the foot of the staircase—not a ladder—that led to magnificent treehouse.
Sam picked me up before I could make another move. He smiled before kissing me. “I’m supposed to carry my bride across the threshold.”
I pulled his face toward me and kissed him. I loved him more than words could say. “How did you make all this happen in two weeks?”
“It wasn’t easy, but if you’re willing to pay enough, it’s amazing what people will do.”
I didn’t ask what the cost was. Though we agreed our money should be shared, he still wanted to feel like he was doing his part to contribute, and I would never take that away from him. “Have I mentioned how much I love you lately?”
“Wait until you see the inside.” He walked us easily up the steps that went up two levels. We could live in this place, or at the very least spend the night. That was a good idea. The smell of the freshly cut cedar was intoxicating, as was my husband. He gave me one good kiss before setting me down in what I would call the porch area of the mini house in the tree tops. It was more elaborate, by far, than the original one my grandpa built. It was completely closed in with a door and windows.
Sam opened the small door for us and we both bent down to enter my little piece of heaven above the ground. If I was amazed before, it had nothing on the interior. The walls were lined with pictures of my life, starting with Mitzi and me in the original treehouse, to photos from our wedding. I don’t know how he pulled it all off and I didn’t want to. I only wanted to revel in the magic of it all. I could barely stand up all the way and Sam sat down on the wood floor to watch me explore and wonder.
I touched each framed picture as tears streamed down my face. I took a walk down memory lane. I felt Mitzi with me as I had through all of this. There she was, smiling back at me as she read to me in the treehouse, or when she visited me in Seattle. Then there were pictures of Sam and me on his boat, our boat. I was holding up my first catch, a tiny snapper. But my favorite was of Sam and me gazing at each other at the altar while the pastor pronounced us man and wife. Best moment of my life. I touched the picture next to it, of both sides of our family gathered around us on the church steps. My mother even looked somewhat happy, even though she disagreed with the straight ivory gown I chose. She desperately tried to get me to choose a ball gown. I wasn’t sure we would ever be close, but we were at least tolerating each other. I smiled at Maggie, who was trying to look happy, but looked more like she might vomit. Morning sickness was killing her. I couldn’t wait to hold that baby in six months. Josie sat in a wheelchair—unfortunately, she’d had another stroke and was still trying to recover. We weren’t sure if she would, but she was determined. Adam was by her side, as always, holding her hand. My dad looked like the proud father and like a dad who loved his daughter. I reveled in our newfound relationship.
When I was done taking a trip down memory lane, Sam pulled me onto his lap and kissed my neck. He directed my attention toward the trunk of tree that went up through the center of the treehouse. “I made this for us.”
I took note of the heart shaped sign that professed to the world, Sam Loves Paige. I noticed it was placed over the initials that had been carved there many years ago. I leaned into my husband. The back of my head rested against his chest. “It’s all so perfect. I love it. I love you.”
“I have one more thing for you. Actually, it’s not from me. Mitzi gave it to Jana and Jana told me to give it to you when we got back.” Sam plucked a letter from his back pocket and handed it to me.
With trembling hands and tears in my eyes, I opened the lavender envelope and pulled out the sheet of folded paper.
My Dearest Paige-ala,
I knew this day would come. I know you doubted my sanity, but I told you, darling, I would never steer you wrong. I wish you and Sam all the happiness in the world. You deserve every bit. Cherish each other and make me lots of great nieces and nephews. You have to be excited about that prospect. I know the kind of package you are getting. I suppose, by now, you do too. And by the way, you’re welcome.
I laughed and pointed out to Sam what she had to say about him. He joined me in chuckling over her.
Remember that life is never easy, and love is the biggest pain of all, but if you have the right person to go through it with, it will all turn out all right. Make Sam take good care of you. I’ll always be cheering you on from the front row. Always take your turn, Paige; no one else can do it for you.
Love, love, love you,
Mitzi
I folded up the letter and did exactly what she instructed me to do. She had never steered me wrong. I looked up into my husband’s wanting eyes. “Mitzi wants lots of nieces and nephews. What do you say?”
“I like her way of thinking.” His mouth covered mine.
And so did I.
Preview
Christopher and Jaime: Pianos and Promises – Book One
Prologue
I was going to miss running my fingers through her silky blonde curls every day, but I knew it was temporary when I agreed to be her nanny a year ago. I stroked her baby-soft cheek and again wished what I had been wishing since I was eleven years old: that her daddy was mine and this was anything but temporary. After twenty years of being in love with my best friend, you would think I’d have given up hope by now. I supposed I had. I wasn’t filled with any delusions that Christopher McKay was ever going to see me, Jaime Seger, as anything more than his faithful sidekick.
Speaking of the devil, I could hear his code being punched in at the front door of his ultra-high-priced urban loft I wasn’t too fond of. But it fit his personality, or at least he thought it did. I missed the boy that ran around cotton fields and tugged on my ponytail. I couldn’t help but love the business suit and tie version, but there was something about the old Christopher I missed.
I looked down at my Allie bug, asleep with her head in my lap, one more time before her daddy joined us. I wasn’t sure how I was going to leave her, but I had to think about my own future, the one Christopher wasn’t part of.
“Sorry I’m late.” He dropped his keys in the art deco bowl near his door. The clink echoed in the space.
“You say that every day.” How he consistently worked twelve-hour days or more, I would never know. It seemed like such a waste of life. I stroked his little girl’s hair and thought about all he had missed, like story and bath time, or when she learned how to count to ten and write an A today. She was a three-year-old genius. At least I thought so.
He settled right next to me and looked down adoringly at his little one before taking my hand. I knew it was nothing more than a friendly gesture from him. We had been holding hands for as long as I could remember us being together, except for the few years he was married. He was fine with it since it was nothing more to him than two platonic friends expressing affection, but it didn’t feel right to me. Maybe because I was foolish enough to hope that each time he did, he would look down at our clasped hands and know we were meant for each other. I needed to give up on that.
I gazed down at our hands and the way he rubbed his thumb across mine. His touch reached far beneath my skin.
“How was your day?” I looked up and caught his tired smile. Why did he have to be so handsome? I loved his ice-blue eyes and his light brown hair that had the perfect amount of curl in it, just like Allie’s. The masculine jawline didn’t hurt, either.
“Long, but successful. I finally got through all the red tape.”
“Congratulations. Does that mean you’re closing on the Addison building?” Christopher worked for the premiere commercial real estate firm in Nashville.
“Everything should go through next week.”
“That’s terrific. Are you hungry?”
He laughed. “It depends.”
I nudged him. “I didn’t make anything foreign tonight. I made boring American-style lasagna.”
“Sounds good to me. What would I do without you?”
I took a deep breath. I knew I should tell him sooner rather than later. I hated to, but my parents were right—I had to think about my own life. I was spinning my wheels and wasting the degrees I had worked so hard for. And the student loans weren’t going anywhere.
“I guess you’re going to find out.”
That declaration stopped him from standing up to warm his dinner. He sat back down, puzzled and perhaps alarmed. “What do you mean, Jaimes?” He always called me “Jaimes” instead of Jaime, even when we were younger. It used to bother me, because “James” was a boy’s name, but he would say, “I’m spelling it with an ‘I’ in my head, so it’s all right.”
I could barely meet his eyes. “Remember that position I interviewed for a few weeks ago in Indiana? They want me to be their intermediate piano and choral teacher. I wouldn’t start until August, so you’d have a few months to hire a new nanny, and maybe a cook,” I teased.
The shock in his tension-lined face made me question whether or not I should accept the offer. I hadn’t yet.
“What about Allie? She loves you.”
“I love her too, but we both knew this was temporary. I can’t keep being your nanny.” I had only done it in the first place last year because his wife, Bianca, had died. Christopher was a wreck and his previous nanny had just quit. Meanwhile, I had been turned down for the fifth time for a local teaching position. Everyone in Nashville came with a musical pedigree and the competition was tough. Christopher needed me, I needed a job, and so I stepped in.
He took my hand up again. “I guess I knew this day would come, but . . .”
“But what?”
He faced me and I could tell from the shift in his eyes that he’d switched from friend mode to all business. “What does this job offer you that I don’t?”
I wasn’t negotiating with him. Negotiating was in his blood, and I would lose. I pulled my hand away. “I need to put Allie in her bed.” I probably should have done that earlier, but I loved when she fell asleep on me. “Go eat. You’re tired and it’s late.”
“I’ll put Allie to bed. You tell me what makes this job worth moving to Indiana, of all places, and leaving your family and friends.”
See how he did that? He worked in all the negatives.
Fine. If he wanted my list, he was going to get it. I had come prepared. “Let’s see, health, dental, better pay, new area, new friends, and it’s only a four- to five-hour drive from here, so I won’t be that far away. You can visit me on the weekends if you can bear to tear yourself away from your job. Oh, and I get to prove to you that my degrees aren’t the token kind.”
He gave me a wry smile. How we ever became and stayed best friends, I will never know. He was Mr. Class President and Type A all the way. I was a go-with-the-flow kind of person. I took my time to travel and get to know myself before I ever finished school. While he was conquering the world, I was playing in it, or doing my best to better it. But I knew I needed to get serious about my future, and I needed to get away from him. I would never have anyone to share my future with if I didn’t.
“I’ll pay you more,” he offered.
I shook my head and stood up with Allie in my arms. She was a dainty little thing, and it took almost no effort. “I’m putting her to bed, and then I’m heading home. I’ll help you find a good replacement. Or maybe you could ask Bianca’s mom to watch Allie.”
I didn’t even need to look at him to know he was grimacing. Bianca hadn’t gotten along with her parents. I wasn’t sure why; they were the sweetest people on earth. Maybe that was why—Bianca was anything but. She had always blinded Christopher, but that didn’t matter now. I knew he didn’t like it when I took Allie to visit her grandparents, but they deserved to be a part of her life, and Christopher, as smart as he was, flunked out when it came to women.
“That’s not going to happen.” I could hear the edge in his voice.
“I’ll start getting some references then.” His whole posh building was filled with executives that had nannies.
He pouted off to get dinner while I walked the loveliest thing that had ever happened into her tiny room that had once been her daddy’s office. Bianca and Christopher never planned on having children. Or should I say, Bianca never had. I’ve never seen someone so horrified to find out she was pregnant. She was a corporate attorney, who seemed to talk herself up more than what she ever brought to the table—at least I thought so—but Christopher was smitten. She walked all over him.
