Love Inspired August 2014 – Bundle 1 of 2 (59 page)

Chapter Fourteen

T
he game wouldn’t start for another forty minutes, but Paige wanted to catch Caleb
and wish him the best before the team took the floor. Arriving so early, she’d be
able to snag a seat right behind the team, too.

Her phone vibrated in her hand and she glanced at the screen. It was a text from Tasha,
one of the seniors at Sarah’s Home.

You coming 2nite? Need help with a scholarship essay. Due tomorrow.

Paige’s heart sunk to her toes as she bit her lip. What could she text back? She needed
to catch Caleb before the game. Maybe he’d agree that the best thing for her to do
would be to go help Tasha. There had to be a compromise. Perhaps she could pick up
Tasha and take her somewhere public and safe and they could work on the essay.

Some of the lights were off in the main section of the high school. Game patrons would
enter through the gym doors by the ticket counter, but Paige used her school key to
stop by her classroom beforehand. Walking in the dark hallways alone brought back
every image from every scary movie she’d ever watched.

She picked up her pace. One more turn and she’d be near the back entrance of the gym
by the locker rooms. Paige rounded the corner and stopped in her tracks in the dark
hallway.

Caleb and Amy stood close together talking near the water fountain outside of the
men’s locker room. Amy looked like she belonged on a Hollywood red carpet instead
of at a small town event in Goose Harbor. In a tight, bloodred dress, she was way
overdressed for a basketball game. Paige fought the urge to inch forward and listen
in on their conversation. It had to end soon. Amy tapped Caleb’s chest and he started
to laugh—a genuine, enjoyable laugh. Paige wrapped her fingers over the hair ties
lining her wrist.

Caleb opened up his arms and stepped forward, wrapping Amy in a hug.

Before her brain could compute anything, Paige spun on her heels and started back
through the dark halls.

Bryan’s words from earlier that week whizzed through her mind.
You were always a waste of time, and it won’t take long before this new guy realizes
that, too, and leaves you for someone better.

She palmed at the tears that started running down her face and dripping off her chin
and jammed the back of her hand into her mouth to bite back a sob.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Bryan was right. Caleb was no different than
the rest of them. He tricked her so easily. Worked his way into her heart just so
he could squeeze it dry again.
Stupid Paige.

Men cheated and lied.

She’d promised herself it wouldn’t happen again. And it had. So quickly. What a fool.

Shaking so badly, it took three tries to successfully get her car key in the ignition.

It was less than thirty minutes until the doors opened at Sarah’s Home. Tasha needed
her—not Caleb.

Paige worked the chain of her necklace around and around in her hand. Going would
upset Caleb, but his feelings weren’t relevant anymore. The entire reason she came
to Goose Harbor had been for a chance to be independent and to follow her heart at
Sarah’s Home. Getting involved with Caleb had thrown her off course. No more. If she
was going to help Tasha, she needed to leave now.

Forty minutes later when she pulled into the parking lot at Sarah’s Home, she only
counted two cars. Why so few volunteers tonight? She slung her bag over her shoulder,
locked her car and went inside.

As for volunteers, only Vick and Marty had showed, and there were only two students.

Her heart sank further into the tips of her gym shoes.

When she’d pictured serving here, she’d imagined a building packed full of students
to encourage, inspire and challenge. Face it. Sarah’s Home showed signs of clear cardiac
arrest.

“Miss Paige, you came!” Tasha called from her spot at a desk in the study room. The
girl ran over and gave her a hug. “When I didn’t hear back from you I thought you
might not show and I was going to tear up what I’d written and just not apply to this
scholarship.”

“I’m here, and you know what? We’re not just going to apply to that scholarship—we’re
going to win it.” Pushing Caleb out of her mind, Paige offered a smile.

Marty peeked his head into the room. “I’m glad you came. Vick’s heading out right
now so it’s just you and me and the couple students. I figure we’ll close down early.”

Paige set down her bag. Smalls hadn’t even showed. “It’s so odd. We usually have ten
students or so. How come no one’s here tonight?”

Tasha yanked a spiral notebook from her weathered backpack. “They all know Mr. Caleb
and some of the others isn’t coming tonight. Guess they figured it was near closed.”

Vick left, along with the second student. Marty moved into the office to balance the
nonprofit’s checkbook and go over the mail. Paige and Tasha spent the evening working
on her essay. When they were done they called her grandmother to pick her up since
there weren’t other students for her to walk home with tonight.

After Tasha left, Paige straightened a couple of chairs and washed a few dishes that
must not have been taken care of by whoever was in charge of closing up last week.

She ran her hand along the wall on her way to the office to say good-night to Marty.
Sarah’s Home shouldn’t have to shut down just because Caleb couldn’t be there on a
certain night. They needed more staff, better security measures, and perhaps they
could create a partnership between Goose Harbor students and Brookside students. Both
needed to see other aspects of the world. They shared proximity but experienced completely
different lives. A forged partnership could teach everyone something.

The office door creaked when she entered. The older man had his back to the doorway
as he talked on the phone in an animated voice. It sounded like he was saying good-night
to his grandchildren, so she decided not to interrupt him.

Outside, another streetlight had burned out, casting the parking lot in shadows. She
pulled her keys out of her pocket and clicked for the Mazda to unlock. At the same
time she heard a scuffling of feet. Paige whipped around, clutching her purse, her
heartbeat pounding in her ears.

No one behind her.

Relax.
She breathed a sigh of relief and turned back around.

More footsteps.

She turned to check for someone again, but as she did something very hard bashed into
the side of her head. Paige’s head lashed sideways. She tried to scream, but it came
out more like a moan. Her hands instinctively flew to her throbbing head.

Someone jerked her bag out of her hands.

A series of tiny lights popped in her vision. So dizzy.

As her body tipped forward, she commanded her arms to catch her, but they refused
to move. First her knees buckled, and then her chin glanced off the ground. A wave
of pain rolled over her as ringing sounded in her ears. Something wet and warm seeped
from her chin. She tried to move her head and the warmth found its way to her lips.
It tasted metallic.
Blood.

Footsteps again. Was her attacker still there? Would they shoot her like they did
Sarah?

Paige blinked, trying to force her eyes to focus, but everything other than a flash
of orange looked blurry.

Her eyelids dared to slip shut but she fought them. She started to shiver. Her teeth
chattered even though it wasn’t cold.

Voices sounded distant, like people were talking out in the street, but she could
feel that they were nearby. Suddenly, as if a veil had been tossed over her brain,
everything became hazy.

She let her head slump and everything went black.

* * *

The buzzer sounded just as the ball his player lobbed fell with a swoosh into the
basket. Caleb high-fived the team when they ran into the locker room for halftime.
They gathered on the center bench to hear his pep talk.

His phone vibrated in his back pocket for the tenth time. Safely away from the crowd,
he flipped his cell phone open to see who’d been trying to get hold of him all night.
He saw Maggie in the crowd during the first half. Did Paige or Shelby need something?

Every missed call came from his buddy Miles, who worked as a police officer in Brookside.
Why would Miles call right now? They might have been friends since grade school, but
they caught up over a game about once a month—never by phone.

A twenty-pound weight settled to the pit of his gut.
Sarah’s Home.

The use of personal phones wasn’t allowed during school functions, but he decided
to ignore that rule just this once. Caleb hit the redial button.

Miles answered on the first ring. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for the last
hour.”

“I saw.”

“You need to get down here. Now.”

Down here. Brookside?

Caleb lowered his eyebrows and tried to process Miles’s words. His friend’s voice
usually didn’t carry such urgency.

He turned his back to the high-school students. “What’s going on?”

“That girl you like. The one you’ve been telling me about. Her name’s Paige, right?”

No. Not Paige. Paige was in Goose Harbor. Safe. She’d promised. “Yes.”

“She’s been hurt. Someone attacked her outside of Sarah’s Home and—”

“What happened? Is she...?” Bile rose in his throat and his knees threatened to give
way. Hand on his head, he turned in a pointless circle. The basketball team fell silent
and all stared at him. He didn’t care.

“She’s at St. Mike’s in the E.R. I’m here, too.”

“I’m on my way.”

The news hit him like an ice storm. He rocked forward and bounded for the door before
Principal Timmons stopped him.

Caleb grabbed the door frame as his world rocked like a Tilt-A-Whirl. “You have to
take over as coach. Paige is in the hospital. I have to go.”

Timmons’s mouth went slack. “Do you know what’s wrong?”

Words clogging his throat, Caleb shook his head. Timmons shooed him out of the locker
room and promised the team would be fine without him.

Leaving the gym and the rest of the community behind, Caleb hurtled into his truck
and stepped on the gas. His heart slammed against his ribs with what felt like enough
force to break through bones, and his hands shook as he tried to white-knuckle the
wheel.

She’d gone without letting him know after she said she wouldn’t. That stung. Their
relationship had progressed to more than that in the past few weeks.

Then again, had he known, he would have been crawling up the gym walls during the
game with worry. Who was he kidding? He would have stormed out of the game before
it started and rushed to Brookside.

Why had she gone tonight when he asked her not to? He warned her something like this
would happen.

Something like what? If Paige had been shot...

Don’t let the mind go there. She’s okay. She has to be.

Caleb drove blindly, ramming his fist against the steering wheel at the red light.

Surrender.
He was supposed to be surrendering the care of others to God.

But then something like this happens....

He stopped that train of thought.

Pray. Pray.

But what if?
Stop.
Hand it over.

God. Keep her safe. Protect her. Please don’t take her.

His gut corkscrewed. If only he could do something more tangible. Then again, the
most impactful tool within his arsenal right now was to pray and hand his worry to
God in this moment.

And drive faster.

* * *

“Oh, there now. Looks like you’re coming to.” A woman’s voice drifted, like a feather
from a busted pillow, until it rested gently on Paige’s mind.

A callused hand squeezed hers.

“Paige. Sweetheart. Can you hear me?” The man’s voice caused a calming sense to run
down her spine like a spring-fed river.
Caleb.

Paige opened her eyes and discovered she was tucked tightly under the starched white
sheets of a hospital bed. Earthy brown covered the walls and a giant painting of a
lady on a boat hung on the adjacent wall.

Caleb kissed the back of her hand then cupped it between both of his. “Take it slow,
okay...you’ve been through a lot.”

A middle-aged nurse with dyed red hair and a kind smile bent over her. “There you
are now. Look at those bright blue eyes.”

Paige’s head felt crammed full of marshmallows. She blinked deliberately.

Sarah’s Home. Footsteps. Her head. That was all she could remember.

And a sharp pain in her chin, which seemed to have subsided some since she fell. Her
mind started to race in circles like an animal stuck in a tight cage. She remembered
lying on the pavement but couldn’t recall coming to the hospital. Had Caleb brought
her here? Shouldn’t he be back in Goose Harbor? Who put her in this bed?

An image of him wrapping his arms around Amy flooded back into her mind. What happened
after she left? Why was he here with her anyway? Nothing made sense.

Confusion started to run around screaming in her head. She wanted to box her ears
to block it out and go back to sleep.

Tears pooled in her eyes and threatened to fall. “What happened?”

Caleb scooted his chair as close as he could get to her. She narrowed her eyes to
focus on him—really focus. Lines around his eyes, his lips bowing down and a ruffled
brow—he looked older tonight. He looked tired and worn down.

“From what we can gather, someone attacked you outside of Sarah’s Home.” He scrubbed
his free hand down his face and rubbed his eyes a couple of times. “You have a good
goose egg on the side of your head, and you got a bit of a gash on your chin.”

Her hand flew to the numb spot on her chin.
Stitches.
When had they put these in? Why couldn’t she remember anything?

Her fingers trembled over each suture. “Give me a mirror.”

“It’s nothing.” He rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand.