Return to Me (3 page)

     “Either you tell him you’re not to see him again, or I will. And if I do it, nobody’s ever going to see him. Ever. Again. Do I make myself clear?”

     “I-“

     “Answer me!”

     “Okay!” She cried out, wanting nothing more than to retreat and escape and suddenly her wish was granted as she found herself thrust away from Denmari.

     “Go clean yourself up. You disgust me.”

***

    
"I can’t go with you tonight."

     "Sure you can." H
e grinned, leaning against the scarred old Oak tree, his face bathed in shadow and mystery. “Did anyone notice you leaving?"

     "I don’t think so, at least, I'm pretty sure I wasn’t followed." She cast a nervous glance behind her, a fresh set of worries washing over her. That was all she needed-to get busted for sneaking out and while she was already in enough trouble
, more or less, for that very same thing. But no, she reasoned, fighting to stay calm, if anyone had trailed her she would have been ousted-and hauled back home by now.

     "Paige?"

     "Sorry." She wrung her hands, reluctant to do what she'd set her mind to only hours before.

     "Your chariot
waits." He gestured to the large midnight blue motorcycle most people mistook for black in the dark that stood stationary in the gravel a few feet away.

     "You...don’t understand."

     "You're scared you'll get caught?" He shrugged. "So we'll be extra careful this time. I'll have you back by two, Scouts honor." He teased, white teeth flashing in the dark.

     "Wh
en were you ever a boy scout?" She demanded, feeling laughter bubble within to chase away the tension for a few precious seconds.

     "Never." H
e admitted, pushing away from the rough bark. "But you love me anyway."

     "I..." S
he stalled, taking a step back, feeling a pebble dig roughly into her heel through her thin sandals.

     "Paige?"

     "I can’t do this anymore," She blurted, the words rushing together and leaving her breathless.

     "What are you talking about? What’s wrong baby
?" He stopped within inches of her, tanned hands coming up to frame her pale face.

     She closed her eyes, feeling his touch burn through her, the simple contact heating her to the core. Short bursts of pain beat a staccato rhythm deep in her chest and she leaned into him, memorizing everything she could in that instant. How he felt, his masculine scent, the thrum of his heartbeat, the scrape of his leathers against her cheek. The warmth. Tears stung her eyes, the liquid drops clinging to her lashes. It was time.

     "This can’t go on." She fought to keep her voice steady.

     "What are you saying?"

     "I'm saying that it’s over. That we're done."

     "Bullshit." H
e went still, finally absorbing the full impact of her statement.

     "I can’t be with you right now." She repeated, misery wrapping around her like a heavy cloak.

     "Why?" He gripped her shoulders. "Just tell me why."

     "I-" H
er eyelids fluttered down, her hands coming up to cover his own. "I just can't." She tried.

     "Paige please," H
is lips brushed her mouth, "tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it."

     Why couldn’t he accept what she was trying to tell him? Why was he making her do this? "You can’t fix this." She groaned, flushed and disoriented under the hot kisses he claimed. It took every last shred of the tenuous willpower she possessed to push him away and put to words the one thing she knew would put an end to it all, would make him hate her.

     "I don’t love you...there's someone else."

***

The next several days brought about little change in the routine Paige had unwittingly fallen into. Days blended into night and back again in an unending, depressing circle. Hour after hour she waited for a phone call that never came, for a hope that never quite materialized. She was marking time until she could go back to school and she couldn’t remember the last time her world had felt so positively gray. Hailey managed to summarize much of her angst in a few short, critical sentences.

     "What you need is to get out of this house. God it’s like a tomb in here. How can you stand it?" Her friend wrinkled her nose.

     "It's been this way for years. Denmari likes it dark-the more this place looks like a dungeon, the happier he is. The house looked so different when mama was alive..." She lifted one slim shoulder. "You get used to it. Eventually."

     "Well I don’t think I could ever get used to this Victorian mausoleum." Hailey declared, crossing the room to pull her friend to her feet. "Come on, I'm taking you out tonight."

     "No, really-"

     "Don’t argue. You can’t sit here moping all night. It’s not healthy."

     "I am not moping." She argued, wrestling with Hailey for her small clutch purse. "I'm thinking. I'm being reflective and it’s perfectly healthy."

     "Fine. I'll give you a choice." The small blonde released the purse and took a step back, arms crossed over a chest that made a mockery of her otherwise small stature.

     "This ought to be good." Paige muttered, eyes on the white matte ceiling.    "Well go on then, lets here it." She insisted when Hailey only glared at her.

     "Either you call him or you go out with me tonight."

     "That’s ridiculous!"

     "It's reasonable!"

     "Says who?"

     "Okay h
ow about this-either you call him or I will."

     "What’s that supposed to mean?" Paige stared wide eyed at her friend.

     "It means that you’re acting insane. I don’t pretend to understand why you broke it off with him. I thought you loved him." Hailey rolled her eyes, putting emphasis on the word.

     "I...did."

     "You still do."

     "Yeah-and?" Paige sighed, well aware even if Hailey wasn’t
that loving Guy was useless.

     "So it’s not too late to tell him that. Whatever problem you two had can be fixed. Just pick up the phone and call him. If you want, I’ll talk to him for you."

     "I know you would." Paige's tone softened. "But this is my problem to deal with."

     "He misses you."

     "He barely notices that I’m gone. He’s out with a different girl every week."

     "You're exaggerating." Hailey scoffed, blowing a wisp of light hair off her forehead.

     "Not by much. The point is, he's moved on, and so have I. It’s over, finished, done."

     "Really, Paige? Just where is it that you've moved on to? Hiding up in your bedroom is not what I would call a fresh start. Especially not in this house. The air is
stale as Hell." She paused to shove at the heavy casing above Paige's dresser. "Do these windows even open?"

     "Probably not. I'm o
nly up here in the summer. It’s too hot to have the windows open, and how did we get stuck on this subject anyway?" She frowned.

     "Because you're going to end up just like this poor, useless window, Paige! Rusty from lack of use. As your friend, I refuse to let that happen."

     "If you were really my friend, you would leave me alone." Paige groused to a totally unsympathetic Hailey.

      "No such luck. Get your dancing shoes on. We're going out."

     "Would it do any good to argue?"

     "You're seriously asking me that?"

     "That’s what I was afraid of." Paige heaved a sigh. "I’ll go get dressed. But I don’t want to go any place where Guy and I used to go."

     "Of course not."

     "Hailey."

    "Okay, okay." She held up both purple tipped hands palm out in defense.      "We can hit someplace out of town. I'll be waiting in the car. Oh and Paige?"

     "Yes?"

     "Fix yourself
up a little. You look like crap." She called out a second before the door swung shut behind her.

     Paige did take
pains with her appearance, doing the best she could with the tools available to her. Light foundation and concealer hid most of the dark circles that were, as of late, a permanent fixture beneath her stormy eyes.      Mascara, lipstick and a thickly bristled brush finished the job and she turned away from the gilded edge mirror feeling confident that no one would ever guess she had spent most of the summer holed up in her room listening to sad love songs and crying. Next she debated the age old dilemma of what to wear. With no clue as to where Hailey planned on taking her, she decided to play it safe, opting for jeans, low heels, and a black top with lacy straps and a lace edged plunging neckline.

     Her red clutch purse and silver hoop earrings completed the look and she bounded down the steps, through the parlor and was out the door before Denmari could ask her any questions.

     "Took you long enough."

     "Let’s go."

     "Curfew?" Hailey asked as they coasted down the hill.

    
"Eleven, same as always." She responded checking her makeup once more in the Mustang’s flip down visor.

     "That’s only four hours from now."

     "Then you had better step on it."

     "You got it." Hailey grinned, ever the dare-devil,
gunned the engine, and laughed as the car shot forward, headlights cutting a path through the dark night.

     They drove to a hole in the wall place just outside of the city. Hailey expertly navigated her pride and joy through the blacktop and into a narrow space at the back of the poorly lit parking lot. Paige twisted in her seat for a better look at the low white brick building. A neon sign in the window boasted an all you can eat buffet and dancing. "Hailey are you sure about this place?"

     "Dinner and dancing?" She shrugged, smoothing her skirt and slinging her purse over one toned, tanned shoulder. "What’s not to be sure about?"

     "It looks a little rough." She hesitated, climbing from the car but clinging to the door.

     "Oh it does not."

     "It’s next to a truck stop."

     "You wanted someplace out of the way and you have to be back home by eleven." Hailey patiently pointed out. "Now are you coming or not?"

     Paige took a deep breath, almost considered telling Hailey to take her back home. After a moment though, she released her hold on the door and reluctantly followed her friend through the dark lot and into the brightly lit diner. One hand came up to shield her eyes as they adjusted to the glare of the overhead fluorescents, her pulse speeding up when several burly men in plaid shirts and hats turned to stare.

     Actually, ogle was more like it, she sighed, unsurprised. She was used to it. Men, be they young or old, never failed to notice Hailey. It was like that everywhere they went. Men would turn and glance with mild interest at Paige for a split second before discarding her to gape at the blonde, wide eyed, pouty lipped girl at her side.

     If Paige were a vain girl, or a jealous one, she might have taken offense at their quick perusal and even faster dismissal of her dark and more toned down beauty. But the truth was, she felt a sense of relief rather than envy. She wasn’t comfortable taking center stage and the short once overs made her uncomfortable. She just wasn’t the social, sexy creature that Hailey seemed to naturally embody.

     She didn’t live dangerously, at least not by choice, and although she wasn’t exactly a wallflower, Paige knew she would never crave attention the way her friend seemed to. And personally she didn’t feel that a group of men decked out in hats with the immortal words ‘Keep on Truckin’ emblazoned across the bills, was necessarily something to envy.

     Paige smothered a giggle as she watched her ultra-tanned friend shamelessly flirt with the rowdy group. Weaving her way through the unusual mix of rough necks and teens, she sought out a booth near the door, slid hastily over the cracked red leather seat and set her purse beside the window before signaling the waitress.

     The place was so crowded that it took the harried looking woman in the apron nearly ten minutes to plunk down a soda in front of Paige, but when it finally came, the drink was icy cold and completely satisfying.

     She checked her watch after she’d finished her second Coke, shocked to find that forty-five minutes had come and gone and she still hadn’t seen Hailey.

     Scanning the crowd, she quickly surmised the reason behind the delay and averted her eyes, embarrassed enough to
hastily turn away, only to come face to face with a sight that was much, much worse. A mere two tables away, Guy lounged in a booth that looked remarkably similar to the one she herself occupied.

     Both sported worn leather and chipped table tops and were so identical they might as well have been the same booth. Only they weren’t the same, and the girl draped over Guy’s lap wasn’t her. Paige felt her heart break all over again as she stared, transfixed, at the sig
ht of the boy she had once given pieces of herself to and his new date.