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Chapter Thirty-One
Dash
She doesn’t say no.
Paige could have laughed and brushed him off.
Instead, she sits stone still in my lap, gazing slack-jawed at the guy she claimed is her best friend.
Seems like someone doesn’t want to be in the friend zone anymore.
I fight the urge to scoop her up in my arms and sprint out of the house. Most states consider that kidnapping. But the idea of letting this Charlie guy woo her away to some foreign country hits me like a Mac truck plowing into the side of my car.
Maybe I can’t steal her away, but purely on instinct, or maybe self-preservation, I tighten my hold around her waist. As if that’ll somehow keep her here with me.
“What do you mean, come live with you in Germany? I can’t live in Germany.”
I wish her voice sounded less confused and more resolute.
“Sure you can. I’m doing it. And it’ll be easier for you because you’ve already got a place lined up to live.” The guy steps closer, focusing solely on the woman in my arms. I might as well be a piece of furniture. “Imagine it. The two of us exploring Europe. Every day would be an adventure.”
Even I have to admit that sounds tempting, which makes me hate Charlie all the more for saying it.
Paige glances wildly around the room. “I have Pumpkin. I can’t just put her in a carry-on.” She waves at the brindle pit bull, currently snoring in a plush dog bed in the corner of the kitchen.
“We can take the dog,” Mr. Herbert says, momentarily silencing the room with his offer.
“The fact that you just referred to Pumpkin asthe dog, makes it clear that you cannot, in fact, takethe dog.” Paige has lost her befuddled tone, scowling at her father. In my hold she quivers, and I stroke her back because I have nothing I can add to this conversation other than comfort. My mind reels, and my chest aches, and I beg the universe for this discussion to be a bad dream. Maybe I fell asleep out on the patio couch next to Paige, and I’ll wake up to find her reading her book while her fingers fiddle with a green pen.
No Charlie. No glaring father. No Germany.
“Come on, Paige. All through high school, all you ever wanted was to leave. Now you’re back living with your parents. No offense.” Charlie throws a consolatory smile at the Herberts before pushing on. “I’m giving you a chance to get out of here.”
I try not to wince at his words.
“I don’t need you to give me anything, Charlie. I can make my own chances. Besides,” she shifts back, leaning just a bit into me, “I don’t hate New Orleans like I used to. There’s a lot to love here.”
At this, Charlie’s eyes finally acknowledge me, and he lets out a sigh.
I want to punch him.
“It’s a very sweet offer, Charlie. But Paige has things going for her here. She’s got a job interview, you know.” Mrs. Herbert jumps into the conversation, a hopeful tilt to the woman’s voice. In her, I get the sense I have an ally. Someone who wants Paige to stay in NOLA, too.
The Kellers’ feelings are a mystery, the couple choosing to stand off to the side and sip their drinks as the situation unfolds.
“Ginny, jobs come and go. Paige might not have another chance like this.” Mr. Herbert moves to place a hand on his wife’s shoulder, but she shrugs him off with a glare that makes her look remarkably like her daughter. Paige’s father lets his hand drop but keeps speaking. “Besides, isn’t it time she and Charlie figure things out between them?”
Again, silence descends upon the room, and I battle the heat rising in my head.
Charlie clears his throat. “Papa Herbert, that’s not—“
“You think if I went to Germany with Charlie that we’d start dating?”
I’ve never heard Paige’s voice so shrill.
Her mother matches her in pitch. “I don’t want her dating Charlie! Then she’d never come home!”
“At least he’s a good man.” The rough sentence carries a whole truckload of meaning, and Paige’s father drove it directly at me.
