AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, I did and I’m damn sure glad I did. Do you haveanyidea how much the two of you messed up my life? Had you all just listened to me, really listened you would have known why I pushed you to that choice. What sort of life I wanted but because of that…no, you don’t deserve to know,” she said stopping herself from revealing what their decisions had cost her.
“Know what Paige?”
“Not a damned thing Joel. Thank you for telling me, I was right all these years to stay away from the two most conniving men I’ve ever known. I thought Kendra was the lowest one around here but you two…you make her look angelic by default,” she scoffed heading towards the door. “Enjoy your house Joel because it’s the last thing you’ll ever have because of me.”
“Paige, wait,” he said hurrying out after her, but she was already out the front door, and his phone was ringing. “Cord, this had better be good…Kendra’s in labor? No everything’s not alright, I have to go, I’ll see if Paige will come but it won’t be easy. If I can find her that is.”
“You lost my daughter?” Cord asked amused.
“We both did. I showed her the house, told her the truth…”
“What did you do that for Joel? Kendra and Sam said she and Aaron were headed for a split.”
“They’re over; apparently he was okay with Paige having dalliances outside of the marriage, approved of it in fact.”
“Why tell her then?”
“She’d never understand if I didn’t, I just hope she’ll forgive us.”
“She loves you, Joel. I saw it in her eyes when the shaft caved in, and we couldn’t get through to you. She looked like someone had punched her in the gut and sat on her chest.”
“You might think that, but she doesn’t want to admit it and until she does we can’t move forward. She keeps telling me that we never listened to her. Maybe we didn’t.”
“Nonsense, she’s just headstrong. What you need to do is find her, toss her over your shoulder and get her here. Maybe it’ll entice her to have one of her own,” Cord chuckled hanging up.
“I’m pretty sure it’d do the exact opposite,” Joel muttered starting the car. He looked up and down the road, but she wasn’t on it and there was no way he’d be able to find her until she was ready for him to. His best option was to go back to the Brighton’s house and wait for her to show up he decided.
∞∞∞
“Stupid, arrogant, jerks,” Paige said kicking the rocks from her path. “Did they honestly think that sending me away was the best thing? Alright maybe I should have told Joel the reason I gave him the ultimatum before I left and gave him one last chance, but it wouldn’t have changed anything that happened afterwards. I would have lost the baby, anyway, wouldn’t I?”
She felt like shouting, throwing something, anything to shut out the reply that formed in her head. The doctor had told her stress had worked to bring on the premature labor a day shy of twenty weeks. She’d been numb after that, knowing that it was her fault, and she’d transferred that blame to Joel for not standing up for her but now…how could she look her father in the eyes again and not hate him?
Her entire reason for joining the rescue team had been to prove that she could be useful without being inside the mine and the numbness had been beneficial at first. Slowly she’d started coming back to life and that was because of her team, minus Wayne, who hadn’t liked her constant refusal of taking their relationship further. They’d dated casually but they’d never gotten past a few kisses before something inside her had shut down.
Then had come the call that her father had suffered a heart attack and she’d gone to see him, running into Joel in the emergency room and for two days, they’d sat beside his bed praying he’d pull through. Much like when she found Joel in the mountain they’d fallen into bed when the news came that he’d be fine, the stint they’d put in should alleviate the problem that led to the attack and a healthier lifestyle would ensure he see his grandchildren.
A few weeks later, she received another surprise when the line on the pregnancy test showed positive results. She was alternating between whether or not to tell Joel when the Fairway incident happened. That day still haunted her, but it wasn’t until after she’d decided to leave the team and come home that her world had truly been shattered.
The cramps had come on suddenly and she was scared history was repeating itself, she’d been almost twelve weeks along and when the doctor discovered what was causing the cramping she’d been devastated. Then her fallopian tube had ruptured forcing her into emergency surgery and the resulting diagnosis that she’d never have children.
She hadn’t thought anything could be worse than that day but now she knew that she’d been wrong and what was worse were the ‘if onlys’ flying through her head reminding her of exactly what she was missing out on now. The two men she’d trusted to be honest with her had lied to her and set her on the path that led her here…alone and miserable.
Chapter 11
“I’m sorry guys,” Kendra stated smiling up at her husband, father-in-law and Joel.
“False labor has labor in it for a reason,” Cord said kissing her cheek. “We went to the hospital at least ten times before Sam made his way into the world.”
“What about with Paige?” Sam questioned with a laugh.
“She was stubborn, almost two weeksoverdue. Doctor said she simply wasn’t ready, but don’t worry, she’ll come around. She always does,” Cord answered with a direct look for Joel.
“I think I’m going to go out and see if I can find Paige,” Joel said backing out of the room.
“No need to go looking for me,” Paige stated poking her head around the door. “Just stopping in to say goodbye, I’m going home in the morning.”
“Paige wait,” Cord called out to her. “I understand if you’re angry that we overstepped but honestly we thought it was for the best.”
