Paige never thought she’d ride in a bicycle sidecar once in her life, let alone twice, yet there she was, leaving the island in the same manner in which she’d arrived.
Lucas had wanted to walk her back to the harbor, but she’d declined his offer. Not that she didn’t want to spend her last hour on the island with him, but because she knew saying goodbye to him and Maddie was going to be difficult. Last thing she wanted was to get emotional in front of the harbormaster. Bad enough she’d flashed him her panties the day she’d arrived. And Lucas surely didn’t need to be the target of any more island gossip. Paige could hardly imagine the tongue wagging that would have gone on if any of the locals had seen Mr. Too-Hot-for-His-Own-Good smooching the City Lady at the docks. Which was why a quick goodbye at the house was exactly what they needed.
It was a perfect plan. If only she’d stuck to it. But then Maddie hugged her and Lucas looked at her with those eyes and, dammit, she was a goner. She’d actually started to cry, and Paige Parker never cried. Not over sappy commercials, not when she broke her arm, and certainly not over handsome innkeepers who somehow made her frozen heart begin to thaw.
At least not in front of him.
The burning sensation she’d felt creeping over her face had no doubt given him a hint, but at least he hadn’t seen the tear that had slipped down her cheek. She’d wanted nothing more than to drop her bag and throw her arms around his neck. But to what end? So she could stay a few more days, a week maybe? And then what? Her life was in Chicago and his was here, with his daughter and sister. What was she supposed to do, start a long-distance relationship with a man who she’d only known for a week?
Her chest tightened as she let herself imagine a life that included Lucas Croft. Because no matter how much they might want it, a relationship between the two of them wasn’t sustainable. Sure they’d have a few months of happiness, maybe even a year. But then the trips would become less frequent and the distance would widen until all that was left was resentment over the fact that neither one of them was really living in their own reality, but rather squeezing an entire relationship into long weekends peppered between heart-wrenching gaps. It was better for everyone to make a clean break now. Better to have a manageable amount of sadness in the moment than to suffer a debilitating loss somewhere in the not-so-distant future.
“Thanks, Gus,” she said as he unloaded her bags. “Really appreciate the ride.”
He squinted in the midday sun. “My pleasure. Much nicer day this time at least.”
Paige closed her eyes and tilted her face toward the warm rays. If the sun had been shining when she arrived, would she have taken that ferry back to the mainland and never gotten past Lucas’s prickly shell? Had fate used a fast-moving storm to bring the two of them together? Her stomach rolled as though she’d already stepped onto the waiting ferry. She had to stop torturing herself. Thinking about the what-ifs was a waste of time and emotion, something she’d learned a long time ago. This vulnerable version of Paige Parker needed to be stuffed back into a closet, labeled box or not.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket.
Flight on time. Car service ordered, Sammy’s text read.
Business as usual had already begun. But then tiny bubbles filled the screen as he typed. Should I bring wine or vodka when I come over?
Paige didn’t have to think twice about her answer. Vodka, definitely vodka. For a moment, she considered telling him to skip the Grey Goose and head straight to the whiskey aisle, but tomorrow was Monday, and it was never a good idea to start the week hungover. In fact, she would normally have declined all offers of alcohol on a Sunday night, but Paige already knew she was going to need something to numb the emotions that kept popping up, no matter how hard she tried to bat them away.
One night. She’d give herself one night to wallow, and then she’d put Lucas Croft in the past. It might not have been where he belonged, but it was for the best. Maybe if she told herself that often enough, she might actually start to believe it.
“Ferry’s here,” Gus said from behind her. “Should be ready for you as soon as they finish unloading.”
She turned toward the dock, where a small crew was unloading crates from the stern of the vessel. Then the door at the bow opened and a couple emerged. Paige knew at once that they were Lucas’s in-laws. The silver-haired man was nicely dressed in a pair of tan pants and a sport coat, but it was the woman who really caught Paige’s eye. She wore a two-piece sweater dress, St. John Knits, if Paige wasn’t mistaken, and a pair of what her mother would call “sensible heels.” Her platinum-blond hair was swept into a perfectly coiffed twist, her makeup was refined yet noticeable, and her neck and ears were adorned with pearls Paige would bet her condo were real.
The woman smiled and shook the captain’s hand, thanking him for such a smooth journey. Paige wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting—a cross between Cruella de Vil and the witch from “Hansel and Gretel” perhaps—but this woman certainly wasn’t it. Neither of them was. The couple in front of her were a far cry from some evil villains. In fact, they seemed quite nice. So why in the world would they want to take Maddie away from her father? Paige could only assume their motives were based on the emotions they felt over losing their own daughter.
Paige never considered herself to be a very religious person, but as she boarded the ferry, she said a silent prayer in the hope that Maddie’s grandparents would see what a wonderful life she had with Lucas and realize that the important thing was the love they shared, not whether or not there was peanut butter on the banister.