Stealing Hearts (Wild at Heart #1)

15. PAIGE

15

PAIGE

When I hear a truck pull up in front of the cabin, I let out a sigh of relief. We were supposed to be out of here hours ago. Rhett said he’d be back in the morning to get me, and it’s almost three in the afternoon.

I’m trying really hard not to feel forgotten right now. I couldn’t even call him because I barely have a signal.

Every bit of me wants to run and hide because I’m so mortified about last night, but I know I need to be a big girl and not avoid Rhett like I want to.

But seriously, who takes off and leaves their new wife alone in a cabin, naked as the day she was born, in a hot tub? Rhett Walker, that’s who.

Yes, I realize this isn’t a real marriage, but we were being intimate, for fuck’s sake. Not bailing is just good manners.

I take a deep breath to steel myself. Except when I peek out the window, it’s not Rhett.

“You asshole,” I whisper. “Why do you always twist me up in knots?”

He fucking sent Beau to pick me up.

At the realization Rhett didn’t come, my eyes sting and my throat gets tight. I blink rapidly and wave at my face so it doesn’t turn red. I don’t want Beau to know I’d rather crawl into a bin of bees than return to the ranch.

“Knock, knock,” he yells. “Hey, Paige. It’s your favorite brother-in-law.”

I glance at the rear of the cabin. Unfortunately, there’s only one entrance, so I can’t run out the back door. Though that window in the bedroom is starting to have more appeal.

“Paige! You there?”

Quickly, I back away from the door. “Yeah. Hold on!” I run to the bathroom and splash my face with water.

When I don’t think I’ll start bawling, I unlock the front door.

Beau’s smile falls when he sees me. “You okay?”

“Yup. Great. Never better.” I tuck my hands in the back pockets of my jeans. “Are you here to take me to the ranch?”

“Actually, Rhett asked me to pay for another few days here for you.”

I’m going to kill him with my bare hands. “Really? Why’s that?”

“We have a situation back at the ranch. The boys had a rough night, and someone cut our fences again. It’s a mess. He thought you might be more comfortable here.”

“You mean where I don’t have a phone signal, a TV, or any transportation?” As I found this morning, I can send texts if I stand on my toes and hold my phone in the air, but my calls don’t go through. “I could be murdered in my sleep, and no one would know for days. How thoughtful.”

Beau winces. “I know this isn’t ideal, but?—”

“Are the kids okay now or are they sick?”

“They’re, uh, they’re doing better.”

I can understand Rhett needing to be with the boys if they weren’t feeling well, but the fact he wants to leave me in the middle of nowhere after ditching me last night is a step too far. “Can you take me to Baylee’s?” I’ll sleep in her bathtub if I have to.

His head tilts. “I don’t know. He really wanted to?—”

“Beau Walker, I don’t give a shit what Rhett wants. Tell him he can shove this cabin up his ass.” I march back to the bedroom to get my bag. When I return, I cross my arms. “Take me to Baylee’s or I’m calling Aunt Sylvia to get me, and she won’t be as nice as I’m trying to be.”

On the drive to Baylee’s, it takes everything in me not to cry. How do I get involved with these kind of men? I thought Marcus was bad. Rhett has him beat by a country mile.

When we get there, Beau’s barely put his truck into park before I fly out the door.

“Paige, wait.”

Ignoring him, I head to Baylee’s house. I knock, but no one answers. It’s just my luck that no one’s home right now. Beau watches me march around to the side, where I try to scale the fence. I’ll just hang out on their back deck until they get home.

Behind me, he calls out, “Paige, let me take you to the ranch. Once you get there, you’ll see what Rhett’s up against. He’s not doing this to be an asshole.”

The knot in my throat is too much, and I give in to the tears. The truth is I feel left behind, like always. Why does everyone in my life do this? The only person who doesn’t is Baylee. Oh, and my friend Abby, but she just moved to Houston.

With tears streaming down my face, I give up trying to scale the fence when my foot gets snagged and tweaks my ankle. That’s right, Paige, get more injured while you’re at it.

I lean against the fence to gather myself and then turn around. “Beau, please tell Rhett that I’m sorry, but I can’t do this. If he needs me for a dinner with Harlan, he can text. Otherwise, I’ll be here, okay?”

When he sees my face, he closes his eyes. “I’m sorry, Little Lewis. He didn’t mean to hurt you.”

I pull out my phone and text my best friend.

Can I stay with you? I’m at your house.

She responds immediately.

WHAT DID HE DO? I’ll be there in five.

After I wipe my face, that detached feeling I’m used to finally descends, and I shrug. “I’m fine. I’ll be by tomorrow to get my car and a few things from the house, okay?”

He watches me like I’m a wounded animal. “You’re not gonna try to sleep in the park again, right? Because Rhett will have my ass if you do that.”

“Let me remind you, Beau, that if I want to sleep in the park or cemetery or on a bench by the river, it’s none of his business.”

That’s when Baylee screeches to a halt in front of her house. She’s beside me a few seconds later. “Who do I need to kill?”

Beau holds up his hands. “I’m just the messenger.”

She looks back and forth between us. “Where’s Rhett?”

I shrug. “At the ranch, where he’s been since last night when someone called him with an Amber-related emergency.”

Baylee growls. “I’m going to strangle that man. My mother spent all that money on the cabin, and he ditched you to go talk to that ho-bag?”

“It sounds so much worse when you say it like that.” I don’t mention that he had just come down my throat. I hook my arm in my best friend’s to make sure she doesn’t charge at Beau. “It’s fine. We all know this marriage is just for show. If Rhett wants to run off to talk to Amber, let him. Hey, let’s go order a pizza. I have, like, twenty bucks left to my name, and I really want to spend it on something with carbs.”

I’m dragging her back to the front porch when Beau joins us. “It wasn’t really like that, you know.”

I turn to look at him. “Actually, I wouldn’t know, because he sent you to tell me to stay at that cabin by myself for who knows how long. Which tells me exactly where I stand with Rhett. And that’s fine. I’m a placeholder, I get it. He literally could’ve married any girl in South Texas to do this job. But I have enough pride to not go where I’m not wanted.”

Baylee yanks me through the front door and turns to my brother-in-law. “Fuck you, Beau Walker! And fuck your brothers too!” Then she slams it in his face.

I love my best friend.