Chapter 23 Ryan
RYAN
Morning light peeks in through the curtains. I’ve been awake for hours thinking about Paige and wondering if I’ll ever be the man she and Noah need.
But I’m done feeling sorry for myself. I’m a motherfucking SEAL, and I don’t give up easily.
I haul myself to a sitting position and shift so I’m sitting sideways on the bed with my good leg dangling over the side. The prosthetic is propped in the corner, gathering dust where I left it when I arrived here almost two weeks ago.
Yesterday, Paige shook me up with the harsh truth. If I stay in the wheelchair, there are a lot of places I can’t access. It’s time to start wearing the prosthetic.
After dragging myself into the wheelchair, I roll over to the hunk of silicone, fiberglass, and plastic that is my new leg.
I’ve tried it on a few times back in Louisville, and it’s custom made to match my remaining leg, with a shapely calf and a foot that’s the mirror image of my other foot.
My stump slips into it, and I grit my teeth as it jolts into place. Using the kitchen counter for balance, I ease my weight onto the leg.
A spike of pain fires through me, and I grip the side of the counter and breathe through it. I push myself fully up to a standing position and release the counter, putting all my weight on the leg.
My stump settles into position, and the pain subsides to a background ache. I refuse to take any more painkillers, so I set my jaw and push the ache down.
Pain I can handle. Leaving my woman and child exposed is not an option.
Tentatively, I take a step forward and almost fall over. I grip the kitchen counter for support and try again. The leg moves differently than my regular one; it’s not as heavy, and the fake joints are slower to react.
I should be doing this with Savanna in the gym with the guide rails for support.
But my next appointment isn’t until tomorrow, and I don’t want to wait that long.
I’ve been told it takes a few weeks to get used to walking on a prosthetic, and I’ve got a few hours.
But I didn’t make it as a SEAL for nothing.
I set my jaw in determination and do a round of the kitchen, leaning on the counter for support. Once I’ve got a better handle on the movement and balance, I let go of the counter and walk to the bed. I’m slow, and the effort makes me sweat, but I manage a circuit of the room without stumbling.
“I can do this,” I mutter.
The stump throbs, but I push on, doing another circuit and then another. Each time, my gait comes more naturally, and my speed increases.
The effort is exhausting, and I flop down on the bed for a breather. I stare at the ceiling with a grin on my face. I’m fucking walking again. It’s time to take this outside and see what I can do.
An hour later, after a rest and refuel, I take my new leg for a spin outside. The main hub is only 300 feet away, but it takes me ten minutes to get there.
Paige is on site most mornings, but first, I need to see Joel.
The floors are so new and polished that I almost slip. I walk slowly, not wanting to make an ass of myself by skidding over.
The door to Joel’s office is open, and I lean on the door frame, panting as I knock. When he glances up, his expression lights up when he spots me.
“You’re out of the chair!”
“Yup,” I pant, wanting to keel over. The exertion of getting here has left me out of breath.
“Take a seat.” Joel’s oldest daughter, Dana is sprawled in the chair opposite his desk, scrolling through her phone.
Joel taps her leg. “Scoot.”
She scowls at him, then notices me, and her eyes go wide. “Here, Ryan, take my seat.”
I hate taking a seat from a child, but she’s up before I can protest. She leans against the window frame, her attention already back on her phone.
“Thanks.” I sink into the chair, and it’s a relief to be off the leg.
“Good to see you up and about. Savanna must be working wonders.”
I don’t tell him it’s Paige that’s motivated me to get onto the prosthetic. We talk for a few minutes about the leg and the jobs he has for me to do around the place. Then he leans forward and pierces me with his gaze.
“But that’s not why you’ve come to see me, is it?”
I run a hand over my beard and glance at Dana, but she’s preoccupied with her phone.
“Does Paige have any enemies?”
Joel chuckles. “She speaks her mind. That annoys some people, especially in a small town like Hope. She doesn’t behave how some people expect a young woman to behave.”
Dana scoffs. “That’s the patriarchy for you, putting women in boxes.”
She doesn’t look up from her phone, so she doesn’t catch her dad’s raised eyebrows as he runs a hand through his hair.
Joel left the Navy to nurse his wife through cancer. She passed three years ago, and now he’s navigating two teenage daughters on his own.
“Was there anyone in particular who she pissed off lately?”
Joel frowns. “She got the Huntington contract from under the nose of Wild Landscapers. They’ve been established in Hope for years, a family landscaping business. They weren’t happy when Peter Huntington handed the contract to Paige.”
“What’s so special about the Huntington contract?”
“Peter’s well known in the community. He’s on the city council and has a lot of influence around Hope. That contract is more than a big job for Paige; it’ll launch her business if she does a good job for Peter Huntington. And that could take business away from Wild Landscapers.”
It’s a fair reason to want to sabotage the business, but it’s risky if they were caught.
“Would they do something like that?”
Joel shrugs. “Maybe some people aren’t what they seem.”
“How did Paige win the contract?”
Joel grins. “Peter is a huge supporter of the retreat. His father fought in Vietnam, and he did a stint in the Army himself. He was in the first gulf war. He’s donated to the center and has got the entire town behind it. He was impressed with Paige volunteering here, so he took a chance on her.”
It’s a big chance. If the job goes well, this will launch her business to a new level.
“She’s getting trolled online.” Dana holds out her phone showing the article of Paige with the picture of her and Noah.
Dana scrolls down the screen, and the comments section appears.
User3896: We should run this whore out of town
There are more, all from different users and all just as vile.
My blood goes cold.
“Has she seen this?”
Dana shakes her head. “Don’t think she’s big on social media. The news site removed the comments, but it’s being re-posted on a community page.”
“Who would do that?”
Dana shrugs. “People are assholes”
“Watch your language.” Joel gives her a stern look that she misses because she’s focused on the screen.
“Sorry, Dad. People are dickheads.”
Joel presses his lips together but has the good sense to keep quiet. Joel was a SEAL Team commander, leading some of the most elite warriors on this planet, but I get the feeling nothing he faced was as challenging as his teenage daughter.
Ten minutes later, I’m hobbling down the path that leads to the maintenance sheds. Every step is slow and achy, but I’ve come too far to head back now.
I find Paige outside crouched by a bag of potting mix. Noah sits beside her, rolling a toy car through the dirt, and I pause to watch them.
He rolls the car up his mom’s arm, and she moves her arm in a rolling motion, pretending to be an out-of-control bridge. Noah giggles, and their laughter makes me forget the ache in my leg.
I chuckle, enjoying their play, and Paige spins around at the sound.
Her eyes go wide when she sees me, and the way her entire face lights up shoots straight through my heart.
“You’re walking!”
I grin back at her, the struggle from the morning forgotten as I drink her in. But something isn’t right. Her wide smile masks dark smudges under her eyes, and her skin is too pale.
“Something else happened,” I state.
She glances at Noah, and we step out of earshot.
“Someone was prowling around my place last night.”
My stomach clenches. This is escalating. “While you were in the house?”
Paige wipes a piece of dirt from her cheek, leaving a brown smudge. “I switched my light on, and it must have scared them away. By the time I ran outside, they were already gone.”
Anger rages inside me. What kind of asshole scares a woman and child on their own? It’s followed swiftly by another thought. What kind of asshole leaves a woman and child on their own?
“Did you see them? Did they leave anything?”
She shakes her head. “They sped off in a large black car, but I didn’t get the make or license plate.”
She looks down, and I tuck my hand under her chin and tilt her head up so she’s looking up at me. It’s great to be standing tall again, to be eye to eye with her.
As her eyes lock with mine, and the pain in my leg is forgotten, I feel as though I’m back in the hotel room, and she’s as lost and vulnerable as she was then. The intensity of the feeling, the desire to protect and care for her, takes me aback.
“I’m moving in for a while.”
She doesn’t protest; she just nods her head. I hate to see her like this. Paige is strong, and some asshole wants to take her down.
“We’ll find out who’s doing this. And until we do, I’ll be there to keep you and Noah safe.”
Letting out a long breath, her shoulders sag as she says, “Thank you.”
My stump aches, and as I turn to move, a spike of pain reverberates through my body so strong that the world tilts. I stumble to the side, and Paige catches my arm.
“I got you,” she murmurs.
I hate appearing weak in front of her, so I straighten up. But she doesn’t remove her hand from my arm.
Her eyes narrow as she studies my face. “You’re pale and sweating.” Her expression turns to concern. “Are you sure you’re ready for that prosthetic?”
“No, but I’ll do it for you and Noah.” Her wide eyes find mine, and I can no longer hold back what I’m feeling.
My fingers brush her cheek, wiping away the smudge on her skin. I voice the question that I’ve wanted to ask since I saw her again.
“Why did you leave?” It’s the question that’s gone around my brain for three years. “Why did you leave me in the hotel room without a note or any way to get hold of you? The connection we had was real.”
Her glance steals to Noah, who’s made a track through the dirt for his truck.
“I was confused.” She frowns. “Mom had just died, and my emotions were heightened. We had agreed it was one weekend only…”
She trails off and bites her lower lip.
“One weekend wasn’t enough. I wanted to see you again. I was going to give you my number, but you left before I could. Didn’t you feel the connection between us?”
The one we still have, I add silently.
“I hadn’t done that before.” She speaks in a whisper, her gaze darting to Noah. “I thought those feelings were just me putting too much on it because it was my first time.”
“First time.” I freeze at the words. “First time having a one-night stand or first time, first time?”
When she bites her bottom lip, I know the answer. That explains her hesitation, her inexperience.
“Shit.” I run a hand through my hair. “I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have…”
“Exactly why I didn’t mention it,” she cuts in. “It was what I wanted, Ryan, and I thought I could handle it, but afterwards, I missed you so much. I didn’t know if what we shared was normal when you’re intimate with someone, and I didn’t want to be the clingy one-night stand, so I left.”
Tears spring to the corners of her eyes, and I wipe them away with my thumbs.
“Hey. There was nothing normal about what we shared, Paige. I’ve never felt like that about a woman before or since. I’ve thought about you every single day since that weekend. I missed so much. I don’t want to miss another day.”
Taking her cheek in my hand, I press my mouth to hers.
Warm lips meet mine, and three years of regret and longing surge through me and into the kiss.
My hand slides to the back of her head, and I drag her to me, making up for lost time.
She surrenders to me with a little sigh.
Our bodies bump together, and there’s instant heat and hardness and desire.
Warmth encases my body, and for the first time since the accident, I feel alive.
“What are you doing?”
Paige jumps backward as Noah tugs on her leg. He looks between us, waiting for an explanation.
“We were, umm…”
When Paige glances at me, I stifle a laugh. I have no experience with children, but I’m a quick learner. “Do you want a cookie?” I ask.
“Cookie!” He jumps with excitement and runs toward the shed where Paige keeps her bag.
She throws me a smoldering look over her shoulder as she follows him.
I watch them go before turning to hobble back to my room. But I walk a little easier, and the pain is a little less.