37. Chapter 37
Chapter 37
David waited until he was leaving to meet Paige on Friday to tell Ashley where he was going.
“I’m heading out to meet Paige,” he said, as if announcing he was ducking into the men’s room to take a leak. “I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, exactly, but—”
“What?” Ashley asked, incredulous.
“I said, I’m heading out to meet Paige. I don’t know how long—”
“When did you decide to do that?”
“Last Sunday.”
“And you’re just now telling me? You asshole.”
He didn’t think he’d ever seen her this angry, which was saying something. “I wasn’t taking any chances that you’d interfere with this meeting.”
“I didn’t intentionally interfere with the last one.”
He stepped over that bald-faced lie. “Anyway, like I was saying, I don’t know how long I’ll be, so go ahead and eat dinner without me.”
“What about Jacob?”
“What about him?”
“Will I have to pick him up from preschool?”
She said that like it was the world’s most taxing chore—and a huge inconvenience.
“No,” he answered blandly. “You won’t have to pick him up.”
“Well, who’s picking him up, then?”
“Not your problem, so don’t worry about it.”
He grabbed his car keys and headed for the back exit, opening the door. “Obviously you’ll need to stay here until 5 p.m. and then close up,” he told her, before closing the door behind him.
When he arrived for his ‘appointment’ with Paige, he was greeted with a frown by the hot Edna Mode receptionist he’d met the last time he was here.
“You’re Paige’s ex-husband,” she said, obviously remembering him.
Slightly taken aback at her less-than-friendly attitude, he nodded. “Yes. Is there a problem?”
She gave him a stern look, making her look even more like the cartoon Edna. “I don’t know. What are you here for? And it better not be for a wedding reception consultation, because if you are, that would not be cool. Dig?”
“I dig,” he returned, deadpan. “And I’m not here for a wedding reception consultation.”
“You’re not?”
“No.”
“You better not be.”
“I swear I’m not. Scout’s honor … and I was a Boy Scout,” he added. “I didn’t make Eagle Scout because girls started taking up a lot of my time, but you can still trust me.”
“Hmm.” Her expression evened out. “Okay, then.”
She called Paige and announced his arrival. A few seconds later, Paige appeared in her doorway and motioned him into her office, closing the door behind him.
“Andrea has supersonic hearing,” she explained, her voice low even with the door shut. “And whatever it is we’re going to talk about, I want her hearing as little as possible.”
He took a seat. “I take it Andrea’s the receptionist who looks like a hot Edna Mode?”
“She’s my assistant, actually. And yes, that’s her,” Paige said with a short laugh as she walked around her desk and sat down as well.
“I noticed the resemblance the last time I was here. It’s crazy.”
“The funniest part about that is when I told her that’s who she looked like, she didn’t even get the reference. She didn’t know who Edna Mode was.”
“Who doesn’t know who Edna Mode is?”
“She said she didn’t because she doesn’t have kids and doesn’t watch ‘cartoons’. I told her I didn’t have kids—” Paige broke off, her expression dimming for a brief second, then finished with a bit of a forced smile, “—and The Incredibles doesn’t count as a ‘cartoon’.”
Silence settled over them for a moment, as they both looked at one another.
The last two times he’d seen her, he’d been struck by how different she was, and once again the changes he could see in her smacked him in the face.
Today, she was wearing black slacks and an ivory, wrap-around blouse with a black floral pattern, that gave her a hint of cleavage. It was the sexiest blouse he’d ever seen her wear and while it gave him pause, the cleavage was what had him momentarily at a loss for words.
Who was this woman?
“The shorter hair suits you.” He said it without thinking, then quickly added, “I noticed it when I saw you the other day—”
“You mean, when you ambushed me at work?”
He thought about denying that, but shrugged instead. “Yes.”
“I got it cut on my birthday,” she told him. “There was a little bit of duress involved—Jules was in cahoots with her hairdresser.”
“Well, it looks good. And I apologize if I just made things really awkward here.”
“You didn’t make things awkward. I just wasn’t expecting the compliment.” She leaned back in her chair. “But, thank you. And, since one compliment deserves another, let me just say that the longer hair really suits you. The beard, too. Although … I do miss the little cleft in your chin.”
He was pleasantly surprised by her admission, even though it shouldn’t matter if she liked his appearance or not. Or missed his cleft. “The long hair and beard happened by accident. After the divorce, I wasn’t motivated to do things like get haircuts, or shave, and everything just sort of grew out. My mom said it made me look like I was homeless.”
Paige tilted her head. “That doesn’t sound like something your mom would say.”
“Well, she did. She said worse, actually, especially when I decided to keep it that way. I had to remind her that I was a grown man.”
Indeed, he was. Without permission, her eyes roamed over him, taking in the strong lines of his body, lingering on his shoulders which filled out his gray and blue plaid shirt nicely. When she realized what she was doing, she looked away and cleared her throat.
“So, what have you been wanting to talk to me about?” she asked, abruptly turning the subject to the purpose of the meeting. She adopted what she hoped was a neutral expression, in case it turned out to be him telling her something she didn’t want to hear, like he was marrying Ashley or having another baby with her.
“Your book.”
That was the last thing she’d been expecting to hear. “My book?”
“Yes, your book.” His expression had turned borderline grim, shocking her a little at the quick flip. “And let me start off by saying how pissed I am that you didn’t tell me about it.”
She stared at him. “What?”
“I can’t tell you how shitty it was to find out about your book and what your Uncle Carter did to you, from my mom.”
“From your mom?”
“Yes. She saw it on her Kindle and read it, then bought me a copy,” he continued tightly. It was almost as if the floodgates had opened, letting all of his anger and disappointment come pouring out. “That was one of the worst moments of my life, to be honest. And since then, I’ve been trying to figure out why you would write a book about what happened to you and sell it to strangers, but didn’t reach out to tell me, someone who should’ve been on your short-list of people to tell. I just don’t understand—” he broke off for a second. “I mean, I know you were blocked so you couldn’t call me, but you could’ve emailed me at least. And the fact that you didn’t is a kick in the balls.”
Paige opened her mouth, then closed it, utterly at a loss in the wake of everything he’d just said, not to mention the outrage directed at her. Clearing her throat again in an attempt to regain some equilibrium, she forced herself to meet his gaze and held it for a moment before saying, “I don’t even know what to say right now. I did email you—more than once.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
She stared at him. “David, I emailed you two years ago about getting together to talk about Carter, but you declined. I was going to tell you everything then, but you didn’t give me the chance. Then, when I emailed you about the book, you had no interest in reading an advance copy—”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he repeated, his voice rising. “I never got any emails.”
His denial brought her up short and she almost shook her head like a cartoon character. “Yes, you did.”
“No, I didn’t.”
She searched his face, looking for any sign that he was lying to her, even though there was no logical reason for him to do so and saw nothing but honesty.
“David—” she stopped as her mind began swirling unpleasantly. She knew that her emails had made it to David’s inbox, because she had received replies in return, but he clearly knew nothing about them, which meant that he obviously hadn’t been the one replying. “This is unbelievable. Except it isn’t,” she muttered.
He looked at her with a mixture of confusion and apprehension. “Am I missing something?”
“Yes.” She got her phone out and opened up her email app, her hands oddly steady, even though her brain was raging. “These are all the emails I’ve sent you since the divorce,” she told him, getting into her correspondences with David. “And all of the responses I’ve gotten from you in return.”
His eyes narrowed in disbelief. “Responses? From me?”
“Yes.”
With trepidation, he took her phone and opened the oldest email and reply.
David:
I know how much you wanted me to have the house, but I just can’t stay here anymore, especially after losing Spook—he was the only thing that made it seem like a home after the divorce.
I’m sure you probably won’t be happy about this, but I’ve made the decision to put the house up for sale in a few weeks.
I hope you’ll be able to understand and forgive me.
Anyway, after I sell it, I want to send you a check for half of the proceeds. I never felt right about you giving me the house in the first place, so I’d like to give you what is rightfully yours.
Paige
Paige:
I wanted you to have the house, which means it’s yours to sell if you’re not happy living there. I do understand and I’m not angry. When you do sell it, please don’t send me any of the sale proceeds. I don’t want the money. Please keep it and do whatever you want with it.
David
He thought back to that night on the phone, when Paige had said she’d emailed him about the house and he’d been a complete dick to her.
With a heavy sigh, he kept reading.
David:
The house sold faster than I thought it would, so I’ll be moving into my new place in a few weeks. Unfortunately, I don’t have room for a lot of our furniture, so if you would like to have anything—like the leather sectional—let me know. Otherwise, I’ll be selling what I don’t have room for.
The house also sold for more than asking price. I know you said you didn’t want any of the proceeds, but your half of the sale is a little over $20,000 dollars and I really want you to have it. Please reconsider.
Paige
Paige:
Thanks for the offer of the furniture, but I don’t have much room, either. I wish I could take the sectional, but I can’t.
As for the house, I’m glad it sold quickly and that you got more than asking price for it, but I still don’t want any of the proceeds. That money is yours to spend however you want, with my blessing.
David
When he got to her email about Carter, he frowned, even though he’d been forewarned about it a few minutes before.
David:
I know this is going to seem odd, but I was wondering if we could get together for a little while. There are a few things I really need to talk to you about and I would prefer to do it in person. I don’t want to go into too many details here, but it specifically has to do with my Uncle Carter.
Paige
Paige:
I don’t think getting together to talk about your uncle—or anything else, for that matter—is a good idea. I’ve moved on and I’m in a really good place right now in my life and I don’t want anything to jeopardize that. I’m sorry if this disappoints you, but I’m asking you to please respect my wishes. I hope you’re doing well.
David
“Holy shit,” he murmured, remembering Jules saying he’d ‘moved on’ at the hospital, which hadn’t made any sense to him.
He read the email about the book, her offer to let him read it before it published, and then his reply declining the offer. When he was done, he looked at Paige with anguished eyes. “I didn’t see these … and I didn’t write these responses.”
“I know that now. But someone obviously did,” Paige said softly, willing to bet any future sexual enjoyment she might have on the fact that the person she’d been exchanging emails with was Ashley.
David’s heart was beating heavily in his chest and his muscles felt tight, as if his anger was making them constrict as he took in the bigger picture. What Ashley had done with his phone had been a breach of trust, but this deliberate and on-going interference was unforgivable. The number of decisions she had made for him in the past few years without his knowledge was staggering. “Jesus. I just can’t … believe this.”
“It does change things, doesn’t it?” she asked. “Everything I thought I knew is a lie and everything I felt was a lie. And for you as well.”
His nod was bitter. And, as furious as he was, he also knew his fury was a little diluted since it was happening to him after the fact. However, it had all happened to Paige in real time, each of his responses a blow that she’d had to deal with as they’d been dealt. “I really thought you didn’t tell me about the book on purpose, but I’m glad that wasn’t how it was. It’s better to know that Ashley fucked me over, than to think you were being …”
“An uncaring asshole?”
He gave a short laugh. “Yeah.”
Clasping her hands together, she said slowly, “Since we’re on the subject of Ashley fucking you over …”
“Jesus Christ, there’s more?”
Thinking about the book she’d sent him that he clearly hadn’t gotten—not if he’d had to find out about it from his mom months later—she gave him a pointed look. “So, even though ‘you’ said that you didn’t want to read my book, I still hoped you’d change your mind, so I mailed you a copy right after it was published.”
“You did?”
“I sent it to you at the studio and since you obviously never got it, I’m going to assume Ashley intercepted the book and kept it from you.”
David only half heard her, his mind replaying Ashley’s reaction when he had showed her the copy he’d gotten from Valerie—Ashley had acted like she’d never seen it before, convincingly so.
He was living with a goddamn sociopath. “That’s probably a good assumption.”
Paige released a long sigh as the hits kept coming. “I’m going to assume she read the note I wrote you, too.”
“The note?”
“I wrote you a note on the inside of the book.” Paige pressed her lips together. “It was sort of personal.”
How much acid was there in a person’s stomach? It felt like he had a gallon or more churning in there. “What did it say?”
“It said that I knew you didn’t want to read the book but I hoped you’d change your mind someday. It also said that it was my story, which impacted our story and ultimately ruined it. I wished you all the best, saying you deserved it. I said that while our time together probably wasn’t the best part of your life, I wanted you to know it was the best part of mine and I wished things had been different. I also said that none of it was your fault,” she told him, her voice catching a little at the end, the thought of Ashley having read all that causing physical pain.
“Well … shit.”
David honestly didn’t know if Ashley had read the note—or any of the book—but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a no-brainer that she probably had read both.
And read them months ago.
David leaned forward and heaved the mother of all sighs, full of disbelief and disgust.
“Are you okay?” Paige asked.
Her question almost made him laugh. Was he okay? Fuck, no. Not even a little bit.
He shook his head and slowly got to his feet. Then, realizing he was still holding her phone, he set it on her desk with a forced smile. “But I will be, after I clean house,” he told her, with a noticeable edge in his voice.
Then, before she could ask what he meant by that cryptic comment, he was gone.
She sat there, a little stunned at his fury. And even though she didn’t like Ashley, she still felt a tad worried for the woman, because it was obvious that something wicked was coming her way.
Paige really wished she could be there to see it.