Chapter Thirty-One
chapter thirty-one
PAIGE
“I’m going to ask Nate to move in with me.”
“Well, it’s about time,” Ana says with a laugh.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
I glance back to make sure Nate can’t hear while I pad to the guest bathroom to clean up since I have his cum dripping out of me.
“It means just as I said. It’s about time. We all knew this would happen eventually. We were just waiting for you to catch up.”
I roll my eyes and huff. “I was taking things slowly. Being cautious.”
“I get it,” she says. “But Nate isn’t your dumbass ex. He’s the real freaking deal. But you needed to see that for yourself. So, when are you going to ask him? And really”—she laughs—“are you going to actually ask him? Because we both know he’s going to say yes.”
“That’s why I’m talking to you.”
“Why does it sound like you’re echoing? Are you in a bathroom?”
“Yes, Ana!” I whisper. “Nate just got home, and he’s in the shower, and I’m supposed to be in there, too, but instead, I’m hiding in the guest bathroom because I don’t know how to do it.”
“Take a shower?” she asks in confusion, and it takes everything in me not to bang my head against the wall.
“Oh my God, no! Ask him to move in.”
“Oh! Just ask him while you’re giving him head,” she says with a laugh. “Julian always says yes to whatever I want while I’m giving him head.”
“I heard that!” Julian yells.
“Too late for that,” I mutter, making Ana crack up.
“Wait! Did you answer my call while you were?—”
“No!” I hiss. “We already… did it. Then, you called, and I was freaking out in my head about how to ask him to move in so I told him I needed to talk to you and that I would meet him in the shower in a minute.”
“Paige, I love you, but you overthink everything.” Ana sighs. “The guy is in love with you. Simply tell him you’re ready for him to move in.”
“But what if he’s changed his mind?” I whisper.
“Not happening, and we both know that. You’re just nervous. But deep down, you know he’s not going anywhere. So, get off the phone with me and go make that man’s night by telling him you want him to move in with you.”
She’s right. I know she is. I know Nate loves me. It’s just so hard, being vulnerable. But this is what I want. This past week without him has solidified how much I want Nate in my life—and not just him spending the night. I want to live with him, create a life with him. I love him and want a future with him.
“Okay, I’m going to tell him.”
“Good girl. Let me know how it goes tomorrow at work.”
We hang up, and I head to the bedroom, my body vibrating with excitement at taking the next step in our relationship.
“Finally,” Nate says. “I was about to get out and drag you in here.”
“Sorry! I’m coming in now.”
I set my phone next to Nate’s, but before I pull my hand away, his phone lights up with an incoming call from his mom. It ends before I can accept, and his screen shows several missed calls and texts.
“Hey, Nate, your mom just called.”
“Paige,” Nate says, popping his head out from behind the glass. “I’ve been without you for over a damn week. My mom can wait. Get your ass in here.”
“I know but?—”
I swipe at the screen, something in my stomach churning. His mom wouldn’t call and text this many times and this late unless something was wrong.
“Let me just check the text she sent.”
Nate grumbles under his breath, and I roll my eyes, secretly loving how much he missed me. When I unlock his phone, there isn’t just a text from his mom. There are also texts from his brothers and Valerie. I click on the most recent one from his mom, and my heart sinks.
Mom
Please call me back. We’re at the hospital, and your dad is in surgery.
“Babe!” Nate yells over the sound of the water.
“Nate, I need you to get out of the shower,” I say as I scroll up before reading the very first text sent from his mom.
Mom
Your dad has had a stroke. We’re on our way to the hospital. Please call me.
“What?” Nate asks, but my words are stuck in my throat.
My heart is pounding behind my rib cage, and it’s hard to breathe.
Is his dad going to die? Will Nate lose him like I lost my mom?
No.
My mom was sick and weak, and the stroke was the end. But Nate’s dad is strong, and he’ll get through this. He has to get through this.
Nate turns off the water and gets out. “Paige, what’s going on?”
I take a deep breath, reminding myself that this isn’t about me. I need to be strong for Nate. It’s his dad who had the stroke, and me freaking out isn’t going to help him .
“Your dad had a stroke,” I tell him, keeping my voice level. “They’re at the hospital now.”
Nate’s face pales, and he rushes to grab his phone out of my hand.
He’s dripping wet, getting water all over the floor, so I get him a towel and wrap it around his waist while he reads through the texts and then calls his mom back while he quickly gets dressed.
While he talks to her, I get dressed as well and pack a bag because we need to get to Dallas.
Damn it! We’re going to have to fly because we don’t live close by. Or maybe we’ll have to drive? I don’t know where his plane is.
I hear Nate talking to his mom, or maybe it’s one of his brothers—I don’t know. But I can’t hear what’s being said. I grab Nate’s luggage from the doorway where he left it when he got home and dump it out so I can pack it with new clothes.
When he comes into the room, he looks at me with glassy eyes, and my heart clenches in my chest as I pray that his dad is okay.
“There was brain bleeding, and he’s in surgery,” he says, his voice filled with raw emotion. “I…I need to get to…”
“I packed our bags,” I tell him. “Do you want to fly or drive?”
“Fly,” he says. “Dustin said the jet is waiting for me.”
“For us,” I tell him, walking over and wrapping my arms around him. “I’m going with you. It’s going to be okay.”
My thoughts go back to Nate showing up in the hospital when I fell. He said those same words to me. Now, I have to hope mine ring true the same way his did.
I drive us to the airport since Nate is in no condition to drive, and the flight is quiet. Nate texts with his family, but there’s no news yet. Either that or they don’t want to give him bad news through a text message.
The car I ordered takes us to the hospital, and once we’re there, we find his family in the waiting room. I hug his mom, telling her I love her while she sobs in my arms, and then Nate and I give each family member a hug. I’ve been missing them since they left from visiting for the baby shower, and I was hoping to see them soon, but not under these circumstances.
Once the greetings are over, Nate asks for an update.
“They haven’t given us any news yet,” Carmine says, his eyes bloodshot. “They took him back to handle the brain bleed, but that’s all we know.”
“They said he was stable,” Dustin adds. “So, that’s a good thing.”
I nod, trying to push away my negative thoughts, not daring to mention that when my mom had her stroke, she slipped into a coma and never woke up.
Nate pulls me into his arms, and we sit in silence, waiting for the doctor to update us. The entire time, I pray that Cary’s outcome is different from my mom’s. That they’ll fix him up and he’ll be okay. And I don’t stop praying until the doctor comes out and gives us the good and bad news: They got the brain bleed under control. But he had clogged arteries, so it required a surgery to unclog his arteries—which is why it took them longer.
“What now?” Joanne asks.
“We’ve moved him into recovery,” the doctor says. “He’ll slowly wake up. We’ll keep him here for a few days to monitor him, and then he’s going to need to rest for at least eight to twelve weeks. No stress. Healthy eating. He’ll meet with his doctor to go over what they want him to take prescription-wise.”
“Thank you,” Joanne says. “I’ll make sure he does all of that.”
The doctor leaves, and everyone sighs, thankful that Cary is okay.
And then Joanne starts freaking out.
“He’s going to need a nurse,” she says, “and a dietician. I’ve told him for years that he needs to cut back on the high cholesterol foods. He’s going to need to exercise. He sits at that darn desk too much.” She pulls out her phone to, I assume, make a list. “I need to see about a gym membership, or maybe we can turn one of the guest rooms into a home gym. And he needs to retire.”
She glances up, and her eyes meet Nate’s. “He needs to retire,” she chokes out, fresh tears filling her eyes. “The stress of the job isn’t good for him.”
Nate nods in understanding, but doesn’t offer what we all know his mom needs. Instead, he says, “I can help Valerie learn the ropes, and Dad mentioned having some potential candidates.”
“You know how stubborn he is,” she cries. “He’s going to go right back to work.” She glances from Nate to his brothers. “We all know it. He’s going to refuse to retire, and the stress is going to kill him, and I can’t lose my husband. We’re supposed to travel. Go on cruises. He promised.”
Nate pulls me tighter into his side, not saying anything because he’s trying to put me first. But I can’t let him do that. His family needs him. They’ve been so good to me, so understanding and loving. They’ve accepted me into their life without thought.
“Nate,” I say softly, looking up at him, “I think you should step up…as CEO.”
Nate’s eyes widen. “I can’t,” he says. “I can’t do the job remotely and?—”
“Your dad needs you.” I palm the sides of his face. “It will only be temporary. When your dad wakes up, the last thing we want is for him to stress out. And your mom is right. Unless you step up, he’s not going to walk away.”
“Thank you,” Joanne cries, pulling me into her arms. “Thank you, Paige. You don’t know how much this means to me. To my family.”
“Mom,” Nate says, his voice devoid of all emotion, “I need to talk to Paige…alone.”
He takes my hand in his and guides us down the hallway and out of earshot from his family. Then, he turns and faces me, his features etched with a mixture of pain and concern and—he smiles softly at me—love.
“Baby, if I step up as CEO, it will mean being the face of the company. I’ll have to stay in Dallas. It will look bad if?—”
“Stop,” I say, pressing my hand to his heart. “It’s okay. It’ll only be until you get it all sorted. Besides, it will be easier to handle everything in person versus remotely.”
“I don’t want to be away from you,” he murmurs, his bright brown eyes filled with fear.
“I can call Ana. I’m sure she’ll let me work remotely. At least until I have to fly back to Rosemary for my checkup. Besides, we still have a couple months until the baby comes. That gives you time to figure out what to do.”
Nate shakes his head and then wraps his arms around me. “I love you so much. I promise I’m going to work around the clock to get this all sorted so my dad can retire and I can be back in Rosemary before the baby comes.”
“I know,” I tell him, already missing him even though he’s still right here in my arms.
But this is what his family needs, and it would be selfish of me to keep him in Rosemary when they need him here.
“I love you too,” I tell him. “We’ll get through this together. And once you get everything sorted and are able to come back to Rosemary, I don’t want you in that hotel anymore.” I look up at him, and his brows furrow in confusion. “I want you to move in with me. I’m ready, Nate. I’m ready to take the next step with you. I want to live with you. And when we bring our little guy home, I want us all under one roof…as a family.”
Nate pulls me back into his arms and nuzzles his face into my hair. “Thank you, Paige. You’ve just taken the worst day and made it better.”