Where Forever Lies Read online

  “I’m sure we can come up with something creative,” Paige said and took another sip of her wine.

  Kyleigh sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. It looked like a knotted mess and Paige wondered how far their fighting had gone. She turned her eyes away, her heart breaking from the thought of it all. She had never been in an abusive relationship, in fact she hadn’t been in very many relationships at all, but she could never figure out why someone would stay with someone like that.

  “Paige, don’t look so down. I couldn’t be happier to finally be away from Brad. If this last small incident is all I have to endure to be out of his grasp, then so be it. But I’m happy, so don’t worry yourself about me. I know how you are. You are a worrier,” Kyleigh said as she nudged Paige’s side and gave her a smirk.

  Paige looked into her face and saw that she really meant what she was saying and she couldn’t be happier for her. “Good, then that definitely eases my mind. But I’m telling you, if you go back to that bastard, then you better be ready for a fight from me as well,” Paige said, slapping her on the arm. “I mean it, too.”

  “Don’t worry, there’s no way in hell that I’m going back to him. I don’t care if he comes crawling on his hands and knees, begging.” Kyleigh’s eyes lit up as that thought crossed her mind, but then they darkened. “But, unfortunately, I couldn’t get lucky enough to turn him down in that scenario because he would never do that.”

  Paige laughed, “That would be a sight to see.”

  Kyleigh let out a huff of air, “Oh, Paige, I just don’t know what I’m going to do now. I’ve never been single for long. It just seems so foreign to me. I don’t know what to do with myself.” She looked over at Paige, her big brown eyes showing a hint of fear in them.

  “Kyleigh, you are beautiful, believe me, you won’t be single for long. Anyway, maybe it will be good for you to be single for a while.” Paige smiled as Kyleigh’s eyes brightened and she let out a giggle.

  “Well, I don’t know if I like that idea but we’ll just see what happens. What about you. You haven’t dated in like forever. How do you do it? You’re not going to turn into a spinster or anything are you?” Kyleigh asked, her cheeks reddening from laughing.

  Paige narrowed her eyes at her. “No, I just don’t have time to date right now. I’m way too busy working and taking care of Kyra. That’s already daunting enough, let alone adding a guy in there.” Paige paused for a moment as she stared down at her wine glass. She wasn’t really being honest here because she did want to find someone but the thought just scared her. She could come up with a million excuses as to why it was better to be single. She was terrified of picking out the wrong guy again, and getting Kyra involved or attached and then have it not work out in the end. It seemed safer to just stay single and raise Kyra on her own. She felt Kyleigh staring at her and looked up as she said, “Okay, to be honest, I am lonely, but I did get asked out by a guy today at the park,” Paige said and then started laughing.

  “No way! Who?” Kyleigh asked. “I knew there was no way someone could be single as long as you have been and not need a man by now.”

  Kyleigh was grinning over her wine glass and Paige rolled her eyes. “I don’t need a man, really. But it would be nice to find a decent guy for once instead of the losers I’ve dated. Geesh, I was almost to the point of giving up on guys completely, but this guy seems all right, and if he calls, I just might go out with him. His name is Tyler and I ran into him at the park. Actually, he hit me with his basketball,” Paige confessed, laughing.

  Paige said this as she tried to remember the last date she’d been on. It seemed like forever. She thought it had to be at least six months ago or maybe even more. Her mind drifted back to the guy she’d gone out with. Colton. He had been such a jerk. He had been the arrogant, cocky type who thought she wanted to have sex on their first date. All it took was her slapping him across the face and kicking him in the balls for him to realize his hands needed to stay off of her. She had been so angry that night, and had sworn she wouldn’t go out on a blind date again. She’d realized that she’d somewhat kept to that promise because she hadn’t gone out with anyone since. Maybe it was time to try it out again and maybe Tyler might be different.

  Kyleigh began to laugh harder, making Paige forget to add that he also was the one who had rear-ended her.

  “Maybe...” Kyleigh started, a huge grin covering her face, “maybe we will both find a great guy Friday night when we go out, if Mr.Guy-from-the-park hasn’t snatched you up by then.”

  Paige groaned. That wasn’t her idea of having a good time. She’d wanted to get out of the house, relax with her friend, dance and forget all her troubles. But when she saw the excited look on Kyleigh’s face, she knew she couldn’t say no. “We’ll see about that. But first, why don’t you tell me where you are taking me, because I am a little terrified you’re going to have me boot scoot boogying Saturday night, and you know I’m no country girl.”

  Kyleigh started laughing hard and slapped her knee as the laughter took over. Paige knew that wasn’t a good sign.

  Chapter 8

  Tyler walked up the porch steps into his home and, as soon as he turned on the lights, the vacant feel of the house slapped him in the face. He walked over to the fridge, his cowboy boots echoing against the hardwood floors, and pulled out a beer. Normally, the quietness of the house didn’t bother him, but after having his mom’s company for most of the weekend, and Brandon over, now the house just seemed empty. He scratched his head, not sure why he even noticed, because he’d never given it much thought before.

  He decided to head to the barn to feed the animals, clean up a little and keep his mind occupied. He went out the back, almost tripped on Diesel, who was lying in front of the door, and barely caught himself from falling on top of the dog.

  “Diesel, what the hell are you doing, boy?” Tyler asked, as he reached down to pet him. Diesel raised his head and whined in acknowledgement before quickly falling back to sleep.

  Tyler shuffled down the steps, jingling his keys in his hands as he made the short walk to the red barn out back. As he opened the door to the barn his phone went off. He pulled it out of the back pocket of his Levis and looked at the number. Sarah Barrow. He contemplated whether or not to answer it because he knew what she wanted. What she always wanted when she called him. He looked back at his empty, dark house and decided it couldn’t be any worse than being alone all night, again. He wasn’t sure what had been going on with him lately. For some reason he was beginning to feel the loneliness in his single life. Maybe it was because he was twenty-eight, pushing thirty. Maybe it was because he’d been divorced for five years now. He didn’t know but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that these thoughts didn’t start really bombarding him until he’d run into that girl, Paige. Not just once, but twice now. Literally run into her. He rubbed at the back of his neck as he gave that some thought. What were the odds of that happening? He didn’t know, but what he did know worried him. He was intrigued by her. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he’d never had a girl interest him in that way before. Sure, he’d been married and dated girls but the way he had looked at them was different. The way he felt around them was different. He’d only been around this girl twice and she already had him subconsciously second guessing his life.

  He didn’t know what was so different about her but he could tell she was definitely unique. Paige Griffin. It also surprised him that he even remembered her last name, because his memory was horrible. He had a hard time remembering his own birthday, let alone the name of some girl he’d just met. He’d glanced at her insurance information, maybe once, when he was on the phone with his insurance company, and her last name somehow just popped out of his mouth like it was something he said every day.

  His phone started ringing again, breaking him away from his insane thoughts, and he decided to answer it this time, “Hey, Sarah.”

  “Tyler.” Her voice sang through th
e phone and he tensed at the intensity of it.

  “Yep, what’s up Sarah?” he questioned, his voice hard and to the point. He didn’t want to play around with games and chit chat on the phone. It wasn’t his thing.

  “Well, I’m sure you know what’s up,” she said, quietly, her voice turning more seductive with each word. “Do you want to get together later?”

  Tyler thought about it for a minute and for once he wasn’t really sure what he wanted. He had yet to turn down Sarah’s weekly get together, but for some reason he was starting to question if he wanted to keep playing these games with her. Did he want to continue with these weekly flings? He had been living on the quiet road for a while, not worrying about having a woman around and doing as he pleased. But lately, things seemed to be changing within him. He knew he wasn’t interested in Sarah, well, not in that way, but he also didn’t think she cared, and right now, it didn’t matter to him either.

  “Sure, why don’t you swing by in an hour,” he said as he swung the barn doors open, kicking a rock out of the way with his cowboy boot, and making his way down to the stall. He wanted to check on the colt before he went back inside for the night.

  “That sounds great,” Sarah said and Tyler shook his head when she let out a light giggle.

  He pushed the thoughts of Paige out of his mind. He had her phone number but he was hesitant about making that call and asking her out. Besides, he did think Sarah was a pretty girl, and at times she was even fun to be around. She was attractive with long blonde hair, sun kissed skin and legs that seemed endless. It was easy being around Sarah. There were no strings attached. But he knew he was just killing time; she wasn’t his type and he didn’t feel the connection he wanted to feel with her. He’d tried telling her this for the past three months of their on-again, off-again dating, if you could call it that; but she always brushed it off and told him he’d come around. He knew he wouldn’t, but he also didn’t mind hanging out with her and just having a good time for a few hours.

  He peered into the stall where the mare and colt were and rubbed his hands across the light stubble on his cheeks as he watched them. The colt, a week old now, was probably old enough to be turned out for good in the small fenced lot behind the barn. He’d turned them out for a few hours each day but he figured now they were ready for a permanent home out there. They’d be the only two in the area and the small lean-to would give them shelter.

  He stepped into the stall and put the halter on the mare and led them out into the smaller lot. He watched as the colt followed behind and he couldn’t help but smile when he started bucking and kicking his back feet out sideways.

  After he got everything done in the barn, he headed back to the house. As he walked down the gravel drive to the house, he heard the coyotes howl in the woods in the distance. It was almost eight o’ clock, now, and the sun was beginning to set; as he looked out in the distance he saw the orange colors from the sun splattered against the sky. The view was perfect out here. The air cleaner and the stars brighter than he ever saw during the few years he lived in the city when he was married. He turned away from the view, glad the city years were behind him. He had a good life out here. Brandon loved riding the horses and his four-wheeler and Tyler enjoyed taking care of the horses and having land to do whatever he wanted. But still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. He felt like he had an itch he couldn’t scratch and it wouldn’t go away. Maybe he just needed to unwind tonight with Sarah and it would help clear his mind.

  He heard gravel crunching under tires in the distance and saw headlights coming up his long drive as Sarah drove her Mercedes up to the house. His heart sank and he knew this wasn’t what he was missing.

  Chapter 9

  Paige made her way to the nurse’s station to finish filling out some patient reports, and felt a hand grab her wrist. Startled, she quickly turned around and saw Jimmy staring at her. His face was scrunched up in confusion, his blue eyes were flitting around wildly, and his thinning gray hair was strung out everywhere.

  Paige slowly pulled her arm out of his grasp as she said, “Jimmy, is everything okay? Do you need something?”

  She watched as he looked at her and then down the hall before saying quietly, “There’s a dog in my room. He keeps growling at me. Can you come get it out?”

  Paige smiled at him even as her heart dropped. Jimmy’s dementia was getting worse and she couldn’t help but feel sad about it. She knew she was supposed to be strong and do her best to keep her emotions out of her job as best as she could, but she had a hard time doing that.

  “Well, Jimmy, why don’t you go down to the recreational room and watch some TV and I’ll take a look in a little bit, okay?” Paige said, as she grabbed his elbow and turned him in the direction.

  Jimmy nodded his head briefly as he turned and slowly shuffled down the hall, turning to give her one last look as if to make sure she was actually going to check on the dog for him.

  Paige sighed as she veered in the direction of his room. She couldn’t lie to him when he asked later and it would only take a few seconds of her time.

  As she walked down the wide hallway of the hospital, she felt someone tug on her shirt, “Hey, girl, what are you doing?”

  She slowed down as her friend Brooke Todd came up beside her. “I am going to check out this dog that Jimmy says is in his room,” Paige said, as she gave her friend the once over. Jimmy was Brooke’s favorite patient. Brooke’s long, dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, her lips bursting with a bright red and her wrists covered in numerous bracelets. Paige couldn’t help but smile at seeing her. Brooke was definitely eccentric, you never knew what she would say or what she would be wearing, but she always knew how to put a smile on your face.

  “Oh, no, he doesn’t think that?” Brooke said, as she grabbed Paige’s arm, her bracelets clanging together.

  “Yes, he does. I told him I’d check so that’s what I’m doing. I hate it that he’s going downhill, though. It sucks.” Paige rounded the corner and as they came to Jimmy’s room, she stuck her head in and gave it a quick look, satisfied that she’d done her job.

  “Yeah, me too. I’ll be so sad when Jimmy has to leave,” Brooke said, as her eyes scanned Jimmy’s empty room.

  “Well, I don’t see any dogs running around in here,” Paige said, tugging on the sleeve of her navy colored scrubs. As they turned away from Jimmy’s room and headed down to the nurse’s station, Paige asked, “What are you doing tonight?”

  “I actually have no plans because I’m a loser. Why? What’s up?” Brooke grinned, as she slipped a pen into her front pocket.

  “Well, Kyleigh is taking me to some dancing bar in the country and we wanted to see if you wanted to come. I’m telling you though, to me it sounds like some redneck dance bar, so it’s your call,” Paige said, as they stopped at the front desk.

  Brooke placed a multi ringed finger to her lips as if in deep thought before saying, “It sounds interesting. I’d love to see you line dance, so count me in.” Brooke let out a high pitched cackle making Paige grimace.

  “I’m not line dancing,” Paige groaned, as she set her files on the nurse’s station and placed her hand on her hip as she stared at Brooke.

  Brooke just continued to laugh, “Yeah, right. You know Kyleigh has her own agenda sometimes.”

  Paige let out an aggravated huff, blowing a strand of brown hair out of her eye. “Anyway, we are leaving at eight. You can meet us at my place.”

  “Sounds great,” Brooke said. As she turned to walk down to the recreational room she called over her shoulder, “Don’t forget to wear your cowboy boots!”

  Paige stuck her tongue out at her as she sashayed down the hall and, as she turned her head, she was met face to face with Darlene, who was sticking her tongue out, too. Paige regained her composure and tried to hide her smile at Darlene’s expression. She was pushing ninety years old and had very late stage Alzheimer’s. Her big blue eyes were bugged out and
she had her gray hair pulled back into a bun with a pink flower poking out on top.

  “Hi, Darlene,” Paige said.

  Darlene just giggled and Paige placed her hand on her elbow and turned her towards the recreational room. “Come on, Darlene, let’s go play some games.”

  ♥♥♥

  Paige threw a shirt in a pile on the floor on top of the other six shirts she had already tried on. She sighed. Nothing seemed right. Kyleigh told her to dress nice but casual but she couldn’t decide on anything. She hadn’t been out in so long that she was out of touch with what she should wear. So far, she had on a pair of dark skinny jeans and some cute black sandals. She opened up her closet door and pushed her clothes around, looking for something that stuck out. Finally at the back of the closet, she spotted a cute, blue, v-neck, short sleeved shirt and knew she had the perfect earrings to go with it. She pulled it out and slipped it on just as someone knocked on the door.

  As she swung the door open Kyleigh squealed with excitement, “Oh my God, you look great!”

  “Yeah, right. But thanks,” Paige said, as she looked her friend up and down. Her shoulder length dark hair was stick straight and she was wearing a cute red shirt with jeans. As Paige’s eyes landed on her shoes, she froze. She carefully licked her lips as she said, “Why in the hell are you wearing cowboy boots?”

  Kyleigh laughed, “Oh, those? You will love this place Paige, I promise. It’s not a dirt floor type of bar, trust me. It’s just not the club atmosphere that you’re used to when we go out. But cowboy boots are not a pre-requisite so you’ll be fine. I just like to wear them sometimes, they’re fun.”

  Paige just gave her a wary look. “Okay, but if I step in mud or anything else, you will pay.”

  “It’s not like that, really. It’s a nice, quiet country type of bar.” Kyleigh looked around her apartment and then asked, “Where’s Brooke?”