“Thanks, Luce. Did you lose the rest of your dress on the way here?” I snickered.
She slapped my arm. “Whatever. There is a class full of firemen in there.”
Uncle Evan groaned and shook his head behind her.
“All right, everyone else is inside. Let’s go.” Dad motioned to the entrance and squeezed my shoulder.
Mom stayed silent as she kissed my cheek. My eyes locked with hers, and I gave her a little nod before she took Dad’s hand and strode away.
My family went to their seats, and I joined my class. Losing my father as a baby sounded like the beginning of a tragic story, but I had two rows full of immediate and extended family in attendance today. There was no shortage of love, even if I started out life missing a parent.
I couldn't let any of them down, especially the one I couldn’t see, but now knew was always watching.
The End
Keep reading for an excerpt ofOnly You, Evan and Paige’s story.
MY EYELIDS WEREweak and heavy. All I did now was sleep, but I was still too tired to wake up. I didn’t even remember how I got here.
It took a pathetic amount of strength to lift my head and glance over the tray of food. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but pretty sure it was late. Why they thought I wanted crackers now was beyond me.They can’t really expect me to eat, can they?Swallowing anything was torturous thanks to the deep open sores that trailed down my throat. Water burned, so the thought of eating anything was as appealing as chowing down on sandpaper—and would probably feel the same going down.
I curled into the fetal position as I shivered and rubbed at my skin to get warm, and felt the pointy bone through the flesh of my arms. I reached for the covers and winced at the pain in my fingers as I gathered up the scratchy fabric and pulled it over my aching shoulders.
It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe. Most of all, it hurt to think.
The life I wanted, with the man I wanted, haunted my dreams.
You own me. Can’t you see that?
You’re mine. You’re everything.
I . . . can’t see my future with anyone else but you.
I finally found what I’d been looking for my entire life, but I couldn’t keep it.
The sound of voices yelling outside my hospital room snatched me out of my thoughts. I pushed myself up, panting at the exertion it took to sit upright. I leaned back on my elbows and pushed myself up. My heart leaped in my heavy chest when I recognized the voice causing the commotion outside—the voice I’d know anywhere.
“I need to see her,please.”
Evan?No, no, no. I didn’t want him to see me like this. How did he find out I was here?
“I’m sorry, sir. Immediate family only. This is the ICU.”
“I’m not leaving. Paige? Daisy, it’s me!” My heavy head dropped to my hands. The sobs that ran through me made it difficult to breathe, thanks to the oxygen tubes filtering through my nose.
Pushing him away was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I did it for him. I didn’t want to let him go. I wanted him to hold me, tell me he loved me and know he would never leave me. I wanted that so fucking much it ached.
“Sir, please. She’s a very sick girl.”
In time, he’d see. He deserved someone who could give him a life, children, and a future. All things I can’t offer him, no matter how much I wished things were different. He deserved better than this, better than me.
The door was half closed but opened with such force that it banged into the wall and made me jump. Evan marched up to my bed and took my face in his hands. His hay-colored eyes filled with tears as his hands shook.
“I love you, and I’m not going anywhere.” His voice quivered with emotion, but I wasn’t sure if it was sadness, rage, or a combination of the two.
“Now, you’re going to tell me exactly what’s going on. And why you lied to me.”
One year earlier
