“This has been the worst time of my entire life, thinking you were gone,” her dad says. “But here you are. Alive. Healthy. We’re the luckiest parents in the entire world.”
Her mom says, “We really are. The whole family was literally jumping for joy when we heard about the dress.”
“We called Guy immediately to let him know,” Paige’s father adds. “He’s got a private jet to fly on standby, along with a medical team to accompany you home.”
“What? Seriously?” Paige asks. “Guy is doing that?”
Her mom nods. “Yes, he says he feels partially responsible for what happened.”
Her dad chimes in with, “I told him I disagree. We all know whose fault this is.”
Paige shakes her head. “No, you are not going to do that, Dad. You don’t know what happened out there. Mac saved my life. Without him, I’d be dead, and I won’t have anyone saying otherwise.”
“All I know is the Coast Guard Commander told us it was reckless to be out in that weather, and I’d say he knows a hell of a lot more about it than either of us do,” her father answers.
Paige gives me an apologetic look, and I offer her a small smile in return, then say, “He’s not wrong. I took a risk. The weather report was showing that there was enough time to get there and back, but just barely. I should’ve said no to Paige.”
“It’s not his fault. I was desperate to get to the wedding and he took pity on me,” Paige says.
Unable to hold it in any longer, I look back and forth between her parents, then say, “You know, while we’re on the topic of who’s to blame for what happened, as someone who cares very much about your daughter, I have something to say. She wasn’t just devastated at the thought of missing her sister’s wedding. She knew that it would mean having you all be eternally disappointed in her, even thoughyou’rethe ones who taught her there’s nothing more important in this life than success.”
Her father glares at me. “I’m not about to be lectured by the man who not only doesn’t know me from Adam, but also nearly got my daughter killed."
“No, Dad. He’s right,” Paige says. “I’ve had a lot of time to think these past few days, and the truth is, you raised me to believe I had to be hugely successful in order to be worthy. And my entire life, I’ve never been good enough for you. I’m not thin enough. I’ll never be anathlete. I can’t just walk into a room and take command of it. That’s not me. But my whole life, I’ve been trying my best to be someone you could approve of. I’ve been running myself into the ground for years to prove I’m a true Chadwick.”
“Paige, that’s ridiculous,” her dad says. “We love you just the way you are.”
“You may love me, but you don’t accept me for who I am,” Paige answers, tears filling her eyes. “I wish you did, but you don’t. I’ve never fit in with the rest of you and I never will. But the thing is, I don’t care anymore. Well, I’mtryingnot to care, anyway, because all I can do is be myself.” Paige gives me a meaningful look and lifts her chin. “And the truth is I’m good enough the way I am.”
I smile at her, overcome with pride, even though she’s not mine.
She smiles back. “And you know who taught me that?” She points at me. “Mac did. So when I say he saved my life, I mean so much more than him keeping me fed and safe while we were on that island.”
Her mom’s face crumples and she reaches out and pulls Paige in for a hug. Rubbing her arm, she says, “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m so sorry. We were just trying to make sure you’d reach your full potential, but it turns out we were just hurting you.”
Her father shakes his head. “We never intended to upset you, Paige. We just wanted you to make the most out of yourself.”
Shaking her head, her mom says, “But we did upset her. We did this, Phillip. We put far too much pressure on her and it almost got her killed. We have got to do better than this.”
His eyes well up, then he clears his throat. “I suppose we do.”
Her mom lets go of Paige and digs around in her handbag, pulling out some tissues. She dabs at Paige’s cheek, then uses it to blow her nose. “Maybe this whole thing happened for a reason. Maybe we needed to almost lose you so we could have a fresh start as a family.”
Her words hang in the air while we fly over a few more islands on the way back home. I stare out at the familiar landscape, thinking about the fact that Paige is going to be on a swanky jet while I’m taking a cab from the hospital to the dock to get my motorbike. But that’s as it should be. She’s not going to hop on my bike and wrap her arms around my waist for the trip to my little house where we’ll live happily ever after. My mind wanders to what my life was like back there. Just me and Steve. And my garden. Living the good life. And I have to be okay with that because that’s exactly where I’m going to end up when this helicopter lands.
I am, in fact, okay with it. No, better than okay. I’m happy. This is for the best. One and done. We had our fun and now it’s over, only maybe she’ll be a little better off than she was before we met.
I glance back at Paige, and our eyes meet. The look on her face is saying what my heart wants to hear, and I let myself hope, for one brief moment, that maybe she’ll stay.
Paige’s mom interrupts my thoughts. “I can’t be sure, but if I had to guess, I’d say that Guy is finally going to give you the promotion you deserve.”
“And if not, you can write your own ticket from now on,” her dad adds. “Open your own agency if you want. Or I’m sure you can buy into Prescott if you decide that’s your next move. Mom and I will front you the cash.”
“Oh, um, well, no, I don’t want your money,” Paige says. “But thank you.”
“Why the hell not?” her father says. “Paige, we believe in you. Always have.”
Her mom cuts in with, “Phillip, maybe now’s not the time. Paige must be overwhelmed with all of this. Let’s just have the doctor check her out and get her back to the U.S. for now. All of this business talk can wait.”
