“I’m just going to get Polly settled, I’ll be right back.”
A few minutes later, he shuts off the light in the bathroom, walks around to the other side of my bed before climbing in, and opens his arms to me. I move over and lay my head on his chest as his arms come around me.
“Thank you,” I whisper as my eyes start to droop instantly. The last thing I hear — and to be fair, I’m half asleep, so perhaps I misheard — are three whispered words that go straight to my heart.
“Anything for you.”
If only anything could include him staying with me.
Chapter nineteen
Wyatt
Leaving Paige this morning was torture. Despite sleeping fairly soundly in my arms, her cold clearly worsened overnight. When she eventually woke up, her nose was congested, her voice half gone, and her head was still aching. I wanted to stay, but she begged me to go to the store and put up a sign telling her customers she wouldn’t be open today. The only reason I agreed to leave was because she promised me that she was going to stay in bed and rest. A part of me knew I was overreacting and it was just a cold, but I also couldn’t shake my worry for her.
After putting up a sign at the store, I send her a text to check in. The picture she sends in reply of Polly curled up on top of her legs, which are clearly covered by her duvet, reassures me enough that I decide to deal with a few other things before heading back over to her house. My first stop is the local grocery store where I grab some juice, fruit, and things to make sandwiches. Easy food for me to prepare and for Paige to eat. When I pass by the small floral section, on a whim, I grab a bouquet of colourful flowers. I’ve never bought flowers for a woman before, but I’ll do anything to bring a smile to Paige’s face.
Back at my parents’ house, I quickly shower, get dressed, and throw together a bag with a few changes of clothes. I’m not leaving Paige until she either kicks me out or she’s better. If I get sick, so be it. Being by her side and caring for her is the only thing I can think of doing right now.
I go to pack my laptop, then hesitate. I don’t want to risk Paige seeing anything associated with Crawford Books on my computer. I hate that I’m still lying to her. When she’s better, I’ll tell her. I have to. Instead, I quickly sit down at the counter to deal with any important emails before I go back over to her house. But as always happens, I get bogged down in work tasks for over an hour before I can finally close the laptop. Going to the door, I pull out a pair of shoes as my phone rings. I could ignore it, but a glance at the caller ID shows it’s my father again.
“Two days in a row? Everything okay?” I say by way of greeting, my mind only half on the call. The other half is thinking of stopping at Camille’s, Mila’s café, to pick up some soup and maybe some muffins for Paige.
“Yes, everything is fine. In fact, I wanted to let you know that your instincts were right. Rosemary got to Calgary last night, and she’s already met with the broker and pushed through the purchase on the new location. You’d better watch your back, or that woman will be coming for your job title.” Dad laughs, but I don’t join in. Little does he know that would be a dream come true.
“Okay, great. Anything else?” I say hurriedly, trying to slide my other shoe on with one hand.
“Ah, one more thing. With Calgary underway, I wanted to quickly get your opinion on branching out further on the East Coast. There’s interest from the Toronto team about adding a second location, but we don’t have a management presence back east at all. It would require relocation for the better part of a year, I suspect.”
A year. On the other side of the country.
A month ago, I would have jumped at the chance. Anything for a new challenge. But now, the idea of an entire country separating Paige and I isn’t so appealing, and I find that I’m not as quick to say yes. Dad must sense my hesitation.
“Is everything alright, son?”
Keeping my shoes on, I let out a loud sigh and lean back against the wall. “Yeah, Dad. I just…I don’t know if I want to be on the East Coast for a year.”
“Why? I thought you enjoyed your time in Toronto earlier. Oh, hang on, your mother just walked in. Let me put you on speaker phone.”
Great. My mom is even more intuitive than my dad. Now I have no choice but to come clean.
“Hi honey.” My mom’s voice comes through the phone.
“Hey, Mom.”
“So you were saying,” Dad chimes in. “You’re hesitant to go to Ontario. May we ask why?”
I think for a minute before responding, “Are you asking as my parents, or as my CEO and COO?”
“We’re always your parents first, Wyatt,” Mom says gently, and I let out my breath.
“Okay, then, the truth is, I’d like to stay on the West Coast for a while. I’ll handle everything I can remotely, and only travel when I need to. I don’t mind coming back for meetings in Vancouver, but…I was hoping to stay in Dogwood Cove. I…I met someone here.”
My mother’s gasp of excitement makes me smile. I think she’d like Paige. A lot.
“Okay, honey, we’ll see what we can do to move things around.”
“Giselle, you can’t promise him that,” my dad starts to protest, then I hear a muffled ouch.
