Free Here to Stay by Debra Webb

when she stopped fighting him.
    “A few weeks later…I…I came back.” She
shuddered and tears spilled past her thick lashes. “Robert told me
you’d already married someone else.” Paige pulled herself free of
his relaxed hold. “My father told me I should have expected it…I
shouldn’t have trusted you”
    Nathan’s mind whirled. He moved his head from
side to side in denial. She couldn’t believe that. Paige drew in a
sharp breath, drawing his attention back to her confused eyes.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. This just couldn’t be. All these
years.
    “Paige, I didn’t even meet her until a month
after you left. I waited, hoped, prayed even that you would come
back. When you didn’t, I lost control and married the first woman
who showed interest. I thought I could forget you.”
    “But…” Paige shook her head and backed away a
step. “You weren’t already engaged when we…?” Her questioning gaze
locked on his.
    “No,” he answered her unfinished question.
The past that should have been flashed before his eyes as he stood
there looking at Paige. Nathan felt as if a twister had ripped
through him, leaving a gaping hole where his soul used to be. She
was all he ever wanted and his stupid pride had taken her from him.
She had come for him and he had already made the mistake that would
ruin both their lives.
    “All this time, I thought you…” Paige’s
expression cluttered with confusion.
    Nathan’s whole body grieved. His heart
dropped into his boots. Pride had kept him from calling her or
going to Memphis to get her immediately after she had left. When
she didn’t come back, he had sought revenge. He had ruined their
lives. He took a tentative step toward her. Her eyes filled with
the same pain and regret he felt. Nathan reached out and caressed
her cheek. He tried to tell her with his eyes what he couldn’t find
the words to say. He slid his arms around her and pulled her close.
She fit perfectly against him, as she always had. Her cheek against
his chest, his chin against her soft hair. Her warm body soothed
the deep, dark ache inside him.
    Paige clung to Nathan, cried softly into his
shirt. He pressed his lips to her hair. “Shh, don’t cry,” he
whispered. “It’s over now. We can…We can still be friends.” At
least they could have that. Nathan felt Paige tense in his arms.
She tilted her tear-stained face up to his. Her sweet lips entirely
too close…too inviting.
    “Do you mean that? We can forget the past and
try to be friends?”
    He smiled. She was so beautiful. If she would
still accept his friendship, it was hers. She never had to know the
truth—that he would go to his grave loving her. “Yes. I’d like
that.”
    She smiled then. “I’m so glad, Nathan.
There’s so much I need to tell you.”
    He pressed her cheek against his chest and
squeezed her tight. “Let’s not talk anymore right now. There will
be time later.” She nodded against him. He couldn’t deal with
anything else right now.
    Nathan felt some sense of relief that Paige
seemed so happy, but somehow he didn’t feel happy at all.
     
    ~*~
     
    Paige fumbled through the dark, trying to
find her way down the stairs. The storm had knocked the power out.
She shivered. She hated the dark. She wasn’t really afraid. Not
really, she reminded herself. It was just the idea of not being
able to turn the lights on. She had never slept with a nightlight
or anything like that, not even as a child. But she often awoke in
the middle of the night and turned the bedside lamp on just to make
sure she could send away the darkness if she chose to.
    Paige felt her way into the kitchen and
opened one drawer at a time, carefully examining and identifying
the contents by touch. There had to be a candle or flashlight
around here someplace. Lightning flashed, temporarily illuminating
the room. A boom of thunder followed a few seconds later. She hated
storms, too.
    She had gone to bed over an hour ago, but
couldn’t