Page 51 of Lakesides and Longing

Blake chatted with them a little longer and then hung up. His phone immediately rang again, and Paige’s face filled his screen.

“Hey, gorgeous. I can’t wait to see you.”

She giggled. “Me neither. I’m getting on a plane in like ten minutes. You’ll pick me up, right?”

“Sure. Is a sign at the airport a big enough to-do?” He knew she’d say no, but this was part of the game they played.

“For what?”

“My proposal. Duh?”

She giggled. “Think bigger.” An announcement played in the background. “That’s me. Gotta run. See you in a few hours. Love you.”

“Love you too.” He hung up the phone and thought. Bigger. He had to make sure it was the biggest damn proposal Paige had ever seen. To make sure it exceeded her expectations in every way.

The phone rang again, but he didn’t recognize the number.

“Mr. Turner?”

“Yes.”

“I’m calling about Operation Maple Leaf. Your assistance is needed immediately. Please give me your location, and we will send a helicopter for you that will take you to the nearest airport where a jet will be waiting.”

Blake sighed and gave the man his address. He regretted signing up for this project. Now there was no telling when he’d see Paige again. The last time they called, he was holed up for two weeks.

The project was the joint effort of several pharmaceutical companies. They created Operation Maple Leaf to solve their toughest problems. But it was incredibly secretive. When the helicopter arrived to pick him up, they would take his phone and only return it once they dropped him back off.

He immediately dialed Paige, but her phone was already on airplane mode and went straight to voicemail.

“Hey, baby, I’m so sorry, but I won’t be here when you get home. Occasionally I get summoned for special projects in my field, and they literally just called me. I can’t explain everything in a voicemail, but call Jessica when you arrive, and she’ll explain what happened the last time I was summoned. I won’t have my phone, and I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. The last few times it’s been between three days and three weeks. I’ll call you as soon as I can. I love you.”

He raced upstairs and packed a quick bag. He put out food for Tria. Paige would be home soon and would take good care of her.

He wanted to call Lukas and ask him to come stay with Paige while he was gone, but then he heard the woosh-woosh of helicopter blades. Dammit. He had to go.

Instead he called Ida. “Can you pick up Paige from the airport? I’ll text you the flight info. I have a work emergency.”

“Sure thing. You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah. Tell Paige I love her.”

“Will do.”

He raced out to the waiting helicopter where a man in a black suit held out his hand. “Cell phone please.”

Blake handed it over and hoped that he wouldn’t regret this.

CHAPTER37

Paige didn’t bother turning her cell phone back on. She just wanted to see Blake. The airport was small enough that he’d be waiting just on the other side of the escalators. She raced down the hall and searched for his face among the waiting family and friends, but he wasn’t there. Instead, she saw Ida.

“What are you doing here?” Paige asked.

“Blake asked me to pick you up. He had some sort of work emergency.”

Work emergency? She’d talked to him just before she got on the plane, and he’d said nothing of the sort. They settled into the car, and then she turned her phone on. She pressed it to her ear as she listened to the voicemail.

Three weeks! She didn’t like this at all.

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