Page 43 of Final Goodbye
“Look, Logan, I’m not here for the small talk. We aren’t old friends getting together to catch up. I’m supposed to be spending my afternoon with Declan,my boyfriend, and I’d like to get back to that.” The wordboyfriendslipped off my tongue, trying to make my point clear. He didn’t need to know Declan wasn’t myactual boyfriend, but it seemed he already had the idea it was all a ruse anyways.
“Oh, I’msosorry I interrupted your date with yourboyfriend,” he blurted out sarcastically as he made air quotes with his fingers. I started to stand up from the park bench when I realized this conversation wasn’t going anywhere.
“Wait, Paige, I’m sorry. Fine, I get it. He’s your boyfriend. But just tell me one thing, what do you even see in him anyways? In my opinion, he seems pretty untrustworthy.” He had quite the nerve acting like he had any control over who I dated. Like he was a fucking saint or something. Why was he acting like a jealous teenager? We don’t even know each other anymore.
My guard was up as I responded with a stern look on my face.
“It’s none of your business what I see in him. But what I can tell you is he doesn’t get mad at me for spending time with family and friends. He doesn’t flip out on me for not texting back thirty seconds later. He isn’t wishy-washy with his moods.” I knew he was bipolar, and maybe that was hitting below the belt, but I didn’t care. He needed to get over whatever his attachment to me was. Plus, after all these years, I was feeling kind of petty.
“I feel safe with him. I never felt safe with you, Logan. You need to get over it. It’s been so many years, haven’t you moved on and had other girlfriends?” I added.
“I have. But they never compared to you.”
“You mean, they didn’t let you walk all over them like I did.” I said this as a statement and not a question. When we were together I was young and scared, and he was my first relationship. I made the mistake one too many times of allowing him to walk all over me.
“Whatever, Paige, this isn’t what I wanted to talk about.” He rolled his eyes like Iwas the one who was an inconvenience here.
“Okay… Out with it then. I don’t have all day.” Hugging my legs close to my body, I waited for him to explain what the hellwe were doing sitting on a cold bench when I could be inside my warm new car with the heater blasting.
“I know who was behind your dad’s accident. The hit and run.” My eyes widened at his statement. The blood drained from my face, making me feel pale as a million different questions ran through my mind.
This day just kept coming with more surprises. How was I supposed to respond to that? What did he even know and why hadn’t he gone to the cops then? He was just trying to weasel his way back into my life, and this was a new low, even for him. Trying to find the words to say, I was silenced. Nothing came out of my mouth when I swallowed the lump building in my throat.
He spoke again, interrupting the thoughts that were racing through my head, “I bet your new boyfriend knows a thing or two. Why don’t you ask him what his brother Myles was up to on the night of October 8th?” He nodded toward Declan, who was standing just down the way, arms folded with a scowl on his face.
“Don’t be a dick and make shit up, Logan. If you knew anything, why the hell would you be sitting on that kind of information and not telling the police? You know it’s an open investigation.” When I stood up, my body was shaking. I didn’t know if it was because I was cold, or angry. I wasn’t just angry, I was fuming. I wanted to scream at him, but I didn’t want to make a scene. I didn’t need to sit here any longer and hear him make shit up.
Logan was a waste of my fucking time.
Declan was on high alert and started to walk in my direction when he noticed the shift in energy. He looked just as angry as me when we met in the middle.
“Fuck you, Logan! Keep my family and our business out of your mouth!” I called out behind me.
“What the fuck did he say? Do you want me to go over there and handle him? I swear, Paige, my patience is running thinwhen it comes to that prick. But I need to make sure you’re okay first.” We were on the exact same page when it came to Logan. I went into this chat with him hoping it would be the last I’d have to see of him. But let’s be honest, this wasn’t the end.
Not even close.
My day was going perfectlyuntil the last twenty minutes. It could have been avoided if we chose to do literally anything else instead of walking around downtown. Since there was no changing the past, I knew I had to do my best and deal with the present.
Paige was visibly shaking. It was fucking cold out and I knew she was pissed off. She was a far cry from the happy-go-lucky, on her path to healing, woman I was confronted with earlier today.
“Baby, let’s get you to the car and warm you up.” I rubbed her arms, creating friction. Paige nodded her head in agreement as we left Logan behind us. She hadn’t said much since she walked away from him, but I needed to know what he said to her. I needed to know what had her so shaken up and on the verge of tears. The longer I saw her in this condition, the more I itched to go back there and teach Logan a lesson.
But taking care of her was my first priority. If she wasn’t freezing her ass off, I would have been back there introducing that prick to my fist, but Paige came first. She would always come first.
We were steps away from the car when Paige spoke up.
“Do you think you can drive?” she asked, handing her keys over to me. Something had her so wound up that she didn’t even want to drive her new car. I clenched my fist around her keys, furious that Logan stole the happiness away from my girl today.
“Yeah, baby, let me take you back to my place. We will worry about getting my truck later. Let’s warm you up by the fire. You okay with that?” I didn’t want to assume she wanted to spend more time with me today, but I refused to let our day end this way when it started off on such a high. Plus, I needed to know what was going through that head of hers.
“Yeah, let’s go. I just want to get out of here.” My hands gripped the keys hard enough that they left a jagged imprint in my palm as I took in the sight of Paige with her head hung low.
The drive to my place was full of silence. Paige looked out the window the whole time, staring off into the forest, watching rows and rows of tall pine trees go by as we passed. The stillness spoke volumes of how she was feeling—even in the silence, her thoughts were screaming.
I unlocked my front door, letting Paige walk in ahead of me. The last time she was in my house, the mood was completely different. I was determined to turn this night around, but first, we needed to talk.
“Here, let me get your coat.” I slid the puffy fabric off her shoulders and hung it on the rack by the front door. I followed suit and took off my coat and boots, adding to the mess of clothes in the corner.
