Page 41 of Take Me Away, Cowboy

“Guys!” she shouted.

The room shut down like a switch had been flipped.

“I want a minute.”

“But sweetie—” her mom started. Paige held up the same hand her mom used to stop them in their tracks, happy to see it worked in reverse as well.

“No. You’re all talking about me like I’m not even here. Not one of you has asked how I am, how I might be feeling about all of this. I need a minute to process this. Just a minute.”

“We need to prep you for surgery,” Metcalf chimed in. She gave him her best “get-out-NOW” look, eyes lowered and lips pursed. He seemed to understand what came next wouldn’t be as kind and would probably come with some choice phrases. Good.

“One. Minute.” She looked at Owen then, her face softening. “Owen, will you stay back a second?”

Everyone filed towards the door. All but Owen, who stayed planted, like he was made of stone. When they’d all left, she motioned for him to come closer. He looked like every step pained him. Paige crossed her arms over her chest and tried for the life of her to look distinguished, serious like the medical professional she was.

Until Owen looked at her, tears in his eyes.

“This isn’t how I wanted you to stick around, Paige,” he choked out.

His voice was quiet. With those words, there was no doubt she had to let him go. He was right, this wasn’t what he signed up for.

She cleared her throat, knowing that she had to spit this out before she lost her nerve.

“Owen, thank you for being here today. I’m sorry you had to endure all that. You made sure I was safe, and I want you to know how grateful I am. It seems you sorta saved my life a few different ways between last night and this morning.” She tried a laugh, but it came out shallow and wavering.

“Paige, I—” he started, moving closer to her bed. She cut him off, shaking her head.

“It looks like we’re going to be neighbors for a while, too, so I want to let you know I had fun with you yesterday, a lot of fun. But since it looks like that kind of fun is not in my future any time soon, let’s just call it a damn good one-night stand. Or one-day stand. Hmm, the English language adoptedside boob, but we still don’t have anything to describe what happens when you hook up with someone in broad daylight. Probably because it’s so seedy no one wanted to put a name to it. Shit, I’m rambling.” She shook her head again, trying to regain some composure. “Anyway, I promise not to be awkward about any of it. We’re adults. We can handle this, right?”

“Well, actually—” Owen tried.

Paige was so close to tears, she didn’t want to hear any of his excuses, his attempts to make her feel better. She just needed him to fade away so eventually the memory of what they’d shared would too. Then it wouldn’t be so painful looking next door and wishing things could be different.

“You’ve been so great, Owen. Better than I had any right to ask for. Let’s just leave it at that. Okay?”

The look he gave her wasn’t one of relief like she’d been expecting. Instead he stared at her through wide, teary eyes. She’d hurt him, but didn’t know how. All she’d done is give him an out, an out she would have wanted if she’d had a one-night stand with someone who was sick.

“I hope you heal well, Paige. I also hope you find wherever it is you’re looking for.”

With that, Owen walked out of the hospital room, the door closing softly behind him.

Paige finally broke down, weighed down by everything she had lost in such a short time. Her broken ribs, her broken-hearted best friend, her too-good-to-forget neighbor, her ovaries—her mutinous, life-sucking ovaries.

As the tears fell, she watched the door, willing Owen to come back so she could apologize, explain, anything but sit there feeling helpless and wonder where exactly she’d gone wrong.

Maybe it was in thinking she could ever get out of this town, but then again, maybe it went all the way back to when she was a teenager and decided she had to leave. More and more, it looked like that had been a mistake, that this town, her family, Owen even, were what really mattered to her.

She fell asleep as the industrial-strength painkillers coursed through her system, giving her fitful dreams of Owen, her brother, her parents, Aurelie, all moving away, leaving her in Banberry by herself. There was snow on the ground, but flames threatened to engulf her. There was no one to call, and no matter how close she got to the flames, she couldn’t get warm.

Asleep, she shook like she was cold, and even when she woke post-surgery, the shivering lingered.

CHAPTER TEN

A Change of Heart

Owen pounded thehammer into the board long after the nail was flush with the wood. Adrenaline still surged through his system from the storm a few days earlier. Or rather, its aftermath.

Paige… Hurt… Sick…

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