Page 94 of Take Me Away, Cowboy

“Tomorrow night. She’s finished up with her case at the hospital and she will take some time off in the islands to find a job. She is going back to North Caicos, Owen. Do you realize what this means?”

He shook his head. Hell, if he knew what that meant, nor why it seemed to be such good news. By his account, it meant he was too late.

Aurelie grinned like she was up to no good.

“It means she is ready to come home, she just doesn’t know where that is. She doesn’t go to a new place, to adventure. No, she goes home, to the last place she called hers. You need to remind her this is her home, too.”

He saw the logic in that, but he didn’t know what the hell to do about it, that was the problem.

He longed to go to Paige, to take her in his arms and make sure he didn’t need to say a word. His actions would show her just how he felt for her, highlight why he wanted her for the rest of both of their lives. But what if he asked her to stay and she did, then three years from now, or twenty, she resented him for stifling her dreams? What if she grew to hate him for trapping her there?

Then again, what if she didn’t?

Owen stood up.

“Where is she now?” he asked Aurelie. His heart pounded against his ribs, his mouth went dry. A sense of urgency flooded his system, threating to override it. But he couldn’t just act. He had to think about the consequences this time.

“At work. I’ll text her and ask her to take a break so she will be free.” Aurelie clapped her hands, but Owen stopped her with his hand on hers.

“I’m not going there tonight. I need to think about this, Aury. Thank you for talking to me. I love her, I do. But I need to decide how much that should weigh in her decision to leave or not. I need tonight.” He downed the rest of the rum in his glass, hugged her and walked down the steps, taking each one faster than the last so he didn’t turn around and change his mind.

The guys would be there in a few hours and he could get their advice, make them earn the beer he’d bought in bulk.

As he walked the path that was starting to grow over with autumn grass back to his place, he wished it really was that simple, that he could go to Paige, tell her he loved her, take her in his arms and be with her forever.

Listing the impossibilities stacked against them, Owen threw himself into cooking.

She would resent him if she stayed.

He raided his storage closet and drummed up enough to make his uncle’s twice-cooked potatoes, some homemade slaw, and garlic bread on top of the ribs and veggies from his garden.

She would leave him in a month when the snow settled in, trapping them in the valley.

He checked on the ribs, decided they were ready to start slow cooking, and when they were in, set in on the rest.

She wouldn’t be happy with a small private practice.

He chopped the squash and carrots, doused them in oil, sprinkled some salt and pepper on them, then tossed the tray in the oven.

He wouldn’t be enough for her.

He sliced a loaf of bread, slathered it with butter, Parmesan, and garlic powder, then topped both sides with shredded mozzarella. Shifting things around in the oven, he added the bread to the top shelf to toast.

The manual labor took him over, led him task by task instead of letting his mind run away.

He had no idea how long he worked, only that he’d timed everything almost perfectly when he took the bread out of the oven and heard the screen door open.

“It smells like Cracker Barrel in here,” a voice called out from behind him.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he called back. He set the tray down and went to greet his guests. Steve, Alan, and Brad all stood there, a case of beer to themselves.

“We’re prepared for the apocalypse. We won’t eat, but we’ll get our liquid calories at least,” Steve said, helping himself to Owen’s fridge, lining its shelves with his cheap American beer.

“When you said bring something, I guess we all had the same idea,” Brad added looking embarrassed.

“Great minds think alike,” Owen told them. “You can put the rest of ’em in the garage fridge. It’s pretty much dedicated to that particular side dish alone. Good to see you, Alan.”

“I hope you don’t mind me tagging along. I heard there was food and that ladies weren’t invited, so I jumped aboard.”

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