Page 89 of Take Me Away, Cowboy

“That seems perfectly delightful if you ask me. Pretty, even.” Paige followed where Aury’s finger pointed and found a brushed nickel sea turtle with a stone-blue shell in the place of the cracked, plastic rectangle from earlier. It was the exact color of the water off Paige’s island home in autumn.

“It is, isn’t it? Hmm, I must have heard it differently last time.” She didn’t want to admit that it wasn’t her hearing that was different—it was the bell. She must have guilted Owen into fixing it after she’d berated him for helping her in the first place. Could she behave like a bigger ass today? At least she was only a few drinks of rum away from heading to bed and starting again tomorrow. That seemed to be a constant for her lately.

“I think the pie is a nice way to say, ‘I’m sorry,’” Aury said, heading up the stairs.

Paige hated that Aury knew her better than she knew herself. Owen, it seemed, did, too. The second time, Owen had nailed it. The bell was so perfectlyher. She asked Aury to unpack, make herself at home while she dropped off the pie. As far as she could tell, the guys had finished for the night and Owen’s porch light on told her he was still awake.

A chill raced down her spine. A chill took hold of the valley each night, despite the heat that still reigned during the day. On her walk down the path to Owen’s place, she ran through a dozen different ways to deliver the pie, what she should say and how she should say it. She even contemplated pulling a trick from her teen years—placing the pie on his doorstep, ringing the bell, and sprinting back to the safety of her apartment. Except for the whole she-couldn’t-run thing. In the end, she opted for a simple, “I’m sorry, thank you.”

At his door, she paused, not sure why her hands trembled. She didn’t want to drop the pie, so she rang the bell and put it down on the bench beside the door. Looking out over his property, she marveled at the small ways he’d made the place his own since he’d arrived. The path to her house was one of the miniscule changes, but it made her happy to see it, as did the others.

The fence was repaired, the crops healthy inside it. He’d made the deck around his house wider, more solid. When had he done that? Maybe while she healed at home? It still needed work, but most of it was done, and masterfully so. The craftsmanship was exquisite, she saw through the glow of the porch lights, which were also new.

The view from his porch was much the same as the one her parents had, but his house being farther down the road meant he could see deeper into the valley. Though darkness shrouded his view, it would be incredible to sit down at the end of a hard day’s work with a glass of wine and watch the stars come out along the silhouette of the range that circled them.

The door opened and she was glad she didn’t have the pie in her hand. She jumped, startled by his presence, even though she’d expected it.

“Hey,” he said, hands in pockets.

“Hi. I, um, like what you did out here. I can’t believe I didn’t notice earlier.”

“You’ve had a lot going on.”

“Yeah, I guess so. When did you do all this?”

“When you were in the hospital. And after. I needed something to keep my mind busy. I don’t do well alone with my thoughts. Especially when someone I love is in danger.”

Paige’s heart must have tried to jump right through her chest.

“I made you a pie,” she sputtered.

I made you a pie?Ugh. Good thing she was leaving again soon, because she sure couldn’t stick around here if that was the kind of brilliance she’d be spouting any time Owen came around. But had he just said he loved her? He’d said it before, but this was after they’d broken up.

It sounded different, heavier.

“I see that,” he said, the hint of a smile in his words.

“To say thank you. And sorry. But more thank you. Or more sorry, I guess. I don’t know.”

Oh my God, Paige. Shut up. Now.

“You’re welcome. And thanks,” he replied. His smile and eyes belied held back laughter and she wanted to run in shame. If she could have done anything more than shuffle back home, she would’ve.

“I’ve got some rum to go with the pie if you want to come in and have a slice.” She gazed up at his eyes, which glinted in the light. Her stomach flipped and the part of her that still longed for him pooled with moisture.

“Sure, but only for a minute. My friend Aurelie is in town.”

“I know, we met. That’s where I got the rum.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks by the way. I forgot she was coming, forgot to meet her at the house, forgot to bring my folks dinner. I’m a mess right now.”

“Again, you’ve had a lot going on.”

“That’s no excuse for leaving your friend from another country hanging when she comes to visit. Or stay and get a job.”

“She’s staying?” Owen’s smile matched Paige’s when she first found Aury. Paige filled him in on everything that had happened since she’d seen him earlier, remembering how nice it was to have his attention on her in a way she’d never experienced with any other man. He didn’t walk around, multitask while she talked, didn’t check his phone. He just listened.

She missed him. So much more than she’d realized.

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