Page 66 of Accidentally Yours
The idea terrified her. But losing him scared her more.
“All done,” Paige said, surveying the full platter. She couldn’t cook, but at least she could plate a mean spread. She sprinkled chopped green onion over everything as a final touch.
“Beautiful,” Grandma said, walking over to press a kiss to Paige’s cheek. “Put it on the buffet, will you?”
“Sure,” Paige replied, picking up the platter. “I’ll be right back for another job.” She smiled at her cousin, looking for a lifeline.
Soo-mi grinned back. “Hurry. You can help me throw together the salad.”
“Thank you,” Paige mouthed before heading back out into the war zone.
The dining room and living area were full of people, talking and sipping drinks, celebrating her father’s birthday. The French doors were open to the deck, which overlooked the golf course and was also full of mingling party-goers. Paige walked quickly toward the buffet table, but she couldn’t ignore the surrounding buzz—her mother’s crisp laughter, her father’s booming voice, Derek rattling off some new surgical technique, like he was presenting a TED talk. Family hovered about, but there were also quite a few people Paige didn’t know.
“So . . .” A woman approached her, skipping any kind of greeting. “What’s Ethan Cole really like?”
Paige set the platter on the buffet so she wouldn’t drop it on the white carpet. “Excuse me?” She tried to place the woman, but settled on the fact that she’d definitely never met her.
“The reality star,” the woman clarified, as if Paige were hard of hearing. “You obviously know him well.”
A man joined her. “Derek said he saw Ethan at the ER after he knocked himself out on a street sign.” The man chuckled, but Paige failed to see the humor in his statement.
Paige clenched her jaw, avoiding the question about the ER. “Ethan’s a good man,” she replied with a flat smile. She was certainly not telling these strangers any of the secrets they were probing for. Besides, it sounded like Derek had already told them plenty.
“Is it serious?” the woman pressed, taking a sip of bubbly champagne, her eyes wide with curiosity. “The two of you?”
“I thought he was going to be here,” the man added, looking disappointed.
Paige wanted to end the conversation before she blurted a rude response and started to give the excuse she’d told her parents—that Ethan had a commitment he couldn’t get out of. “He was . . .” she started, but paused, the vague excuse sitting stagnant on her tongue, while the truth had been churning inside her since she arrived.
“Did he have a casting call, or something? For another reality TV show?” Derek randomly asked from across the room, swirling a glass of red wine, looking as smug as his comment. He stood next to Paige’s father, in a circle of doctors. “Shame he couldn’t reschedule. It’s not like he was doing heart surgery, or something important.”
There were a few snide chuckles from the men around him, and everything Paige had been suppressing started boiling and bubbling up. It came straight out of her mouth. “Derek, do you realize we broke up two years ago?” She paused, giving him a chance to answer, but his mouth simply hung open. “What are you even doing here?” she added loudly, eliciting a murmur from the crowd.
That seemed to rattle some words out of him. “I—uh—well. Your parents invited me.”
“Paige, that’s not appropriate,” her mom said sharply, stepping through the open doors from the deck.
Paige’s bravado wavered, not sure Derek was worth a scene, but Soo-mi suddenly appeared, walking toward the buffet with a plate of egg rolls. She replied for Paige, loudly chiming in with, “You know what’snotappropriate? Inviting your daughter’s ex-fiancé to family gatherings without asking your daughter if she’s okay with that. Which she isnot, by the way.”
There was another murmur amongst the crowd—louder this time. Paige’s mom clutched her pearls.
Paige didn’t want to embarrass her parents, but deep down, she was glad her cousin had spoken her truth. It hurt that her parents didn’t consider what she wanted or needed. They were acting on what they thought was best for her . . . and they were wrong.
Paige gave her cousin a thankful smile. Soo-mi winked back as she arranged the egg rolls on the buffet.
Wanting to finally say her peace, Paige cleared her throat. She looked back at Derek and her parents. “Frankly, once we broke up, my parents should’ve broken up with you too.” Paige had wanted to say that for years. She’d hoped her parents would realize it on their own, but they hadn’t. And now she needed to make her feelings clear—that they were hurt.
“It’s not like that, Paige,” her dad said, looking stunned, like he had no idea inviting her ex to family functions would make her uncomfortable. “I thought you two were friends.” He looked over at Derek in confusion, and then Paige saw the realization happen in real time. Her dad narrowed his eyes at Derek, as if Derek had been feeding him lies. Which he likely had. Derek shrunk like a wilting violet, and the simple protective gesture from her father gave Paige courage.
“We are friendly,” Paige said to her dad. “I can be friendly to Derek. But we’re never getting back together.”
“Paige,” her mother gasped like Paige had just cursed, but Paige ignored the bait.
“It’s the truth, Mom,” she said simply.
“You must still have some feelings,” Derek said, like he was grasping at the bottom of an empty barrel, looking for something to grab hold of. “I mean, you wrote that Hans character after me. The handsome love interest. Obviously, there are still feelings there.”
Paige stopped herself from screeching,Are you crazy?Instead, she took a quick breath and calmly replied, “Didn’t you hear about my last book? Hans dies in the end, Derek. I killed him off. With a margarita machine explosion.” The words felt strangely soothing.
