Tell Me Lies (28 page)

              Everyone that loved her had been lying to her since she woke up from the coma. Her family, Jonas and Darren, all of them had been keeping the truth from her. Well, no longer. She was going to find the truth, one way or another.

~*~

March 16th

              William headed downstairs the next morning to the smell of fresh brewed coffee. He found Paige sitting in the kitchen, a cup in front of her, reading the paper.

              “Good morning,” he said, reaching for a cup of his own.

              “Is it?” Paige asked.

              “Well, I thought it was. It’s supposed to be a nice day, sunshine and warmer temperatures than we have been having.”

              “I guess if you are confident in knowing the truth about your day, then it is a good morning. But me, on the other hand, I can’t be sure about the truth. I have lied and now I am paying the price for those lies.”

              “What do you mean by that?” William asked sitting across from her.

              “I searched the Internet for information on Jonas, the accident, Sara’s wedding. I found quite a lot of information, things I still don’t remember, but it gives me some perspective.”

              “Paige…the doctors wanted you to remember all this on your own.”

             
“Well, it’s not coming back to me! And no one that supposedly loves me is telling me the truth. I guess I deserve that since I told the world that the baby I was carrying was Jonas’s and not Darren’s. The baby I had and lost that I can’t remember!”

              “Paige…you have to understand that no one wanted to go along with what the doctors recommended.”

              “But you did! All of you. And it’s not helping me to remember anything. I still have blanks, missing pieces and what I have remembered makes no sense because no one will confirm or deny what I say I recall.”

              “What can I do? I can’t change what has happened. And as much as I want to tell you everything, I don’t know everything. There’s only one person that does. You.”

              “Me?” Paige questioned.

              “Yes, you. You are the only one that knows every aspect of your life. You are the only one that can put the pieces of your life back together. I was wrong to agree with the doctors, to keep the truth from you, but honestly Paige, I don’t know what the whole truth is.”

              “What should I do? I can’t live my life like this. I want to know the truth, but I don’t know whom to believe. Darren said we went to the wedding together and yet the papers said I was with Jonas and that we were engaged. I was pregnant with Darren’s child, yet I lied to the papers, to the world, and Jonas went along with it. So what do I do?”

              “Follow your heart, Paige. That’s the only advice I can give you,” William said. He stood from the kitchen table and leaned over to give her a kiss on the top of her head before heading into the living room.

              Paige sighed. What did she expect him to do, solve all her problems like those that he had when she was a little girl? No, this was her problem and she had to solve it the only way she knew how. Head on.

~*~

              Darren lounged on the couch, the remote control in hand, flipping channels. Paige was gone and he had the apartment to himself. He didn’t have to worry about what he said, or did, didn’t have to worry about slipping up and telling her a half-truth.

              His phone rang beside him. Looking at it, he realized it was Paige. So much for his quiet afternoon, he thought.

              “Hello, Paige. I didn’t expect to hear from you. Is everything okay?”

              “No, not really. I thought staying with Dad a few days would help me clear my head, but I think I am going to go to the cabin. I just thought you should know.”

              “Okay, you enjoy your quiet time. I know how much you love that place. How long do you think you’ll stay?”

              “I’m not sure. I need time to clear my head. I’ll call you, and then maybe you can come up here and join me.”

              Darren was quiet, not knowing what to say. He had told her that they had spent a quiet week after Christmas at the cabin before heading back into the city for New Year’s Eve. Of course, that had been a complete and total lie. He had never been to the cabin, had absolutely no idea how to even get there.

              “Darren? You said you liked it here. You’ll come up in a few days, won’t you?”

              “Ah, yeah, you call and I will come up,” Darren said, hoping that he could find a way out of going.

              “Okay, I’ll talk to you in a few days. Bye.”

              Darren hung up and dropped the phone to the couch cushion. What was he going to do?

~*~

              Paige hung up and tossed her phone into her bag. If her memory was serving her correctly, and the news articles she had read were correct, then everything Darren had told her about being at the cabin was a lie. Giving him the opportunity to come clean had been her father’s idea, and Darren had proven her father right. He had said Darren would lie to her and he did. He had never been to the cabin before December or she would have remembered. The news articles about her and Jonas said they were together at Christmas. There could be no way she was with Jonas and Darren at the same time.

              Grabbing her purse, overnight bag and a duffle, she headed downstairs where her father waited. She set all her things at her feet and stepped into her father’s open arms.

              “Are you sure this is what you want to do?” he asked her.

              “I have to know for sure. If you can’t tell me what I need to know, then I have to trust that when I call, one of them will show up.”

              “You are taking a big risk. What if neither of them comes to the cabin?”

              “I have to take that chance. But if everything I know about Darren is true, then he will do what is best for himself. Jonas, on the other hand, seems to be doing what is best for me, according to the news articles I have seen. Whatever happens, I will know the truth. I am hoping that being back at the cabin will help me remember everything.”

              “I hope you get everything you want, Paige.” He reached in his pocket for his car keys. “Take my truck that way Darren can’t use the GPS locator in your car to find the cabin.”

Paige started to argue with him, but he held up his hand and quieted her. “If he’s never been there, he won’t know the way without directions. If you don’t have your car, he can’t track you. If he’s actually been there, he won’t need the GPS and he will show up when you call.”

              “You’re right. Thanks Dad. I’ll call you once I get there,” she said, hugging him tightly.

He walked her outside and helped her load her things into his truck. As she pulled away, he waved. Turning to go back inside, he prayed that she would get the answers she wanted.

~*~

Chapter Twenty-Three

~*~

             
Paige pulled into the general store parking lot and slid out of the truck. She glanced around the familiar area and smiled. She had spent many a summer evening in this very parking lot, eating ice cream and catching fireflies as a child. The family cabin was just down the road and Marcus, Ryan and she would head down here in the evenings after dinner. Of course, that was until her mother had died.

              After that, her father never came back here. He had hired Sam and Margie to take care of the place. Sam did the work and maintenance around the cabin, while Margie cleaned the cabin and paid the bills from an account that had been set up. When she had turned 21, her father had given her the cabin as a present, but still he and the boys refused to return.

              Shaking the memories off, Paige headed into the quaint little store. Stepping inside, she grabbed a basket to buy a few things. She had already called Sam and told him she was coming up to the cabin. He had made sure there were logs by the fireplace and had the electricity turned back on. However, there was no food in the cabin, so she had to pick up some before continuing.

              “Paige!”

              Paige turned and found Bernie standing in the aisle, her arms held wide open. Her silver mane was in the ever present bun, wisps of hair falling around her plump face. The smile reached her sparkling blue eyes as she enveloped Paige in a huge bear hug.

              “I heard about your accident. It’s so good to see you,” she said, squeezing Paige tightly.

              Paige smiled, taking in the familiar scent of her godmother’s honeysuckle perfume. “It’s good to be here. The last few months haven’t been that good.”

              “You’re a strong young lady. You will come through this just fine. Now, where’s that young man of yours?” Bernie asked, looking around the store.

              “I’m alone, Bernie. There’s no one with me,” Paige told her, easing from her arms.

              “Well, whatever happened to Jonas Barnett and you? You still seeing that scruffy gypsy?” she asked, pointing to the standup cutout of Jonas as Luca Gascoyne.

              “Truthfully, I don’t know where I stand with Jonas,” Paige answered glancing at the life-sized cutout.

Bernie frowned and took the basket from Paige, before pulling her into the stockroom where they could talk. “Okay, what is going on, Paige?” she asked, sitting on a stool.

“I don’t remember a lot of my time with him. I don’t remember falling in love with him, or being engaged. What I do remember is full of fun and excitement, though,” Paige said, dropping to the stool next to Bernie.

“Then there is Darren. I have spent three years with him and yet, after spending a few days with him since I left the hospital, I don’t feel like there is anything left between us.”

Bernie reached out and took Paige’s hand in hers. “You are here to figure things out and if you follow your heart, you will. Now let’s get you stocked up with some comfort food.”

~*~

             
Paige parked the truck in front of the cabin and slid from the front seat. Immediately a sense of peace descended over her. It was good to be back. Turning, she grabbed her sack of groceries and headed into the cabin. Once inside, Paige headed for the kitchen. She set the bag on the center island and looked around the living space. It was homey, rustic and peaceful; a place of refuge, where she hoped she would be able to regain all she had lost.

              Closing her eyes, Paige focused on the last time she was here. If the newspaper article she had read was correct, she had been here right after Christmas with Jonas. Jonas, not Darren, who told her they had spent a quiet week here before Darcy’s New Year’s Eve party. Jonas, who had cooked steaks with her, made love to her in front of the fireplace, who had taken walks in the snow with her.

              Paige opened her eyes, smiling. Being here had brought back some happy memories, memories of being with Jonas and falling in love. She was so close to piecing it all together. She quickly put away the few groceries she had bought, before heading back out to the truck to get her bags.

              Paige pulled her bags from the cab of the truck and headed back onto the porch. As she stepped onto the wooden slats, she flashed back to December. There had been snow on the porch then, the air had been crisp and cold and Jonas had been very chivalrous.