Return to Me

  ***

  Erik was casually turning burgers on the grill when she returned. Normally the sizzle and hiss of barbeque would be enough to catapult her from dark mood to ravenous light, but not today. She had spent the entire fifteen minute drive from Hailey’s house to her own mulling over their less than pleasant encounter.

  "Well look what the cat dragged in." Erik drawled, replacing the shiny black metal lid on the grill and turning to give Paige a cursory once over. "Is that for me?"

  "I stopped for coffee. Heavy cream, heavy sugar, just the way you like it."

  "Thanks. What’s in yours?"

  "Mocha something of other." She waved her hand in a vague gesture, although she thought there may have been Carmel as well.

  "I like chocolate."

  "Well then here, you take it." She shrugged, extending the thick cardboard cup.

  "Really?" His eyes lit up.

  "Yeah, switch me."

  "You're a doll." He winked, handing over his own brightly colored cup. "How was it?"

  "The coffee or seeing Hailey?" She sighed, though she already knew the answer.

  "Hailey."

  "Oh, that." Paige ran a magenta red fingernail along the edge of the brick that lined the side of the patio. "Let’s just say some people around here have long memories." She raised her eyes to Erik’s, seeking shelter from the storm that still raged inside.

  "That good, huh?"

  He cried, he drank, and he picked fights with anyone who so much as dared to look at him for months. Then again, if you had bothered to stick around, you wouldn’t need me to tell you this.

  "Better."

  "Sorry Paige." He said, hunkering down beside her on the cool tile.

  "She doesn’t want anything to do with me. I understand, it’s just...I don’t know what I expected, really. Doesn’t matter."

  "I'm glad you understand because I sure as hell don’t. What’s wrong with that witch? She knew what your life was like back then, how you were forced to grow up."

  "I can’t change it, Erik. If she feels like I've wronged her, then so be it. And maybe I did, but you know what? I'm getting pretty damn sick and tired of forever defending myself for decisions I made while I was backed into a corner."

  "That’s the spirit." Erik nodded his approval. "So, did she get fat?" He asked idly.

  "Erik!"

  "Well did she?" He turned toward her, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

  "No." Paige sighed, deflated.

  "Shoot."

  "But her butt is still bigger than mine." She winked, the comment getting an uproarious laugh from her friend.

  "Good for you sweetie."

  "Yeah." She grinned before turning serious again. "She said something else, Erik. About Guy. Did he really fall apart after I left?"

  "You mean after he tried to beat me up for stealing you away from him?" He snorted. "I never saw him again after that. Why?"

  "Hailey said he was pretty torn up is all."

  "If he was I never heard about it."

  "Why don’t you ask me yourself?"

  Paige and Erik both jumped, startled at the sound of his voice.

  "Guy?"

  "Hello Paige."

  "Is he wearing a police uniform? Why is he wearing a police uniform?" Erik murmured from the corner of his mouth, climbing to his feet and pulling a shocked Paige up with him.

  "I don’t know..."

  "Are you surprised to see me?" Guy regarded her through hooded eyes, shifting his legs. Paige's attention immediately went to the gun belt slung low on his hips. When her eyes swung back up to his face, there was no mistaking the amusement she found glittering in those blue depths.

  "That depends," Erik took the liberty of answering for her. "Are you the stripper gram?"

  "Erik!"

  "No, I'm not." Guy shook his head in disgust.

  "That’s too bad." Erik drawled, wincing when Paige brought the heel of her shoe down on the top of his foot.

  "Ah..." Paige wet her lips. "It's nice to see you."

  "This isn’t a social call. If I could have a word with you in private?"

  "Keep dreaming."

  "Erik, please. I'm fine. Guy, let’s go around front. We can talk there." She motioned over Erik’s protest.

  Her thoughts swirled round and round in a whirling blur as she led the way around the side of the massive house, to the wide redwood front porch. It was as though she had conjured him by simply picturing his face.

  But what in God’s name was he doing in a police uniform, unless....she shook her head. No way. Guy? A cop? The image didn’t fit, and yet here he was, walking purposefully next to her, not behind her, in the cool afternoon sun. And although it was mid-October she noted it was still way too early for aHalloween costume.

  So he was a cop; she accepted the only logical conclusion with mild shock. And he was here, on her front porch, gun and badge prominently displayed, sunlight reflecting off the shiny Silver Star pinned to his chest. Ten years hadn’t faded his razor edge beauty, she reflected, drinking in the sight of him. If anything, he looked even better than he had as a youth. There was no question that Guy filled out his navy blue uniform nicely; his hair was also darker and his voice, lord, his voice.

  "Paige." He brought her sharply back to the present.

  "Yes?" She returned his measured stare with a well-practiced one of her own, one she had perfected over time spent in the faced paced heart of New York City. "Won’t you sit down? Can I get you a drink?"

  "I'll stand. As I said before, this isn’t a social call, Ms.-" he raised one dark brow.

  "It’s still Frey." She ran her tongue along her bottom lip, the first seeds of apprehension taking root. If he wasn’t here socially...she wracked her brain, trying without success to remember if she'd done anything illegal since her return to Montana.

  She didn’t think so, unless one of the neighbors had complained about the racket she had made a few nights ago, although she didn’t think any of them were close enough to be bothered by any noise she and Erik made. Really, they were quiet for the most part anyhow. Had she been speeding this afternoon while she had run errands in town? Paige frowned, struggling to recall, giving up after a sliver of a moment.

  "Okay," She huffed, shoving her hands into her pockets and rocking back and forth on her stacked heel sandals. "I give up," She admitted, daring to meet his eyes. "What'd I do?"

  If he was shocked by her blunt approach he didn’t show it, rather he met her level gaze head on and rested one hand high on the porch column. "We received a call from Hailey Robertson this afternoon and at her request, filed a police report."

  "Police report?" Paige squeaked. "My God has something happened to Hailey?"

  "The report was for harassment." His frown deepened.

  "Har-harassment?" Her eyes went wide.

  "Did you visit Ms. Robertson’s residence at three o'clock this afternoon?"

  "Her name is Hailey." Paige felt compelled to point out the obvious. "You went to school with her for twelve years. And my name is Paige." And you used to love me.

  "Did you visit 415 Lancaster Street this afternoon Ms. Frey?" He doggedly rephrased his question, apparently choosing to ignore her last statement.

  "Yes I did."

  "Can you tell me the reason for the visit?" It wasn’t a question.

  "I was selling girl scout cookies." She needled him, watched his head cock to one side and wondered if he would take her bait. Was almost disappointed when he didn’t.

  "Well. Ms. Robertson alleges that you harassed her in her home during the visit in question. Maybe you shouldn’t sell your cookies in that neighborhood anymore."

  "Or what?” Lord, had that really come out of her mouth? She knew that thumbing her nose at a police officer was never a smart idea, knew that she was in a no win situation at the moment, but couldn’t seem to help egging him on. His cool attitude and aloof demeanor irritated the hell out of her and she had the
perverse desire to find the chink in his armor and crack it wide open.

  "If you bother her again we will be forced to bring you in for questioning."

  "I'll be arrested."

  "Yes."

  "Paige what’s going on here?" Erik rounded the corner and planted his feet at the base of the porch, arms crossed over his chest.

  "Howdy-doody here is threatening to arrest me." She hitched her thumb in Guys general direction, taking satisfaction in the way his eyes widened, then narrowed. Bingo.

  "So let him." Erik shrugged. "I'll just bail you out. Maybe we'll even sue the Helena PD."

  "You've been warned." Guy turned on his heel.

  "Nice to see you again too." She called after his retreating form.

  "What was that about? Did he really say he would arrest you?"

  "More or less. If I harass Hailey again."

  "Why that bitch." Erik swore, leaving Paige to ponder if he was referring to Hailey or Guy."He's really a cop then."

  "I guess it sure looks that way." She sighed. "Can you believe it?"

  "Not really."

  "Thanks for coming out here when you did. It was starting to get ugly."

  "Yeah I thought you could use some help. What a waste."

  "Hmmm?" She queried absently.

  "That fine ass and such a foul temper. And they let him carry a gun." Erik tsked.

  "You’re incorrigible you know that?" Paige hooted with laughter. "Is the food ready yet? I'm starving." She was mildly surprised to realize it was the truth.Despite the stress and emotional upheaval that had succeeded in battering her throughout most of the day, she was hungry. Ravenous, in fact, and the heady scent of meat roasting on charcoal reached all the way to the front yard.

  "Come on, Killer, let’s go eat, and after that we can swim."

  "Are you kidding?" She shoved him ahead of her. "It’s too cold for swimming. For crying out loud, Erik, it’s October. In Montana."

  "So? We did it in Alaska."

  "It was August when we were in Alaska and that was a hot spring, not a back yard pool."

  "Details. Besides the pool is heated." He scoffed, handing her a paper plate, which promptly slid from her fingers to land on the deck with a soft thud.

  "Oops, thin plate. And the heater barely works. If it’s even on."

  "Here take mine. I'll get another one." He deftly slid a second plate under the thick burger, ketchup only, the way she always ate them, and fished out a second bun for himself from the plastic bag next to the grill.

  "Mmmm. So good; hard to believe I’m eating right now but I can’t help myself, you’re a grilling machine. The grill King." She pronounced, sinking to the cool stone of the patio and shifting her plate to her left hand in order to dip her fingers into the water. "Okay this pool is seriously cold. You can forget that swim."

  "You’re done with the burger already?"

  "Almost. I told you I was hungry."

  "Glad to see you’ve got your appetite back. That’s one thing I’ve always admired about you Paige. You bounce. Was it hard seeing them again?" He slipped an arm around her and scooted closer until they were seated hip to shoulder.

  "Hailey? A little, to tell you the truth. I really used to like her. I remember all the fun we had together as kids and in a way I miss it. But who really stays friends, close friends, with kids they ran around with in grade school?"

  "Besides us?"

  "Besides us."

  "And don’t forget junior and high school."

  "That too but by sixth grade I was already enrolled at Saint Teresa’s, remember?"

  "We still had weekends and holidays." He reminded her.

  "Yeah." She leaned into him with a sigh. "I’m surprised you were never closer with her." Erik had been just as much a fixture in her life as Hailey.

  "Let’s just say you were the glue that bonded Hailey and I together. When you weren’t around..." He shrugged.

  "You never liked her all that much."

  "I didn’t trust her."

  "I did. Until today." She muttered, methodically chipping away at the cherry red polish that adorned her toes. "What a bitch. Why would she lie like that? And filing a fake police report?" Paige shook her head, disgusted. "Isn’t there a law against that?"

  "Yes but it’s hard to prove, most of the time. Then again, they can’t prove you harassed her either."

  "Well I didn’t."

  "I know that. You wouldn’t lie about it if you had argued with her."

  "When she gave me the cold shoulder, I took the hint and left."

  "Are you going to call her?"

  "Hell no. What for?"

  “What about him? Paige?" He prompted when she remained silent.

  "I don’t know," She responded honestly. "I don’t know anything about him anymore." She sighed. "He could be married, or have children, or both."

  "Well we know he's not gay. You’re welcome, by the way." He added at her startled glance.

  "He could still be a married man now." She continued after a moment. "Or seeing someone. Anyhow, it doesn’t matter. Or did you fail to notice the death stare he leveled on me the whole time he was here? Trust me, Erik; he was here on business and business alone. If he could have gotten someone else to take the call, he would have. Guy doesn’t want me now."

  "Do you want him?" Erik’s tone was measured, his inquisitive eyes missing nothing.

  "I don’t want someone who isn’t willing to give me the time of day unless he's arresting me." She exhaled.

  "Good for you, honey."

  "I still think about him."

  "I know." He sighed.

  "I wish things had turned out differently..."

  "But they didn’t."

  "No," She swallowed, "they didn’t."

  Chapter Seven

  "I can’t believe you talked me into this."

  "Don’t be such a wuss."

  "That’s easy for you to say. You’re a mutant."

  "It’s just water. We go on the count of three."

  "Wait-"

  "One-"

  "Erik-"

  "Two-"

  Icy water hit her with a resounding splash as they plunged into the deep end. Erik came up grinning, Paige came up screaming.

  "What the Hell happened to three?"

  "It was implied." He laughed, "Gee Paige; you've got water up your nose. And you really should have used water proof mascara this morning."

  "I hate you." She coughed and sputtered, gasping with the effort it took to tread water.

  "Dive a couple of times," He instructed, "Then you won’t feel the cold quite so much. In fact," He continued, splashing past her, "the water will feel warmer than the air."

  "Yeah that’s called hypothermia." She muttered, but swam hard to the four foot shallows anyway, curling her body into a flawless underwater dive as she went. She loved to swim, although the frigid water was a blunt shock to her system, invading every cell and tissue to bring her startlingly, vividly to life.

  She forced herself to go deeper, streamlining through the underwater world until she reached the bottom and pressing her body flush against the flat coral blue tile, imagining the bottom dropping out beneath her. She pictured herself falling, falling, falling into a vivid underwater paradise of brightly colored fish and rainbow sprays of light swirling around her.

  The tap on her leg combined with the burning sensation in her lungs served to pull her from the beautiful fantasy world daydream. The solid gray shape bumped her again, higher on her thigh this time. Water flooded her suddenly open mouth and she saw black spots an instant before she felt the pain. And then she was being pulled up fast and hard, roughly propelled through water that was clouded and bubbly and tinged with red.

  "Holy shit!" Erik gasped, flinging her over the side of the pool before hauling himself onto the deck to kneel beside her, turning her roughly onto her side and whacking the middle of her back as she vomited up a healthy dose of chlorinated pool water. "That’s it Pa
ige, breathe, breathe, that’s the way."

  "Erik." She gasped, fire burning through her entire body.

  "I've got to call for help. Don’t move."

  "Don’t-leave me here." She groaned, but he was already gone. She struggled to breathe, tried in vain to pull her shaking body away from the edge of the pool, away from that...thing, and then panicked when she couldn’t draw air fast enough, when her muscles refused to cooperate.

  "That’s right.307 Mockingbird Lane, white house with brick trim, mile long drive way, right. Yes." She heard him speak into the phone, heard the whoosh of the sliding glass doors and his footsteps pattering on the tile. "Shark attack. You heard me. Just get here." He growled into the handset before tossing it aside.

  "Honey lean forward," His arms came around her and the next thing she knew a thick white blanket was wrapped around her. "Can you sit up on your own?"

  "I-I think so." Her teeth chattered. "It hurts." She flinched, staring at the top of his head as he bent low in front of her and wrapped a white towel around her injured leg. "Is it gone?" She asked numbly.

  He looked at her quizzically.

  "My leg.” She croaked, violent shivering making both her movements and her voice jerky.

  "Oh," He tried to smile. "No, it’s not gone. He just took a little test nibble, from the look of it."

  "A...test...nibble?"

  "Well you might need a couple of stitches." He admitted, applying pressure to her wound.

  "Oh my God."

  "No, no," He rushed on, "Tiny stitches, Paige. Teeny tiny stitches. It’s not that bad."

  "Why is...there a...a...shark-in the pool?"

  "Don’t try to talk; an ambulance is on its way. You're going to be fine." He glanced at the pool behind them.

  "Erik?" Her eyes darted fearfully to the deceptively calm surface of the water. Evening had given way to night; moonlight glittered along the surface that winked back at her. Tranquil waters that hid a monster; she gulped the night air, nausea threatening to overcome her.

  "Paige? Paige?" Erik’s voice grew dim in the background, fading away altogether as the darkness engulfed her.