“Paige—” he interjected.
She held up her hand. “I know what you’re going to say. That what I did wasn’t smart. No. Wait.” She forestalled him again. “I needed to be able to make decisions in Jason’s best interests on my own. You can’t know what’s smart or what’s right unless you were in my shoes at the time.
“If I wanted money from Mark, he would’ve had to be involved. He would’ve had to know what the money was for. I already explained to you that he wouldn’t support surgery or even some of the experimental drugs the oncologist was recommending. It was hard enough trying to figure out what the right thing was. I couldn’t compromise my ability to do what I considered best for Jason by letting Mark have his say. Just the extra time to work through everything with Mark could have cost Jason his life.”
Tears welled in Paige’s eyes and spilled over. She brushed them impatiently away. “Jason is everything to me. Right or wrong, I did what I felt I had to do. But whatever the circumstances, whatever the relationship between Mark and me, I wouldn’t have deprived my son of his father, or kept Mark from knowing his son.” Her eyes shimmered with emotion. “To answer your question, no, I never would’ve kept Mark from Jason. That would have been cruel and unforgivable.”
Daniel rose and went to Paige, his arms open. “I’m sorry.”
Paige rose, too, but kept her distance. “So am I. I’ll get Jason myself tonight.” She turned and walked out of the coffee shop.
*
PAIGE WALKED BRISKLY toward Jason’s school. She’d wanted so much to step into Daniel’s arms, have him hold and comfort her, but she couldn’t. He hadn’t trusted her. He’d questioned her motives. Worst of all, he’d thought that she’d robbed her son of having a father. And that hurt to the core.
With a little distance and a lot of agonizing, Paige started to understand why he’d asked the questions he had. She hadn’t meant to be secretive about Mark. It was simply an aspect of her life she hardly ever talked about. Call it a survival mechanism. She hadn’t been forthcoming, and Daniel could’ve seen that as being secretive. If he’d believed Mark was dead, only to learn that he wasn’t but had no role in Jason’s life, she couldn’t fault him entirely for jumping to conclusions.
She needed some time. Not because she wanted to punish Daniel. She just had to get over the hurt of Daniel’s not trusting her and thinking she’d do something as abhorrent as keeping her son from his father. What she hadn’t counted on was how saddened Jason would be by the rift between her and Daniel, by not knowing when they’d see him again. That only served to reinforce her worries about how Jason would take the end of her relationship with Daniel, should it come to that. But she had to admit, she missed Daniel, too.
It was obvious that Daniel was giving her the time she needed, but he’d sent her a beautiful floral arrangement by way of apology. It had lilies and chrysanthemums and baby’s breath—and at least two dozen long-stemmed yellow roses.
“We’re back to yellow roses again,” Paige observed to Chelsea when the arrangement arrived.
“Not everyone thinks about the symbolism of flowers. I doubt that’s the message he’s sending you.”
“What does that mean? Symbolism?” Jason asked.
“It means something representing or standing in for something else,” Paige explained.
“What do the flowers symbolize? You were talking about the flowers, and Chelsea said not everyone thinks of them with symbolism.”
Paige laughed. At times, she had to remind herself that Jason was only seven years old. “We were talking about the yellow roses. You know when Daniel sends me flowers there are always yellow roses in the arrangements? Yellow roses symbolize friendship. So my point was that for Daniel to send me yellow roses, he must want to be friends.”
Jason had a thoughtful expression on his face and nodded. “It’s nice that he wants to be your friend. But that’s not why he gives you yellow roses.”
“It’s not?”
“No. He does it because yellow is your favorite color.”
True. Yellow was her favorite color, but it had to be a coincidence. She’d never mentioned it to Daniel, and he had first sent her flowers after they’d spent most of Christmas Day together. He didn’t know much about her then, and certainly nothing as trivial as her favorite color. “I’m sure that’s not the case.”
“Uh-huh. It is. He said your shirt was pretty when he was here at Christmas. Your yellow one. And I told him it’s your favorite color. Then he sent you yellow flowers. See! I am right.”
Chelsea nudged Paige on the shoulder and smirked. “I was right, too!”
*
PAIGE DECIDED SHE’D been foolish to hold off seeing Daniel as long as she had. The chance to make amends presented itself when she received a call from Jason’s oncologist. At Jason’s last appointment, he’d asked her if she’d like to meet with other parents who had gone through circumstances like the ones she was facing. She welcomed the opportunity, feeling it might help with her own decision about surgery for Jason. The oncologist connected her with the mother of a child who’d had the surgery he was recommending.
Paige could meet with the woman one-on-one, and have an open and candid discussion with someone who must have experienced the same hopes and fears. The little girl had her surgery nearly eighteen months earlier, and she’d been cancer-free ever since.
The family lived in Hartford. Since Paige was going to be in the city anyway, it was the perfect opportunity to see Daniel.
Mr. Weatherly insisted that she take his Mustang—probably because he still felt guilty about his misplaced suspicions. Her only restriction was that she had to be back by four to pick Jason up from school.
Daniel enthusiastically offered to take her for lunch when she mentioned the possibility of seeing him.
Since Paige couldn’t predict how long she’d be with the woman she was meeting, she and Daniel agreed that she’d go to his office when she was done.
Paige was encouraged by her discussion with the young cancer survivor’s mother. Her morning had gone very well, and just before one in the afternoon, she walked into the plush reception area of Lindstrom, Kinsley and McGuire.
A receptionist, petite with a sweep of shoulder-length sable hair, was seated behind a low counter. “May I help you?” she inquired cheerfully.
When Paige informed her that she was meeting Daniel, the receptionist said someone would be with her shortly.
The woman who came to greet her a few minutes later reminded her of the voluptuous redhead on Mad Men. There was a smile on her face, but her eyes were shrewd and appraising. Paige rose and smoothed her skirt. She felt gauche in her simple skirt and sweater, next to the gorgeous woman in her impeccably tailored sapphire-blue suit. The woman extended a hand, introducing herself as Selena Wharton, Daniel’s executive assistant.
She and Paige shook hands, and the smile spread from Selena’s lips to her eyes. Paige had the odd feeling that she’d just passed some kind of test, but she wasn’t sure what—or why.
Paige followed Selena down a couple of long corridors. The walls were muted gold and subtly textured. Framed paintings hung between doors opening into large offices. At the end of the second corridor, Selena shifted to the side and gestured for Paige to step into an even larger corner office.
Daniel was sitting at an expansive desk, his fingers flying over the keyboard of his computer. Selena motioned for Paige to enter, and she disappeared silently back down the corridor. Since, oddly, Selena hadn’t announced her, and Daniel hadn’t yet noticed her presence, Paige took a moment to absorb the grandeur of his office.
The walls were papered in a luxurious material she presumed to be silk, and they were lined with bookcases in the same wood as Daniel’s desk. One wall had a credenza with a built-in minifridge and a coffee machine on top. There was a seating area with a sofa and two armchairs upholstered in burgundy leather. Expensive, refined but unpretentious, she concluded.
Then she saw it.
Jason’s painting of the tiger. It hung to the right of Daniel’s desk, where he couldn’t help seeing it.
“Oh, you framed it,” she exclaimed.
Daniel raised his head. “What? Oh, hi.” He smiled and rose immediately. “It’s good to see you, but sorry—what did you say?”
Paige moved closer to the desk and pointed at Jason’s painting of the tiger. Daniel had selected a reddish-brown frame, the finish resembling a tigereye gemstone. Paige thought it couldn’t have been inexpensive, but it worked beautifully with Jason’s painting.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt. It’s just that I saw the painting...”
“Yeah! It looks great, doesn’t it?”
Paige studied the depiction of the tiger. Daniel’s eyes were on her when she turned back to him. He gestured to the sofa in the corner of his office. “Would you like something before we go? A coffee? Some water?”
“I’d love a coffee, thanks.”
He made her a cup of coffee, then sat in the armchair kitty-corner to hers. Leaning toward her, he wiped a teardrop from her cheek with a forefinger. He rested his forearms on his knees and linked his hands. “Do you want to tell me about the painting?” he asked gently.
Paige inhaled deeply. Daniel had a right to know, to understand the significance of what Jason had done. She took another bracing sip of coffee before placing the mug on the coffee table. “You remember me saying Jason painted it for someone else?”
Daniel nodded.
“He painted it for his father.”
Daniel unlinked his hands and leaned back. “I thought you said neither of you has had contact with him in years?”
“No. I mean, yes.” She chuckled. “That is, no, we haven’t had any contact with him and, yes, that’s what I told you.” She reached for her mug again. She needed something to do with her hands. “I only found out this Christmas, but every year since his father left us, Jason’s been making him a Christmas gift. He’s been storing them in a box in his closet with the hope of being able to give them to him one day.” She shook her head and stared into her mug. “This year, he painted the tiger for him.”
Daniel glanced over at the painting. “Jason said he based it on a tiger he saw at the zoo.”
“He told you that?”
Daniel nodded again. “I assumed you’d taken him to the zoo during the summer.”
Her laugh held no humor. “His father took him the last summer we were together. Jason was three. I had no idea he’d remember that. It’s like his fascination with circuses. I told you the last gift his father gave him was a toy circus set. Jason’s never actually seen a circus but he’s crazy about them because of it.”
Daniel rose and came over to sit beside Paige, then draped one arm over her shoulder, drawing her against him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. He didn’t say anything about it to me.” He brushed his lips across her temple. “Would you like the painting back?”
“No.” She swept the back of her hand across her cheek. “No. I just wanted you to know.”
Daniel tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, cupped her chin in one hand and turned her face up to his. “I’ll treasure it that much more. As far as Jason’s father goes, I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. I’ll try not to repeat that mistake.”
*
AT LUNCH THEY discussed Paige’s meeting that morning. After they returned and Daniel had said good-bye to her, he stood in front of the painting. Jason had painted the tiger for his father and yet had given it to Daniel, despite having just met him.
He exhaled loudly.
Either the kid was bighearted or... He wasn’t sure how to finish that thought. He didn’t want Jason to start thinking of him as a father figure. He’d be no good at that. He already had a soft spot for Jason, and he had no intention of hurting the kid...or his mother.
They needed someone steady, someone who could give them the white picket fence they both longed for, and that wasn’t him. He was glad he and Paige had resolved the issue concerning her ex-husband, but where did that leave them? History often repeated itself, and they wouldn’t be comfortable in the type of relationship his parents had. Paige and Jason deserved someone with an open, loving heart. That wasn’t him. It just wasn’t in his makeup.
Things were getting serious between him and Paige, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.
With another lengthy exhalation, he sat down at his desk and tried to focus on a settlement brief he was drafting.
His concentration didn’t last long. He heard a soft tap on the doorframe. He glanced up from his computer as Selena came into his office. She sat on one of the chairs in front of his desk and dropped the sheet of paper she was carrying on her lap. “It’s getting serious between you and Paige, huh?”
He felt his brows draw together. He wasn’t pleased about Selena’s words echoing his own thoughts. “Why do you say that?”
“For one thing, in all the years I’ve worked for you, I don’t think you’ve ever invited another woman you were dating to the office. Other than for a company function, of course.”
Daniel continued to scowl at her.
Selena straightened his inbox, aligning the short side with the edge of his desk. “I like her. She has a good handshake.” The right side of her mouth tilted up, and a dimple winked in her cheek. “She seems to bring out your sensitive side.”
“My sensitive side?”
The other half of Selena’s mouth curved up. “Yeah.”
Daniel felt an itch at the back of his neck but resisted scratching it. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
Selena gestured toward the framed painting of the tiger. “That, for one thing.” She lifted the sheet of paper off her lap and slid it toward him. “This, for another.”
He glanced down at the paper. His eyes darted back up. “How did you get this?”
“Okay, before you shoot the messenger, it wasn’t my doing. It was included with the florist’s statement. You’ve never placed an order for flowers yourself.”
Yeah, he had for Paige, a couple of times, but he wasn’t about to confess to Selena.
“Or more to the point, you’ve never composed your own message before. Certainly not one like this.” She reached out with a finger and spun the paper around. In an exaggerated, sultry voice, she started to read: “Beautiful flowers for a beautiful—”
Daniel held up his hands. “Okay, okay, I’m not a poet, and you don’t have to read it to me. I know what I wrote.” He grabbed the paper. “Why was it sent to you with the statement? I used my personal credit card.”
She shrugged. “Maybe they recognized your name and accidentally charged it to our corporate account, but there it is.” Before she walked out the door, she turned back and gave him a huge grin. “Just saying!”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her to stay out of his personal affairs, but he refrained. She didn’t deserve that. They’d known each other far too long and always had each other’s back. Instead he raised his voice so she could hear him in the corridor. “Call the florist and have them credit the firm and charge it to me.”
Her laughing voice drifted back to him. “Sure thing!”
“And tell them if they make that mistake again, we’ll be looking for a new florist.”
He could still hear her laughing as she walked back to her desk.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
PAIGE CLEARED UP after dinner, while Jason sat at the dining room table reading. The phone rang and she reached for a dish towel to wipe her hands before lifting the receiver.
There was an odd tone in her mother’s voice as they exchanged greetings.
“I’m not sure how to ask you this, honey,” Charlotte began.
“What is it, Mom?” Panic coursed along Paige’s spine. She cast a glance toward Jason; his head was still bent over his book. She moved to the far end of the kitchen to be out of earshot.
“Your dad’s nurse, Ruth, had a family emergency today so she couldn’t co
me in.”
“Is everything okay with Dad?”
“Yes. Yes, it is. The Oakridge Seniors’ Center sent another nurse to fill in until Ruth can resume her duties. This nurse has done assignments for Oakridge before, so she knows some of the management team. She said something...strange that I wanted to discuss with you.”
Paige’s palms were getting clammy, and she wiped her free hand on her jeans. “Okay. What is it?”
“She said that your husband made the arrangements for Stephen’s care. That the reason it was so affordable was that he made a very large donation to Oakridge. He set up a trust fund to cover the subsidy, with money left over for the Center to use for other purposes. Do you know anything about Mark having done that?”
Paige was speechless. Not only was she certain that Mark wouldn’t have done anything of the sort, how on earth would he have known about her father’s condition and the care he needed? Her uneasy feeling persisted, and then realization dawned. Her words were calm when she finally responded. “Mom, Mark and I haven’t been in contact for years. No, I don’t think he had anything to do with it.”
“Then who? Oh...” Paige knew her mother had reached the same conclusion.
“Leave it with me, Mom. I’ll get back to you. Love you. Give my love to Dad.”
“I will, and I love you, too, honey.”
Paige finished up in the kitchen. When she was certain that her emotions were under control, she joined Jason at the dining room table. “How’s it going, sweetie? It’s almost time for bed.”
“I’m just about finished, Mom. I was doing some reading ahead of the other kids.”
“You were?”
Jason avoided eye contact and started to doodle on the pad next to his book. “I thought I’d do some extra reading now. In case I don’t feel so well next week, or some other time.”
“Oh, Jason.” Paige wrapped an arm around his thin shoulders and kissed the top of his head. Why hadn’t she considered the added complexity of Jason’s being in school and how much he enjoyed it?