A Fresh Start (32 page)

“Okay, but seriously, what are you going to do? I’ve been entrusted with a message that your job is waiting for you back in New York.”

A loud horn turned all their attention to the road.

Justin raised his open palm to the other driver. He didn’t mean to beat the red light; he hadn’t noticed it.
 

The thought that Paige wasn’t going to stay hadn’t occurred to him.

Paige did leave New York only because she wanted to escape from her stalker. If the stalker were no longer an issue, there wouldn’t be any reason for her to stay.

“Are you okay?” Paige asked with a frown, her eyes were filled with apprehension.
 

“I think he’s concerned about your answer.”

Paige glowered at Andrew.
 

Andrew shrugged and pressed on, “So? Are you going to stay or go back to New York.”

“I don’t know. I kind of like it here.”

Justin broke into a grin.

“Well, I guess you can continue driving with ease.” Andrew gave him a pat on his shoulder, then leaned back against the seat. “You have to be sure, though. I know you. If you start teaching, you’ll stick through the year out of obligation. We’ll support whatever you do, just make sure it’s what
you
want.”

Andrew had said those words to Paige, but Justin couldn’t help feeling that Andrew was sending him a message, too.

Did Paige choose to stay only because she’d asked him to do so previously?

He didn’t mind staying in town. He could continue to work on projects in Cheyenne and perhaps in the bigger towns nearby, but he’d eventually need to move.

Would Paige mind moving along with him?

It seemed outrageous to start discussing their future plans now.
 

But he sure wasn’t keen on whatever future that didn’t include her.

The moment they walked into the church compound, all eyes turned to them. This was the second time Justin had been in church since he’d returned, but he knew the stares were probably for the bigger giant towering behind Paige.

Maybe it was all the stories that he’d heard from Paige, but Andrew turned out exactly like how he’d expected.

They stood in the compound and waited for the Seymours, with a few of Mrs. Seymour’s friends coming up to greet them. Paige smiled warmly at all of them, introducing them to his brother and promising to continue chatting after church.

He and Andrew smiled at everyone who came up to them, but didn’t say much. Even when Andrew was introduced, he only nodded at them and muttered a casual ‘hi’.

Justin could almost hear the murmurs getting louder as the judging glances kept returning to where they were.

“Why is everyone looking over here?” Paige asked softly.

“Probably just looking at me,” Andrew said with a brief look over at him.

Justin inhaled and exhaled deeply through his mouth. He wanted to tell Paige the truth. There wasn’t any point in keeping it from her, she was bound to find out about it sooner or later.

“Paige! They called!”

Justin’s head snapped over as Jane bounced over toward them.

“Who?”
 

“The museum. They want to have a Skype interview tomorrow.” Jane grabbed Paige’s arm, tipping forward on her toes. “What should I wear?”

“I can go back with you and choose something later.”

“Really? That’ll be great, thanks!” Jane rocked back and forth on her feet as if she was suppressing herself from erupting into a jump. When she finally took her eyes off Paige, her eyes widened as she noticed the stranger behind Paige. “Did you hire a bodyguard?”

Paige chuckled softly, pulling Andrew forward. “This is my brother, Andrew. Drew, this is Jane.”

Andrew nodded. “Congrats on your interview. Paige’s taste in clothes is pretty boring. All her clothes are of the same design, just different colors.”

Paige nudged him in his ribs.

“Still better than mine, I’m sure,” Jane replied, her voice a notch softer than before.

Justin had to grin. He thought Paige looked nice in everything she wore, but he couldn’t figure out if Jane had said what she did out of fear that Andrew might devour her alive if she’d said otherwise.

Once the word that Andrew was her brother spread, more of Mrs. Seymours friends came up to greet them and asked about Andrew.

Not a single one of them asked Paige about her moving in with Justin. Not even Gloria with all her coyness dared to saunter over.

But he could see that several had gathered around Mrs. Seymour, probably hoping to obtain some information from her.

He wasn’t worried. Mrs. Seymour was a secret pot. She knew the town’s secret, but she hated gossiping.

On the way back to Jane’s house, Jane hadn’t brought up that topic either. He figured she probably didn’t want to ask anything that could get her into trouble with Andrew.

“Call me when you’re done. I’ll pick you up,” Justin said as Paige was stepping out of the car.

“Will do.”

Once the door closed, Andrew said, “Are you intending to stay here? I don’t think your work allows that.” Andrew paused for a moment, and continued when he didn’t reply. “I know what she said just now, but I know she loves New York. She loved the musicals she could watch, the museums she could go, and she loved all the unending variety of courses and seminars she could attend. She’s staying here for you.”

When Justin leaned in to kiss her for the first time, he’d never thought about how different their lifestyles were. Her responsibility would make her stick to her job and they might end up in different cities, away from each other.

When he’d asked if she wanted him to stay, he hadn’t thought about the long-term plan. All he knew was he wanted to be with her. If she wanted him to stay, he would. Instead of staying in the house he was working on, he would stay in town.

And he did.
 

If it weren’t for her, he would’ve returned the job to Travis a long time ago and left.

But in the long run, he couldn’t stay. The nature of his work demanded him to move around.

He didn’t mind moving to New York with her, but he couldn’t settle down and stay in New York either.

“I don’t have an answer for you. And it’s not because I don’t care. I hadn’t thought about things beyond what has been happening.” He turned into the street and stopped at the bottom of the slope leading up to Paige’s house.
 

“She isn’t the sort who have flings.”

“I don’t treat her as a fling,” Justin replied, offended. If there was a way to make things work, he would.

“Okay.” Andrew opened the door and with one of his leg outside, he said, “But if you make her stay and you leave, I won’t let you off.”

“Noted.”

He drove back home and sat in front of his laptop, thinking about what Andrew had said. He thought about the duration it’d take him to work on the houses he was intending to get. He could always stretch things out to a year and wait for Paige to finish up the school year.

But what was next?

It wasn’t a question he could solve on his own.

He sighed and broke into a grin when his phone rang. “Done?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Okay. Give me fifteen minutes.”

Justin swung by and picked up Andrew before going over to Jane’s house. They still had plenty of time to head over to Cheyenne and find Cole. No matter what the future held for them, he wanted to settle this for Paige first.

“Time to pay Cole a visit,” Andrew announced when Paige got into the car.

“Let’s hope we can actually find him this time.”

After a 45 minute drive and constant ringing of the bell for over half an hour, Paige had her ear pressed up against the door again. Andrew followed; both closing their eyes as they concentrated.

Justin wanted to laugh at their behavior.

Though they looked nothing alike, their behavior, and even their expressions, were exactly the same.

Paige straightened and ran her hands through her hair. “Maybe he’s gone home.

“His car is still in the parking lot.”

“It could be one of those services that the rental company will pick the car up for you.”

“Let’s go down to the counter and use the story we made up yesterday, maybe we can get them to open up the room,” Justin suggested. There wasn’t any point in wasting time on a bell.

“That’s a good idea,” Andrew said. “I’ll wait in the lobby.”

They went down as planned. Justin smiled politely as he asked for the manager and explained to him ‘the situation’. He told the manager how Cole was supposed to meet them for lunch yesterday but didn’t turn up, about the conversation they had with the housekeeper, and eventually lying about calling Cole for the whole of the day before and that morning.

The manager nodded empathetically, but insisted that they wait in the lobby while he checked out what was going on.

Less than fifteen minutes later, the manager returned with a key card and a security guard. Despite the polite smile he displayed, the manager was clearly distressed about something.

“The staff hadn’t seen Mr. Crowen either. The housekeeper said that his things hadn’t been touched, and the bed hadn’t been slept in. We’re going in to take a look, would you like to come along?”

“Yes,” Paige answered immediately.

There was absolute silence as all of them, except Andrew, rode the escalator up.

Justin couldn’t figure out why Cole had suddenly gone missing. He wasn’t injured, so he couldn’t have passed out somewhere. Even if he did, someone would’ve found him by now.

He turned to Paige and saw the etch between her brows.

Maybe he was trying to make Paige worry as some form of sadistic punishment.

The lift chimed, taking his mind off the unless analysis. It wasn’t like he, or any sane human being, could figure out what Cole was thinking.

Placing his arm on Paige’s back, they followed the manager and the security guard.
 

None of them spoke until they were right outside Cole’s room.
 

The manager rang the bell and waited for a moment, then knocked on the door. “Mr. Crowen? Are you in there?” He waited again before turning to the security guard.

With a curt nod from the guard, the manager slotted in the key card and the door popped opened.

Pushing the door open, the manager called out, “Mr. Crowen?”

Nothing.

Paige craned her neck, trying to look into the room.

The manager stepped in and placed the card into the placeholder, turning on all the lights in the room. Leaning back against the door, the manager allowed the security guard to enter the room while gesturing for Paige and Justin to wait.

“All clear. No one is inside.”

Justin took Paige’s hand and went into the room. Cole’s luggage lay open in the corner of the room, his clothes still inside. On the desk were a cell phone, a laptop, and a digital camera.

“Is that his phone?” Justin asked.

Paige nodded.

There was something wrong about the digital camera on the table. Cole wasn’t here for a holiday, why did he need his digital camera? He wanted to look through the laptop, too. If Cole was the stalker, there would be proof in the laptop.
 

Justin took a glimpse of the manager who was busy scanning the room, but the security guard’s eyes were fixed on him. There was no way the guard would allow him to look through Cole’s laptop.

Then, Justin noticed the sudden widening of Paige’s eyes as she pulled open one of the drawers by the desk.

Justin looked into the drawer and found the same cream colored envelopes. Not the ones that Paige had received in Pine Bluffs, but those she’d received in New York, those she’d kept in the box.

He reached over, but before his hands could touch any of the letters, the security guard stopped him.

“We’re not allowed to touch his things. We’ll need to make a police report.”

“Okay,” Paige agreed.

“There’s no sign of a struggle or of Mr. Crowen being injured,” the security guard assessed and took another scan of the room.

The manager stepped in front of them and said, “We’ll make the report tomorrow. Until then, I’ll ask my staff to keep a look out for Mr. Crowen. Do you want to leave your number? Once we locate Mr. Crowen, I’ll get him to contact you?”

“He knows my number, just tell him that Miss Watson is looking for him.”

“And I was staying in this hotel, you should have my records. Justin Doyle, you can call me if there’s any update.”

“Sure, Mr. Doyle. Is there anything else I can do for you?” the manager asked as he ushered them out.

“No, that’s all. Thanks.” Justin led Paige back to the lift and continued when they were inside. “The envelopes and paper.”

“They look the same.” She drew in a deep breath and dropped her head back. “It’s him. I’d been dating the guy who was making my life a torture for the past three years.”

He pulled her into his arms and ran his hand down her back. “At least you know who it is now.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and nodded. “And you’re right. He isn’t as scary when the mask comes off.”

“Just a crazy bastard.”

She laughed softly, her body vibrating in his arms. He ran his finger through her hair and lifted her from his chest.

He was glad she wasn’t taking things badly, but he had to remind her. “Be careful of your surroundings from now on. You know who to look out for, and no matter what, do not confront him alone.”

“I won’t.”

Swiveling around in the chair, Paige glanced out of the clear glass at the street. Watching cars driving by, probably neighbors on their way to work. Justin didn’t just build a house that was too modern for the town, he’d made sure he built it higher than the rest of the houses on the street.

She shook her head with a small indulgent smile.

There must be more to the neighbors not lifting a finger to help when his mother was drunk. There was some sort of message in this house.

She sat there, with her hair slightly damp, in a white tank top and jeans, pondering on the various possibilities of how the neighbors had pissed him off.