“Boston. I can't do it.” She put her arms out for Irie. “Pass her to me.”
Lance turned to the side, shielding Irie. “No—Paige—please no.”
“I can't get on that plane with you, Lance. I'm sorry, but I can't. I told you I couldn't do this if either of us had doubts. Please, don't make a scene. Just pass me my daughter.”
“But she's my daughter too, Paige.”
“I'm glad you know that. And I won't keep you from her, if you truly want to be in her life. But I can't bring Irie into a situation I'm not certain about. She needs stability. I'm her Mom and I've got to watch out for her.” She held her arms out again. “Please, Lance. Pass her to me. Let's not make a scene.”
Lance froze. He needed to think of a way out of this situation; he needed to find the right words to convince Paige and get her to understand, but his mind was a blank.
“Final boarding call for Flight 3898 to Boston ...”
“Come with me,” he muttered. No other words would come to him.
“I can't. You know I can't.” She shook her head sternly. “I'll come out to Boston later. So we can take your stupid paternity test and everything else. But I'll stay at a hotel.”
Defeated, Lance nodded. “I'll pay for everything,” he said quietly.
Paige reached out for Irie and took her daughter away from Lance. Snatched from her father's embrace, Irie began to scream, her arms futilely reaching for him. It was the worst cry Lance had ever heard, the saddest sight he'd ever seen. A pain sheared through his heart.
“Okay. So. I'll be in touch,” Paige said, her voice trembling. Tears welled in her eyes. She turned her head so Lance wouldn't see.
“I'll—I'll stay. I'll stay with you.” He reached for her one more time, but she swatted his hand away.
“There's no point. Your life's in Boston and you can't make your team mad.”
“But—”
“Bye, Lance. I'm going.”
“Wait. Wait.” Lance opened his wallet and fished out a healthy stack of hundred dollar bills. He thrust them at Paige. “Here. Please. Take this. It's only a grand or two, but it's all I've got on me. I'll send more as soon as I get home.”
Paige pushed the money away. “I don't want your money, Lance. I never did.”
“But you quit your job—”
“Better get on that plane, Lance. They're closing the door right now.” Her tears finally broke and flowed down her cheeks. She hurried off with Irie screaming the whole way.
Lance could only watch in stunned silence as the two girls he cared about more than anything else left his life.
Chapter 26
Paige
Paige's throat was achy and sore from the drive back from the airport. She'd spent the ride trying to cheer Irie—but that was an impossible task, since Paige was fighting off her own tears.
“I'm so sorry, baby girl,” Paige sniffled to Irie as she pushed open the door to her apartment. The apartment felt so empty, cold and lifeless. She wasn't supposed to be back here yet. It felt like it wasn't even her place anymore, as if her spirit had already moved out.
What was worse, two bags of her favorite clothes and personal items were now on a flight to Boston. So were two bags of Irie's clothes and essentials, too. She was worse off than ever and she didn't know what she was supposed to do next. All that remained was a dreadful shame at letting herself get swept up over an unlikely romance with a hockey star.
Scrambling to pick up the pieces of her old life, Paige made a desperate phone call to the Burger Stand and asked if she could have her job back. Her manager laughed and told her toget fucked.
When it rains, it pours, and Paige was more devastated than ever.
What made it even worse was that some part of her stilllikedLance. Yes, she hated that part of herself, and yes, it was withering by the minute—but it wasn't as if he'd done or said something horrible. He was clearly conflicted himself.
Truthfully, she wasn't even upset that he wanted a paternity test done. For God's sake, she'doffered to do exactly that yesterday when he asked! She wished he would've come clean about his problems with the teamlastnight, when he first heard about it, so the two of them could deal with it like mature adults and not have an embarrassing public break-up at the airport.
