Practice Makes Perfect (29 page)

But she didn’t look at him, couldn’t stand seeing the pain—she believed it was genuine—in his eyes. “Then so be it, Ian. It’s what I learned about life a long time ago, anyway. You were just a detour, that’s all.”

She tugged her arm free and left the office without a backward glance.

THERE WAS NO WEDDING or honeymoon, but Ian still took the week off. He needed the time away; he was afraid he’d make a medical error, or scare his patients to death with his fury. He didn’t know if Paige was working or taking some time, too. He hadn’t asked anybody about her.

With righteous indignation, he kicked the bucket holding rags and cleaning materials halfway down the deck. He and his dog, who knew what loyalty meant, were washing the boat at his parents’ cottage. “How could she not believe me, Scalpel? I made a mistake, which I was planning to rectify.”

Scalpel growled, then barked. This time, he, too, was angry at Paige. The dog had been Ian’s constant companion for two days, sleeping with him on the deck of his parents’ cottage, taking midnight rides on the lake in the boat, running on lake roads until they were both ragged. He sensed Ian’s disquiet.

Ian drew in a breath. But he couldn’t outrun the image of Paige’s face, battered by his betrayal. “We’re better off without her, buddy. I’d be afraid the rest of my life that I was going to make another mistake she couldn’t forgive.”

Scalpel whined in sympathy.

Wiping his brow, Ian sank onto the deck and tossed down the cleaning rag. “But I had such plans.” He’d been to see Sammy and Suzy before he left. “I wanted those kids.” He glanced at the cottage. “I wanted a life like Mom and Dad’s. I wanted
her
.” And he’d almost had it all. Except for one little mistake. Well, maybe not so little, but she wasn’t perfect, either, damn it, no matter how hard she tried to be.

He was distracted from his self-pity by a boat heading toward his dock. He didn’t recognize who was on it until it pulled up close. Dan and Nora. They motored in and tied up. “Hello, Ian,” Nora said after Dan’s greeting.

“Hi, guys. Aren’t you supposed to be on a honeymoon?”

“We are.” Nora leaned into Dan. The small intimacy cut to Ian’s heart, adding a new layer to the pain already there. He’d never have with Paige what Nora and Dan had with each other.

Exiting the boat, they walked over to Ian. “We need to talk to you.”

His insides turned cold. “It isn’t Paige, is it?” Nora would know if something happened to her. “She’s all right isn’t she?”

Nora shook her head. “She’s fine physically. But according to Jade, Paige is a wreck emotionally.”

“Well, she can join the club.”

Scalpel barked for emphasis.

“Let’s go up to the deck,” Dan suggested. “This might take a while.”

When they were seated in chairs and sipping iced tea, Ian said, “I didn’t do the breaking up, guys.”

“We know that, Ian.” Nora’s voice was full of understanding. “We’re here as friends. And to offer some advice. Jade told us the whole story.”

Ian’s shoulders sagged. “I wanted this to work, Nora. But she called me a liar to my face. She doesn’t believe I wouldn’t have gone through with the search.”

“Paige needs you, Ian. I won’t go into the whole she-doesn’t-trust-anybody routine. You know it all. But she came a long way with you. Give her some time. She’ll get through this, too.”

“All the time in the world isn’t going to change the fact that she doesn’t believe me.” He shook his head. “She wants to live her life alone, then fine. Let her.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Dan said easily. “I think she’ll find someone who doesn’t demand of her what you do.”

Ian sat forward in his seat. “That would be the worst thing that could happen to her.”

“Then you’d better regroup fast, buddy. Jade said she’s been out with Elliot Emerson three nights in a row.”

“Emerson?” He pounded his hand on the table. “Damn.”

“Running away up here isn’t helping.”

“What would help, Dan?”

“Well, I always find that groveling’s a start,” Dan said with a wry smile.

“I’d do that in a second if it would work.” He sighed. “Nothing’s going to fix this.”

Nora stroked his arm soothingly. “Well, we just thought you should have our two cents’ worth.”

After Dan and Nora left, Ian sat on the deck with Scalpel and watched the pigeons playing near the water. Were Nora and Dan right? Should he go back? Was she letting Emerson kiss the hollow of her throat, just where she liked it? Was she letting him hold her at night after a nightmare?

He stood. Hell, he couldn’t handle the idea of her with another man. She belonged to him. He stalked into the house. Maybe he’d go back for that meeting with the state board at the clinic tomorrow; he’d planned on letting Elliot handle it, but just maybe he
wouldn’t
blow it off. He could see what she was up to. Feel out the situation.

One thing was for certain, he couldn’t feel any worse.

o0o

PAIGE WAS ABLE to function only if she didn’t let herself think about what had happened between her and Ian. For three days she’d gone into work at her practice, even though she’d scheduled the time off. She caught up on the details she’d let go over the past few weeks, did paperwork and covered emergencies. She hadn’t been back to the Center. But she had spent some time with Elliot. She’d bumped into him at the hospital, and he’d talked her into a late dinner one night, a show the following and a drink the next; he was a good conversationalist, and though she couldn’t tell him about her state of mind, he seemed content just to enjoy her company. He’d also asked her to help him run the state board meeting tomorrow at the Center.

She slept fitfully, even though there were no nightmares. It seemed she’d conquered her unconscious.

Tonight, four nights after she’d found out what Ian had done, she dragged herself out of her car to find a snazzy Mercedes in her driveway. She didn’t recognize the car. Scowling—she didn’t want company—she climbed the garage steps. Inside the house, she called for Jade and Jewel, then heard noises coming from the deck.

Maybe someone had come to see Jade, which was good. She and her sister had not been getting along since Paige’s split from Ian. Jade had been vocal about Paige’s decision to end the relationship...

Are you out of your mind? The guy’s crazy about you.

He went behind my back to find my child.

He thought about doing it, Paige. He admitted it was a mistake. He didn’t do it.

How do I know he’s telling the truth?

Jade had just stared at her.
He loves you. He only has your best interests at heart.

I refuse to discuss this further....

Jade had been disgusted, and the two of them hadn’t talked about the issue again. Paige had been gone a lot and had clammed up when she was home.

Following the voices to the deck, Paige slid open the door and found Jade stretched out on a lounge chair, wearing the leopard-print outfit she’d had on the day she’d arrived at Paige’s just seven weeks ago. Across from her, in a chair, a man held Jewel on his lap while he read something to her. He looked familiar. Paige could tell—by the way he cuddled Jewel, absently kissed her head and smiled when she talked—that he cared about the little girl.

It was with that insight that Paige realized who he was.

“Hi,” Jade said sitting up a little straighter when Paige stepped onto the deck. “Come on over, sis.”

Paige circled around the pool. Jade said, “Paige this is Lewis Beckman. Beck, this is my sister, Paige.”

The man had the same coloring as Jade and Paige’s father, as Jade had said, but the resemblance ended there. Beckman was sophisticated from the top of his styled hair—just touched by gray—to his nicely tailored sport shirt and slacks. He wore wire-rimmed glasses and had a lanky runner’s build. Except for a few laugh lines around his eyes, he was younger than she’d expected. She noted the Rolex on his wrist. “Nice to meet you, Paige.”

“You, too.” But it wasn’t. She cast Jade a what’s-he-doing-here look.

“Beck drove up to see Jewel,” Jade said.

“And you.” Beckman sent Jade a meaningful look. Oh, great. “I missed both of you. A lot.”

“How about your wife?” Paige asked. “Did you bring her, too?”

Shrewd blue eyes focused on Paige. The look in them told her he was not a man to be messed with.

Before he could comment, Jade said, “Jewel, want to go for a walk with Beck? You can show him the pond down the street with the ducks.”

Beckman got to his feet, hefting Jewel up on his hip. “Yeah, princess, let’s go see the pond.”

“Duckies,” Jewel said, sticking her fingers in her mouth and laying her head on his shoulder.

“I’ll be back,” Beckman said to Jade, and without acknowledging Paige, left through the gate with his daughter.

“You were out of line, Paige,” Jade said when they were alone.

“Was I? Isn’t he still married?”

Jade’s expression told her he was.

“What’s he doing here, then?”

Raising her chin, Jade said, “He misses us. Especially Jewel.”

“Let me guess. He wants you to come back to New York. He wants to install you in your tower where he has access to you.”

Jade stood and jammed her hands on her hips. “No, he said he made a mistake letting us go. He wants to come to some kind of compromise.”

“Does that compromise involve leaving his wife?”

“We hadn’t gotten that far.”

“Ten to one he tries to get you into bed with no commitment.”

“Paige, what is
with
you? You’re acting like all men are pond scum. Beck’s a decent guy who makes mistakes like the rest of us.”

“Well, you’ve made a beauty with him.”

Jade crossed to her. “You know, if you didn’t look like a stiff wind could blow you over, I’d tell you to go to hell. But I’m not going to do that. I’m going to go inside, pack my bags and leave here tonight before we do irreparable damage to our relationship.” She started to walk away.

Paige grabbed her arm. “Jade, wait. Don’t go with him, please.”

Her sister circled around. “I’m not going with him. I’m going to Mrs. Stanwyck’s house.”

“Mrs. Stanwyck, your old English teacher?”

“Yes, I’ve rented half of her house. I was going to move out before your wedding. Then when you broke it off with Ian and were so overwrought, I didn’t want to leave you. But I’m going now.”

“What will you do about
him
?”

Jade shrugged. “I don’t know. Things aren’t black and white with people, Paige. This relationship with Beck is gray. He loves Jewel. In some ways, he loves me, too. In any case,
I’m
not going to jump into anything. I’m not going to make rash decisions.”

“Are you saying I was rash with Ian?”

“Haven’t you listened to anything I’ve told you all week? What you did with Ian is
wrong
. You two were meant for each other.” She grabbed Paige’s arm. “You could have him, sis, and two beautiful little babies. Whether you ever searched for your child or not, you could have a wonderful life.”

“I can’t trust him.”

“You can’t trust anybody. Even me—to make the right decisions about Beck. To give you good advice. You have a problem, Paige, and you need to deal with it. Preferably soon, before Ian gets sick of your pushing him away and turns to someone who’ll accept him just as he is.” Jade leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, Paige, but you’ve got to dig yourself out of this one by yourself.” She straightened. “I’ll be at Mrs. Stanwyck’s. She still lives just on the other side of the high school.”

Paige watched her sister walk away, feeling a sense of loss so great she had to sit down. God, what was she going to do now?

Paige had barely recovered from Jade’s departure when someone else came around the house to the pool area. She was still sitting on the same chair, watching the moonlight play on the water, when she heard the gate creak.

It was Lynne Chandler, looking young in a one-piece black jumpsuit. Wondering how she would stand this newest onslaught, Paige said, “Hello, Lynne.” Then something occurred to her, something so vile she could barely contain it. Her heart thundered in her chest. “Nothing’s happened to Ian, has it?”

“No, except that he’s an emotional mess.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t want that for him.”

“Well, he’s hurting. He came back from the lake tonight for something tomorrow at the Center. I just left him.”

“There’s a meeting with the state board for our three-month review.” She sucked in a breath. “Did he ask you to come here?”

“No.” Lynne crossed to the table. “May I sit?”

“Of course.”

Lynne sat.

“Why are you here, Lynne?”

“Because I can’t stand by and watch Ian lose the love of his life without trying to help him.”

“How can you help?”

“By assuring you that he was telling the truth. Whatever he was going to do—and he didn’t tell me the details in deference to your privacy—he changed his mind. He already knew he wasn’t going to do it when he came to tell me about it. He just needed a nudge.”

“So he said.”

“And you don’t believe him.”

Wearily Paige pushed back her hair and laid her head on the chaise. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

“Well, believe this. My son loves you more than he’s ever loved a woman in his life.”

It was the
my son
that did it. Without letting herself think about it, Paige blurted out, “I had a child when I was seventeen. I put her up for adoption. Ian wants me to find her, have a happy ending like you two. He was going to do a search.”

Reaching over, Lynne squeezed Paige’s hand. “Oh, Paige. How awful. He shouldn’t have done that. No matter what the circumstances.”

“He was trying to help. I know that. But this...this is the only thing I can’t forgive.”

Lynne drew back. “Well, then, maybe you’re not right for Ian.”

It wasn’t what Paige expected. “What do you mean?”

“Everybody thinks Ian’s such a good catch. And in many ways he is. But he’d be a hard man to live with. He’s so arrogant, so confident, so pushy.” She smiled wistfully. “He thinks life is like those puzzles he does. Elsa used to say he and his father thought the world was one big jigsaw, and they could manipulate life like they do the pieces on the board.” She shook her head. “He needs a strong woman to keep him in line.”