Page 3 of Cursed to Love (Cursed to Love #1)

CHAPTER THREE

Sunday, September 1

“H appy birthday, big brother,” Ford said, holding up his mug of beer after the server cleared away their plates and brought another pitcher.

Dane, Cade, and Jake chimed in as well, saluting with their mugs.

“Do you feel any older?” Dane asked. “I mean… wow, thirty. You’re practically ready for retirement, man.”

Blake turned one side of his face toward his brother and scratched it with his middle finger.

“Hey, I resemble that,” Jake said mockingly.

Ford reached across the table and patted Jake’s arm. “That’s right… I forgot we celebrated your birthday last month. You’ve had so many I lost track.”

Jake grinned. “That’s right,” he said mimicking Ford. “I forgot how young you are. Just a baby. Blake, remember when we had to change their shitty diapers?”

Blake snorted. “Don’t remind me. I’m still traumatized from the stinky little buggers.”

“Hey!” Ford chucked a balled-up napkin at him, and Blake laughed, batting it back.

Dane grabbed the napkin, most likely to stop the game from escalating, and nodded at Blake.

Ford snatched the napkin back. “I can take a hint.” He tossed it on the tray of a passing server. “Thanks,” he told her, flashing her a smile, their gazes locking a little too long.

“My pleasure,” the server replied, her words a little breathless.

Cade gave Blake a sly smile. “Speaking of being old. The curse could start any time. Why aren’t you dating?”

Dane snickered. “Awesome segue, man.” He high-fived Cade across the table like they’d reverted back to being ten-year-olds.

“You’re supposed to be looking for looooove,” Ford added, drawing out the word like he’d become a ten-year-old as well.

“Well,” Cade prompted. “Weren’t you dating someone?”

“Dating?” Jake pretended to choke. “I don’t think that’s what Blake calls it.”

Blake twitched a grin. “Ha. You’re all a bunch of comedians tonight.”

He could have used a few more balled-up napkins to toss and distract his friend and brothers. Instead, all eyes were on him, waiting for a response. “No, I’m not seeing anyone.”

His most recent friends-with-benefits arrangement had been good until April began talking about more. He’d almost not broken it off with her because he’d enjoyed her company and living on his own could get lonely.

Every couple of weeks, they’d meet up for dinner or drinks and enjoy some great conversation before the night ended with them in bed. No matter how good the conversation and sex were, it wasn’t worth the risk it could bring. He’d never again expose himself to the type of pain he felt after Paige left.

He caught the look that Dane and Jake shared. “What?” he asked, looking between them.

Dane leaned forward. “What are you going to do about the curse?”

“Nothing.” He still didn’t believe there was a curse and changed the subject by asking Ford and Cade how the marketing campaign and revamped website were.

A half-hour later, they abandoned their table and headed to the back of the pub for a few games of pool. Blake wasn’t skilled at it, but it was a fun way to stand around, shoot the shit, and pass the time.

He conceded a win to Dane and leaned against the wall as his brothers trash-talked each other, when Jake ambled over.

“Any thoughts on replacing Stewart?” Jake asked as he leaned beside him. “We’re too busy to leave that position empty for long.”

“I know. I tried to convince Stewart to stay on for a few more months, but he said both his wife and his doctor say it’s time for him to retire.” Stewart had been the VP of commercial operations for as long as he could remember. He’d hoped he would stay until he had the right person to fill the position.”

“He did like to work, probably too much.”

“True.” With Stewart gone, Linda and Denise were the only ones left from the days when his dad ran the company. Twelve years. It was hard to believe his dad had been gone that long. He’d been a freshman in college, when his dad died, leaving him to take on the reigns of the family business as CEO. From a young age, he tagged along with his dad, learning all about Akerman Contracting and the construction industry until he was old enough to start working.

That time of his life was almost a blur. School and work had occupied his time until a couple years later when Jake had dragged him to a party on campus. He could still picture what Paige looked like the first time he’d seen her. Her long brown hair had laid like a messy, enticing halo around her shoulders, framing her beautiful face, her lips coated in dark red.

He shook the image of Paige from his mind but knew it would be back. He could sometimes go months without thinking of her, but thoughts of her had come more often since his mom’s funeral because he’d been thinking of those he’d lost. He hoped Paige was happy.

Jake bumped his shoulder. “Earth to Blake. You still with me, man?”

Blake looked over at his best friend. “Yeah, just thinking.”

Jake chuckled. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

“Funny,” Blake said sarcastically as he bumped Jake in return. Hard. He laughed when Jake stumbled but managed to catch himself without face-planting.

Jake leaned back against the wall. “Back to my earlier question. What are you going to do about the VP position?”

Blake watched his brothers joke around as they played pool. The problem was that one brother was still missing. He checked in with Gage often but still hadn’t convinced him to come home. Nor had he mentioned the VP position to him. “I want Gage to take it.”

“Have you asked him?”

“No.” He scrubbed his hands down his face, feeling everything from the last month catching up with him. “I’ve sprung enough on him lately with calling him about Mom and then having to tell him about the curse. Unless the VP position comes up in conversation, I’ll coax him back here first and then ease him into it.”

“Will it work?”

“Don’t know.”

“And until then?”

Blake didn’t know about that either. “I’ll take on some of the load and see if the senior project manager can manage a bit more for now.”

“I’ll help where I can as well.”

“Thanks.”

It was still early when he and Jake called it a night. His brothers razzed him for turning in early because he was so old. It was Sunday night, and he had a busy week ahead, but he didn’t mind the teasing.

Once in his truck, he used the Bluetooth to call Gage.

“Hey, old man,” Gage answered.

“I am to you, since you’re still such a baby,” he threw back, but couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from turning up. It was good to hear Gage tease him.

“Did you go out?”

“Just heading home now. I met Jake and the brothers at the Kings Head Pub.

“I wish…” Gage started.

“Yeah?”

“Nothing, I’m good.”

Blake didn’t push. Patience had never been his strong suit, but he’d learned workarounds worked better with Gage than pushing. They may not have been as fast, but they quite often had better results.

“Malcom’s first birthday is coming up. Cade is throwing him a party a week from today. He call you?” he asked Gage.

“Yeah. But I’m on a big job…”

When Gage’s words trailed off again, a habit he’d picked up as a teenager when he worried about saying what was on his mind, Blake held back from commenting on it. His time to say something to get Gage home would come.

“I get it. Call me in a couple days?”

“Will do. And Blake?”

“Yeah?”

“Happy birthday, old man.”

“Thanks,” Blake laughed.

By the time they finished chatting, he was only a few blocks from home. When he stepped into the mudroom from the garage he yawned. “Maybe I am getting old,” he muttered to himself.

He got ready for bed and thought about reading for a few minutes, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to concentrate due to all the thoughts swirling in his mind. Instead, he turned off the light.

Hanging with his brothers and Jake was always good. However, it would be better if their family was all together again. Family meant everything to Blake. With his plan to stay forever single, ensuring he would always have his brothers, including Jake, around him drove a lot of his decisions.

Calling Gage to let him know about their mom’s death was the most difficult phone call Blake ever made. Telling all his brothers had been excruciating, but he’d known it was going to hit Gage the hardest because he still hadn’t recovered from their dad’s death. And he might never.

Gage had taken off eight years ago, as soon as he finished tenth grade. Blake had itched to chase after his youngest brother and drag him back home. Only his mom saying he would drive Gage further away if he did convinced Blake not to.

She said Blake would be better off keeping in touch with Gage and gently guiding him, so that’s what he’d done. He still wasn’t always as patient as he would like to be, but that had been a turning point for him to work on it, seeing how much more effective patience was than pushing. At least his, brother always answered his calls when he was available, and if he was busy, he’d phone Blake back as soon as he could.

When Gage first left home, he settled in Salt Lake City, as if he needed to get away without going too far. Knowing Gage was within driving distance had been reassuring. For the first year, Blake didn’t push Gage to come home. He’d been there for his brother when he needed to talk. Then, Blake managed to talk Gage into getting his GED. He was still pleasantly surprised it hadn’t taken him months to convince him.

After that, Blake got a hold of a contractor he knew in Utah, who offered Gage a job. Gage didn’t need to know that the contractor, an old friend of their dad’s, called Blake regularly to let him know how things were going. Or that two years ago when a company in Green Springs, Colorado, was looking for a contractor, Blake told Gage’s boss so he could encourage Gage to apply.

Green Springs was only a two-hour drive from their home in Blue Mountain, Colorado. Blake’s next move was to get his brother all the way home. It was what both he and his mom always wanted, even though she had visited Gage as often as she could. He just wished he could have done it while his mom had been alive.

Yawning again, he closed his eyes. Just as sleep was pulling him under, his thoughts turned to the domino effect. If their dad hadn’t died, his mom may not have been driving that day, and he wouldn’t have been trying to run the company while going to college. He would have had time for Paige, and they might have stayed together.

None of that mattered, though, because his dad had died, and then Blake learned what heartbreak felt like. Something he refused to feel again.

* * *

Monday, September 2

The date at the bottom of her computer screen caught Paige’s eye—September 2—as if she needed the reminder. The disappointment on her rental manager’s face, when Paige had handed her a check for half a month's rent, wasn’t something she was going to forget anytime soon. It might not have been so bad if Paige hadn’t been late on last month’s rent.

Paige glanced over at Emmie on the couch to check on her, then looked back at her spreadsheet, as if expecting the number to have miraculously improved. She knew it hadn’t—she wasn’t an idiot, even if she felt like one a lot lately—but that persistent, optimistic soul that lived inside of her wouldn’t let her think her situation was hopeless.

Only, this time, she couldn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Accepting there was no way out meant all her struggles she’d been through in the last two years were for naught. Paige wouldn’t accept that.

For seven years, she lived under Craig’s control, first while dating, and then during their marriage. Because of that control, she lost her independence, and not only had she become reliant on him but she had also accepted his abuse as normal. In the beginning, his comments had been subtle. A small dig here, a backhanded compliment there, all in an attempt to make her a better person, he’d said.

Paige was a pleaser, always had been. It was part of her nature, regardless of the situation. Pleasing wasn’t a bad thing. She enjoyed making others happy. It was only when she combined pleasing others with her overly optimistic soul that made her ignore her own needs that problems arose.

It had taken a grocery store aisle, a jar of peanut butter, and a brick of cheddar cheese for Paige to come to that realization.

A few months before her parents moved to Arizona, Emmie started walking. She got into everything. Paige had to watch her then-one-year-old like a hawk, and grocery shopping had become a nightmare. Emmie didn’t want to sit in the cart and had no bones about letting the entire store know.

Thankfully, Paige’s mom agreed to watch Emmie for a few hours, so Paige could go to the grocery store, drop Craig’s suits off at the dry cleaner, and stop by his favorite bakery. She didn’t work since Craig claimed she couldn’t earn a decent salary with her unfinished degree and putting Emmie in daycare while Paige earned a paltry sum wasn’t worth it.

Paige loved staying home as Emmie was her top priority, but her second priority became keeping the peace. She walked on eggshells around Craig. Reminding him that she dropped out of college because of him wouldn’t have netted her anything but ridicule, followed by days of the silent treatment.

For as long as she lived, Paige would never forget the epiphany that struck her while standing in the spreads and condiment aisle. She checked her list and then reached for Craig’s favorite brand of smooth peanut butter. Every brand, flavor, texture, and food that Craig liked was indelibly etched in her mind.

That day, with the large jar cradled in her palm, Paige looked back up at the shelf. Even now, she couldn’t say why she looked back. She’d never consciously paid attention to how many brands there were, always rushing and reaching for what Craig liked.

It wasn’t just the brands that caught her eye. There were different types as well: chunky, creamy, dark roast, natural, organic, low fat, and low sodium. The shelves contained peanut butter flavored with honey, cinnamon, and chocolate too. Her gaze moved to the right, and she noticed cashew butter, hazelnut butter, sunflower seed butter. So many kinds.

The jar in her hand became heavy, pulling her gaze away from the shelves. As she stared down at the green label, she realized she didn’t know what kind of peanut butter she liked. A part of her brain told her this detail mattered, but she shrugged it off. It was only peanut butter.

Aisle by aisle, as she pushed her cart through the store, picking up items from her list, her steps became slower and slower.

Standing in the middle of the freezer section with Craig’s favorite ice cream numbing her fingers, she stared at the dozens of varieties and blinked back tears. She wouldn’t have been able to pick out her favorite flavor, even if her life had depended on it.

By the time she arrived in the dairy department, her throat felt tight, and her vision was blurry with unshed tears. It wasn’t about peanut butter anymore.

Her hand shook as she reached for Craig’s favorite cheese—medium, light, cheddar—almost afraid to lift the brick. That little part in her brain that voiced concern over the peanut butter was screaming and had been screaming at her throughout the entire store. The voice asked the same question over and over again: What kind did she like? It was a question she never had an answer to.

She knew what Craig liked, and by default, what Mrs. Craig was supposed to like. Then she realized that sometime during her years with Craig, what Paige liked had become unimportant. Insignificant.

Paige had become insignificant.

That day had been her wake-up call. It wasn’t until she’d wiped off enough of the grime and sludge Craig’s insults and belittling comments had plastered on her self-esteem, that she was finally able to see clearly and she’d made a plan.

It had taken her two years before she had the resources and strength to enact that plan and leave Craig, but she’d done it.

Three months ago, after the divorce was finalized, Craig threw another wrench in that plan—he stopped paying child support. He said if she hadn’t divorced him, the debt wouldn’t have come to light so quickly, and he could have paid it off. Now he was saddled with it, and he had enough of supporting her lazy ass. If she wanted him to continue to pay, she could take him to court.

Paige knew it wasn’t legal for him to stop paying, but she also knew Craig.

Without the money to hire a lawyer—something he was fully aware she didn’t have—she couldn’t fight him. Then, he twisted his knife in her back a little more. He told her that just in case she did have the money and wanted to fight him, he would apply for full custody of Emmie.

There wasn’t any doubt in her mind that Craig didn’t want their daughter. He hadn’t even asked to see her in the last year, but he was enough of a narcissistic asshole that he would fight for custody out of spite. No judge would grant him full custody, or allow him to miss payments, but Paige knew Craig was betting on her not making a fuss. Making her reliant on him so he could control her had always been his ultimate game. She didn’t even know why, since he never seemed happy. And now that reliance was off the table, he was trying to find other ways to control her.

“Mommy, a knock. Can I get it?” Emmie asked, interrupting Paige’s thoughts.

“No, sweetie. Mommy answers the door to make sure it’s safe, remember?”

“Okay,” she said, taking it in stride.

Paige looked through the peephole in the door, and all her guilt from yesterday pushed up into her throat.

“Hey, Susan, how are you?” she asked the building’s rental manager when she opened the door. Maybe if she pretended like yesterday hadn’t happened, Susan would too.

“Hi, Paige. Hi, Emmie. Are you having fun with your dolls?” Susan asked as Paige stepped back to allow her to enter.

Emmie nodded and held up a doll in each hand for Susan. “See?”

Susan engaged with Emmie for a minute, and Paige saw the exact moment her demeanor changed.

Susan straightened, pulling her shoulders back. “I’m going to talk to your mom for a little bit, okay?”

Emmie nodded and picked up another doll.

Gesturing to the kitchen, Susan took the few steps away from the living room.

Paige hoped she could head off what she knew was coming. “Susan, I have two commission checks coming. The closing on the properties is just taking longer than expected but I’ll have the half I owe you soon.”

Susan’s sigh said it all. “I’m sorry, Paige, but I’m going to have to evict you.” She lifted up a piece of paper that Paige hadn’t noticed she’d been holding. “You were late paying last month, and the rental company told me we’re not a charity. You either pay the full month’s rent today, or you’ve got to go.”

“I don’t have it.” Paige’s shoulders sagged, the faintest tremor quivering through her lower lip.

Susan put a hand on Paige’s arm. “I know, dear. I like you, Paige, and you have the sweetest little girl, but I need this job, so I’ve got to follow orders.”

Paige nodded and blinked back tears of frustration. Susan didn’t need Paige’s tears on her conscious.

“This is a copy of the summons and complaint, and the hearing’s set for next Monday. If you don’t win the hearing, you’ll only have forty-eight hours to vacate the premises. If you’d like, I can tell the rental company that you won’t fight the eviction, and I can give you two weeks to find something else. Would that work?”

Paige nodded again and walked Susan to the door, barely managing to croak out, “Bye.”

She shut the door, leaned back against it, and closed her eyes. The darkness behind her lids foreshadowed the tunnel she could no longer see through. The little light there had been now gone.

“Mommy?” Emmie asked, tugging on her pant leg.

Paige crouched down in front of her daughter. The very best thing in her life. Somehow, she’d find a way to make everything work out. She wouldn’t let Craig use this as a reason to take her daughter.

She drew from her inner strength and smiled at Emmie. “Mommy’s all done working today. Want to go to the park to play on the swings for awhile before bedtime?”

“Yay!” Emmie dropped her doll and raced to get her shoes.

Running away from her problems never fixed anything, but a little while playing with Emmie and reminding herself why she couldn’t give up wouldn’t hurt. Maybe it would even give Paige the energy she needed to find a solution.

She pushed herself up from her crouch, feeling far older than her years, and went back to the kitchen table. Reaching for her laptop to shut the lid, it pinged with a new email.

Her boss had sent her a new commercial listing. She scanned the details before closing her laptop, feeling a little lighter.

“Ready to go, Emmie?” she asked Emmie.

“Yes!”

As they walked the short distance to the park and Emmie chattered away, Paige thought back over the listing’s details and an idea began to form.