Page 60 of Perfect Composition

I hear one, two doors slam. “Too late. Kane will verify it’s him and bring him to the door.”

Paige’s legs drop down, sliding down the front of my body. Every inch of her warm body scalds mine. I hold her branded against me. “We need to talk.”

She nods frantically. “I know. But we have to get to the hospital first.”

“What?” Austyn and I shout together.

Fresh tears well up in Paige’s eyes. She turns from my arms and walks straight to Austyn’s as the front door opens to Jesse Kensington. His face first displays shock, then a sort of resigned acceptance to see me. He walks across the room. “Beau.”

“It’s Beckett these days.” I can’t prevent my eyes from drifting to where Paige and Austyn are embracing. “For more than just your sister.”

“Beckett,” he immediately corrects himself. “I owe you a long-overdue apology.”

“What’s going on?” I ignore his attempt to make amends for the moment.

He takes a deep breath. “My father. He had a heart attack the day after Paige lit into him. He’s in critical care. We’ve been taking shifts going…”

I hear my daughter let out a hoarse sob. With that, it takes me three strides to cross the room to wrap her and her mother up in my arms. “It will be all right. I promise,” I croon in their ears.

“You can’t promise that,” Paige begins.

“Yes I can. For the first time, we’re all together. Therefore, it’s going to be all right. It has to be.” I hold Paige’s eyes as I try to communicate with her that there’s no need for her to ask for forgiveness. None at all.

Her lips tremble as she whispers, “You’re right. It has to be.”

And with that, I clutch the pieces of my heart I lost and the piece I never knew I was missing just a little closer, afraid if I let them go, they’ll disappear and I’ll never feel this whole ever again.

PAIGE

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Be festive, my ass. I just got dumped right before Christmas. This is such bullshit #airingofgrievences

— @PRyanPOfficial

“They say the surgery will take between three to six hours and depends on how severe the damage is once they get inside.” I repeat the surgeon’s words later that night to my brothers, my daughter, and Beckett. “They can’t perform an angioplasty, which is where they use a small balloon to widen the artery. He has more than one that’s diseased, including the left main coronary artery, which is severely narrowed or blocked.”

“Christ,” Ethan mutters. “How the hell did this happen?”

“We’ll work on figuring this out after. The good news is that if all goes well with the surgery, and if he follows doctor’s protocols, he should remain symptom-free for as long as ten to fifteen years after this procedure. The bad news? He’s going to have a six-to-twelve-week recovery period. I’m sorry, baby. But when you go back to New York, I’m going to have to ask you to send my things back.” I can feel Beckett’s eyes pierce me with that announcement, but I can’t handle glancing in his direction.

Austyn snorts. “Like I plan on going back with this news?”

“Austyn, you have work commitments,” I try to reason.

“And you don’t?” she shoots back.

I decide now is as good a time as any to make the announcement I had already come to days earlier. “I’m closing down my office.” Immediately, there are protests from my family members. I hold up a hand. “There are other reasons why I’m making that decision.”Namely, my father’s investment when I want nothing of his, I think bitterly, but I hold that back. “I’ll be using the time I’m here in Kensington to refer my patients to other doctors, maybe see if I can get someone interested in purchasing the entire business as is.”

Beckett stands. “Paige, can I speak with you a moment?”

I hold up a finger to ask him to give me a second. “So, that’s it. Surgery is tomorrow. Due to his age, he’ll be the first one in at 7:00. I’ll be heading down to the hospital at five.”

“Will they let you scrub in, Mama?”

“Unlikely, darling, though I’ll ask. I’d be surprised if they grant me that request since it’s Gramps, but I’m certain I’ll receive more frequent updates since I know everyone on staff.” I push to my feet. “Now, I’m not in a mood to cook.”

“Ralph’s?” Austyn proposes.