Page 92 of Perfect Composition

“Doing my damnedest to make you happy.” And I lower my head down to hers to kiss her, not caring who is watching. They’d better get used to it anyway. I don’t plan on giving up this woman willingly.

Not ever again.

PAIGE

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Someone claimed they spotted Beckett Miller in a small town in Texas. I laughed. I mean, what the hell would he be doing there?

— Sexy&Social, All the Scandal You Can Handle

The day after Christmas, I received a call from the hospital. My father’s condition has improved enough he’s throwing out autocratic orders like a king to his waiting court. And one of them is he wants me to dance attendance upon him.

Alone.

“I can handle this,” I said stoutly to Beckett and Austyn before I left the house.

“You shouldn’t have to, Mama. What he did affected all of us,” Austyn argued.

“I second that,” he growled. His arm was slung over our daughter’s shoulders.

“See? It’s two against one,” Austyn claimed.

“Since when did this family become a democracy?” I asked, bemused.

“Since Dad stepped into it. Apparently I win more arguments this way.”

We all burst out laughing at her audacity. Then Beckett dropped his arm from around her and came to me. He pulled me into his arms and studied my face for long moments before declaring, “Sorry, kid, but I’m changing my vote. Your mother is a fierce woman; she’s got this.”

To which Austyn replied, “Well, I know that. It’s just…”

And I shivered as I turned in Beckett’s arms—like it was one of a million dreams I was afraid to voice—to face our child. “Just what, baby?”

“You shouldn’t have to be alone. We should be with you.”

I tapped Beckett’s arm. He let me go, and I immediately went to her. I pulled her into a tight embrace. “Don’t you know, you always are? It’s how I was coping until you were actually here.”

Her “Isn’t it better we actually are?” made my head swivel in Beckett’s direction.

He merely cocked a brow, repeating her question without saying a word.

So I gave them both the same answer. “Yes, it is.”

A few minutes later, I was out the door with a member of Beckett’s security team trailing behind me. “Nonnegotiable, bird,” he growled before pressing a kiss to my lips.

I let out a burst of frustration just as I turn into the hospital parking lot. So many things for us to talk about still, but we’ll get there eventually. We have time. We found each other again. And even with the added strain of our current circumstances, my soul feels so light it feels like I could scale mountains. Admittedly, I still worry about Beckett and Austyn. They still have their own paths to travel, but this time together has been good for them, I think as I put the car in park.

But my father made so many decisions easier for me. I no longer feel the choking bonds to tie me to Kensington that I would have if Beckett and I had reconnected without his deception. There’s no choice in staying here any longer. Even if Beckett and I hadn’t reconciled the way we did, I’d be looking for something new, something far away from a lifetime of lies.

I begin making a mental list. After the new year, I’ll begin looking at what it will take to sell my business to a suitable audiologist. Ideally, it would be perfect if my practice went to someone who wanted a slightly slower pace. Pressing the button for the elevator, I think about Dawn and Amie. I wonder how they’re going to react.

Then I snicker. What am I worrying about? If they knew there was a man involved, they’d likely board up the windows and wrap the parking lot with tape, declaring it condemned. Oh, boy. What on earth does Beckett want said to people? Are we keeping this between ourselves? I step off the elevator and pass the nurses’ station with a quick wave. Lifting my hand to my mouth, I begin chewing my thumbnail. “That’s just one more thing to talk with him about. Great.”

“Talk with who about, Paigey?” I hear in a raspy version of a voice I thought I knew as well as my own.

And there he is. Standing with the aid of a volunteer, but damnit. Even after everything, I can’t stop the relief that washes through me seeing him stand. “Father,” I acknowledge.

“You can go. My daughter will help me the rest of the way,” he orders.