บท 24: Chapter 24

Paige was home, waiting for Carrie. She had changed out of her fancy outfit, intending to return it to Nathaniel whenever she saw him again. She was wearing jeans, a warm coat, gloves and a scarf. Tennis shoes with thick sock adorned her feet. Her phone went off, letting her know that Carrie was out front. She exited her apartment and locked the door behind her.

Carrie was driving a van. Paige climbed inside and sat in the passenger seat. She looked in the back and saw there were a dozen boxes there.

"Wow, you made so many this time! Was this all from donations?" Paige asked excitedly.

"Ever since that boy got us on tv, we've had an influx of donations. Haley thinks we'll need a second storeroom at this rate," Carrie said with a smile. She started the drive to their destination.

"About Nathan," Paige said shyly.

"Oh, so it's 'Nathan' now?" Carrie teased.

"Yes. I've agreed to go on a date with him. We've been spending time together," Paige said with a smile.

"Aww, honey, that's great. I'll have to actually meet him, then. He's been treating you well?" Carrie asked.

"He's been very sweet. I met his mother unexpectedly while working out at his home gym and he bought me outfits to wear for lunch so I wasn't uncomfortable," Paige said while grinning.

"Honey, you are grinning like a fool. I'm very happy. Does he know?" Carrie asked concerned all of the sudden.

"He knows that I ran away when I was 18 and I don't talk to them. Not specific details," Paige said.

"Well, that's more than most, so that's promising. We're almost here," Carrie said, changing the subject.

They were approaching the part of town where they first met. Paige watched as Carrie drove through an alley and parked the van. There was a group of about twenty people that was starting to form. Paige got out of the van and greeted them.

"Hey, guys! Thanks for being here. We have more than usual today, so try and take some for a friend if you know anyone that might need it," Paige said with a smile.

"Hey, Bud, Charlie, Kelly and Marc! How are you guys doing?" Carrie said as she waved at them, heading to the back of the van. Paige and the group followed suit. Paige started putting boxes on the ground and a man in weathered clothes helped her organize them.

"Bud, if you ever want a job, you can come to Second Chances and organize our storeroom all day long," Paige offered.

"You say that every time, Miss Paige, but you know I can't leave these guys," the older man said with a smile.

"Bring them with you!" Paige said with a smile.

Bud shook his head. Every few weeks, ever since Paige and Carrie started the shelter, they came to this part of the city and passed out bags with socks, gloves, toiletries, snacks, sandwiches and anything else they could put in there. Sometimes they had reusable water bottles or hand warmers, which was really great. They would get help from their regulars, who were old friends of Carrie's. Paige always tried to get everyone to come to the shelter and stay and enroll in programs, but there were some who were hesitant. Paige understood. Sometimes, it was hard to change. She was dealing with that herself.

Paige's thoughts drifted to Nathaniel. She wondered how he was doing. She shook her head and went back to the task at hand. There were a lot of people lined up; over double the original number. Paige started passing out bags and making small talk with everyone.

Nathaniel was at the Jordans' house for Sunday dinner with his mother. They had a weekly ritual to meet up as often as they could ever since he could remember. They had finished eating and were having drinks in the parlor.

"Nate, are you going to tell them or should I?" Mrs. Donovan teased.

"You seem so jovial about it that you can do the honors, mother," Nathaniel said. "But Scott knows."

"What's this fuss about?" David Jordan asked. He was Scott's father. He was an older gentleman with salt and pepper hair, brown eyes and a youthful physique. Scott was essentially a carbon copy of him, except his hair was sandy blonde and his icy blue eyes came from his mother.

"Scott, if there was news, you should've told me so I could've prepared something special," his mother scolded. Pamela Jordan was a platinum blonde with icy blue eyes. She still had a youthful appearance and was like Prudence Donovan; impeccably dressed without a hair out of place. She and Prudence had an air of intimidating elegance about them.

"Well, things were not certain when I spoke with him," Scott mumbled.

"Not certain? Nate, what did you do?" Nathaniel's mother asked with concern.

Nathaniel's eyes widened, remembering that he had yet to talk to Paige about a certain subject. 'Sh!t' he thought. He would tell her tonight or tomorrow morning, then it would be resolved. "It's nothing. That was a few days ago, when I first mentioned her," Nathaniel said, taking a drink of his scotch.

"Oh, well, Nate has a girlfriend!" Mrs. Donovan announced excitedly.

"She's not my girlfriend quite yet, but we are dating. She met mother at lunch today," Nathaniel said.

"Oh, Nate, that's wonderful! Pru, what was she like?" Mrs. Jordan asked.

"She's gorgeous, smart, does charity work and has wonderful etiquette. My only worry is she's a bit guarded, but she's very sweet. I can't wait until you meet her next week when we host!" Mrs. Donovan gushed.

"Nate, I can't wait to meet her. Any woman that captures your attention for more than a second is worthy of a trophy," Mr. Jordan joked.

"Dave, you better not say that to her when you see her or I will be furious," Mrs. Jordan threatened.

"Yes, father, we can't scare the poor girl off. Nate already is having difficulty due to his inexperience with long term relationships," Scott teased.

Nathaniel put up with their jesting throughout the rest of the evening. He didn't mind, because he was happy. As he was leaving, he sent Paige a text. He got in the car with his mother and his driver took them home.

Paige was packing up the van with the few leftover supplies. She was astonished; they never had anything leftover. Her phone went off. She climbed into the passenger seat of the van as Carrie was locking up the back and looked at her phone.

'Are you asleep?' Nathaniel wrote.

'No. How was dinner?' Paige replied.

Paige saw the ellipses at the bottom of her phone screen, indicating that Nathaniel was texting her right now. Her heart fluttered. She heard the door open and close as Carrie got into the car.

"Paige, honey, tonight was a good night. Hopefully, we get new clients," Carrie said smiling. She looked at the soft expression that Paige had as she gazed at her phone and smiled.

"It was a great night, wasn't it? I hope some of them will come to Second Chances," Paige said in a whisper. Nathaniel's text appeared on her screen.

'It was good. Everyone is excited to meet you next week. Can I call you in a little bit?'

'Sure. I'll let you know when I'm home,' Paige replied.

In a few seconds, Nathaniel replied: 'I look forward to hearing your voice soon.'

Paige clutched her phone and smiled to herself. Her thoughts were occupied the entire ride home with Nathaniel. She didn't notice Carrie smiling and occasionally watching her as she dropped Paige off. Paige said goodnight and hurried into her apartment. She showered very quickly and changed into her pajamas. She wore a violet colored silk camisole and short set that had lace fringe. She dried her hair as fast as she could, brushed her teeth and completed her skincare regimen. Finally, she was finished.

She texted Nathaniel and let him know that she was home. Her phone started ringing about a second later.

"Nathan?" she asked, knowing it was him.

"Paige," she heard him say in a husky whisper.

"Can I video call you? I miss seeing your face," he said. Paige felt that there was a hint of longing or desperation in his voice.

"I sent you that photo of us, you could always look at that," she whispered breathily. 'Wait, why am I taking like this?' Paige thought to herself.

"I might have to make it my background with how often I've looked at it today," he said with a chuckle. "Please, baby, I just want to see you before I go to sleep."

Paige initiated the video call after he said that. Something within her caved when he pleased with her like that. Nathaniel's face and care shoulders appeared on her screen. It was apparent that he was lying in bed.

"You aren't wearing a shirt!" Paige exclaimed. Nathaniel chuckled.

"I don't usually wear one to bed. I made an exception last night because I felt that it might make you uncomfortable if I hadn't," he said in that low, husky voice. Paige sighed.

"Those weren't my usual night clothes, either. I'm sorry that I fell asleep like that," Paige said.

"Don't apologize. I enjoyed holding you all night. I wish I was there now," he said. The desperate longing was back.

"I think we'd be in trouble if you were here," Paige said breathily.

"Why would we be in trouble, Paige?" he asked, his voice almost a purr. Paige felt herself becoming very hot.

"Because," she whispered, "we might do something that we'd regret later."

"I would only regret it if I hurt you. I don't want to ever do that, baby," he said gently.

Paige held the phone against her chest for a second, tears forming behind her eyes. One managed to escape. Then, another.

"Paige?" she heard him call. She hastily wiped her tears away and faced him again.

"Yes, sorry, I'm here."

"Were you crying?" he asked with concern.

"I'm fine. I need to get to sleep, Nathan. I'll talk to you tomorrow," Paige said quickly.

"Goodnight, baby. I can't wait to see you again," he said.

"Goodnight, Nathan," Paige said, hanging up. She sighed and climbed into bed. She made sure her alarm was set and went to bed. She was restless and tossed and turned until a thought frightened her. 'I can't miss him from spending one night in his arms, can I?' Her defenses kicked in as she shook the thought away and fell asleep.