Where Forever Lies (10 page)

Paige
slowly pulled her arm out of his grasp as she said, “Jimmy, is
everything okay? Do you need something?”

She
watched as he looked at her and then down the hall before saying
quietly, “There’s a dog in my room. He keeps growling at
me. Can you come get it out?”

Paige
smiled at him even as her heart dropped. Jimmy’s dementia was
getting worse and she couldn’t help but feel sad about it. She
knew she was supposed to be strong and do her best to keep her
emotions out of her job as best as she could, but she had a hard time
doing that.

“Well,
Jimmy, why don’t you go down to the recreational room and watch
some TV and I’ll take a look in a little bit, okay?”
Paige said, as she grabbed his elbow and turned him in the direction.

Jimmy
nodded his head briefly as he turned and slowly shuffled down the
hall, turning to give her one last look as if to make sure she was
actually going to check on the dog for him.

Paige
sighed as she veered in the direction of his room. She couldn’t
lie to him when he asked later and it would only take a few seconds
of her time.

As she
walked down the wide hallway of the hospital, she felt someone tug on
her shirt, “Hey, girl, what are you doing?”

She slowed
down as her friend Brooke Todd came up beside her. “I am going
to check out this dog that Jimmy says is in his room,” Paige
said, as she gave her friend the once over. Jimmy was Brooke’s
favorite patient. Brooke’s long, dirty blonde hair was pulled
back into a low ponytail, her lips bursting with a bright red and her
wrists covered in numerous bracelets. Paige couldn’t help but
smile at seeing her. Brooke was definitely eccentric, you never knew
what she would say or what she would be wearing, but she always knew
how to put a smile on your face.

“Oh,
no, he doesn’t think that?” Brooke said, as she grabbed
Paige’s arm, her bracelets clanging together.

“Yes,
he does. I told him I’d check so that’s what I’m
doing. I hate it that he’s going downhill, though. It sucks.”
Paige rounded the corner and as they came to Jimmy’s room, she
stuck her head in and gave it a quick look, satisfied that she’d
done her job.

“Yeah,
me too. I’ll be so sad when Jimmy has to leave,” Brooke
said, as her eyes scanned Jimmy’s empty room.

“Well,
I don’t see any dogs running around in here,” Paige said,
tugging on the sleeve of her navy colored scrubs. As they turned away
from Jimmy’s room and headed down to the nurse’s station,
Paige asked, “What are you doing tonight?”

“I
actually have no plans because I’m a loser. Why? What’s
up?” Brooke grinned, as she slipped a pen into her front
pocket.

“Well,
Kyleigh is taking me to some dancing bar in the country and we wanted
to see if you wanted to come. I’m telling you though, to me it
sounds like some redneck dance bar, so it’s your call,”
Paige said, as they stopped at the front desk.

Brooke
placed a multi ringed finger to her lips as if in deep thought before
saying, “It sounds interesting. I’d love to see you line
dance, so count me in.” Brooke let out a high pitched cackle
making Paige grimace.

“I’m
not line dancing,” Paige groaned, as she set her files on the
nurse’s station and placed her hand on her hip as she stared at
Brooke.

Brooke
just continued to laugh, “Yeah, right. You know Kyleigh has her
own agenda sometimes.”

Paige let
out an aggravated huff, blowing a strand of brown hair out of her
eye. “Anyway, we are leaving at eight. You can meet us at my
place.”

“Sounds
great,” Brooke said. As she turned to walk down to the
recreational room she called over her shoulder, “Don’t
forget to wear your cowboy boots!”

Paige
stuck her tongue out at her as she sashayed down the hall and, as she
turned her head, she was met face to face with Darlene, who was
sticking her tongue out, too. Paige regained her composure and tried
to hide her smile at Darlene’s expression. She was pushing
ninety years old and had very late stage Alzheimer’s. Her big
blue eyes were bugged out and she had her gray hair pulled back into
a bun with a pink flower poking out on top.

“Hi,
Darlene,” Paige said.

Darlene
just giggled and Paige placed her hand on her elbow and turned her
towards the recreational room. “Come on, Darlene, let’s
go play some games.”

♥♥♥

Paige
threw a shirt in a pile on the floor on top of the other six shirts
she had already tried on. She sighed. Nothing seemed right. Kyleigh
told her to dress nice but casual but she couldn’t decide on
anything. She hadn’t been out in so long that she was out of
touch with what she should wear. So far, she had on a pair of dark
skinny jeans and some cute black sandals. She opened up her closet
door and pushed her clothes around, looking for something that stuck
out. Finally at the back of the closet, she spotted a cute, blue,
v-neck, short sleeved shirt and knew she had the perfect earrings to
go with it. She pulled it out and slipped it on just as someone
knocked on the door.

As she
swung the door open Kyleigh squealed with excitement, “Oh my
God, you look great!”

“Yeah,
right. But thanks,” Paige said, as she looked her friend up and
down. Her shoulder length dark hair was stick straight and she was
wearing a cute red shirt with jeans. As Paige’s eyes landed on
her shoes, she froze. She carefully licked her lips as she said, “Why
in the hell are you wearing cowboy boots?”

Kyleigh
laughed, “Oh, those? You will love this place Paige, I promise.
It’s not a dirt floor type of bar, trust me. It’s just
not the club atmosphere that you’re used to when we go out. But
cowboy boots are not a pre-requisite so you’ll be fine. I just
like to wear them sometimes, they’re fun.”

Paige just
gave her a wary look. “Okay, but if I step in mud or anything
else, you will pay.”

“It’s
not like that, really. It’s a nice, quiet country type of bar.”
Kyleigh looked around her apartment and then asked, “Where’s
Brooke?”

“She
should be on her way. I can only imagine what she’s wearing.”
Paige giggled, knowing that Brooke would fit in less than she would.
Paige might be prissy, but Brooke was unconventional and out there.

With
perfect timing, there was a knock on the door. Paige swung the door
open to see Brooke grinning back at her. “What’s up?”
she asked enthusiastically as she stepped in.

Paige
smiled at Brooke’s ensemble and just shrugged. She was going to
stand out like a sore thumb but she knew Brooke couldn’t care
less. Paige wished she could be like that more often. Her black and
red, very busy flowered tank top was adorned with several beaded
necklaces that hung down to her cleavage, which was hanging out. Both
her wrists were covered in bracelets of many shapes and colors. Her
sandy blonde hair was curled slightly and partially pulled back
showing off low, dangly earrings with a bright red rose displayed on
them.

Paige
didn’t feel so out of place now. But, she still hoped she
wasn’t going to have men with teeth missing hitting on her as
they pulled out a can of Skoal.

“Are
we ready?” Kyleigh asked, as she pulled her purse up on her
shoulder.

“Yes,
just let me put some earrings on,” Paige said, as she hurried
back to her bedroom. She slid the earrings in and stepped back to
look at herself one more time. She would never admit this to her
friends, but she was kind of nervous. All she usually did was work
and take care of Kyra and occasionally grab a bite to eat with a
friend. This was something a little out of her element nowadays.

She gave
herself one last look and then turned and headed down the hall to
where her friends were waiting.

“Let’s
go, I’m ready to get my groove on,” Brooke said,
laughing.

“What’s
the name of this place anyway?” Paige asked her hand on the
door knob as she eyed Kyleigh cautiously.

“It’s
called The Broken Spur,” Kyleigh said as she walked through the
doorway past Paige.

“Great,
you can’t get any more redneck than that,” Paige grumbled
as she locked her door.

Paige was
beyond curious as to what this place was going to be like and when
they finally pulled in, it wasn’t anything like she’d
expected. She thought it would have a cowboy boot emblem on the
front, or a cowboy hat. Maybe even hitching posts outside the doors.
She didn’t know. But when they parked and she got out, she
realized from the outside, it didn’t look bad. The Broken Spur
sign that hung above the door looked rustic, but not in a bad way.
There was a large black-top parking lot and the building was nestled
in huge oak trees. It looked like a plain, normal building.

She was
also relieved that the people she saw heading in weren’t
wearing cowboy hats. Kyleigh looped her arm in hers and asked, “So?
It’s not too scary, is it?”

Paige
looked at her and shook her head, “No, but we haven’t
been inside, yet.”

Kyleigh
rolled her eyes and pulled her forward, with Brooke screaming for
them to wait for her while she tied her shoes.

They
pushed the door open and stepped inside a large open room with the
bar on the right, a huge dance floor that sat slightly below the rest
of the bar, dead center. There were booths and tables forming a
semi-circle around the dance floor and the place was packed, but not
so packed that you couldn’t move. There were five pool tables
to the left, with every one being occupied. Paige looked around,
noting the gorgeous pine bar and was ready to unwind and grab a
drink.

“Let’s
get a drink!” Brooke yelled over the noise, reading her mind.
The music was thumping and Paige realized the country music that was
playing had a nice dance beat to it. She looked around the place and
was thankful that no one was line dancing... yet.

“Yes,
please,” Paige begged. She felt herself beginning to relax and
knew after a drink or two she’d be ready to let all her worries
and grief go, at least for the night.

After they
each got a drink, a beer for Paige and two Long Island’s for
Kyleigh and Brooke, they wove through the crowd of people to the
dance floor. It was packed and Paige found herself holding her beer
up slightly to keep it from getting knocked around but she didn’t
care because she was having a blast.

Paige
threw her head back, letting herself get lost in the music, and
wondered why she had been so worried about this place to begin with.
Why would she even have cared if everyone was wearing cowboy hats &
boots? She knew it was just her anxiety taking its toll on her,
making her feel uncomfortable about new situations.

She looked
over at Kyleigh and Brooke who were laughing and carrying on with
each other as they danced. Kyleigh was slinging her hips around as
she danced side by side with Brooke, both facing opposite directions.
For once, Paige felt no insecurities about being in a new place and
dancing by herself.

After a
half hour straight of dancing, Paige felt her legs beginning to burn.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much
exercise. Working and being a single mom didn’t leave much time
to take care of herself. She tapped Kyleigh on the arm and told her
she was heading to the bar, “Do you guys want anything else?”
she asked, before she left.

“No,
I have to cut myself off if you want a safe ride home,” Kyleigh
said, breathlessly.

“A
beer,” Brooke yelled over the noise.

She made
her way over to the bar and eased into an open spot between a younger
dark haired guy and an older blonde woman. Paige waved at the
bartender hoping to grab his attention and not have to wait long. She
tapped her nails on the bar while she waited and noticed that she’d
forgotten to touch up her red nail polish before she left. She rarely
let that happen and was aggravated with herself for letting it slip
her mind tonight. It was chipped in spots and it looked horrible.

“What
can I get ya?” The bartender leaned in to her so she could hear
him and her first thought was that he looked pretty young but she
assumed it was his baby face and dimples that made him look younger
than he was.

“I’ll
have two beers,” Paige said, and then turned her gaze towards
the dance floor. It was too crowded to see Kyleigh or Brooke so she
just scanned the crowd and people watched for a few minutes until a
second later the bartender was back with her drinks. He set a beer
down in front of the guy next to her first and then slid her drinks
down to her. Paige handed him her money and as she turned to leave
she felt pain shoot through her toes.

“Ouch!”
she yelped, as she jerked her foot out from under a brown cowboy
boot. She turned her irritated gaze up and her eyes fell on a
familiar face. She frowned not believing who she was staring at.

“Well,
hello,” he said, his husky voice sounding amused.

Paige drew
in a breath and then took a swig of her beer, eyeing Tyler over the
bottle. She couldn’t believe the coincidence. She couldn’t
get away from this guy. She began to wonder if he was stalking her or
something.

“What
are you doing here?” she asked, somewhat defensively. She
didn’t mean for it to come out that way but she was dumbfounded
to see him again and he had yet to call and ask her out.

“It’s
a bar and I’m hanging out with a couple of friends. Probably
same as you,” he said, as he gave her a smug look.

She huffed
at his arrogance coming out again. She had pegged him right from the
beginning. He did come across as audacious. “Yes, I am out with
my friends.”

“Sorry
for stepping on your foot. It seems to me that you’re just
always in my way,” Tyler said, as he leaned his elbow on the
bar, eyeing her up and down.

“Maybe
you’re in my way,” she said knowing it sounded childish
as soon as it left her mouth. But she was feeling the alcohol a
little and her mind wasn’t completely cooperating with her. She
debated on saying anything about him not calling but decided against
it. She didn’t want to come across as needy. Instead, she said,
“Why do I keep seeing you everywhere lately, anyway?”