"Hey...I guess you're still sleeping, or you're just ignoring me." Paige swallowed hard as she moved her phone from one ear to the other. "I should have called sooner. I've been thinking about it all night, about you. I'm an ass, and I'm terrible at apologising...I don't know why you're with me. I guess I've never known why someone like you would even want to be with someone like me...I know we've been having problems, and I know it's my fault. I'm the one who's been pulling away; even before all of this stuff with my parents. This weekend was supposed to change all that. It was supposed to fix everything...but now we're more broken than ever. I'm sorry. I want to make this work, Shana. I might not always show it, but I love you. Call me back when you're up, please." Paige let out a deep sigh as she hung up.
She'd been up most of the night, thinking about how things had gone down with Shana, and about her mom and dad too. Paige usually went running in the mornings, but her routine had been shot to hell over the weekend. She'd promised herself she'd get back on track come Monday morning. Paige was a creature of habit, she'd always had structure and routine in her life; change wasn't something she coped with well. That was probably why she had blown with Veronica the evening before. Paige had spent the rest of the night holed up in her room. Spencer had tried knocking on her door a couple of times, but she hadn't answered. Eventually her sister had given up trying.
"Paige, good morning." Veronica greeted her as she walked in to the kitchen. The older woman offered her a cheery smile. There was no mention of what Paige had said to her the night before. "Would you like a cup of coffee? I've just made a fresh pot."
"Thanks." Paige took a seat at the breakfast table while Veronica poured her a coffee, she had to ask how she took it. "I'm sorry about last night. I was out of line and I shouldn't have spoken to you the way I did." Veronica seemed more taken aback by the apology than what Paige had actually said to her. She'd had countless arguments with Spencer and Melissa over the years, but neither of them had willingly apologised to her without the threat of some kind of punishment hanging over their heads.
"It's very big of you to say that, but it's not necessary. You were upset, it's understandable given the circumstances." Veronica acknowledged. "I know this transition isn't going to be easy, but I'm willing to work at it, if you are? I'd like to get to know you better." Paige's birth mother wanted to reach over and take her hand, but she was worried she'd pull away, so Veronica kept her hands wrapped around her mug instead.
"I'd like that." Paige agreed. Underneath all the anger and confusion, there was a healthy dose of curiosity. The woman sitting in front of her had given birth to Paige seventeen years ago, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't interested in knowing more about her.
"Great." Veronica beamed at her. "I thought we could go to the tennis club for brunch?"
"Could we maybe do lunch instead? I was hoping to catch the morning mass at that church over on Main." Veronica seemed to take a moment to assess whether she was being serious, or if it was some kind of ploy to get out of spending time with the strangers who claimed to be her family.
"Sure. We can all go, then we'll head straight to the club. I'll go tell your sister to hurry up and get dressed."
"Why are we even here? It's not Christmas yet, is it?" Spencer complained loudly as she slid in to a pew near the front of the church. The Lutheran Church of Rosewood was a modest structure, with simple wooden pews and a pastor that only looked to be a few years older than Paige's father. Nick McCullers was a church deacon. He took his duties pretty seriously, so the church had always been a constant in Paige's life; it felt comforting to be sitting somewhere almost familiar. Veronica sat up straight as she frowned at Spencer for her remark. She pointedly chose not to answer, not that Spencer was deterred. "Did somebody die?" Veronica's glare deepened, but Paige didn't seem to notice the mother and daughter squabbling beside them. She'd spotted a familiar face amongst the congregation.
Pam Fields was sitting a few rows ahead of them. She waved when she noticed Paige and the other Hastings. She was sitting beside a man who must have been Emily's father. He had strong, broad shoulders and short cropped thick black hair. Paige recognised a solider when she saw one. She'd grown up around enough of her dad's navy buddies. Pam's husband turned his head to see who she was waving at, and offered Paige a warm smile. He had the same soft, kind eyes as his daughter.
Paige had to wait until after the service to be introduced to him. Pam made a beeline for the Hastings once the pastor was finished. She exchanged pleasantries with Veronica before introducing Paige and Wayne. The soldier greeted her with a firm handshake. For all he was smiling, Paige could see the unease in his eyes; he'd probably heard all about her on the evening news.
Pastor Ted made his way over to the group, curious about the new faces. It wasn't often that the Hastings family attended church. They were generous donors when it came to fundraisers and the like, but they seldom attended mass. "Veronica, it's nice to see you here." Ted was a jovial kind of man. He was in his early forties, with salt and pepper hair that gave him an air of maturity. "And who's this?" He pretended not to know, like he hadn't read all about Paige's abduction in the morning paper.
"Pastor Ted, this is Paige. My youngest daughter." Veronica placed a hand on Paige's shoulder, and she did her best not to flinch as she forced a smile. She'd promised to try and make an effort with her birth mother, but she wasn't big on people touching her.
"Ah, I think I caught something about that on the news this morning. If I can be of any help, whether it be spiritual guidance, or just a friendly ear to listen." Ted shook Paige's hand with a earnest look on his face. It was easy to see what had drawn him to the priesthood, the man practically oozed sympathy.
"Thank you Father. I was actually hoping to ask you about volunteering. My dad's a Deacon at Mt. Lebanon Lutheran. I've grown up in the church my whole life, I'd like to be involved here."
"Well we'd love to have you. We need some young blood around here. How about you Spencer? Feel like helping out?" Spencer had clubs and extra curricular activities coming out of her ears, not to mention all of her AP classes, she didn't have time to volunteer for anything else.
Veronica ushered them out the church, promising the pastor she would try to attend mass more often. She drove the girls to the Tennis Club, her usual place of worship on the weekends. Paige had always considered her family to be moderately well off, comfortably middle class, but she felt out of her depth at the club. It wasn't her kind of place, she kept expecting someone to come over and ask her to leave. Veronica had chosen a table outside on the veranda, overlooking some of the tennis courts. It was a seasonably warm day, without a single cloud in the sky. The sun was hot against Paige's neck as she studied the menu. Spencer and Veronica knew what they were having without needing to even glance at it; another painful reminder that Paige was the outsider amongst them.
For the first time, she allowed herself to wander what it would have been like to grow up a Hastings, to spend the weekends at the country club, and to grow up with siblings. Up until Friday she'd been an only child,so she'd never had to fight anyone else for her parents' attention. Paige was yet to meet her older sister. She wondered if she would be another carbon copy of Veronica, like Spencer seemed to be.
"So, Paige, do you play tennis?" Veronica quizzed as the waiter brought them their starters. She was trying to keep the conversation light. She had a thousand burning questions for the teenager, just waiting on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't want to come across like she was cross examining a witness on the stand. Paige would need time to adjust before Veronica could get the answers she wanted.
"A little." Paige shrugged. "I prefer hockey though."
"We should have a game of one on one some time." Spencer suggested. Paige recognised the competitive look in her eyes and shot her a grin over the table.
"You're on."
Veronica watched the exchange with an amused smile. The twins had been nigh on inseparable as babies. It was nice to see them getting along so well, it was a sight Veronica had never expected to witness again. She'd resigned herself to believing that her youngest child was dead. That had been the only way she'd been able to cope after the abduction; she'd clung to the belief that her child was no longer suffering. During her darkest days, her mind had conjured all sorts of theories as to why the youngest twin had been taken, and none of them were anywhere near pleasant. It had almost come as a relief to know that Paige had been taken by someone who had only wanted to raise her as their own.
"We could come and play doubles once Melissa gets home." Veronica suggested, eager to spend time with all of her children. Spencer looked like she would rather chew broken glass, but Paige was looking forward to meeting her older sister. She wasn't sure how she would feel about meeting her biological father though. Even before her mom's death, she had always been closer to her dad. As much as she would deny it if ever asked, Paige McCullers was a daddy's girl at heart. She couldn't imagine ever calling anyone else 'dad'. It played on her mind for the rest of lunch, where she sat quietly, mostly letting Spencer and Veronica do all the talking.
Paige excused herself to go the bathroom just before they were leaving. Once she was safely out of sight of prying eyes, she slumped forward against one of the expensive porcelain sinks. She was trying her best to keep it together, but she was struggling. Paige wanted to get to know Veronica and the family she had been taken from; but at the same time, it felt like the closer she was growing to the Hastings, the further her old life was slipping away from her. The last thing she wanted was to lose herself. It had taken Paige seventeen long years to figure out who she was, and what she wanted, and suddenly it felt like the carpet had been ripped right out from under her feet. She took a few deep breaths, trying to hold her own gaze in the mirror as she willed herself to go back out and face her new family.
Paige paused outside in the lobby. She'd been in such a rush to find a bathroom that she hadn't bothered to notice the route she'd taken. The teenager had completely lost her bearings in the vast club, she had no idea how to get back to the dining room. She stopped a young guy, wearing a crisp white uniform, and asked him if he could help her. He looked barely older than Paige herself, with thick curly hair and a pleasant smile. "Sure thing, Miss. It's-"
"Paige!" Spencer called from further down the hall, waving her twin over to her.
"Never mind, there's my sister." The word tasted foreign on her tongue, but also oddly familiar. The young club employee frowned as he caught sight of Spencer.
"I didn't know Spencer had another sister."
"Neither did she." Paige answered cryptically, leaving the boy puzzled as she walked away without further explanation.
"Why were you talking to Alex?" Spencer demanded, her expression guarded as she waited for an answer, as though Paige and the boy were embroiled in some kind of conspiracy together.
"I forgot how to get back to the dining room." Paige shrugged, not exactly sure why she had to defend herself for talking to someone. "What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is he's my ex, okay?" Spencer grumbled. Tennis Club Boy was clearly a sore spot for the older twin, so Paige let it drop. She didn't need to pick a battle with someone she was being forced to share a house with. "Mom told me to come get you, we're heading back. She's on the phone with Dad, his flight's been cancelled. He won't be home until tomorrow morning." Paige felt a rush of relief at the news. She wasn't quite ready to meet any more new family members yet. Veronica had told her Melissa would be arriving home on Monday too, so it looked like she would get to meet both her father and her sister in the same day; it would be a lot to take in. Paige wasn't sure she was strong enough to keep up with the façade that she was doing okay with all of it.
In a hotel room in New York, Peter Hastings loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt. It was already past noon, so he felt no guilt about the glass of Scotch he had in his left hand. He glanced up at the blonde walking out of the bathroom; that was something to feel guilty about. His family were waiting for him back in Rosewood, including the daughter who'd been taken fifteen years ago, yet there he was; miles away from home, spending the weekend in a hotel room with his mistress. The worst about it was that he didn't actually feel guilty. The affair had been going on for so long that Peter had become numb to the feelings of guilt and remorse which had first plagued him when the illicit relationship had started.
He swallowed what was left in his glass before placing it back down on the side table by the edge of the bed. The blonde moved closer to him. Dropping on to his lap, she helped him out of his jacket before removing his tie. He sighed against the side of her cheek as she slipped her hand under his shirt. They both had families that they were supposed to be with, families that were broken almost beyond repair. Peter wasn't sure what had stopped him from walking out. He liked to think that somewhere deep down he still loved his wife, but the truth was their relationship had been on rocky ground even before their youngest daughter's abduction, and it had only gone downhill afterwards. "I told Veronica my flight was cancelled... I can stay one more night."