Page 96 of All the Promises We Break

I love you too much to hold you back.

I wish I could have realized sooner that the little girl in pigtails would

change my life. I would have appreciated it more.

I have images of you from yesterday that will last me forever.

You have changed me forever.

Don’t settle for less than you deserve.

I’ll never look at a sunset the same way again.

Wes

Eli moves over into the chair next to me. His arm slides around my back. My mind is running over a thousand miles an hour. I can hardly see through my tears. I carefully fold the letter, placing it back in the envelope.

“Tell me where he is, Eli.”

“What? No.”

“Eli, tell me where he is.”

“I don’t agree with how he’s handling this, but I understand. He asked me not to say anything.”

I look down at my hands, folded around the letter, and take a deep breath before I turn to my brother with an unnamed emotion I’m sure he’s never seen in me. “Eli. I don’t care.” I can feel my jaw click as my hands start to shake. “I know I’m asking you to choose between your best friend and your sister. I need to find him. Tell me where he is. If you don’t, I’ll wander through every inch of this city until I find him. Save my feet and tell me.”

Eli sighs, then leans in and kisses my forehead. “He’s at The Four-Faced Liar. He thought it was appropriate.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, as I lean in and kiss his cheek before I run out the door.

The bar is so close to where we were having lunch I took off in a near run in my wedge heels. As I ran, the name of this place finally rang a bell with me. It’s a pub Eli and Wes have frequented forever, especially in the last couple years since their fraternity buddy bought it.

I arrive at the front door completely out of breath when I pull it open. The gust of cool air is a welcome one. The dining area in the front is about half full. My eyes scan the bar rail down to nearly the far end. There sits my man as handsome as he was this morning and still as sad.

I study him as I walk. He’s all alone. There is not one person within ten feet of him on either side. He’s got a pint and a shot lined up in front of him, both aren’t touched. The bartender is about to ask me if he can get me something. I quickly place myfinger over my lips and shake my head. He smiles, understands, and walks to the other end to give us privacy.

“Hi. Is this seat taken?” I ask.

Wes’s head turns toward my direction. His troubled eyes widen, I can tell he’s been crying. “What are you doing here? I told Eli not to tell you where I was.”

“I know. I made him tell me. Don’t be angry.” I carefully slide on the empty barstool next to him, facing him instead of the counter. “I read your letter. Did you honestly think I’d let it go at that?”

“Hoped is a better word. Please, Hayley…”

“You said don’t settle for less than I deserve. I deserve you, Wes.”

“No. You don’t.”

I spin his knees so he has to look me in the eyes. “Shouldn’t I get to decide that? Huh? I don’t want to be away from you. I wasn’t quiet for the last day because I wanted to leave. I was waiting for you to lead. You walked out. Well, guess what? Sawyers never quit. Try asking me what I want. You never have. Not once.”

He tilts his head slightly to one side. “What do you want, Hayley?”

“You, you asshole,” I exclaim somewhere between a shout and crying. “I want you. This can work. Is it going to be hard? Likely, but aren’t you kind of done running away? How about running to something for once? I’m right here. I’m not going away.”

“But what about the baby?”

“We have about four months to figure it out. I’m going to have to be okay with Hannah, and she’s going to have to be okay with me. This baby is a part of you. I’m going to love it no matter what.”

Wes leans in, pulling me off my stool into his arms. We slowly twirl as he holds me tight to him. My arms link around his neck.He whispers the words I’ve needed him to say for the last day, “I love you, Hayley Sawyer. I’ll never leave you again.”

The End

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