Page 132 of The Last Promise You Made

Addy lifted her face, tears flowing down her cheeks as she looked from me down to the bandage on Gia’s neck and then the cast. “You’re hurt!”

“Nothing big. In six to eight weeks, I’ll be good as new.”

Addy stared at the bandage amidst the purple bruising on Gia’s neck. The blood stains trailed down onto the bodice of the evening gown. Addy’s eyes were big as she reached out tiny fingers to touch the bandage.

Gia grabbed her fingers and kissed them. “I swear, Addy, I’m going to be okay.”

“Was it a knife?” The question was whispered so quietly the wind almost took it away.

“Yes,” Gia said, throat bobbing and eyes filling with tears. “But they’re all gone, Addy. All the bad men. They aren’t going to be able to hurt any of us ever again.” Gia’s words were sure and confident, and even if I hadn’t seen the end of the Lovatos with my own eyes, I would have believed her.

“They died?”

Gia nodded, and I loved her for being honest even when it was hard to hear. The truth was always better.

“Mama died too.” Addy’s little voice was so sad it almost broke my heart all over again.

“She did,” I acknowledged. “But we’re going to bring her here. To the ranch. We’ll bury her with the rest of my family in the Hatley plot, and you’ll be able to walk over and talk to her whenever you want.”

“She can’t talk back.”

“No, but I believe she’ll hear you,” I told her. We stood that way for several minutes, hugging each other and reveling in the fact that we could, until Mama hollered out at us from the back porch.

“I need some of my own damn hugs, you three. So shuffle those feet on over here.”

And we did what we all did when Mama gave an order. We followed it.

? ? ?

That first night, we stayed at the ranch to be close to family. The three of us slept together in Maddox’s old room that Mama had made into a guest room with a king-sized bed for nights just like this when some or all of her kids stayed there. I wasn’t sure what had forced my eyes open. Maybe nothing more than the dawn starting to creep through the blinds, as I’d always been an early riser and working on the ranch meant even earlier starts. But the first thing I saw was Addy’s tiny body snuggled up between Gia and me.

My heart felt like it grew and expanded until it threatened to leap from my chest. This was all I needed. Family. This little unit I’d never believed I’d have again and that I was going to cherish until death knocked at my door in another hundred years. And even then, it would be too soon.

Addy’s sweet face was completely relaxed, and her lips were curved upward, as if she were dreaming of only good things. I promised myself I’d give her a lifetime full of just that. She’d earned it in her first seven years, suffering more than most grown adults had. I ran a hand over her hair, amazed that she was there. That she existed. That I got to touch her.

When I moved my hand back to Gia’s waist, warm eyes greeted me. A slow smile took over my face, and I leaned over the top of Addy to give her a gentle kiss, a welcome-to-the-day kind of kiss. What I really wanted was to give her a kiss that would leave her gasping and calling my name.

There’d be time for that. Time for all the things I wanted to do to Gia’s body.

And that thought made my heart grow and expand a bit more. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to contain it for much longer.

“Morning, darlin’. How you feeling?” I asked, glancing down at the bandage on her neck and then the cast on her arm.

“All I feel right now is lucky and loved.”

I ran a finger along her cheek. “That’s a mighty good way to start the day.”

? ? ?

The next night, we went back home. Gia and I watched Addy carefully, worried the events that had taken all of us from there would make her feel unsafe and scared. It helped that Dad and Shawn had replaced the broken window, and Mama and Sadie had helped them clean up. No sign of anything bad having happened remained, even though I could still see it in my mind like a horror movie on repeat.

As soon as we’d set our bags down, Addy asked to play Pac-Man.

So, we spent the day in the game room, where nothing bad had ever happened. We played video games and board games and taught Addy how to play pool. Gia promised she could beat me with her eyes closed once she had use of both hands, and I was pretty sure she could, even though I was the undefeated billiard player in my family. It wouldn’t bother me at all to lose to her. It only added to her sexiness and my desire to take control in other ways once our bedroom door closed.

The three of us collapsed at the end of the day on the sofas in front of the entertainment center with pizza and movies that Addy picked out. When Addy’s eyes started to droop, we headed upstairs where Gia helped Addy get ready for bed. I read her a couple stories until her eyes closed, and then, we quietly left, shutting the lights off behind us.

It had been a good day. Good memories. Moments I would always cherish because I’d already missed too many of them with Addy, and yet, I hesitated outside her door, suddenly panicked at the thought of leaving her on her own after all that had happened. I’d lost her once before she’d been born and thought I’d lost her again when I’d seen her things next to that cot on the video at Jaime’s.

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