Page 23 of The Last Promise You Made

His lips twitched slightly. “Honestly, I don’t watch much, and if I want to catch a game, it’s usually at the bar, my parents’ place, or Maddox’s. But there is a television in the game room downstairs.”

“Games?” Addy’s ears perked up.

His eyes gentled as he took her in. “It’s one of my niece’s favorite rooms. Let me show you to your bedrooms first, and then I’ll take you there.”

In the entryway, he pointed to a curved staircase going down. “Game room is there.” He went in the opposite direction, climbing four short steps into another hallway. The left side was made of glass, the right of pine walls and doors.

“Half bath,” he said, waving a hand at the first door. “My office,” he explained, pointing to a set of double doors. “Up here is the bedroom wing.”

We mounted another set of short steps that allowed the house to flow with the natural slope of the hillside. He opened the first door, and we walked into a mint-green-and-cream haven larger than my first apartment.

A four-poster bed of wrought iron carved to look like trees was piled with soft linens and butted up against a wall that mimicked moss-covered stone. A dresser, love seat, and writing desk took up the wall across from it. The showcase was once again the windows, where the view was of a grove of ancient live oaks with the sprawling limbs we’d seen along the drive immersed with weeping willows that were still bare. They’d be feathery and green once spring hit, and waking up here would feel like sleeping in a tree house.

“Bathroom and closet are through there.” He pointed to a door and then looked at me. “Should be plenty of towels and bath products, but Sadie’s been in and out this year whenever Mama’s hovering got to be too much, so let me know if you need something.”

Okay, then. This stunning room was mine for the next few days.

I swallowed hard, dropped my duffel on the bed, and then followed Ryder out of the room with Addy still clinging to my hand as if I was the last thing keeping her standing. Or maybe she was stabilizing me. I wasn’t sure which.

Just like I wasn’t sure why Ryder’s carefully crafted home was impacting me so much. It was as if he’d thrown a rock into the sleeping pool of my emotions, and the ripples were slowly expanding, taking over in a way I didn’t like.

The next room over was done in soft blues and cream. The bed had a canopy of lace, and above it, the ceiling was painted like a spring sky. The recessed lighting hit the clouds, making them glow as if from an unseen sun.

“Bathroom and closet again.” Ryder pointed to another door. He looked down at Addy. “My niece, Mila, likes this room best, so I thought you might like it too. She likes waking up to the ducks and geese on the trout pond.” He pointed out the windows to where a small pond sat nestled amongst the trees.

It was as if each room was a picture box showcasing another scene.

Another piece of art assembled from nature.

The man before me had seen it, sculpted it, and then carefully embedded his home into it.

I’d never expected to find an artist under all that flannel and denim.

Ryder put Addy’s backpack down on a tufted blue velvet bench at the foot of the bed, and she eyed it as if she didn’t want to leave it there. I squeezed her hand, and her eyes met mine.

“It’s okay. You’re safe here. Your things are safe here.”

She hesitated before nodding.

“Does she only speak Spanish?” Ryder asked, concern in his voice. I’d almost forgotten I was still using it with her.

I looked from him to Addy. “You speak both English and Spanish, right?”

She stepped closer to me once more but nodded.

Ryder squatted in front of her. “That’s probably good. I don’t know much Spanish. But maybe you can teach me? Your mo—” He winced and changed directions. “I was learning some a long time ago, but I’ve forgotten a lot of it.”

The silence left behind turned awkward. She didn’t trust him because she’d been trained to distrust everyone. The fact that she was clinging to me had much more to do with how I’d found her than an actual belief that I was safe.

“Let’s take in the game room, shall we?” he asked.

She nodded furiously.

We stepped out of the room, and she looked back at the door, eyeing all the ones along the hall and another set of steps leading to another glass breezeway.

“My room’s up there.” He gestured to the stairs. “If you need anything at night, that’s where I’ll be.”

As Addy shifted from foot to foot, Ryder looked at me, and I saw not just nervousness but helplessness on his face. He was lost. He had no idea how to become a father to a seven-year-old. And not just any little girl. One who’d been traumatized, living a life on the outskirts of society. Who knew what she’d seen, even before yesterday?

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