Page 53 of The Last Promise You Made

“You can take your coat and backpack off and hang them right there by the door.” Then, my sister stood and turned to Gia. Her smile got even wider, a little dimple appearing. “Well, well, look at what the coyote dragged back onto the ranch. Just couldn’t stay away now, could you?”

Gia laughed, reaching over to help Addy with her backpack and jacket.

By the time all their coats were hung, Mama and Dad came in looking disheveled in a way I didn’t want to think about.

“You’re here!” Mama came closer, bending down to meet Addy in the eye. “What would you like to do first? See the barn and the kittens or the playroom that thinks it’s an entire toy store?”

“Maybe we can actually make it into the house first?” I said dryly. Everyone chuckled and backed into the kitchen more. I looked around and said, “I thought you said dinner was ready and waiting?”

Mama looked a bit sheepish. “Well… Once I realized you were really coming, I decided to whip up some cornbread, so we have a few more minutes.”

Outside, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky, and barely a second later, thunder boomed so loud it vibrated the entire house. Addy jumped, moving closer to me. I put my hand slowly around her shoulders. “Just a bit of a storm. Nothing bad.”

Hail hit the roof, bouncing off the porch and adding a crescendo of music to the kitchen that had dropped into silence.

Mama took it in stride, sticking out her hand to Addy and saying, “Well, looks like that gives us our answer. Let’s go check out the playroom.”

Addy looked up at me, and I said, “I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere. The playroom is upstairs.” I pointed above us. “It’s in my old bedroom from when I was your age.”

Curiosity got the better of her, and she withdrew her hand from mine to stick it in my mother’s. I resisted the urge to snatch it back. I’d already lost seven years with her, and I was selfish enough to want every moment for the next seven to be mine. I was already halfway in love with the tiny human being. And that was when the cold reality hit me with the same intensity as the lightning that filled the room. This little girl might not truly belong to me, and yet I was already making plans to keep her. If Ravyn had nearly destroyed me when she left, losing Addy might just finish off the job.

? ? ?

After dinner, Sadie and I cleaned up while Mama dragged out photo albums to show Addy—and Gia—pictures of me as a kid. It was supposed to be embarrassing, but I didn’t actually care. My childhood had been a good one. I’d gotten up to normal boyish pranks with Maddox. We’d tormented our little sisters in the typical sibling way. We’d been a family. I figured it might be good for Addy to see the love that poured from the pages. Maybe it would make her feel like she’d be safe and loved as well.

I took a dish from Sadie, dried it, and put it up on a top shelf.

“So… How are you really doing?” she asked, all mischievousness gone from her face.

I leaned against the counter, listening to Mama prattle and the nonanswers of Addy. “Feeling a bit like a tadpole put on land before I’ve grown lungs.”

“She doesn’t talk much.”

“No complete sentences.” I went on to describe the tantrum she’d thrown at the mall. “I don’t know what it’s all about, but if she saw even a portion of what happened to Ravyn…” My throat clogged up like it did every time I thought about it.

Sadie drained the water from the sink, rinsed it out, and took the towel I offered her. She leaned up against the cabinet with me, her once long, lanky body a little rounder these days after all she’d been through.

“I wish Ravyn wasn’t dead so I could kill her myself,” she said fiercely.

I didn’t want to admit how much I’d thought the same thing.

Neither of us said anything for several seconds. Then, Sadie smiled and shoved my shoulder with hers. “And Gia? You put your hands on her yet?”

“Gia is working a case. Nothing more. She’ll be gone as soon as she gets what she needs.”

“What does she need, big brother?”

I whipped the towel out of her hands, twisted it up, and smacked her on the thigh with it. “You’ve got a one-track mind, Sassypants. I can’t even stomach what that means for the guy who eventually falls for you.”

The twinkle in her eye dimmed a bit, sarcasm thick as she said, “Sass and scars and flabby skin. He’ll be so lucky.”

I wrapped my arm around her neck, rubbing my knuckles into her hair. “Damn right, he’ll be lucky.” She fought me off, and we were both smiling until I ruined it by saying, “You’re beautiful, Sadie. Inside and out. If a guy can’t see that, he isn’t worth your time—not even one night’s worth of your time.”

She grabbed the towel back and flicked it at my abs. “What? You become a dad and turn into a mush monster?”

I growled and made to grab the towel one more time, but she laughed, tossed it on the counter, and skipped out of the kitchen toward the living room.

I followed, rounding the archway and stopping as the image in front of me filled me with warmth. Addy was tucked between Gia and my mother with her jaguar pressed against her chest. Dad was sitting on a chair opposite with the television on low, but he was watching the women rather than the screen. Mama was flipping through an album. Addy kept reaching out to touch the page as Mama told her stories about my siblings and me.

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