Page 4 of No Broken Promises

I press my foot on the gas as every single fuck I have left goes flying out the window. My son, the tiny reincarnation of his father, has never cried before until now. From the very first day I brought him home, he’s never cried. The sound drives a dagger through whatever remains of my heart.

“We’re almost there, Nox.” I speak a little louder, trying to get over the pressure growing in my chest and throat. “Maybe they can do something for her.” I choke on the rest of my words. Tears pool in my eyes and make it hard to see, let alone breathe.

I’m lying. One thing I swore that I’d never do to my son. But I don’t have any fucking clue what to do except lie. Lie and speed through Birch in the middle of the night, determined to get to the emergency vet as quickly as I can. I have to get there, even if my son’s best friend is already dead.

I should have known that if something can go wrong, it will. Especially when the loud whoop sounds from behind me. Wiping my eyes, I glance into the rearview mirror where I see flashing blue and red lights behind me, shining in the darkness.

“Fuck,” I mutter. Still, I pull over to the side of the road and put both hands on the wheel after I roll down the window, impatiently waiting for the officer to get out of his car.

The seconds tick by, and the sound of Nox crying in the back seat grows louder.

“Mom,” he cries out suddenly. “You need to hurry. I don’t think she’s going to last.” He whimpers, and I can’t stop myself from turning around to face him right as a light shines in the vehicle. I make sure to keep my hands on the wheel, though. With an uncle in law enforcement, I know better than to do anything that would constitute a threat to a cop.

“Please, baby. Just give me a second.”

“Ma’am.” That fucking voice. Of course, it would have to be Remy Townsend who pulls me over. But I won’t give him the satisfaction of me saying his name.

Not after everything that’s happened between us.

“I’m so sorry, Officer.” I try hard to stop the tears, but I can’t. Not only am I losing my dog, but Remy is watching it happen and I can’t let him see me cry. “Someone hit my son’s dog, and I’m trying to get him to the emergency vet.” My lower lip trembles, breaking the confidence that I had only a moment before.

Thankfully, Remy doesn’t seem to notice that it’s me. Or that I have my heart in my tear-filled eyes. He clicks off his light. I see him turn back to his cruiser before dropping the tenor in his voice and putting his hand on the roof of my car.

“Ma’am. I’m going to follow you to the vet. You’re headed to Brewer, right?” His voice still cuts to my core, even twenty years after we first met. Only now, instead of trust and love, he fills me with anger and hate.

“O-okay.” Keep it short, Parker. He doesn’t know it’s you.

I squeeze the steering wheel and force myself to take a deep breath.

It’ll be okay.

Nox’s whimper from the back seat calls out my internal ramblings as a lie, but I have to do something to calm my already frazzled nerves.

“Good.” He keeps talking like he isn’t the reason I’m so uncomfortable. “Go ahead and pull ahead. Don’t be alarmed. Once you get started, I’ll pull out and pass you with my lights flashing. Then all you have to do is me just follow at a safe distance.” He’s gone in the next instant, and I can’t even ask why he changed his mind from following us to leading us to the vet.

Whatever the case is, I’ll take it. With a cop leading the way, I won’t have to slow down.

“Hold on, Nox. The officer is gonna lead the way.”

Nox sniffles, and the unmistakable sound of him wiping his nose on his sleeve fills the air between us. I can’t even bring myself to tell him to use the tissues that I know hang behind my seat. He’s losing his best friend; I won’t be doing or saying anything to make that harder for him.

“I’m so sorry, Nox.”

I follow Remy. Even though it’s fruitless. Even though I know there isn’t anything the vet can do. I still follow his flashing lights through Birch and up into Brewer. Even when I pull into the parking lot of the vet in the middle of the night and should have hope that they can miraculously save Boo, I can’t.

The flashing lights stop, and Remy is gone after I carry Boo into the vet a few minutes later with Nox at my side.

Boo, the massive Newfie that my husband bought me before his deployment six years ago, is dead. The only thing in my life that I had left of Danny, besides Nox. Gone. All because some idiot hit him on our private road.

“Fuck.” We’re waiting in the brightly lit lobby ten minutes later, just for confirmation.

“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Hayes,” the vet tech says, a solemn-eyed older woman named Pam. “Dr. Smith said there’s nothing she could do for Boo.”

Nox, whose shoulders have been tense as he sits next to me, breaks. He throws himself into my arms, crying.

“I’m so sorry, baby.” I rub his back, not bothering to keep my tears at bay. “I’m so sorry.”

“We can make arrangements to have Boo cremated for you, if you’d like.”

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