Page 7 of No Broken Promises

“I gave her an escort to the emergency vet,” I explain. “Saw him for myself in the back seat. Nox was with her.”

“Fuck.” He groans. “Danny got her Boo after the wedding.”

I know that. Linc knows that I know. Hell, the three of us were inseparable our entire lives. To be honest, there isn't much about Parker and Danny's life together that I don't know.

“I'm sorry,” I tell him. “I'm gonna follow her home. You might want to stop by tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” He sighs deeply. “This is gonna crush everyone.”

Linc's family loves Boo. They love Parker and Nox too. I know for a fact that losing this piece of Danny is gonna hurt every single Hayes family member in Birch County. I’m not even a Hayes, and my heart aches.

“Thank you, Remy.” Linc sighs again, the sound coming more from his soul than anything else I’ve heard from him recently. “It never gets easier, does it?”

“He was your twin.” I clench my fist. “And we were both there when he died. I don't think it'll ever get easier.”

There is silence on the other end of the line, followed by a mirthless laugh. “Fuck, man. We gotta stop these late-night heart-to-hearts.”

Trying to break the tension, I do the only thing I can. I give him shit. “I mean, sure thing, as soon as you pull your head out of your ass and tell Kennedy how you feel.”

Linc bristles on the other end of the call. I can practically see it, and I hear him shift in his seat. “Shut the fuck up, Remy. You know I can't.”

“I know she's my little sister,” I point out. “And I know that she's got a date to Casper and Cole's wedding in a few months. One that isn't you.” The words cut deep, like I knew they would. Anyone else might think that I am an asshole, but I know Linc. He needs me to get him out of his head. He needs me to help him forget, if even for a moment, that his twin is dead and that we are all left to pick up the pieces. Even if it is five years later. “You’d be crazy to let her go. We already lost Cassie this year, man. I don’t want to lose any more.” The pain of my sister’s death hits again, always there like a weight on my fucking chest.

“I don't care.”

The lie burns through the line between us, and we both hear it.

“Keep telling yourself that,” I bark. “But remember that when he pops the question and she marries a douche.”

“She deserves to be happy.” Linc responds so quickly that it is obvious he's rehearsed the line. Probably over and over, in the mirror, to convince himself not to go after the woman he loves.

“She's gonna marry a lawyer, Linc. A fucking lawyer. My dad is gonna lose his shit.” Alex Townsend, the chief of police for Birch, my father and new boss, does not like lawyers. He hates them, almost as much as he likes to joke that he hates firefighters. The difference between the two is that he doesn’t actually hate firefighters. But he hates lawyers. We all do.

“She's not going to marry a lawyer,” Linc growls.

“Her date,” I take great joy in informing him. “Is a lawyer. And they've been dating for a year, man. Pull your head out of your ass before it's too late.”

The muttering on the other end of the line is incoherent, but I know I've struck a chord. I just hope that it won't take him too long to get his act together. Kennedy, as much as I love my little sister, is a pain in the ass. And having her be in love with one of my best friends for her entire life is an even bigger pain in the ass than she is.

“I've gotta go,” he says suddenly. “I'm supposed to be picking something up for my mom before breakfast.”

“It's three in the morning.”

“Yeah, I forgot to get it before I came on shift last night. Do you think your dad'll care that I shoot over to the convenience store on shift?”

We both laugh at that. Chief Townsend doesn't give two fucks what happens or where his officers go on shift, as long as they get their shit done. Linc may be annoying as fuck, too, but he does the job and does it right.

“I'll talk to you later. Don't forget to check in on Parker,” I remind him needlessly.

If I know Linc at all, he's already sent a mass text to both his parents, his little sister, and my sisters as well, to let them know about Boo and to check in on her.

“Yeah, yeah.” He hangs up without another word, and I smile despite myself.

“Come on, Daisy,” I say while turning the cruiser toward my house. “Let's go home and get some rest.”

Her bark, a quick and happy one, tells me that she is just fine with our plans. When we get to the house, she sits dutifully at her door, waiting to be let out until I pull into the garage.

“You're the best woman I know.” She practically preens at me when I open her door. Then she proceeds to bolt out her dog door in the side of the garage and take off into the backyard to do her business.

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