Page 32 of Broken Promises

“Of course.” I smiled as I followed him to the base of the giant oak tree we always sat under during our study sessions. When my gaze landed on his face, my stomach turned into knots. Something was wrong.Verywrong.

“Luke? Is everything okay?” I asked. “You’re so pale—did something happen?” I reached for his hand, but he pulled back. Dread washed over me right away, panic rising right to my throat. The last time he looked like this was when he had to put down his dog. His family no longer had a dog, so….

“I don’t know how to do this,” Luke began, looking away from me.

“Just say it,” I quickly told him. “Did something happen? Did someone?—”

“No, no, it’s nothing like that,” he assured me. When his eyes returned to mine, they were filled with tears. “Luce, I think we should break up.”

A small, involuntary laugh escaped my lips. The reaction didn’t make sense, but it was the one my body had given me—mostly because I didn’t believe it was real. It had to be a prank he was playing on me. There was no way he just said we should break up.

“Stop. It’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking. I think it may be for the best.”

My heart dropped at his words. There was no way this was happening—we were just about to begin a new chapter of our lives together. We had our entire life planned out. Everyone knew it. And everyone admired how mature and secure we were together.

“You…seriously want to break up?” I repeated, hoping that was some sick joke. My brain couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. It made zero sense. He loved me, I knew he did.

“We’re about to go to college. We’re about to leave this town. I just…I think we should experience everything the world has to offer. We’ve been together for so long, and I don’t want either of us to miss out?—”

“What?” I asked again because this couldn’t be happening. My body hit me with many different physiological reactions, but none were positive. The most prominent was ringing in my ears that I could barely handle.

“I’ve just given it a lot of thought lately. And I’m not sure about our plan anymore…”

My eyes welled up, and I felt sick. In fact, I was pretty sure I was about to throw up at any point now. Maybe all over him. I reared back like I’d been hit. My whole body shook, desperate to get away from him.

“I’m sorry, Lu?—”

“Don’t you dare!” I yelled at him. I didn’t want to hear any excuses after he strung me along. A few people looked at us, but it was the last thing I cared about. “And take your fucking promise ring.” I struggled to get it off my finger, almostdislocating my finger in the process. As I hurled the ring in his direction, it hit him right in the face.

Good, he deserved it.

More tears flooded my eyes as I turned on my heels and ran, desperate never to see him again.

That was the last time I saw him—before returning this year. After that, my life took a very different turn. I dropped out of the college that I was going to attend across the river from Luke’s college. Instead, I got accepted to a community college in California. My mom wasn’t too happy about me being so far away from home, but she knew I needed to get away from Port-Cartier if I wanted to keep any last shreds of my sanity. She helped me pack up my car and drive to California, and I never looked back.

Until now.

Luke claimed he was different now, and I wanted to believe him. But ten years ago, he broke my heart out of the blue. How could I be sure it wouldn’t happen again?

lucy

. . .

My mom’sblessing made implementing changes in the flower shop much easier. It was going quicker, too. Or so it felt, at least. I barely noticed it was night since I spent most of the day fiddling with the new POS system I had ordered for her. I wanted to put everything in place as quickly as possible to ensure she didn’t change her mind.

When the door opened, I realized I was only halfway through the manual. The other shops had long closed, leaving our shop the only place with lights on in the tiny street where my mom’s flower shop was located.

Over the past few days, Luke had been assisting me at the flower shop. I greatly appreciated his help, but I insisted he took care of his business today, since he had a customer coming over. He left sometime during midday to get a few things done at his shop and tend to the customer who had stopped by. I didn’t expect him to be back today.

Yet, there he was—right in the middle of the flower shop, with a slight smile on his lips.

If one were to ask him, he would’ve gladly ditchedallof his work to be by my side. As much as I appreciated it, I couldn’t askhim to abandon his job for the sake of my mother’s. He tried to convince me it would be fine, but work piled up quickly, and I didn’t want him to regret it later.

“What brings you here?” I asked before a smile spread over my face.

“You didn’t answer your phone, so I thought I would check here first to see if you’re still alive.”

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