Page 22 of Broken Promises

“I’m not in town right now, and I’m dealing with a lot, so that’s not going to happen. I’ll check with Sailor to if she can help out and come pick up my things in a few days.”

“I can’t give you much time. Sarah moved in, and she wants your stuff out of here…so if you could make it happen sooner than later, I’d really appreciate it, Luce.” It took every ounce of self-control I had not to send him to hell. Judging by Lucy’s face, she felt the same way. She scrubbed at her face.

“Un-fucking-believable,” she swore at him. I smiled. It wasn’t like her to swear, but I was glad it was directed at this douche. “Fine, I’ll make sure Sailor comes to pack all of my?—”

“You won’t need to pack anything. We already did it for you.”

“Are you kidding me? We’ve been broken up less than two weeks, and you’ve already packed up my stuff and moved in with your mistress? You know what, Jason? You can go to hell!” She hung up with a puff.

“What a dick,” she swore, and the initial swear was followed by a flood of more…interesting choices of words. Each suited her ex-boyfriend perfectly fine, from what I had heard. My hands were white with how tight I was gripping the steering wheel.

“I know it’s not my place to ask, but I have to do it, Luce…” I said. “Did he always treat you like that? Because I’m about ready to hop on a plane to Seattle and give him a piece of my mind.” And my fist right into his face. I was not a violent guy by any means, but someone talking to Lucy like that sent me into another kind of rage.

“He wasn’t always like that. I guess it was about the time he started cheating when our relationship started to get rocky…and things took a turn for the worse. I thought it was just a bump on the road—something we could overcome. I thought it may be the stress about work…” With the way her voice broke, I momentarily gazed over at her. Her eyes welled up, and the sight of that alone made me want to beat the hell out of that guy.

“Hey, don’t cry.” I reached for her hand, giving her a small squeeze. She didn’t pull back. “That guy doesn’t deserve you.”

Lucy sniffled. “That’s not why I’m crying. I’m embarrassed about it all. How couldn’t I have seen it coming?”

“Because you always see the best in people,” I pointed out. “He’s the asshole here. If he couldn’t recognize what a great thing he had, that’s on him. I regret every day that hasn’t been spent with you.”

“Luke,” she said, squeezing my hand. “I can’t do this right now.”

“I know. I just…I want you to know it. So, you don’t question yourself. Because trust me, this has nothing to do with you and everything to do with him. It’s not your fault he cheated, and you didn’t see it coming because you trusted him.”

She sniffled. My gaze switched between the road ahead of us and her, but the tears were slowly disappearing, and I was pleased to see it.

“Still very good at comforting people,” Lucy murmured, “if you weren’t working at your dad’s company, you should’ve been a therapist.”

I laughed at her words. My hand remained locked around hers. “Well…I own the company now. Dad sold it to me last year when he decided to retire and spend more time with Mom. I think it was the right move, but it’s a lot of work between the company and renovating my home…”

“Wow, congratulations. Luke, that’s amazing. I’m glad everything worked out for you…”

Not everything,I wanted to say, but I hoped that was about to change soon.

lucy

. . .

When we arrivedat the hospital, Ed was already in the lobby, and the state of his clothes suggested that he likely stayed the entire night. Something was going on between him and my mom—it was the only logical explanation for why he’d stay here overnight.

“Did you sleep here?” I asked him. Behind me, Luke handed over the coffee he had gotten for himself to Ed. He looked like he needed it more than us, and I more than appreciated the gesture.

“Yeah, I wanted to make sure Eve was okay throughout the night,” Ed answered, taking the coffee with a grateful look. I fought the burn behind my eyes. I had felt so guilty over leaving Mom here alone, but it turned out she was in good company.

“Mom’s lucky to have you.” I hugged Ed, not letting him go for a few seconds. “Thank you for everything you do for her.”

“You’ve got nothing to thank me for. She deserves the world,” he said as he released me, and we headed into her room. This time, she was awake.Thank God.She still looked a little weak and shaken up, but to see her with her eyes open was the biggest relief.

“Mom!” I exclaimed, wrapping her in a hug. I couldn’t help it. Tears began to fall. I had never been scared like this before.

“Oh, sweetie, don’t cry. I’m fine.”

“You’re fine?” I hiccupped. “Look at you! Look at your leg! And they said you may even have a concussion!”

“I’ll be up and going in no time,” she assured me, but I highly doubted that was the case. I was there for the fall. It looked serious, and I figured it would take her a while to recover.

“Have you talked with the doctor? Do you know when you’ll be getting out of here?”

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