Page 89 of My Vows Are Sealed

“Yeah, I have to take a break from church for a little while,” I sighed. “I’m going to miss you.”

Brendan chuckled weakly as he kissed the top of my head. Then he moved our coffee mugs and sat down across from me on the coffee table.

“You two are still going to see each other. I’ll make sure of it. He’s your family, and you need your family.”

That made me smile, because he was right. It didn’t matter if I didn’t share DNA with Nathan. He was my baby brother just as much as he was Brendan’s.

“Aww,” Kate gushed. “You guys are seriously adorable together. You and Nate, I mean. And speaking of, it’s beenwaytoo long since we’ve gotten to hang out, Nate.”

“Yeah, it has,” Ashton agreed, ruffling Nathan’s hair. “What have you been up to, bud?”

“Why does everyone keep messing up my hair?” Nathan groaned, scrubbing his hand over his head.

“Because it’s too short to braid,” they quipped. “What else are we supposed to do with it?”

“I don’t know, Ash. I think he could rock cornrows,” Kate giggled. “Maybe we should give it a try and see.”

“No!” Nathan grumped.

Everyone but the kid in question started laughing…and then there was a knock on the door. I froze, and my arms immediately tightened around Nathan.

My father had figured out where I was. He’d just been waiting until after church to come here and drag me back home. Becausenothingwas more important to him than keeping his congregation under his thumb, not even me.

“It’s okay, baby,” Brendan said, squeezing my knee before standing up. “It’s just Nay and Alex. I asked them to come over.”

I sighed, and it felt like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders. I was still safe.

“Why are you scared, Darla?” Nathan asked as his brother headed to the door. “Is it because your dad’s trying to find you?”

I was sure my eyes got as big as saucers. How did he know that? I knew Brendan wouldn’t have told him.

“How did you hear about that?” I choked out, barely audible.

“He told everyone at church. He said you ran away,” he mumbled, slipping his arms around me and laying his head on my shoulder. “And I can tell you’re scared of him. I’ve known that for a long time.”

I looked at Brendan, trying to figure out what to say. As it was, I wasn’t quite sure how to tell Nathan that he couldn’t tell anyone he’d seen me here. But honestly, despite how risky it was for Nathan to be here right now, Brendan couldn’t have given me anything I would have loved more. He gave me a sad smile, which I took to mean that it was okay to tell Nathan a little bit about what was happening.

“Yeah, I am,” I admitted. “That’s why I left, and it’s why I can’t go back to church for a while. Brendan told you that it’s not safe to tell anyone you saw me, right?”

He nodded. “I won’t. I promise.”

I cracked half a smile. I hated that I was asking him to keep something from his parents. It sounded awful when I really thought about it. But it was for the greater good.

“Who’s hungry?” Alex asked as he walked in the door carrying three pizzas.

“Me! All I’ve had all day is cookies and coffee,” Kate said, grabbing her purse and pulling out her glucose meter. “My blood sugar’s probably through the roof.”

I still remembered how freaked out we all were when Kate passed out in the middle of the cafeteria one day in our sophomore year. She’d been rushed to the hospital, and after running some tests, the doctors had diagnosed her with juvenile diabetes and said that her blood sugar was dangerously high. There was some official name for what was going on with her, but I couldn’t remember it. They’d started her on insulin shots, but that only lasted a few months before her doctor decided that she needed to be on a pump instead. For a little while, she was super self-conscious about the little bit of weight she was putting on, but we’d all told her that we’d rather see her gaining some weight and know that it was because she was getting the medicine she needed than watch her pass out again.

“Oh, my God,” she gasped.

“How bad is it?” I asked.

“Almost four hundred,” she mumbled.

“Kate,” Ashton scolded her. They were more obsessed with making sure her blood sugar was at normal levels than she was.

“Um, we were kind of preoccupied this morning. Giving myself a bolus wasn’t really the first thing on my mind.”

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