Page 112 of The Moment Promised

“There was never a good time.” She shakes her head, and I realize she’s holding a piece of paper.

I stand frozen. Everything about her freaked out demeanor sends me into panic.

She gives me a weak smile and slowly hands me the paper.

I stare at her, trying to gather information about the situation before looking at it. Her expression tells me nothing, so I let my eyes fall to what she handed to me.

It’s not just a piece of paper, it’s a picture. A familiar one.

Charlie’s smile eases my anxiety, but the red headed girl wrapped up in his arms makes my heart jolt in an unfamiliar way.

“I don’t get it,” I admit. This is the picture I showed my mom at Pete’s.

I recall that day, and the way my mind reeled for an explanation for why she was so quiet after that. It was because the picture meant something to my mother.

Maybe because she had the colored version, when mine was black and white.

But why?

My mother gives me a look, like I’m supposed to know.

I don’t know what she’s trying to tell me, so I look to Finn for answers. He somehow ended up right next to me, peering at the image in my hand.

“Who is that girl?” He directs the question at my mom.

“Evia Monroe.”

Monroe? “Isn’t Monroe your maiden name?” I question.

“It is,” my mom says, like she’s admitting a truth that’s supposed to upset me.

I look down at Evia Monroe, long auburn hair with almond eyes, fair skin, and a bright smile.

“My aunt,” I breathe, I never realized I had an aunt before. “She’s beautiful.” I smile at my mother, but she just frowns.

“She looks like you,” Finn says, nudging my shoulder.

“What happened to her?” I ask, gathering that something did in fact happen to her by my mother’s sad expression.

She slowly takes the picture out of my hand and peers down at it, with tears welling in her eyes.

“She met a great man,” she begins, bringing her fingers to the inner corner of her eyes to keep the tears from leaking down her face. “Charlie. They were inseparable,” she whispers, like she’s thinking out loud rather than speaking to me. “He treated her so…right.”

I can’t ignore the way my mom says the last sentence with so much gratitude, like her sister deserved every bit of goodness Charlie gave to her.

“They were young and in love, around your age. Seeing the way you two are together reminds me a lot of them.” She looks between Finn and me. “When Evia missed her period, I bought her a pregnancy test from the drug store. We sat for three minutes, waiting for lines to appear, and when they did, she cried from pure happiness, and I joined her.”

My stomach sinks.

I reach out for my mom’s hand, trying to comfort her before she gets to the end of this story. I can see it in her eyes that telling it is close to reliving it.

“Charlie and Evia were going to make great parents, despite how young they were.” She sniffles. “I told her that. But the thing about Evia, is she never wanted to be a burden to anyone.” She shrugged. “They were so wrapped up in each other that they never had the chance to discuss children. She didn’t want to put Charlie in the position where he felt obligated to step into a role he didn’t want to be in.” She clears her throat. “She decided to casually bring up the idea of having kids together. He made a joke about how he was too young to be a dad, and that was all it took.”

I shake my head. Charlie loves being a dad, I can tell by the way he is with Chloe.

“I tried to talk her out of it, but she broke up with Charlie without explanation. She always put others above herself, and she was stubborn as a mule.” My mother sighs. “She wanted to raise the baby on her own, without ever telling Charlie about their child. She didn’t want to burden him with a responsibility he wasn’t ready for.”

For some reason I’m grateful Evia never told Charlie. I don’t know where this is going, but I can sense if he knew this story, it would haunt him for the rest of his life.

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