Page 14 of A Secret Promise

He could almost hear his daughter's heart break at having to say this, and his own heart broke alongside hers.

This is my fault, God.

His own lack of faith, he might have been stubborn and proud enough to ignore for the rest of his life. But when it was his own daughter's soul on the line?

Help me.

Hearing Riley admit to not knowing God changed everything, and it left Rule devastated by his own guilt and pain.

I'm lost, Father.

He didn't know if the words would qualify as a prayer, but he didn't know how to say it any better.

All he knew was that he was at a loss.

I don't know what to do.

But when his gaze collided with his daughter's, it was as if something had taken over him at that moment, and Rule heard himself say, "Not yet."

Riley looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"You were wrong when you said we weren't close to God. Because the truth is...we'renot yetclose to God. But we can be. Wewillbe—-"

His daughter reared back from him, demanding, "Who are you and what did you do to my dad?"

"I could ask the same of you," Rule drawled, and the snappy exchange had both of them grinning.

The rest of the morning went by quickly, and Rule couldn't remember the two of them feeling this peaceful. And thischange, he knew, wasn't just because of Vixen. She was a part of it, yes, but for this inexplicable and sudden change to happen...

Miracle after miracle, huh?

Rule wanted desperately to believe that this was how it would always be, once he decided to believe.

But how could he...when that same morning, he received a text, and it was Beatriz telling him she was alreadyen routeto the island.

Four

RILEY COULD BARELYcontain her excitement as she jumped off her bike. As soon as classes had ended, she had cycled here as fast as she could, and this had Riley barely catching her breath as she burst inside the cafe.

All eyes were on her in that instant, but all Riley saw was the woman working behind the counter.

"Hey there," Vixen greeted her with a smile.

It was all she needed to hear, and her heart was immediately free of all worries.

They were okay,Riley thought in relief,and if luck was on their side, things could get even better because...

"Are you and Dad going to start dating soon?"

A hush of silence swept over the entire cafe, and it was only at that moment Riley realized how everyone had been looking at her the entire time.

"Oops?"

Laughter and the merriest kind of chaos ensued, with Juno and the locals ribbing Vixen mercilessly about Riley's dad, whom most people referred to as Lavender Cove's "Most Eligible Bachelor."

Huh.

Riley had never thought of her dad as "eligible". And she certainly hadn't once thought him "attractive". It was hard to think along those lines when she had grown up hearing Beatriz sobbing and screaming at him the entire time while her dad simply listened in stoic silence.

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