Page 25 of Broken Promise

“I’m alive,” she says softly. “Jacob and Mr.Wilson are on the way.”

I look at the woman pinned beneath me as thesirens echo through the air. I knew it wouldn’t take long for thecops to show up. They probably got called by the neighbors.

Everything is a blur after that. The lights,the police and the paramedics, Shane getting loaded into theambulance and taken to hospital, and finally the arrival ofCharlotte’s brother and father.

Mr. Wilson speaks to the officers in hushedtones as they load his daughter into a separate ambulance. Oncethey leave, he approaches us with Jacob keeping his distance.

“Thank you for calling, Karmen,” he sayswith a sad smile. “I’m sorry you have been dragged into thismess.”

“I don’t know what happened,” I say, stilltrying to make sense of everything.

“Charlotte has a delusional disorder.Recently, she has decided to go off her meds,” Jacob says. “Weweren’t aware of it until this morning.”

Karmen gasps beside me. “What about thebaby?” she asks.

“That’s why she stopped,” Mr. Wilson says.“She said the pills were going to hurt the baby.”

“What happens now?” I ask. I feel bad forher, but I need to know my loved ones will be safe.

“She’ll go back to the facility inCalifornia,” Jacob replies sadly. “If they can’t balance hercondition while she is pregnant, they’ll keep her there until aftershe gives birth.”

“She wouldn’t tell us who the father is,”Mr. Wilson cuts in. “Do you know?”

“My brother Shane,” I say.

“Then I’ll keep you updated on her conditionand that of the baby,” he says before walking away and getting intothe car.

“I’m sorry,” Jacob says softly beforejoining his father.

For the first time I feel something otherthan dislike toward the man. It seems there are a lot of thingsthat happen behind closed doors, and we never know a person’s truesituation or motivations until they let us in.

Karmen sits on the bottom step and releasesa sigh. “That was a lot.”

“Are you okay?” I ask, joining her.

A sob breaks free, and she shakes her head.I hug her tightly and let her cry until she is done.

“Can we go to bed?” she asks softly. “I justwant to sleep.”

“We can do whatever you want, babe.”

Epilogue

Six Months Later

Wesley Blake

It’s been six months of relative normalcy inour lives. Karmen and I have officially moved into my childhoodhome and have started to make it our own. The bar is alsobooming.

Karmen has taken it upon herself to hirebetter staff and retrain the staff I had. She has also gotten us upon social media and booked different musicians to play on weekendsinstead of only having local bands perform. Our social media isbooming, and people are driving over from other towns to visit ourestablishment.

Lenor got a business loan and has bought theB&B down the road so anyone traveling from far sleeps there andhelps her business grow as well.

There are other things that aren’t going asgreat. Like Shane. He drives down to California every secondweekend to see Charlotte but hasn’t been able to yet. She won’t seeanyone, not even her own family. Hopefully that will change overtime but for now there isn’t anything we can do about it. He hascome to an agreement with her father, though. If the baby is his,all parental rights will be signed over to him with the stipulationthat they are allowed to see the child and get to know him or her.If it comes down to that, it will probably be for the best. Myheart hurts for all of them, but again, there isn’t anything I cando about it.

“What are you thinking about?” Karmen asksas she walks out onto the back deck and hands me a beer.

“Life, and how much it has changed.”

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