Page 49 of Keeping Promises

The sound of something shattering followed by a long string of curse words startles me awake. Mom always says that even though Dad and Ben have “potty mouths,” it’s ungentlemanly like to use them.

The room is pitch-black, so I have to wait for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. I wipe the sleep from my eyes and throw back the covers.

Mom and Dad left for their fundraiser hours ago and left me with Mrs. Brady. As much as I missed them, it wasn’t so bad because she always let me sneak an extra cookie after dinner when she stayed.

When Mom kissed me goodbye, she said they wouldn’t be back till late tomorrow; maybe they decided not to go. I slowly open my bedroom door to listen. When a male voice yells, “Leave it,” I go to investigate the commotion.

I grab my baseball bat from where it rests against my desk, careful not to make much noise. I’m glad I didn’t listen to Mom earlier this week when she asked me to clean up my baseball gear; otherwise, I wouldn’t have something to protect myself with. I’m the man of the house when my parents are gone since my big brother, Ben, is away at college. I hold my breath as I tiptoe down the hallway.

I peek around the corner to find a female that is definitelynotMrs. Brady crouched down on the floor, sweeping broken pieces of what looks to be one of Mom’s bright-colored coffee mugs. The floor creaks beneath my feet, and her head pops up. Familiar brown eyes meet mine, and she sucks in a loud breath as she sees me in a batting stance with my bat ready to strike.

“Oh, Asher, you scared me.” Kandace, my brother’s girlfriend, clutches her chest. What is she doing here? Is Ben with her? “I’m sorry if we woke you.” She gives me a gentle smile as she picks up the dustpan and walks it to the trash can to empty.

I lower the bat by my side when I realize there is no threat and enter the kitchen. I glance to my right to find Ben sitting at the table, his head in his hands and shoulders slumped over. How did I not recognize that it was his voice that I heard? I guess I wasn’t fully awake until the adrenaline kicked in the closer I had gotten to the kitchen.

“Ben? What’s going on? What are you doing here? I thought you couldn’t come home this weekend, and that’s why Mom and Dad got Mrs. Brady to stay while they were gone.” My brother is my parents’ first choice, but he informed me that he couldn’t come back home until Thanksgiving Break with his workload at school, so I’m even more surprised to see him here in the middle of the night. “What time is it?”

I look at the time on the stove and blink multiple times when I see it’s three in the morning. Is that right? What are they doing here in the middle of the night?

Kandace steps up behind my brother and wraps her arms around his shoulders. Her long blonde hair drapes over her shoulder, covering my view of them both as she whispers something to him.

I take a few steps closer.

Kandace backs away just enough to reveal Ben’s face, but still close enough to have her arms wrapped around him. He reaches for her forearms and holds her as if he needs her to ground him.

When my brother’s eyes meet mine, his brown eyes are swollen, glazed over, and red-rimmed. Has he been crying? Wiping a stray tear from his cheek, he motions for me to join him at the table. He flashes a soft smile, so I know not to be scared seeing him like this, but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. His half-smile offers no sense of comfort when the room is tense, so I hesitantly move closer.

Ben clears his throat to try to cover up the sniffling. “Asher, I have something I need to tell you. Why don’t you sit down?” He offers me the chair next to him.

I shake my head. “What is it?”

He sighs heavily and looks up at Kandace. She nods and squeezes his arms before walking away.

“Asher, there was an accident…”

I blink, and suddenly I’m no longer ten years old; it’s present day. When I look down, the baseball bat I gripped tightly as my brother told me that our parents had passed away is now a soft pink blanket. What the fuck is happening?

“Asher, did you hear what I just said?” my brother’s voice asks, full of trepidation.

I look up to no longer see Ben and his now ex, Kandace, in the kitchen of my parents’ house, but Ben is holding a trembling Lexi in his arms, standing in Hadley’s apartment, but there’s no Hadley in sight.

I blink at him, trying to recall what he just said.

“I’m so sorry, Asher. They’re gone.”

Lexi’s wails grow louder, and his arms tighten around her as her legs start to give out.

“What? Who’s gone?” I shout, demanding answers. Where is Hadley?

I run out of the kitchen to find Cal consoling a hysterical Brynn on the couch. “Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?” I run my hands through my hair. “Where’s Hadley?”

I race to her bedroom to find the bedsheets crumpled as if we had just woken up but come up empty. She’s not in the bathroom either.Baby, where are you?When I barrel into the room we were going to set up as the nursery, it’s no longer bare as it was yesterday. There is baby furniture lining the room—a crib, dresser, and photos lining the wall.

When did this happen? My head spins in confusion, and I stumble into the wall as I make my way back to the group for answers.

“Where is she? Is she at the salon? Why is everyone so upset?” I don’t even recognize the voice shouting, but I know it’s my own because I can feel the vibrations of my anger in my bones.

Lexi rushes into the room with Ben right behind her as she joins Brynn on the couch. As they hold each other, tears fall from their faces. Why is no one answering my question? When did it become so stifling in here? I feel like I can’t breathe. “Someone better answer me, damnit,” I say through gritted teeth.

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