Page 15 of Keep This Promise
Her lips part, and I wonder if I shouldn’t have said anything, but the first two postcards said a patient was coming, and I have to assume that, since her husband sent her to me, she is that patient. Does she not know something is wrong?
Sophie sits back on her legs, working to stop the tears. “I’m not sick. I haven’t had so much as a cold since Eden was born.”
Maybe he meant care in another way. Still, I’ve spent months thinking I was getting someone sick who needed my medical help.
“So, neither you nor Eden are sick?”
“Why would you think I was?”
I explain to her the series of gifts and letters I got, and she asks a few questions about details, which I do my best to answer.
“You believe Theo was sending you messages to prepare you?” she asks.
“I do. I think the warnings were to let me know that, when you finally got to me, I would take care of you, and I will do that, Sophie. If I knew about Eden . . .” I run my fingers through my hair. “I would’ve been there.”
She looks away for a second. “I didn’t know where to start to find you. I didn’t even know your full name, and it was Vegas.” Then she lets out a laugh. Not one that makes me think she’s gone insane, but one that’s more as though she can’t believe it. “I think you’re right about the warnings. I’m just fucking livid. For months he knew about you! He knew that we were in trouble, and we would need to leave and come here. He lied to me for God only knows how long.” Sophie turns to face me. “Theo never told me anything about what kind of trouble he was in. He waited until he was on his death bed to inform me that Eden and I were in danger and needed to leave immediately. Then it was this rush to get out of London. We went through a weird switching of planes. We flew into Atlanta, then I thought we were going straight to Las Vegas, but I was diverted to a train to Charlotte andthena flight to Las Vegas. From there, I went to Idaho before coming here. It’s been four days of following misleading directions and being lost. I’m not sick. I’m exhausted, and I don’t know where we go next.”
She’s not going anywhere. No way am I going to allow her to run around America if she is in danger. The best place for her is here. I know that sounds crazy since we met one time, fucked, and now have a kid, but I have a kid.
I have a daughter.
If she is really in danger, I am not going to just let her run off.
“You have no reason to trust me, but I promise I am not going to let anyone hurt you or Eden. I think the plan was for you to get to me, but just . . . I don’t know, without being tracked. You’re here now, and I would like to help you both.”
Not just because Sophie is clearly in trouble or Eden is my daughter, but because this girl needs someone. I’ve been that person before. When my sister died when I was fifteen, and my parents lost their fucking minds, I was the one who suffered the most. I was lost, alone, terrified, and had to lie about how things were. It was Mama James who came to me, took me out of that house, and made sure I was safe after they failed me in every way.
Safety shouldn’t be a commodity in life, it should be a given, but too often it’s not.
I would never be okay with letting this situation go unresolved.
“Eden doesn’t know that Theo is not her father,” she whispers.
“I understand.”
Her blue eyes fill with tears. “I didn’t want to lie, but . . .”
I stop her there, lifting my hand. “You did what you had to do. I’m not judging you or asking you to upheave her world more than it already has been, but I can give you a place to stay, and . . . well, I can be your friend if you’ll let me.”
The tears finally fall, but she nods her agreement.
* * *
“What the hell are you going to do?” Spencer asks once he and Emmett can finally get me alone.
“What do you think I’m going to do? That’s my kid and the mother of my child.”
Emmett clears his throat, glancing away.
“What?” I ask, already knowing what he’s thinking.
“I’m not saying a word.”
“You don’t have to speak it to know you’re actually saying something.”
We know each other much better than that. He’s thinking what they’re both thinking and were probably talking about when I was in the back with Sophie and Eden.
Spencer exhales loudly. “Just that it would be a good idea to have a paternity test done, which”—he holds up a hand to stop what I’m about to say—“I am sure you already have thought about.”
