Page 16 of Keep This Promise
“Of course I have.”
I really haven’t. I don’t know why I didn’t since I’m a damn doctor, but I just know. That’s my daughter.
“Good,” Emmett replies. “I don’t want to see you get hosed.”
“You think she’s lying?”
Spencer watches her as she sits in the other room eating a sandwich from the diner. “I don’t. I think she’s here and has no idea what’s going on, but you don’t know her. You have no idea if she’s a murderer or her husband really did send her here to find her daughter’s father.”
“She’s in trouble. Or, at least, she thinks she’s in trouble,” I tell them. There’s no point in keeping any of this from them. Not just because Emmett is law enforcement and both of them are trained to kill someone in seconds, but because they know me and will figure it out. I’d rather get it in the open now.
“What kind of trouble?”
“I’m not sure, and she doesn’t seem to either. All I know is that she said her husband sent them here before he died to protect them. I don’t know, maybe he just wanted to make sure Eden knew her father.”
“So, you’re going to take her in?”
I look at him, wondering who the fuck he is. “Of course I am. What the hell would you do?”
“Take her in,” he answers without pause. “I didn’t think you’d do anything different even if she weren’t your kid, which you don’t know for sure.” Again, he feels the need to reiterate this.
“I’m not going to leave her on the street to freeze to death.”
Emmett clears his throat. “Just a reminder here, she wouldn’t be on a street. Blakely has safe houses for the runaways. I know for a fact she’d offer one to Sophie and Eden.”
A part of me wonders if that’s not the best idea, but then the other part of me doesn’t want that. I have missed every minute of that little girl’s life, and I really don’t want to miss more. It’s crazy since I have had zero desire for a family. In fact, I did everything I could to fuck up any chances of that, but now it’s here, in my face, and I don’t want to push her away.
Plus, if she is in danger, I don’t want her alone.
“Sophie and I have a lot of things we need to work out, and maybe spending time together is what we need, but I will keep that in the back of my mind.”
A laugh falls from Spencer’s mouth. “You’re a freaking idiot.”
“So are you.”
He shrugs. “Maybe, but you and I know that forcing a woman to spend time with you isn’t going to win her over.”
“She just lost her husband, and I am not trying to win her over. I’m trying to build some kind of a friendship so I can help her.” And all of that is true. Sure, Sophie is stunning, and I’m attracted to her, but I’m not stupid. There is no way in hell I am walking into the mess she’s in.
“Sure you’re not. I saw the way you were staring at her.”
Fucking Spencer. “Like the woman who raised my child that I didn’t know existed?”
“Yeah, we’ll call it that.”
Before I can reply, Sophie walks in and gives me a weary smile. “Blakely offered us a place to stay, so if you’d rather, we can do that. I could maybe find a hotel, if there’s one close?”
The fucking hell that’s going to happen. “No, you’ll stay with me. You don’t know the area, the hotel is a shithole, and I would prefer you and Eden be safe with me,” I reply, keeping my voice even.
She nods. “I’d prefer that. I’m bloody tired and probably wouldn’t sleep if we were in a strange place alone.”
This woman has been through hell, and I know only a fraction of what’s happened. I want the opportunity to learn as much as I can from her. If we know who we’re dealing with, it’ll make matters easier.
“Good, let’s head there and get you settled.”
My house isn’t anything to write home about, but it has three bedrooms and is on the outskirts of town where it’s quiet and no one will bother us.
I help them into the car, borrowing a car seat from Run to Me. Blakely has a lot of supplies for anyone who shows up in need of sanctuary. The ride takes no more than fifteen minutes, and we are both silent through it. Sophie’s head is turned toward the window, and I have no idea if she’s sleeping, but I don’t want to disturb her.
