Page 165 of Keep This Promise
The fire flashes in my aunt’s eyes. “She met her? She met your friends first?”
Sophie steps in. “I was looking for Holden when I arrived in town, and he happened to be with them.”
That seems to mollify her. “Oh. Well, then you know Brielle is very sweet, and she could probably help you find something.”
“Don’t push, Mama,” I warn. “If Sophie is staying in town and wants a job, then she’ll reach out.”
I have no idea what she’s going to do. She may leave in the middle of the night, so I want to temper any expectations of her living here long term.
“Of course, I’m just offering.”
“I appreciate it,” Sophie says. “Eden would enjoy getting to play with Pickles, I’m sure.”
Pickles looks over at me, his eyes narrowing. Yeah, joy is all he and the demon that inhabits him brings.
“All right, I need to get back to the house and get some work done,” I say, ready to wrap this up before Pickles decides to attack me.
Mama James gets to her feet and helps herd us all to the door. “I expect to see you very soon, Holden. My leg hasn’t been feeling too good lately. When you looked at it last, things improved, but only when you come by.”
Over the last year, I’ve watched the vibrant woman start to deteriorate. About ten months ago, she fell and broke her leg. Thankfully, it happened when she was at one of her knitting meetings, and they were able to get her help immediately, but I worried about what would have happened had she been hurt while home alone. How long would it have been before someone noticed? I had a medical bracelet made for her as well as a monitoring system that she could use to get help. When I came back a few months ago, I noticed she wasn’t going to the doctor, the limp was bad, and she had forgotten to take her heart medication for almost a week.
She’s the only family I have left.
“Have you gone to physical therapy?” I ask.
“Yes, every week.”
“Is it helping?”
She shrugs. “I like going. The girls there are wonderful. I just think it’s better after you visit.”
I smile. “I miss you too.”
“Then come by, and be sure you bring Eden and Sophie as well. I have a feeling this leg will be healed in no time.”
“You are a master at guilt,” I tell her and then kiss her cheek.
She leans down a little. “It was very nice meeting you, Eden.”
Eden twists side to side. “I like Pickles.”
“Anytime you want to visit him, you can come.”
“Tomorrow?” Eden asks, looking up at Sophie.
Sophie laughs. “We’ll see.” She turns to Mama James. “It was lovely spending time with you. Thank you for being so kind, despite what you may have thought at first.”
Mama James lifts her hand to Sophie’s cheek. “I thought you were wonderful, that’s all. Please come by, and I meant what I said about if you need help.”
Sophie meets my eyes. “I think we’ll be here for a while, so I may need that help.”
God, I hope so because I don’t want them to leave.
ChapterNine
SOPHIE
“Let loose, Sophie. You’re so uptight! You’re finally done with Edward . . . you need to live a little,” my flat mate, Joanne, says as she hands me a drink.
