Page 197 of Keep This Promise
“I’m glad you liked it.”
“I liked the company as well,” she says, her cheeks turning pink.
“I did too.”
I like her, and I shouldn’t. We have a shitload of baggage we need to deal with before I try for more.
But then those goddamn eyes are staring at me, making it hard to think with the correct head.
She sighs heavily. “All of this could’ve gone so differently, you know? I could’ve arrived and found out you were married with your own family. I can’t imagine how I would’ve handled that.”
“Don’t you think your husband knew that wouldn’t be the case?”
“Oh.” Sophie blinks. “Yes, I suppose he did.” She falls silent, staring at the candle for a moment before lifting her gaze to me. “He said something a few months before he passed. I didn’t give it much thought because Theo and I always joked about our awful love lives. He said something about how, once he died, I’d finally be sent to the right man because I couldn’t find him if he were two feet in front of me. We laughed so hard, but after that, he would make little comments about Eden and me being sent to someone who was better than him.” Sophie looks away again. “I think he . . .”
I wait for her and then run my thumb along the top of her hand. “Meant me?”
Her head lifts, and she nods. “If he thought that, you must’ve met him.”
That thought never crossed my mind. Now, I wonder if Theo had come to meet me. Did he freaking interview me for the job of taking his wife and my kid? “I’ve never been to London.”
“He traveled a lot. Not as much the last year, but before that, he was always gone. He did financials for a lot of big companies that were based in the US. I remember when Eden was a baby, I would complain that I married him to be a single mother anyway.”
“Did he ever come to California?” I just received his medical file, and I recalled something familiar about a patient I met. I can’t remember details, but I’m starting to wonder if it was him.
“You know, I’m not sure. He was in Atlanta a lot, I know that. It sounds silly that I wasn’t aware of all the places he went, but he traveled so often that I stopped paying attention.”
I know that well. I did the same when my parents were gone. It was more of a surprise when they were home. “Do you have a picture on your phone?”
Sophie looks down at her hands. “My phone was actually taken from me. It was part of the many things I lost as I ran from whomever was chasing me, and my new one doesn’t have any pictures of him on it.”
“Okay . . .”
She perks up. “Oh! I can get a photo.” Her hand moves against the screen as she searches and then she smiles. “Here, this is his social media account.”
I take the phone and look at the photo. The two of them are standing side-by-side, and he’s holding Eden in his arms. They look like the perfect family, all smiles and love. He was just a bit taller than Sophie, which means he would have been shorter than I am, and had light brown hair. I definitely don’t recognize his face.
“You mentioned your phone was taken, who gave you that one?”
Her lips part, and she attempts to smile. “I bought it. I was in Las Vegas, and I . . . I got a phone so I could contact the police if I needed.”
Her inability to look me in the eyes tells me that isn’t the truth. My gut says to call her out on it, push for the information she’s keeping, but my heart says to let her tell me when she’s ready.
I decide to give her a little of both. “The less I know, the harder it is for me to protect you. You must’ve had help along the way, and I won’t push you to give me more information than you’re willing to, but I would rather you tell me that you can’t or won’t say it than lie to me.”
The look on her face makes me want to kick my own ass. “My help came from someone at each stop who gave me a note from Theo, telling me the next step. I’m sorry if I’m not able to tell you more than that.”
“Don’t be . . . I just want us to be able to talk. If you can’t tell me, I understand, but just tell me that instead. The fewer falsehoods we have to worry about, the easier it will be for us.”
She nods. “I can’t tell you who helped me along the way. It was made very clear that their identity must be kept from you and everyone else.”
At least she’s telling me something. “Okay. And this person is trustworthy?”
“Theo trusted them, and they’ve done everything they can to keep me and Eden safe.”
The questions I have are insurmountable, but again, I need to walk a tight line. “Then,whenyou can tell me more, I hope you will.”
“I will. I know that Theo doesn’t look like he was a great guy, but he was. He was there for me when I had no one, and whatever mess he got himself in, he did what he could to keep us away from it and ensured we’d be safe when he was no longer here to protect us. It’s the only reason I got on that plane and have followed all the directions. And I think it led me where I should’ve gone...to you.”
