Page 145 of Every Broken Promise
“Hi, Mrs. Kane,” she said softly.
God, this girl had me wrapped around her little finger.
There would never be anyone who would ever fit me the way she did. I loved her with everything I had in me.
“See, Mom, I told you I would win her back,” I said with a grin on my face.
I swear I could see the sun shine a little brighter after my statement. Maybe this was the sign she was giving me to tell me she approved of what I would be doing today.
We stayed there a few more minutes before heading back to town.
“I’m kind of scared of what Adam cooked up today. He sounded a little too confident about having a new recipe, and I don’t know how I feel about that.”
I chuckled at that. I felt the same way, but nothing would be ruining this day for me.
When I took a different turn instead of the one that led to my house, where all our family was, she immediately noticed.
“Are we picking something up?”
“Something like that,” I told her.
She immediately started to assess me.
“What are you up to?”
I grinned at her but ignored her question. A few minutes later, we were in front of our elementary school.
“Oh my God, I haven’t been here since we graduated,” she exclaimed, somewhat nostalgically.
“Come, I want to show you something.”
As soon as she got out of the car, I reached behind the seat again and grabbed the little black box my father had given me. I was too young when my mother passed away, so there were bits and pieces that I remembered. I had a lot fewer memories of her than my brothers, something I used to regret. Seeing her ring brought back a clear picture of her holding my hand whenever I got scared. The way she would kiss the tip of my nose and wipe away my tears, and how I could feel the back side of her ring press against my skin.
“So, what are we doing here?” Astrid asked.
I took a moment to look at her. Her hair was down and wavy in something she liked to call a blowout. She was wearing a pretty baby pink dress that did amazing things for her tits. On her feet were a pair of white sandals that matched her painted toes. She was a fucking vision, and I was the luckiest guy alive.
“Come here, beautiful,” I said, extending my hand toward her. She immediately took it, and I walked us toward the front entrance, right in the very spot where I had first met her.
“Coming full circle,” she mumbled with a smile on her face.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Nothing…just something silly.” She waved me off.
I looked down at her, my smile still on my face. Her statement gave me the confidence to do this here and now. This place was where we began, and it was a full circle.
“Beautiful.” My voice was hoarse, losing some of the playfulness from earlier.
Astrid’s brow furrowed and she cocked her head, a little worried by my change in tone.
“Seventeen years ago, you took my hand in this very spot,” I told her as I looked at the double doors of the entrance to the school that used to seem larger than life, but now seemed ordinary. I turned to look back at Astrid. “You’ve had my heart ever since, Astrid.”
I reached into my pocket, and her eyes widened.
“Ohmigod,” she whispered as she saw me pull the black box from my pocket. Her hand came to her mouth as she kept repeating the word over and over.
