Page 17 of Lies in Promises
No, Mom and Dad.
No Robert.
Just me and Henry.
Henry went from being just someone who helped my parents around the house to being my everything. My caretaker, my parent, my brother, my friend. I doubt that’s what he thought he would be when he first took this job.
I’m just glad he hasn’t left, too, and I hope he never does.
Because if Henry leaves, I really will be left alone.
No, Mom and Dad.
No Robert.
No Henry.
If Robert hadn’t left two years ago, I wouldn’t have to worry about losing someone else, but he did leave.
I hated him for it then, and I hate him even more now.
Because no matter how much Henry tells me my brother is coming back, I know the truth.
Robert is never going to step foot in this house again.
He’s never coming back.
I may be ten years old, but I know that much.
If he were coming back, he would have done it by now.
If he cared about and loved me, he would have shown it.
CHAPTER 9
ROBERT
“Why were you still outside the lawyer’s office?” I ask as I sit across from Marisela in a diner booth a few blocks away from Manuel’s office.
We sat in the rain for a few more minutes. She said I looked like I needed to be close to someone, and she was right. I basked in her closeness for as long as I could. As soon as I noticed she was shivering, I knew it was time to get her out of the rain. For a good minute, I argued with myself about what should happen next.
Do I get in the car and never see this girl again?
Do I offer to drive her somewhere, drop her off, then never see her again?
Or do I offer to take her somewhere warm first, let her dry up, and then offer to take her somewhere so I can hopefully see her again?
As much as I knew, options one and two were the better ones, I decided to go with option three. This girl was a stranger, and I wanted to spend all my time with her.
So, I asked if she wanted to go to a diner I knew to grab some food and warm up.
There wasn’t any hesitation in heryes.
Now, here we are, in a diner that has probably seen better days, and I’m trying to get as much information about this girl as I can.
Starting with the one question bugging me since she asked me if I was okay.
Marisela looks at me over the edge of her coffee mug, her eyes holding a little bit of fear.
