Page 24 of Rescued By My Best Friend's Brother

Lilytoyswithhervegetables. She has barely touched any of her food and seems to be thinking about something. Probably the fact that her dad bailed on her once again. The way her face fell when I told her he wouldn’t be coming home until late tonight reminded me of the constant promises that were broken when I was a child. I stopped believing in promises made by the adults in my life, at least until Bradley came around.

I glance at Sheri to see if she knows what to do, but she is too busy cleaning up the kitchen, readying herself to leave. I sigh. I had been good with kids when I worked at one of those trampoline parks in high school, but that had been so long ago. I knew how to keep kids alive from babysitting my foster siblings, but I don’t know how to really connect with a child.

I lean forward and say, “Veggies not your thing?”

She straightens her posture, as if noticing me for the first time since we started eating. “Oh. No. I just…” she trails off.

“You miss your dad?”

She nods and sets her fork down. “He’s been so busy. I don’t get to see him.”

I understand her completely. Even though my parents were terrible people, losing custody of me in middle school due to their many flaws and, of course, their addiction to alcohol and heroin, I still longed for them to be in my life. I even tried to maintain contact with my mother, but her influence wrecked my mental health. I eventually cut her off, and now, I have no idea where she could be.

“Yeah. It sucks that you can’t hang out with your dad. But the weekend is coming up, hopefully you can spend time with him then.”

She gives a non-committal half-shrug. “Yeah. I guess.”

I reach forward and touch her hand. “Listen, I know your dad misses you just as much as you miss him.”

“He says that about Mommy too. She’s not here,” she mumbles, her eyes cast down at her plate.

I lean a little closer and lower my voice, not wanting Sheri to overhear my next question. “What happened to your mommy?” I have yet to get a real answer out of anyone, even Josie doesn’t have much to say. It has become a mystery that nags at me, more out of curiosity than anything else. I remember the few times I heard Jasper talk about her, and the last couple of times I saw him, they had been fresh in their relationship. I had never seen him so bright and happy. He’d finally found someone he loved and who loved him. I wonder if reality destroyed that relationship too, just like it destroyed mine.

She shrugs the same shrug as before. “She used to visit sometimes.” Her face brightens at a distant memory, but then it fades quickly as she continues, “But then she stopped coming.”

I rub her hand for reassurance. It is jarring to have a parent just leave you. My father had done so when I was a child, and then everything with my mother and the few foster homes I temporarily stayed in until finally going to the last one that had sent me to the same school as Josie and Jasper, so I understood the pain she must be going through.

“I’m sorry, honey,” I say. “You want me to text your dad and see if we can go out for some ice cream after this?”

Her eyes widen. “YES! Can we?”

I nod. I didn’t want to pry anymore, especially at the expense of a six-year-old. I know what it is like to have adults manipulate you. I don’t want to be one of them just because I am a little curious. It isn’t fun, and it is emotionally taxing. Hopefully, a little ice cream will help her snap out of these heavy feelings someone her age shouldn’t be having. She should be out getting her clothes dirty or figuring out what tea to serve at tea time, not the fact that her parents are missing her life.

After a more light-hearted end to our evening, I read Lily a book and tuck her into bed. We had ice cream and played in the park for the second time today. We even made-up stories about the people we watched. She really liked that game. It is something Josie and I do often together. It was interesting playing it with a little girl. Her stories always involved fairies and secrets that consisted of picking boogers or hiding candy under their pillow. So innocent and so cute.

I sit on the couch in their living room after Lily finally falls asleep and turn on the TV. I look through the apps they have. To no surprise, Jasper has subscriptions to literally everything. I wonder what his bill looks like. I pick a random one and find something light-hearted to watch. I love romantic comedies. Although they are really cheesy and cliche, they’re distracting. When I watch a show, I want to escape from reality.

I pick one at random, not really in the mood to make decisions. After everything that happened today, I feel exhausted, like a train has run over me. I wish Jasper didn’t have to work so late, so I could go to bed. Tomorrow, I need to wake up earlier and get another head start visiting places to apply. If it weren’t for Bradley, I may have gotten a job. I thought maybe the boutique would hire me, but she said she had a few more interviews to conduct before making a decision.

I look down at my arm and see a small bruise starting to form, one that probably won’t last very long. Why did Bradley show up at that moment? How did he find me? When I said it was a coincidence, I’d said it more for Jasper’s sake than anything else. I know he is very cautious and worries about a lot of things. I don’t want him worrying about this. It is my mess. I thought leaving Bradley high and dry would make things easier. I guess I was wrong.

The bruise on my arm reminds me of the time Bradley had finally hit me, busting my nose. It had bled all over the place, and he’d immediately tried to help me. He kept pleading with me to tell him what I needed from him. Surprisingly, it didn’t really bruise, so no one had known that he had actually hit me. I should have left right then, but I hadn’t. He had looked so pathetic, pleading with his large, sad eyes, that I thought maybe this would be the turning point of our relationship. It wasn’t.

The last couple of days felt like a whirlwind of chaos, with Bradley’s reappearance into my life and Jasper’s sudden kiss. I touch my lips, thinking about the way he stared at me before I left his office. I told him good night and hoped that no one else saw. Thank goodness, Josie went straight to read Lily a book, so she hadn’t seen how flushed my cheeks were. I could never lie to her, and I would definitely have told her about the kiss if she’d asked. Josie could read me well, even when I didn’t say anything. I think that’s why she didn’t pry too much about Bradley. She probably already knew that our relationship had become rotten. She’d probably seen Bradley’s true colors before I disappeared from her life. I wonder if she would have confronted me, if I would have covered for him or if I would have told her everything. I wish I had told her. I wish she would have had an opportunity to convince me to leave. Not that it would have worked but maybe it would have given me something to think about.

I glance at my phone again, the thought of Bradley showing up still nagging at me. How did he find me. A thought pops in my head. I remember when Bradley got me this phone that he changed my location settings, so that I always shared it with him. I go to my settings and look for the GPS sharing feature. I never really learned the ins and outs of my phone, just the basic stuff like texting, video calls, phone calls, and how to look up something on a browser. There hadn’t really been a need to learn the other things when Bradley could help me.

I finally find the settings and see that my location is being shared with someone else. Sure enough, my location is being sent to Bradley. I turn off this setting immediately. How had I been stupid enough to trust him? I mean, I never had anything to hide. I had forgotten he even did this to my phone. I remember thinking that it was to protect me, just in case something happened to me, or maybe I get lost. Had he been stalking me? And if so, for how long? Does he know where Jasper lives? Although a nicer suburban area, it isn’t a gated community. Anyone can drive through this area.

I sigh. What would Jasper say? I wonder if I should tell him or not. Maybe Josie should know about it.

As if she knows I need her, I hear the back door slide open. I stand up and hurry to the kitchen where Josie is pulling leftovers out of the fridge. She looks tired. It must have been another long day.

“Hey bestie. How’s it going? I heard Jasper hired you temporarily as Lily’s babysitter.” Her voice sounds gravelly from sleep.

I nod. “Yeah. It’s a fun job. Lily is pretty easy to get along with.”

Josie gleams at me. “There is no one else who would be a better fit. I know you will protect that little girl at all costs. She is both mine and Jasper’s world.”

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