Forgotten Promise (Forgotten Series Book 2) (6 page)

But I distinctly remember
it all, my heart waged quite the battle back then. I know this man, and his
sincerity is questionable. Even doubtful. “When is the driver scheduled to
return?” Tossing my arms in the air in frustration.

“Tomorrow.”

His calm is
exasperating. “No internet?” I watch him shake his head.

“Why do you think I’m
not working out here?”

“No land line?”

“No, Bryer, but this
is a far cry from a prison.”

“That’s not the
point.” Pacing, attempting to come up with a solution.

“Gas station?”

“I’m afraid you’re stuck,
Bryer.” Shrugging as if it’s no big deal

What’s wrong with
this picture? I’m in a secluded private home with my ex-fiancé whose character
is questionable to say the least, my current boyfriend wants to kick his ass,
and the night after our first fight, I’m spending the night with the one man he
detest the most. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I sit by the fire,
defeated. The rug is thick and fluffy, and it distracts me momentarily, I see
Cash walking towards me, his arms full. He’s carrying a bottle of wine, with a
box under his arm. It’s worn and a little smashed, and when he hands it to me
it’s dusty.

“Here, you can sign
off on it later.” And hands me a scissors to open it.

“Sometimes I need
what only you can provide, Mom,” I whisper, opening it slowly. I move the white
paper out of the way. The first item is a picture of the three of us, my
parents and me as a child. I don’t recall seeing it before, but it’s apparent
we’re happy, they’re happy. The similarities are not lost on me, I favor my
mother. Always have.

Next, I see a small
jewelry box with a clasp that has been broken long ago. I open it to find an
array of things and blissful joy overwhelms me, filled with mixed emotions of
sadness and happiness at the same time.

I take each piece
out, one by one. There’s nothing of value, monetarily, but it’s priceless to
me. Her St Jude Metal she wore, I always wondered what happen to that. An old
pearl ring, several silver dollars, one diamond earring, just one. I wish I
would have known, I would have gladly replaced it for her.

Was I a good
daughter, I question? Then the last piece, an old journal. I touch the old
leather cover, mesmerized. I never saw her write in a journal. Conflict over
her privacy battling within, yet she wanted me to have this, to know more about
her.

I feel Cash standing
over me, a glass of wine in his hand. I take it. I open the first page, and it
says “
I met a man today…the man I’ll marry.”

Day One

~Nathan~

“Stan, I want men
around the clock. So far, you’ve given me no fucking answers, and I still don’t
know where she is and if she’s alright. I’m living a nightmare here.”

Plunging into
darkness with worry. My brain can’t register the predatory need I have to find
her. We fought. No, fuck. I fought, I wouldn’t listen, and I blamed her for
everything. She warned me he was evil, and I blamed her for his actions, I feel
hollow, empty, terrified.

“Nathan, we’ll find
her. It’s only been several hours. Give us some time to track her. You know I didn’t
agree with the decision to keep our man outdoors. She slipped through the
cracks, the ones she put in place.”

“Well, we can blame
Bryer’s stubbornness for that,” I say with much regret.

“It’s not time to
panic, Nathan, not yet.”

I hear his words, but
they mean nothing, he’s only trying to keep things in perspective. My
perspective is madly indifferent. And the fury I feel cannot be harnessed.
“Bullshit, we know she left her office, unescorted, and without the security
detail who was assigned to protect her. And then she disappears.” Running my
hands through my hair, gripping it tight, to feel, feel something other than
pain.

“Nathan, no one
anticipated she would go off on her own.”

Why, why would she
run, not answer her phone, slide under her security detail? Feeling the vein
popping out of my neck, and my jaw tighten with rage and something else—love.
“Just keep her safe, no matter the cost. And if that bastard has anything to do
with her missing, he has a death wish.” I’ll be damned if he touches her,
breathes on her, I’ll kill him.

“On it,” Stan says.

Gen. I reach for my
phone and scan for her name.

“Nathan?” she answers
apprehensively.

And my radar goes
through the roof.

“Is she back?” she
asks, continuing to escalate my horror.

“Back from where,
Gen?” Drowning, preparing for the bomb to drop.

“She texted me that
she had to pick up a box that was her mother’s, but I haven’t been able to
reach her since.”

I feel her
hesitation. The hair on the back of my neck begins to rise. “A box? From where
Gen?”

She wavers.

I can feel the
internal struggle of loyalty, yet her concern will win, I know it will. “Gen?”
I gently push her.

“She’s with Cash, his
office,” she answers reluctantly.

“Cash’s office is in
M&M Global, I know for a fact she’s not there.” My heart speeding.

“Nathan, Cash always
rents a house to work from, I think she’s there.”

“Fucking perfect. I
can’t believe she would trust him enough to go with him, it doesn’t add up.”

“Unless he used
Bryer’s mother to manipulate her.” She offers.

I can see him playing
her, trapping her into making the only decision she could, blinded by her
desire to reach a piece of her mother she never knew existed.

But that doesn’t calm
me. “She’s with that lunatic in his house, an unknown location?” With each new
piece of information, I’m heading for a meltdown. The rage searing through my
body, only to be trumped by the agony. I fall into the couch, it catches me, as
I feel doom surrounding me.

“Let me know if you
reach her, I’ll do the same.” Hanging up on her.

~Day
Two~

~Bryer~

Waking with a heavy
heart and questioning my sanity over the last twenty-four hours, I leave my new
designated room, standing at the top of the stairs. I’m curious at the sight of
Cash staring out the window, his back to me and the steam from coffee clouding
the glass.

“What’s so
fascinating?” As I walk down the stairs.

“Three inches of
snow, and it’s still coming down.”

“The car is 
coming, right?” Blame bouncing to Cash and back to me continually. He purposely
put me in this situation, and like an idiot, I fell for it.

“I don’t know.” He
turns and our eyes meet, his gaze unreadable.

Last night when I
went in search for a room to sleep in, my choices were countless, until I
noticed the gray t-shirt laying on one of the beds. My immediate thought went
to Cash. I guess that’s for me. Wearing his shirt felt like a betrayal to the
man I love, but I am accepting of the fact it’s only a shirt, something to
sleep in. Would Nathan?

Everything faded away
once I was under the comforter, holding my mother’s journal in my hand, feeling
as if I was let in on a secret, her secret personally given to me. I swallow
back the tears, anxious to read it. One last time tonight, I try my phone,
willing it to work, but nothing. Worry climbs up my entire body, with the
reality of what Nathan must be going through, and what he’s thinking. I push
the anxiety aside and focus on one thing. Her.

I smell the old
book—leather and roses? Her fragrance of choice since, forever. I keep the
memories at bay while I open to the first page. Trembling fingers.

I met a man today…the man I’ll
marry. This one’s a keeper, I swoon as his blond hair blows in the wind as we
walk side-by-side. His eyes twinkle whenever he looks at me. I want to belong
to him.

I barely resemble myself when I’m
with him. The playful spirit, the laughter, his touch. I would have never
predicted he would look my way.
I still question, what he sees in me?

Having someone wonder where you
are, miss you. It’s comforting.

He gave me a St. Jude’s pendant and
a nifty silver dollar.

He also understands why I want to
wait. Or he says he does.

Mom and Dad don’t approve, they
call him a player, but they don’t know him like I do. He plays cards for money,
but you can’t judge a man for that.

They say I’m playing with fire.
Maybe I am, but he’s exciting, and I’m exciting when I’m with him.

Parents, they can be a drag
sometimes. They have their own secrets to be worrying about, not mine.

Mary

I close the book, her
first entry I think she was eighteen when she met my father. I never knew she
felt that way about him, ever. I place the book on the nightstand and drift off
to sleep. But not before worrying about Nathan.

~ ~ ~

“Breakfast? How normal
of you,” I say. With blatant sarcasm.

“What?” Dragging the
word out with that familiar draw of his, as he’s looking quite pleased with
himself.

“You know Nathan will
be coming to find me soon.” Wanting to wipe that cocky grin off his face.

“Of course he will, I
would if I was him.” A corner of his mouth lifting into a half-smile.

Feeling brave and a
bit vindictive, I bring up the one thing that seems to upset him. “Why won’t
you take the ring back Cash?” Taking a seat.

“It’s yours.” Not
able to make eye contact with me.

“No, it’s only mine
if we are engaged, and we’re not.” Sensing an argument approaching.

“I gave it to you,
with the intent you would keep it forever.”

I can see the
internal struggle, his easy-going confidence disappearing.

He shuts his eyes,
his forehead creased. “I fucked up.”

“It was for the
best.” His eyes flash to mine, confusion written all over his face. “It lead me
to Nathan.” Making my feeling as clear as I can.

“I understand the
consequences of my actions better than anyone, Bryer.”

I question his
sincerity when I witness the hurt appear on his face. “I don’t think you ever
will,” I say with venom. It’s so easy to trigger the feelings of that day, and
all the days following. I’ll never forgive him for destroying so many parts of
me.

“Things got out of
hand.” He admits.

“I saw, your hands
were on the wrong body,” said with bite of anger, so easily regained from the
scars that I thought were healed.

“Do we have to talk
about this now? I’d like to finish my breakfast, eat up.”

“I think it would do
us both good to talk about that day, Cash.” Challenging him for the
conversation we never had, the words never spoken, the pain never resolved.
“That day,” I start.

“Yes, that day.” The
tone of his voice plunging.

“What a lethal combination
trust and love is. How fragile and easily destroyed it can be.”

He glances up at the
ceiling, letting out a long breath. “I regret it all.” A line appearing between
his brows.

“I believed in you, Cash,
trusted you.” Fight back tears I didn’t expect to surface.

“It wasn’t your
fault, you know that, right?”

Surprised that those
words mean something to me. What I would have given to have heard them then,
but I have to take some responsibility, I never gave him a chance, I didn’t
think he deserved one. It’s me that deserved those healing words. “I truly felt
like I wasn’t enough.” Laying it all out here for the light to see.

“I was genuinely
ashamed, still am.” He frowned. “I never had a plan to be unfaithful, Bryer.
Sonia was convenient, and I was a prick. That day changed me. I knew what it
was like to lose someone I love. “

“Yeah, me too. You
were my whole world, Cash, and you destroyed me, my ability to trust.” And
sitting here with him, it’s all still fresh and painful.

“I know what I did to
you, Bryer.” He winces.

“Do you? You made a
promise, then broke it.”

“I know. I’ve tried
desperately to understand where it all went wrong, why temptation won.”

“You turned my life
upside down.” Drowning in the murky depths of heartache. It’s etched in my mind
forever. Like a scar never fully healed, I remember it all perfectly.
Questioning my need to know more. “Why her? Was there more?” I ask foolishly,
knowing however he answers I won’t believe him.

“What more can I say
without hurting you, Bryer? But if you have to know, it was only her.”

“The stench of a
lie.” As I roll my eyes, not allowing myself to be fooled.

“I know you too well,
Bryer. Don’t give me that look.,” he says, trying to pull me out of the hole
I’m in.

“I was so naive,
young, I had no clue, Cash. It was all so heart wrenching.” My eyes burning
into his.

“Believe it or not, I
was deeply in love with you. I also knew, you would have never forgiven me.”

“You’re right, I
still haven’t.”

Feeling as if we have
gone as far as we can, I stand, gathering my plate, cleaning up. With my back
turned, I ask, “What am I doing here, Cash?”

“If I was being
completely honest, I would like your forgiveness.”

“I can’t give that to
you.”

“Still?”

“Still.”

He stands, handing me
his dish, then he reaches out for a curl, noticing my hands in the soapy water
making it difficult to stop him.

I lean away as a
subtle hint.

And steps back,
taking the hint. “I was hoping I could make it up to you.”

I spin around quickly,
and I can see he’s fighting back tears. He runs his hand through his perfect
blond hair, and I watch him suffer, uncertain of his sincerity, I’m no fool.
“Just accept my need to hate you, Cash, and we both can move on.”

“That’s not what I
want.”

“It’s not up to you.”
He sure is working it, his performance impressive. Although a tiny part of me
wonders, what if, what if, there’s a layer of truth in what he’s admitting. The
rational side screams do not show a sign of weakness, not to Cash, he’ll pounce
on any opportunity. “I’m going upstairs, call me when the car arrives.” Eager
to touch my mother’s words again, the one thing that will bring me bliss. “Then
prepare yourself, Nathan is going to fuck you up.” Looking down, smiling at him
as I climb.

“I’m sure he thinks
he is,” he yells up, as he watches me go.

“Yeah, nice play, I’m
sure he’s planning your death right now, and how you shanghaied me into coming
with you.”

“Shanghaied? Your
roots are showing, Bryer, Texas will always be who you really are.

I hear his words, but
I’m already in the bedroom. Grabbing the journal and a spare blanket to keep
warm in this monstrosity of a house.

I turn to the next
entry.