The Promise (58 page)

Halfway through the episode, I hear a knock on the door.
Glancing over to the clock, I see that it reads one forty five, wondering who would be here so late.

I don’t think it’
ll be Chase because we’d agreed to meet in the morning and Drake had gone to pick him up almost an hour ago.

I look out through the peephole
to see Drake standing on the other side, while running his hand through his hair. He looks distraught and I feel my heart beginning to fall.

Once I’ve
opened the door, it’s worse than I’d originally thought. His hair is unruly and both his face and clothes are covered in what appears to be blood and soot.

As soon as
his tired, distraught eyes meet mine, I know that whatever it is, it’s really bad.

“Sophie,” he
says, his voice cracking. I immediately begin to shake my head, refusing to hear the words that I fear the most at hearing again. “Chase was, um …he was in an accident, sweetheart.” I clutch my hand over my stomach as the tears immediately fall from my eyes.

“Is he
…?” I can’t say the words but luckily Drake doesn’t make me. He immediately pulls me over to his chest as he goes to answer me.

“He’s alive,” he says
. Hearing his words make me release a huge breath of relief.

“Oh
, thank God!” I whisper.

“Sophie,
Honey, just … just listen to me, okay?” My eyes meet his and he shakes his head slightly. “It’s pretty bad.”

“How bad is pretty bad?” I ask as he grips onto my shoulder, bracing me for what’s
coming next.

“They don’t know if he’s going to make it, Sophie,” he whispers and my hand flies to my mouth.

I’m going to be sick.

I bolt to the bathroom and throw up the first thing I’ve managed to
eat in days. I can hear Drake knocking on the door but the rock in my chest where my heart used to be, won’t allow me to answer him.

I try my voice again but nothing happens.
I feel as though I’m no longer here.

The knock on the door is loud and intrusive. Seeing as though Maverick or Lucy haven’t walked in directly after, I know it’s most likely to be a delivery of some kind. I’m not expecting anything so maybe Ana ordered something online and forgot to mention it to me.

As I walk across the old, hardwood floor in my bare feet, I feel a chill running up my spine as I peer through the sheer curtains that hang in the front window. That’s not a delivery truck outside. It’s a town car. I don’t know anyone with a town car.

Something doesn’t feel right.

“Ana?” I call weakly as I slowly pull the front door open, only to find two uniformed officers standing in front of me.

Something is very wrong.

I try to greet the men but I’m unable to speak. My whole body has gone numb and with the exception of the thump of Ana’s footsteps behind me, time seems to stand still.

Later, I’d say it was the slowing of Ana’s footsteps, the look in the officer’s eyes or the animalistic shriek that left my own body that had told me he was gone.

Looking back on it now though, it was the moment I saw the town car that I knew Jack wasn’t coming home.

“Hello ma’am. We’re looking for Ms. Analise Walker. A
re you Ms. Walker?” The taller one on the left asks in a deep, formal tone as he removes his hat and holds my empty gaze.

“I’m Analise Walker,” I hear her answer behind me. I don’t recognize her voice. I can’t turn to see her, but I know by the way she grabs my arm that she’s there.

“Ms. Walker,” he starts. “I’m Sgt. Dawson and this is Sgt. Copeland …”

“Jack,” I hear her choke out but I can’t focus on anything. The ground beneath me is falling. I’m being pulled down and everything is a blur.

This isn’t happening. Please don’t let this be happening.

Not again.
 

“Ma’am, the secretary of the Army has asked us to express his deep regret that your brother, Jack …” I can’t hear anything anymore after that. I’m not here anymore. My mind has rescued me. It’s taken me somewhere safe. It’s taken me somewhere that nobody else can hurt me. Nothing bad can happen here. It takes me home.

It takes me to Jack.

Please God
, not again.

“I’ll always come back to you,” Jack whispers into my ear as he presses his lips sweetly against the skin of my neck. “You and me, Soph,” I pull back to meet his gaze as he brushes his palm against the side of my cheek. He hovers above me, engulfing me in his arms and looks down at me with my favorite sideways smile. “You’re my forever, Baby.”

I open my mouth to answer him. I have to tell him he’s my forever too, but all that comes is a wail.

The last thing I see
as I feel my feet giving out and my knees crashing into the hardwood floor beneath me are Chase’s aqua eyes, blue as the sky.

And then the world goes black
.

When I was eight years old, the dream to write a book was born into my heart.
I promised myself that day in my bedroom that one day, I’d have a story to tell and when I did, my dream would come true.

It was a long road, but I’ve finally fulfilled that promise to my inner eight year old.

On this journey I’ve taken, I’ve been very lucky to have such an overwhelming amount of support.
There are so many people to thank!

First of all, I want to thank God for giving me the gift of storytelling and the determination to follow my path.

Sean, my husband, my lover, my friend, my soul mate, my forever… Had I not met you, I’d have no story worth telling. Every good thing in this book is because of you and your love. Every step of this journey started the day I met you. Without you, there is no story. There is no dream. There is no me. I love you more than anyone has ever loved anyone in the world. It’s an honor to belong to you, my love. I love you, Babysaurus. I love you. I love you. I love you…

My parents, Debbie and Henry: Of all the parents in the world, I was blessed to get you as mine. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for you both. The two of you are among my greatest blessings. Thank you for listening to my poems
about pickles and the mall. Thank you for making a big deal out of my writing getting submitted into the school paper in the sixth grade. Thank you for never telling me they were awful. Thank you for listening to my concerts in the kitchen. Thank you for being the best parents in the world. I’m so sad that my Daddy isn’t here to celebrate this accomplishment in my life, but I know he’s proud. Momma, I can’t tell you what it means to me that you’ve been here with me through each and every step of this journey. Your strength, guidance, love and friendship are things I can never express the proper amount of gratitude for. I love you so much.

My grandmothers, Kate and Lee, for your never ending support and love.

Jason, Shawn, Chris, Landon, Sara and Jackie: I love you and can’t tell you what your support means to me. I’m the luckiest sister in the world and I love you.

Brittany, Jennifer, Aurora, David, Elijah, Mykaela and Britain: you make me such a proud aunt! If you ever read this story (when you’re much, much older!), if you take anything away from it, make sure it’s that true love is real, it’s out there and it’s worth fighting for. Don’t ever settle for anything less than that. I love you infinity.

Sharon, Mike, Mylisa and Amber: thank you for allowing me to be one of the lucky few who love their in-laws! I feel so blessed to have been accepted into such an amazing family. I love you.

Janet “Fizzy” Marrero, April Czerepak, Amanda Vrtis, Angie “Boomtastic” Tucker, Brittnee Harris and Michelle LaRosee: I’m not sure how I got so lucky as to get the best friends in the world, but I did. The support you guys have given me has been amazing and I can’t tell you what it’s meant to me to have
you in my corner. I truly love all of you and am so proud to call you my best friends.

Special Shout Out to Native Son Designs for the beautiful cover design and my cover model, Brittnee Harris, for helping me capture my Sophie. I had an idea and with your help, we were not only able to achieve it, it surpassed anything I ever could have imagined! It’s more than I could have ever hoped for and I fall in love with this cover every single time I look at it.

Jennifer Culbreth: I don’t even know what to say. One night I got on the computer hoping to get someone to just notice a post I’d made. The next thing I knew, you were reaching out and taking me under your wing. You started out as a mentor, but you’ve become such a true, dear friend to me. You’ve cheered me on when I thought nobody could and you’ve encouraged me when all I wanted to do is go to sleep. You believed in me from day one, no questions asked. There’s no way I can ever thank you enough for just being you but I hope you always know how much I appreciate you. I feel like you were always meant to be my friend and I’m so grateful and blessed to know you. I truly love you and can’t wait to drink apple pie moonshine and go squatchin’ with you!

Sarah Elizabeth: Where do I even start? I don’t know if I ever told you this, but the first time you messaged me, I totally fangirled in my living room! I couldn’t believe the brilliant mind that created BMFT had taken the time out to email me! Since then, you’ve gone above and beyond in proving what a kind heart you have. You’ve become my counselor, my editor, my advisor and my midnight #drunktypopartner, but I’m most proud to say you’ve become my dear friend. The words aren’t enough for everything you’ve done but truly from the depths of my heart, thank you and I love you.

My Beautiful Betas! Heather Ricketts, Sarah Lowery, Janet Marrero, Charlotte Spence, Jennifer Culbreth, Sarah Elizabeth, April Czerepak and Kay Richards, thank you for being the first to read my story and love my characters as much as I do. Thank you for laughing and crying with me on this path. Thank you for enduring countless hours of my harassment for input and feedback on this book. Without you, I know this story wouldn’t be what it has become. I had a blast with you and am so happy we’ve all become such close friends through this experience. I can’t wait to start round two!

My Pimp The Promise Street Team! You guys rock! Thank all of you so much for believing in me and in The Promise! Thank you for your countless hours of dedication and hard work in helping get the word out! I’m so incredibly grateful to each and every one of you! XO

Each and every person who has followed me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Goodreads: Thank you so much for your support! It’s been overwhelming! I’m honored to share this story and experience with you! I hope that you love this book as much as I loved writing it!

The internet is amazing! I’ve received such amazing support from so many pages and blogs. I want to thank all of them and encourage you to visit them and show them some love! On Facebook: Smexy, Book Reviews by Lexi, Fictional Men’s Room for Book Ho’s, Butterflies, Books & Dreams, Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews, The Geekery Book Review, A Book Whore’s Obsession, Sweet, Beautiful Moments in West Florida, Two Sassy Chicks, Mackable Book Babes, Promiscuous Book Blog, Dirty Honest Book Whore, Toot’s Blog, Ginger Read Review, Red’s Books, Word Wenches Guilty Pleasure, Naughty and Smutty Book Blog, Dirty Books, Dirty Boys, Your Next Book
Boyfriend, 2 Chicks and a Blog-Book Soulmates, Feed My Reads, Amazeballs Book Addicts, Fictions Our Addiction, A Literary Perusal, Who You Callin’ a Book Whore?, Sizzling Pages, Book Boyfriend Confessions, Magic Between Our Pages, Submit and Devour, Nerd Girl, Smut Book Blog, The Book Whore-der’s Delight, Rude Girl Book Blog, Confessions of a One-Click Addict, Book Boyfriend Obsessions, Pretty Lil’ Page Turners, Chick’s Controlled by Books, A League of Independent Writers, This Bish Loves Books, Sinful Thoughts Book Blog, LovingtheBook Launch, Book Bliss and so many more! If I’ve missed your page, please don’t think that takes away from what your support has meant to me! Anyone who has ever liked, shared or posted anything about me and this book, thank you!

Special Thanks to: Teresa Jones, Alexis Brodie, Raymond Turner, Katy Evans, J. A. Redmerski, Gail McHugh, Pella Grace, Michele Wiegert, Christine Davison, Anna Lucas, Melissa Anderson, Stephanie Mae, Helen Stothard, Allison Merritt, Liz Cicchini, Kim Brown, Gillian McAndrews, Philemona Callan, Callie Backman, Fiona Hunt, Komali da Silva, Jodi Murphy, Jenene Niederkorn, Angela Kosino, Carrie Odom, Teresa Patlan, Sandee Love,
Rick Roberts, Sue Ward, Sarah Griffin, Ashley Wicker, Cynthia Harrell, Charlene Knowles, A Katie Rose, Melody Mitchell and that couple who collided in front of the gas station that day, whoever you may be.

I also want to take a moment to thank the amazing artists that helped inspire me while I wrote. The Beatles, The White Buffalo, The Civil Wars, Nirvana, Adele, Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones, Macklemore feat. Ryan Lewis & Wanz, Madonna, Young MC, Beastie Boys, Leona Lewis,
Bonnie Tyler, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, P!NK, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, John Lennon, Alicia Keys, Ed Sheeran, Journey, Snow Patrol, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Etta, James, Keith Whitley, Johnny Cash, Dobie Gray, Amos Lee and so many more. If you’ve not listened to any of these artists, I strongly encourage you to discover them! They’re all amazing! 

And last but most certainly not least, to my characters. Sophie, Jack, Chase, Ana and Drake, thank you for finding me. My life will never be the same having met you and it’s an honor to tell your story. It’s true that there’s a piece of me in all of you, but now there’s a piece of each of you in my heart forever. 

I love you…

XO Kate