Page 11 of Promise You Forever

She turns, and I have to stifle a wince at the angry red mark already starting to bruise and small cut at the corner of her eye. Paul’s mind might be going, but his physical strength is still verymuch present. You don’t spend your whole life as a rancher and not come out the other side incredibly strong.

“How bad is it?” she asks quietly.

“It’s not great. Have your makeup skills improved much?” I try a joke to lighten the mood.

“No, but Amber’s here. She can help me.” She begins to turn around, but I stop her.

“May I?” I hold the bag of peas up.

She nods, giving me approval to come closer. As I lift my palm to her reddened cheek, she inhales in a tiny gasp, the same way she used to right before I’d kiss her. My eyes drift to her lips, so damn close to mine, but then another tear rolls down her cheek. Like a bucket of cold water dumped over me, I force my focus back to her eye and press the bag of peas against it.

I spin and start looking for a washcloth to clean up the little cut. “Can you tell me what exactly happened?”

“I couldn’t sleep and heard a noise downstairs. I went to check and see what was happening and found him tossing things around in his office.” She sniffles. “He was startled when he looked up at me…”

She’s fighting back more tears when I turn to look at her. I wish I could take this pain from her. There’s nothing I want more in the world than for her to be happy.

“Sorry.” She clears her throat. “He didn’t recognize me, and I think he thought I was some intruder. He kept asking for Grandma, and even when I told him who I was, he said he didn’t have a granddaughter, only a son.”

“It’s not unusual for him to go way back in time like that.” I heat up the water and wet the cloth, wringing it out before turning back to her. “This might sting a little.”

“It’s okay.” She lowers the bag of peas and lets me dab at the blood.

Her eyes dart away from mine after a moment. I could be delusional, but I swear her pulse beats quicker in her neck the closer I come. She looks down at my bare chest, and her skin flushes. I have to bite the inside of my cheek to fight the grin that wants to emerge at her discomfort. I didn’t even think about grabbing a shirt before I ran downstairs, so I’m in nothing but a pair of gray pajama pants.

After a minute of cleaning up her face, she steps away from me, once again creating a distance that kills me inside. “Has he been violent like that before?”

“Only once, and I was able to overpower him before anyone got hurt.”

“Well, I’m glad you were here tonight.” She straightens the items on the counter, turning the bottles so they’re all facing the same direction.

“Me, too.”

A tense silence fills the space between us, and I watch as she straightens her spine and looks directly at me. A mask of indifference is back on her face.

“You can go back to your room, now.” She dismisses me firmly but not unkindly.

I stay rooted to the spot, wishing she would let me comfort her. Hold her. Instead, she looks pointedly from me to the door.

Message received, Sunbeam.

The walk back to my room has never felt so long. At least I’m just right across the hall from her. I leave my door open a crack, so I’ll hear if she walks past just in case she needs anything.

The front door opens just as I reach the bottom of the stairs. Jasmine walks through and pulls her scarf off of her head,hanging it on the coat tree along with her trench coat. She looks over at me and smiles, lines fanning out from the corners of her dark brown eyes.

“Good morning, Luke. How did last night go?”

I glance upstairs before answering. “Not great. Paul was out wandering around, and Eli heard him. When she came down, he didn’t remember her.” I swallow past the lump in my throat. “He hit her.”

She gasps and rubs her palms over her chest. “Is she okay?”

I nod. “Probably just a black eye.”

“And Paul?”

“I got him put to bed; he hadn’t taken his evening meds yet.”

“I’m sure that didn’t help.” She reaches out and rubs my arm. “Are you okay?”

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