Page 35 of Broken Promises

“Well, I didn’t want to tell this to anyone yet, but you are my mother, so…two nights ago, I asked Luce to give us another chance.” Her eyes widened. I could recall just how heartbroken she was when the two of us broke up. Luce had always been the daughter she never had but always wanted. And I took that away from her with my foolish actions. It was also partially why she was the first person I wanted to share the news with. I wanted to, somehow and to some extent, lessen the damage I made all those years ago. Not only to Luce but to everyone around us. “And she said yes. We’re not official—I didn’t want to strain her like that yet, but we are exclusive, I suppose, and we’re taking things slow to see where they lead us.”

My mom made a feeble attempt to hide an excited squeal, but she failed as she threw her arms around me, wrapping me into a tight hug.

“Oh, Luke. I’m so happy for you. I knew the two of you were eventually going to find your way back to each other…I didn’t expect it to take a decade.” She squeezed me tightly. I gave her a small pat on the back to prompt her to pull back. We had potatoes to get back to. “But that doesn’t matter. You’re back together now, and you have the rest of your lives to compensate for the time you spent away from each other.”

“Mom, it’s not like that,” I admitted. Clearly, none of my words got through to her aside from the ones shewantedto hear. The truth was, I still wasn’t sure how all of this would work. Luce had a life she built in Seattle, and it felt wrong to ask her to leave it behind and come back here, even if there was a school here that would benefit greatly from her skill set. And I had taken over my father’s business a little while ago. I couldn’t just leave it just when I started implementing internal changes. Itwas my father’s life work; he entrusted me with it, and I wanted to make sure it was taken care of. Still, figuring all of it out seemed much less complicated than the thought of losing Luce again. “We still have a lot to figure out, but as I said, we’re willing to give it a proper shot while she’s here…”

Behind me, Landon cleared his throat. I turned back to find him standing at the wooden frame that connected the kitchen and the back porch.

“We’ll talk about this later,” my mom told me, giving me a small pat on the shoulder. I had no doubt she couldn’t wait to share the news with my dad, but at least she tried to be discreet in front of my brother. At least until she leaned in closer to me,tryingto whisper, but she was far too excited for it actually to be silent. “Maybe she could join us for the BBQ next week.”

I wasn’t sure if we were quite there yet with our relationship, but Landon came to my rescue before we could discuss it any further. “Why don’t you come to help me get the beers from the garage?”

I nodded, following along to get away from myveryenthusiastic mother. I thought I was safe from discussing my new relationship the moment I stepped out on the porch and headed toward the garage, but Landon proved me wrong.

“So…you and Luce, huh?” he asked, turning toward me as we entered the garage. It was a space where our dad accumulated his never-ending list of projects around the house. Now that he was retired, he had a lot of time on his hands.

“You heard that?” I slung my hands into my pockets. It wasn’t too often that Landon could join us for lunch—if you ask my mom—because of his busy schedule, but when he did join us, he was usually overly observant. Like today.

“I did. I’m happy for you. I really am. I like her.”

“I’m sensing there’s a but coming…” I let out a small laugh. Landon was older than me, and with that came an entirelydifferent perspective on life. One that I often couldn’t see with my own two eyes.

“But you’ve both built separate lives. Surely you know that. And if you want this to work, you may have to be willing to make certain sacrifices. I know you didn’t stop loving her as you claimed all those years ago when you broke up with her, but that will be a continuous thought in the back of her mind.”

His words stung, but they carried the truth I couldn’t deny. I ran my fingers through my hair, letting what he just said marinate in his mind. If she could only see how much love I held for her in my heart, there would never be a single doubt about the sincerity of my intentions ever again. Sadly, the world didn’t function that way, and I could only rely on my words and actions to transfer my feelings into reality.

“I know. I fucked up—massively. I want to do my best to make things right. She deserves it.”

Landon retrieved a six-pack of beers from the garage fridge. We often joked that it was our dad’s secret stash, but he was happy to share it with us every Sunday when we came over.

“I know you’re not asking for my advice?—”

I smiled. “But you’re going to give it to me anyway.”

“That’s what big brothers are for,” Landon retorted. We didn’t get to spend as much time together as we’d like because of work, but the time we did get together was always valuable. “Don’t move too fast, Luke. I know you’re eager to make things right and prove to her how much you love her…but she’s going to need time. And you need to be selfless enough to give it to her.”

It was a strange concept, really. We’d spend a decade away from each other—it felt like spending another second away from each other’s presence was the last thing we should want to do, but it made sense.

“I thought you were a doctor,” I told him. “Not a certified relationship expert. But I guess you’re a two-in-one kind of a man like you’ve always been.”

Landon laughed. “Well, I am older than you. I know a thing or two. And with how excited Mom got, I figured she wasn’t about to be the one to tell you any of this.”

“Come on, you two,” Mom called out from the front porch. “There’s no way getting beer takes this long to retrieve them. The potatoes aren’t going to peel themselves, and Landon, your father needs help with starting the BBQ.”

Landon’s brow shot up, and he slapped his palms together. “Well, you’ve heard her. Time to move. Just try to keep in mind what I’ve told you.” The firmness of his tone made me wonder if there was something he wasn’t telling me—if he was sharing this advice from his own experience. While my family was close by all means, there were still aspects of our lives that we liked to keep private. Landon especially.

When I returned to the kitchen, my mom still had that excited expression. “Just so you know, I meant it. We’d love to have Luce for lunch next Sunday.” I did, too. In fact, I hoped that someday we’d have a tradition like that of our own.

lucy

. . .

“You know,I think this isn’t working out. Sticky notes may be the best organizational tool I’ve ever had,” my mom grumbled over the phone. Being stuck at the house made her more grumpy than usual. She was used to moving around, used to running her own business. Putting all her trust into someone else’s hands—even if they were her daughter’s—must have been hard. Still, I expected at leastsomecooperation, and she gave me practically none.

“You say that now, but wait until it’s all fully set up. You’ll love it, Mom. I promise,” I assured her. Granted, right now, she was stuck with the more tedious part of the work, which was inputting years’ worth of information into the second-hand laptop I got for her. She was, as she put it,a certified technology hater, but I hoped she’d soon see it wasn’t all that bad. “I wish I were there to help you, but someone’s got to get the actual orders out.”

I stepped back, eyeing the bouquet of red roses and baby’s breath I’d put together for one of the customers. It came with an ‘I’m sorry’ note, so I hoped its richness would send the message along. The person who ordered it was also unknown to me, so Iguessed it was a tourist passing by, which made me much more nervous. Most of the time, my mom was familiar with her client’s tastes—all of them were return customers.

---