Page 24 of Keegan's Promise

My head bounces in a grateful nod.

“Come on,” Samara murmurs, wrapping her arm around my waist. “Let’s get you and that sweet baby to a room so you can get some rest while Keegan talks to the guys.”

“Room?” I arch a brow at her.

“Bedroom,” she clarifies with a little laugh. “Believe me, we have plenty here. I asked Gloria and Rulie, the couple who take care of everything around here, to set up Scout’s old bassinet for you so you’d have a place to put her.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, my throat tight with unshed tears as she leads me down one hall and then another.

We stop at the last door on the left before she pushes it open. I step inside, blinking around me. I’m not sure what I expected when she said bedroom, but it wasn’t this. This is a suite, complete with a massive king-sized bed, the promised bassinet in the corner farthest from the window, a separate seating area, a desk, and a television. There’s even a private bathroom attached. The floor is dark hardwood like the hallway, with a giant rug stretched across it. Gorgeous black and white photographs of the town hang in different spots on the walls.

“The room is yours for as long as you need it,” Samara murmurs, squeezing my arm. “Get some rest, and I’ll ask Gloria to bring you something to eat.”

“You really don’t have to do that. This is already too much.”

“Nonsense,” she disagrees with another smile. “It’s the least you deserve after everything you’ve been through. And trust me, you’ll want a room of your own to escape to with the guys watching over you. I love them to death, but a girl can only take so much being looked after before she wants to smother someone with a pillow.” She flashes me a mischievous look. “These big idiots have no chill. Just ask any of the wives around here. We spend half our days finding ways to stress them out.”

Lily chooses that moment to let out a soft wail.

Samara glances down at her, her expression softening. “I think Sleeping Beauty is hungry. You take care of her. I’ll go see about getting you something to eat.”

“Thank you,” I say, but she’s already sailing down the hall, leaving me and Lily alone. I stand there briefly, just trying to get my bearings before Lily cries again, flailing her little fists in outrage.

“I hear you, sweet angel,” I croon, striding toward the chaise to feed her.

She lets out a grunt and settles, latching on as soon as I have her against my breast. For long moments, she just eats while staring up at me intently. She reminds me of Keegan in that way, always watching attentively with those not-quite-hazel, not-quite-green eyes. She’s always so calm and quiet.

Eventually, however, her eyes drift closed again. Her head lolls to the side, a little bit of milk dribbling from her parted lips. I gently wipe it away and then change her diaper before placing her in the bassinet.

She settles with another little grunt. I watch her momentarily before crossing to the bed and sinking down.

My head is spinning.

I feel like I stepped out of my world into an alternate dimension where a real future is possible. Where people are genuinely kind and caring, for no reason beyond being built that way. It’s disconcerting in a good way, but it makes me anxious, too.

I’m used to running. To always looking over my shoulder and questioning everything. To seeing the worst of humanity, not the best.

Silver Spoon Falls is unexpected, and that makes the ground feel shaky beneath my feet, like it might crumble at any moment.

When it does, I have a feeling it’s going to hurt even worse this time. If Garrick and the Sons of Loki find me after I’ve spent time here, with people like this? It’ll feel like being plucked from heaven and dragged to hell. I can’t let myself get used to this. And yet…I want it so damn badly.

Chapter Eight

Landry

“Hey.”

I bounce up from the bed when I hear Keegan’s voice, my heart pounding an erratic rhythm. My gaze flies to him to find him standing in the doorway. Somehow, he looks even better than he did an hour ago. Or an hour before that.

“Hey,” I whisper, hating the way my voice shakes, and I stutter. It’s a nervous habit I never outgrew.

His gaze drifts from me to Lily, who is still passed out in the bassinet, blissfully unaware of the existential crisis I’ve been having on the bed beside her since Gloria brought me a sandwich half an hour ago.

One minute, I convince myself I need to run to keep everyone safe. The next, I’m grasping for reasons to convince myself it’ll be just fine for me to stay. My head is a mess.

Hell, maybe I’m a mess in general. Maybe that’s what happens to girls like me. We don’t get it together when good things happen. We fall to pieces instead, so convinced that it has to be some trick, some way for the universe to fuck us over even harder a little bit later, that we ruin it ourselves. We’re Macbeth, paving the way to our own sad demise.

“She’s sleeping,” I blurt to Keegan. Great. I’ve been reduced to stating the obvious now. I squeeze my eyes closed and take a deep breath, trying to get myself under control.

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