Page 7 of A Royal Promise
“It’s Drew’s turn to pick.”
Her brother walked over to the game cabinet and perused the options. “Drew said his family isn’t coming.”
She whipped her head to the side to face him. “What? Why?”
Phillip shrugged. “Didn’t say. But it was my turn to pick next month, so we switched.” He turned around with a wry grin on his face. “Which means tonight we’re playing Ticket to Ride.”
“You always win that game.”
“Exactly.” His smile widened as she chucked a pillow at him. He easily swatted it away, carrying the game box over.
As Phillip set up the board game on the table, her parents walked in, hand in hand, a glow on their faces.
Her mother came and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, gently squeezing before she sat down. “I’m so sad the Whitakers can’t make it.”
“Did they tell you why they aren’t coming?”
“Lily said they had a busy week.” Her mother shot her a sympathetic glance.
She didn’t understand what could be keeping them.Yes, it’s a two-hour drive one way, but our families always make time for our monthly game nights. Unless it’s for the same reason Drew has been distant.
Bri swallowed hard and remained silent throughout the game. She played whenever it was her turn, but she didn’t care about the moves she made. Her mind was focused on Drew. By the time Phillip won the game, her stomach was in knots. She was relieved when everyone decided to retire for the evening, rushing back to her room and grabbing her phone off the marble coffee table.
She clicked on the text conversation with Drew, her stomach plummeting even more when she realized she had no new texts from him.
Why did Drew tell Phillip he wasn’t coming, but not me?
When Bri couldn’t stand it any longer, she sent a few rapid-fire texts to him.
Bri: Is everything okay?
Bri: You’ve seemed distant this week.
Bri: And then you didn’t show up for game night.
Bri: I’m worried about you.
Bri sank back into the settee cushions, running her hands across her face. She closed her eyes, hoping a response would come faster if she wasn’t staring at her phone screen. After a few minutes, the text notification sound dinged, and she scrambled to grab her phone.
Drew: Can we talk tomorrow morning? In person? I can come to you.
Bri pressed her lips together as she fidgeted with her phone. She let out a long, slow breath, trying not to read too much into his message.
Bri: Of course. I’ll meet you at our spot.
Drew: *thumbs up emoji* See you at nine.
Bri: Can you at least give me a hint of what’s going on? You’re freaking me out.
Drew: Everything’s fine. I’d just rather share with you in person. Please don’t freak out.
She was typing out another question when words she’d never seen before popped up at the bottom of their text thread.Drew has notifications silenced.
He put on Do Not Disturb. In all the years she’d known him, he’d never ignored her messages.
Knowing there was nothing more she could do right now, Bri went through the motions of getting ready for bed. Her mind raced through all the worst-case scenarios of what could be so important that he would want to tell her in person.
His country is going to war. One of his parents is sick. Drew is dating someone, and she doesn’t want him to talk to me or see me anymore.
