Page 37 of Nicoli

“Definitely not.”

“Are you going to marry her, Li?”

“Whoa.” I lift my hands. “Slow down, grasshopper. What’s with all the questions?”

“If you marry her, you’re going to forget about me.” Her bottom lip quivers.

“What? No, I won’t.”

“Yes, you will. When a man gets married, he moves away from home. And they don’t visit often because his wife never likes his family.”

I stare at her with what I’m sure is a giant question mark on my face. “Where did you hear that?”

“I watch television, Li.”

“You should watch less television, then.”

“If you get married, you’ll leave your family. You’ll leave me.”

“Why would I leave you?”

She blinks moisture from her eyes. “Because you said I’m family.”

There’s a sharp tug in my heart, and I reach over, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “You are family, Mira, and you will always be family no matter what.”

“Promise?” She sniffs, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

“I promise.”

She narrows her eyes and points a dainty finger at me. “You can’t break a promise. My mom always said a promise is expensiver than the biggest pot of gold.”

Expensiver. The night she snuck into my room.

“I promise,” I repeat.

“Every time you break a promise, God writes it down in His book. And if you break it—”

“I won’t break it, Mira.”

“—he has to tear out the page, and you don’t want Him to do that.”

“I won’t break my promise. I swear.”

“You won’t leave me?”

Jesus, this kid doesn’t let up. “I won’t leave you. Promise.”

“Okay.” She purses her lips. “I believe you.” But then she gets that pensive look on her face, her eyes narrowed, a finger on her chin as she glances up at the tree branches. “Oooor, we could just get married.”

I scoff. “What?”

She turns and looks at me, the sun catching the side of her face, one of her striking green irises shimmering in the afternoon. “If we get married, you won’t leave me.” She rolls her eyes. “Obviously. I’m your wife. Twenty-two.”

“Twenty-two what?”

“We can get married when I’m twenty-two.”

I slant a brow and can’t help but grin. “I’ll be old then. An ogre. You don’t want to marry an old man.”

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