Promises_A friends to lovers romance.

by Michelle MacQueen

  Elijah got an early start on Monday morning. He wasn’t happy about being awake, but he was excited to work on the house. He had all day free, and he knew exactly what he wanted to work on first.

  At his parent’s house in Boston, the deck and backyard had always been a special place. As a family, they loved to eat dinner outside when it was warm enough. They had countless parties, and he’d spent a lot of time out there with Maggie.

  It didn’t make sense. He knew that. When the rest of the house was in the state it was, the exterior was usually the last step. But Elijah didn’t care what made sense.

  He’d spent the day before doing measurements and shopping for supplies. Everything was ready.

  He was just about to get started out back when he heard voices coming from around front. He rounded the house and found Jason and Josh.

  “Elijah,” Jason called. “Maggie said you might like some help getting started.”

  “Do you even know how to use a hammer, Jason?” Elijah laughed. He was used to seeing Jason behind a bar or doing the books on the computer.

  “You use this claw thingy to pound the nail, right?” Now Jason was just messing with him.

  “I’m going to kill Maggie.” Elijah laughed. In truth, he was happy to have the help, and the deck was a good thing to have them work on.

  Jason laughed. “Josh here doesn’t have to be at the rink until this afternoon, so you have us for a while.”

  “Come around back then.” Elijah led them to where he had the wood and tools set up. “Maggie really sent you guys?”

  “It was her idea.” Jason shrugged. “But you know we would have helped anyways.”

  Guilt started to build in the pit of Elijah’s stomach. When she was doing stuff like this for him, how could he hide something as big as Jake coming to town from her?

  Chapter Four

  Maggie finished the school day with another headache. The closer they got to summer, the worst her kids became. They were restless. She was restless. She hoped she could be moved up a couple of grades next year, but she wasn’t holding her breath.

  She let out a sigh of relief as she left the school behind and headed towards Legal Services. Michaela had taken an afternoon shift and would be off soon. They had girl plans while the boys did their manly building stuff. Maggie knew she and Michaela would eventually be dragged into that as well, but not today.

  Legal Services was in a sketchy part of the city, but it wasn’t anything Maggie wasn’t used to. She’d grown up in a similar part of Boston. It didn’t scare her.

  She parked her car and walked down the sidewalk. A man tried to talk to her, but she brushed by him and turned into the building.

  This place was always a little crazy. There were a lot of people that needed legal help and couldn’t pay for it. The waiting area was packed and volunteers worked furiously at the rows of desks.

  Maggie spotted Michaela at a desk with a young girl sitting on it, her legs swinging back and forth. Maggie smiled at the kid, and she grinned toothily back.

  “Hey, Mags,” Michaela said as she finished up whatever she was typing.

  “And who is this beautiful little girl?” Maggie asked.

  “Kimberly,” the girl said in a high-pitched squeal.

  “Hi Kimberly, I’m Maggie.”

  Kimberly giggled and Maggie smiled wider. As difficult as her students could be, Maggie loved kids. The only dream that had ever mattered to her was to become a mother, but that wasn’t in the cards. After three miscarriages, she learned she had a uterine abnormality, as the doctors called it. Really, it was an oddly shaped uterus that she was born with. It prevented her from being able to carry a child to term. It was the hardest thing she’d ever had to hear.

  “Alright, Kimberly,” Michaela said. “I have to go. You should find Katie. I think she’ll be here for a while still.”

  Kimberly hopped off the desk and wrapped her arms around Michaela. “Will you be back tomorrow?”

  “No, but I’ll be here the day after.”

  “Okay.” Kimberly’s voice was small, sad.

  She surprised Maggie by hugging her as well. Maggie squeezed her tight and didn’t let go until Kimberly did.

  “It was nice to meet you,” Maggie said. She didn’t know what made her do it but she kissed Kimberly on the top of her head and said, “I’ll see you again.”

  “So, what’s a kid doing hanging out in a law office?” Maggie asked. She and Michaela were shopping, but not really buying anything. Neither of them were into spending much money. Maggie didn’t have it. Michaela did. She had a trust fund that would allow her to buy pretty much anything she wanted, but she rarely did.

  “You mean Kimberly?” Michaela put down the purse she’d been eying and turned to Maggie. “It’s actually a pretty sad story. Last year she was a case I helped on. We helped her grandmother battle for custody so she could take care of her.”

  “Instead of her parents?”

  “Her mom’s passed away, and her dad cared more about his next fix than his own daughter.” Michaela huffed loudly in exasperation before continuing. “He overdosed a couple months after he lost custody. He’s dead.”

  Maggie raised a hand to her mouth, her eyes widening.

  “Now her grandmother is sick,” Michaela went on. “Cancer. She has no one to help her with Kimberly when she goes in for treatments, so my colleagues and I help out. I don’t know what’s going to happen to her when her grandma dies.”

  “It’s that bad?”

  “Yeah, it’s bad.”

  They both stayed silent for a while after that, lost in their own thoughts. Maggie wanted to pick up that little girl and hug her again and again. No kid should have to go through all that. She knew exactly what would happen to Kimberly when her grandmother died.

  Maggie had been a teenager when Jason lost his parents. She saw what happened when his only adult family, her father, refused to take him in. Heartbroken and unloved, he went into the system and bounced around between foster homes until he was old enough to age out. What she’d never told Jason was that going through all that was still better than if he’d been raised in her house. She never told him that she was the one who protected him from her father. She didn’t think he’d ever forgive her for what she did back then.

  “You okay?” Michaela asked as they left the store and got in the car.

  “Has Jason told you much about living in foster care?”

  “Some,” she answered. “But he doesn’t talk about it much.”

  “I can’t imagine sweet little Kimberly going through some of the things he did.”

  “Me either.” Michaela sighed, leaning her head against the headrest.

  They didn’t talk the rest of the drive. Michaela’s usual sarcastic humor was replaced by a sadness neither of them could shake.

  They pulled up outside Elijah’s house and went around back to find Elijah and Jason lounging in lawn chairs and drinking beer, Jason with his blond hair and bright face and Elijah with his dark hair and wide smile. They made quite the pair.

  “I see you two are working hard.” Maggie laughed when they both looked at her as if they’d been caught red handed.

  “Where’s Josh?” Michaela asked.

  “He left for the rink a couple hours ago.” Jason stood and walked across the yard. Draping an arm over each of their shoulders, he led them towards the soon-to-be deck to show how far they’d gotten today.

  “I still can’t believe you guys started the entire house with this,” Maggie said. “It’s not normal.”

  “Since when are we normal?” Elijah grinned as he came up beside her. “Trust me. When it’s done, you’ll love it.”

  “Too bad we didn’t start with the bedrooms,” Jason said into Michaela’s ear. Maggie didn’t think he meant for it to come out as loud as it did, but he probably didn’t care as he pulled Michaela to him and kissed her long and hard.

  “I think that was a wise decision.” Elijah chuckled. “Come on, M
ags. Let’s go inside and order some food.”

  They left Jason and Michaela to whatever they were doing. They could have just ordered dinner from outside, but it was nice to get a break from those two. They could be a bit much.

  Maggie wasn’t jealous of their relationship, but that didn’t mean she wanted it in her face constantly. Jake broke her all those years ago. After their divorce, she’d tried to date. She’d wanted to find what she and Jake had never had. He’d never cared about her in the way that Jason cared about Michaela. She just didn’t see it at the time. She married him because it was an escape from the life she was living. She thought he would love and protect her in a way her parents never did. She was wrong.

  Thinking about Kimberly and the way she was being forced to grow up brought all of these feelings to the surface. It pissed Maggie off that people like her father or Kimberly’s father could have children but she couldn’t. She knew she would be a good mother.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Elijah closed the gap between them and put his hands on her arms. She wasn’t crying, but he’d always been able to read every expression on her face.

  “It’s nothing.” She tried to back away, but he didn’t let go. For some reason, she didn’t want to tell him about the little girl she couldn’t stop thinking about. She didn’t want him to know how much things from the past kept haunting her. Maggie had never told Elijah she couldn’t have kids. He knew about the miscarriages, but she never told anyone about the doctor she went to see. That was hers, and hers alone.

  Elijah just stared at her. She met his gaze and couldn’t look away. His eyes were like black holes, ready to suck you in at any moment. He ran a hand over her hair and whispered something in Spanish. She didn’t know what he said, but it calmed her down and she relaxed into his chest. Strong arms encircled her, and she felt safe. Elijah was the only person to make her feel that way.

  It should have been her father. It should have been her husband. But it was always her best friend. The one person she knew she couldn’t live without.

  Chapter Five

  The week passed pretty quickly for Elijah. Jason’s bar was closed in the beginning of the week so he had some extra help making progress on the deck. Josh was back and even Aaron, the manager of Jason’s, came to help. Maggie was around when she could be, but she was busy finishing up her last week of school before summer started. He knew starting next week, she’d be all his. There was no one he’d rather work on the house with.

  His father called on Wednesday. He enjoyed talking to him because the whole conversation would be in Spanish until his mom got on the phone. His dad was one hundred percent Cuban. His mom wasn’t, and could never really grasp the language like Elijah did.

  The reason they were calling wasn’t quite as enjoyable as the language though. They wanted to warn Elijah that Jake was going to be in the city this weekend. Jake’s mother had told his.

  This just set Elijah more on edge about his upcoming meeting with his old friend. He wasn’t telling Maggie. It felt like a betrayal, but he wasn’t about to let any of the old shit come back to her. She’d finally been doing better over the past year.

  So he called Jason and asked if he could meet someone at the bar on Saturday at noon. It wouldn’t be open, so no one would see them. Jason, of course, agreed, and didn’t ask questions. He was good like that. He let people handle their own business.

  After texting Jake the address of the bar, Elijah threw his phone on the bed, not wanting to see any response. It was Friday night, and most of their friends would be at Jason’s, but he wasn’t in the mood to be around all of them. He was jumpy and irritated. When he heard Maggie come through the front door, he went to the bathroom and splashed water on his face.

  Get a grip and act normal.

  “Summer is here!” Maggie called from the living room.

  Elijah greeted her with a strained smile plastered across his face. “Congrats.”

  “You have no idea how excited I am.” She sang as she danced through the kitchen and grabbed a soda out of the fridge.

  Elijah forced a laugh. “I’ll bet you are.”

  “Can we go out to celebrate tonight?”

  “How about tomorrow, Mags?” He ran a shaky hand through his hair.

  “Why not tonight?”

  Elijah felt like an ass. He had officially killed her buzz. “I just don’t feel like it.”

  “We can do something here to celebrate then.”

  “No,” Elijah said, much more forcefully than he’d intended. He took a long breath before going on. “You go.”

  “But we always celebrate the end of the school year together.”

  “Just go, Maggie.” With that, he stormed back into his room and slammed the door. He couldn’t stand to be around Maggie when she looked at him with such trust. He wasn’t angry at her. He was mad at himself and livid with Jake for putting him in this situation.

  Elijah picked up his phone and saw a single word response from Jake. OK.

  After a while, he heard the front door open and shut. He decided he needed to hit something, so he got up and grabbed a flashlight to help him work outside in the dark. Then he went straight to his house and those nails never stood a chance.

  14 years ago:

  Maggie stood in front of a floor-length mirror in her room in Elijah’s parents’ house. She’d been living there for almost two years. Her father hadn’t cared when she stopped coming home. When she went to get her stuff, they only wanted to make sure she didn’t take anything of theirs.

  She wore the white dress she would remember for the rest of her life. It was her wedding day.

  The dress wasn’t extravagant; they were just going to the courthouse after all. The silky fabric hugged her at the waist and then hung loosely down to just above her knee. The sleeves stopped midway down her upper arm and the neckline was modest. It was very her.

  Her feet were clad in embroidered heels, and her hair was swept up in a mess of curls and bobby pins.

  She tried to smile at her reflection, but the nerves made it impossible, and tears rolled down her face instead. Her stomach was in knots, and she knew if she tried to take a step right now, she’d fall on her face. Is this how all brides feel on their wedding day? She couldn’t even tell if she was excited or terrified.

  Maggie and Jake had known each other most of their lives and had been dating for two years. She was anxious to change her last name from Marks to Owens. That was the last tie she had to her family.

  Thinking of her family brought her cousin Jason’s face to the front of her mind. He was still just a kid, but they’d kept in touch since his parents died. He was with a foster family in New York City. She wished he was with her today. Every email or phone call from him ended with an “I love you”. He was the only person other than Elijah or Jake that had ever said that to her.

  She shook her head and sat down on the bed. Today was not a day to be sad. She was starting the next chapter in her life. Jake was forever taking her away from the family she was trying to escape.

  There was a knock on her door, and Elijah popped his head in. She smiled for the first time all morning.

  “Wow,” he breathed. “You look beautiful.” He leaned down to kiss her cheek and felt the dampness of her skin. The bed shifted as he sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “I love Jake,” was her only response.

  “Okay, then. What do we need to do to get you to smile?”

  “Just talk to me, Elijah.” She leaned into him. “Please.”

  So he did. He talked about everything that had nothing to do with the wedding that was set to take place in one hour. He made fun of the speeches from their graduation a few days ago. He talked about the future and the house he was about to buy and flip with Jake.

  It worked. He got her talking, and she stopped thinking so much. After a while, Elijah stood and held his hand out to her.

  “We should go get you marr
ied,” he said, a sad smile parting his lips.

  “Things don’t have to change between us, do they, Elijah?”

  “Things always change.”

  “Come on, don’t do that. I need to know we can still be Maggie and Elijah.” She held onto his hand as if afraid to let go. As if it was her lifeline.

  Elijah scratched the back of his head with his free hand and looked at her, his eyes clouded with an emotion she couldn’t place. “Today it becomes Jake’s job to be there for you. His job to hold you and tell you everything’s going to be okay. I can’t be that guy for you when you’re married to him.”

  “You promised me you’d always be there for me.” Maggie’s eyes welled up again.

  “And I will.” He reached out and cupped her cheek. “We’ll just have to figure out a new way to be.”

  “You’re right.” Maggie sighed, letting Elijah pull her to her feet. “Just ... I love you, Elijah. You’re my family.”

  “I promise I will always love you.”

  They got to the courthouse where Maggie and Jake were to be married in front of a whole six people: Elijah and his parents, along with Jake’s parents and brother. As soon as Maggie saw Jake, she didn’t care how many people were there to support them. The only thing that mattered was that this man wanted to marry her. This man would love her and protect her. He would never hurt her. She truly believed that. He was her forever.

  Maggie’s nerves disappeared as she stood on the edge of her future. Jake grinned at her, and they turned as one to say their vows.

  Chapter Six

  Present Day:

  Jake was late, and Elijah couldn’t help but think how like him that was. He hadn’t seen his old friend in four years, but he was sure he hadn’t changed.

  When everything happened, Jake and Elijah weren’t on speaking terms. Neither were Elijah and Maggie, for that matter. But she came back to Elijah. Jake never did. He knew what Elijah’s response to him would have been if he even tried. Elijah had warned him years before that he’d always be on Maggie’s side, and that would never change.