Promises_A friends to lovers romance.

by Michelle MacQueen

  Kimberly ran to the bed and tried to hug her grandma, but Maggie kept her off the bed.

  “Careful,” Maggie said, finally releasing her.

  “Hi, sweetie,” Kimberly’s grandma said. A tear leaked from her eye. She looked up at Maggie and mouthed, Thank You.

  After a while, a nurse came in and told them the patient needed to get some rest.

  “I’ll bring her back,” Maggie said, nodding to the older woman.

  “Come here, Kimberly,” Kimberly’s grandmother said quietly, her voice hoarse.

  Kimberly sat on the bed and leaned into her grandmother. An arm came around her slowly and squeezed, an IV keeping it from becoming a full hug.

  “I love you, sweetheart.” She kissed the top of Kimberly’s head. “More than you’ll ever know.”

  “Love you, Gram.” Kimberly sat up, looking into the face of the woman who raised her.

  “Go on now.” Her grandma smiled weakly.

  Maggie took Kimberly’s hand as she hopped from the bed and led her out of the room. Kimberly didn’t speak as they left the hospital behind.

  The last time Maggie spent a long period in a hospital was when Jason’s parents died. The crash killed his dad instantly, but his mom held on for about a week. Maggie’s dad didn’t bother coming, so Maggie hopped a bus to New York to be with her cousin. She was fifteen at the time. She stole her dad’s beer money for a bus ticket and a motel room. It was bad when she got home, but it was worth it.

  That trip was also when she found out Jason came with a bit of money. She had to blackmail her father to turn it down and let the kid go into the system. Whatever he went through after that was better than being raised by that man.

  Her father was dead, and she suddenly couldn’t find any reason to be sad about that. She wasn’t happy. She was just indifferent.

  “Alright, Kimberly,” Maggie said, looking sideways at the girl. “How would you like some ice cream for lunch? Because I, for one, could use it.”

  Elijah would’ve much rather been working on his own house, but he still had to make money over the summer.

  This one was a simple kitchen remodel. He was doing the cabinets and being paid well for it. The company he was working for knew the quality of work he did, so they liked to throw jobs his way when they got busy. He usually only accepted them when he was between flips, but since he wasn’t doing a flip this summer, he didn’t have much of a choice.

  There was a beauty in transforming a house from start to finish that these remodel jobs lacked. The good thing was that he got to know people who could do all sorts of different jobs that would come in handy for his house. He couldn’t possibly do everything himself.

  He already had a buddy that was going to get the plumbing fixed later in the week and install new toilets and sinks, so he at least had working bathrooms.

  They all thought he was stupid for starting with the deck, but he had a plan for that. Sure, it wouldn’t help him be able to move in faster, but it would help him with something else, something twenty years in the making. It wasn’t just the deck, either. He needed the backyard to be perfect.

  Just thinking about what he was finally going to do made him nervous, and he was not someone who typically got nervous. His mother always said that he got his smooth, unperturbed personality from his Cuban side. His father had it too.

  Elijah got the last cabinet finished and stood up.

  “I’ve got to go,” he said to the rest of the crew. “Meeting a delivery in an hour.”

  They all said their goodbyes, and he left. He stopped at Home Depot to pick up some supplies and then headed straight for the house. He pulled up just as the truck from the landscape company did. They were going to plant the tree and sod the yard. It wasn’t cheap, but landscaping work was something Elijah hated to do. It was worth it to him to pay someone else to do it.

  While they got started on that, Elijah worked on cleaning the deck. He wanted to get the stain on by the time he lost the light that evening.

  He looked up when the tree was in and sat back on his heels, roller frozen in the air. It was relatively small, but willow trees grew quickly, adding up to ten feet a year. The tree that had been there before was ragged and half-dead. The willow was beautiful in comparison. Right then, he knew he had made the right decision to spend the money.

  He wasn’t the only one.

  He heard Maggie’s intake of breath and turned to find her standing by the gate with a young girl. She turned slowly so her eyes met his and smiled the smile that had only ever been reserved for him.

  “I knew there was a reason you wanted to start with the yard,” she said, walking closer. “You wanted to get that tree in.”

  “That tree is home.”

  “It is.” She gestured to the kid beside her. “Meet Kimberly. She’s with me today.”

  “Hey, Kimberly,” Elijah said. He was just happy to see Maggie smile and figured this kid had something to do with it.

  Maggie looked at the partially stained deck. “Can we help?”

  “Grab a brush.”

  They did as he instructed, and he showed them what to do. Kimberly was actually not bad, but Maggie was terrible.

  “Maggie,” Elijah laughed, “this isn’t one of your class’s finger painting projects. It needs to look halfway decent.”

  “I never said I was a painter,” she huffed.

  “That’s a good thing, because it would have been a lie.” Elijah and Kimberly were both laughing.

  Maggie looked between them and narrowed her eyes. “You two are trouble.”

  “It’s okay, Mags. Kimmy and I got this. Why don’t you go pick us up some dinner or something?”

  “Yeah,” Kimberly piped up. “Jah and I got this.”

  “‘Jah’?” Elijah asked, still laughing. “Did you just call me ‘Jah’?”

  “You called me Kimmy!”

  “But Jah is not short for Elijah.”

  “Yes it is,” Kimberly stated.

  “No, Eli is.”

  “I don’t like Eli.”

  “Me either,” Elijah admitted.

  “Then I’ll call you Jah.”

  “I don’t like Jah either.”

  “Tough cookies.” Kimberly stuck out her tongue.

  Maggie watched them go back and forth with a wide grin on her face. Elijah had met his match in a little girl.

  “Okay,” Maggie said finally. “If you two Picassos have this handled, I guess I’ll go get dinner. Kimmy. Jah. You two be good.”

  Maggie left and Elijah turned back to Kimberly. “Look what you made her call me.”

  Kimberly shrugged and shook from laughter. She looked up innocently. Those wide eyes could get her into anyone’s heart.

  “Alright kid, back to work.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Alright, let’s talk.” Maggie looked at Elijah expectantly as he shut the front door behind them.

  It was late. After Michaela picked up Kimberly, they’d stayed at the house, working. Elijah finished the deck while Maggie stayed inside, doing some cleaning for the next project.

  “About what?” Elijah asked. It was a stupid question. He knew they had a lot to talk about. He just wanted to know which thing in particular she meant.

  “Jake,” she said, looking away. “Last night. Everything.”

  She shifted uncomfortably, and Elijah held in a laugh. When she was nervous, she could never stand still. She’d start tapping her fingers against her leg soon. He knew her too well.

  “What the hell are you smiling about?” she demanded in a very Maggie-like fashion.

  “Just you.”

  “Are you laughing at me?” she asked. “That’s sick, Elijah. I’m upset and you’re mocking me.”

  “Trust me, I’m not laughing at you.” He let his smile drop and took on a more serious tone. “First thing’s first. Jake. I talked to him today, and I told him you aren’t ready to see him. You need time. He said it’s important, so he’ll come back in a coup
le of weeks.”

  “I’m glad you made my mind up for me.”

  Elijah knew what that meant. She was pissed.

  “Would you rather talk to him?” He ran a hand through his hair and brushed past her to sit on the arm of the couch. “Fine.” He held out his phone, offering it to her. “His number is in there.”

  Maggie just stared at him.

  “I didn’t think so.” He threw his phone on the couch and sighed. Maggie was upset and not thinking logically. He knew he had to give her some leeway.

  “So, he’s coming back?” she asked quietly.

  “Yeah, but he promised me this is only about your dad and not anything else that happened. And I believed him, Mags.”

  “Jake’s a liar. It’s like a game to him.”

  “Not this time.” Elijah reached out his hand and Maggie took it. “He’s sober, Mags.”

  A tear escaped from her eye and he knew she was remembering. Elijah didn’t know everything that had happened between Maggie and Jake, but he knew enough. He’d started drinking heavily only a year into their marriage. Maggie had gone from taking care of her drunk father to taking care of her drunk husband. He sometimes wondered who was taking care of her. He tried, but at the time, he’d had his own marriage problems.

  Maggie wiped furiously at her face. She hated breaking down in front of anyone. Elijah was pretty sure he was one of the few people she would cry in front of. She was tough, but what she didn’t realize was that Elijah didn’t think she was any less tough because she cried. If anyone deserved these emotional moments, it was her.

  “About last night,” Maggie said. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” Elijah shrugged. He acted like it was no big deal when, in reality, nothing had ever felt as right as having her in his arms.

  “No.” She started pacing. “I shouldn’t have done it. You shouldn’t have to be sucked into my emotional vortex.”

  Elijah stood and put his hands on her shoulders to keep her in place. “Remember when we were teenagers, and I promised you I’d always be there for you?”

  “One of your many promises.” She finally smiled.

  “I always keep my promises.”

  Maggie started working with Elijah at the house every day. He showed her what to do, and she was finding she actually enjoyed it. Elijah occasionally had to take remodeling work, but never big jobs. He’d been saving for this house for a long time, and he had the funds for most of what he needed. Other than that, he didn’t have many expenses he needed to cover since he was staying with Maggie and she wouldn’t let him help with rent.

  Elijah had a lot of help, so things moved rather quickly. Michaela and Jason were there whenever they could be, often with Kimberly in tow. Josh was a regular and had gotten some guys he was training with to help. Some of Elijah’s buddies that he’d worked remodels with in the past helped as well. There was something about men that got them obsessed with projects like these. The house would be filled with excited chatter when they were talking about what needed to be done next.

  Maggie loved spending time with Kimberly at the house. Elijah had them and Michaela start on some painting he wanted to get done before doing the floors. The girls had a good time. Kimberly wasn’t always there; sometimes she was staying with Michaela’s coworkers Melissa or Katie. Her grandmother was going to be in the hospital for quite a while, if she ever got out, but no one seemed to mind taking care of Kimberly. She was the kind of kid that made you believe in everything. Maggie couldn’t stop worrying about what was going to happen to her when her grandmother died.

  “Incoming!” Jason came running into the room with Kimberly on his back.

  “Incoming,” Kimberly giggled.

  Jason flipped her off his back and spun around before putting her on her feet.

  “The Kimmy express, at your service.” He held out his arm across his stomach and bowed to her.

  “Thank you, son,” Kimberly said.

  “Did she just call you ‘son’?” Maggie asked her cousin.

  “Short for Jason, duh.” He winked.

  “That’s not...” Maggie stopped herself with a laugh. “You know what, never mind.”

  “Well, I better get back to work or Elijah will whip my ass.” He turned and left as Maggie heard Kimberly’s sharp intake of breath.

  “He said a curse,” she whispered.

  “It’s okay,” Maggie said. “It’s just Jason. Act like he didn’t say it because you can just ignore anything he says, anyway.”

  Her face was so serious that Maggie almost laughed. Kimberly’s grandmother had done a good job with her. At that thought, she suddenly felt the urge to take the girl in her arms and tell her everything would be okay. Only, she knew it wouldn’t be. She knew what was in store for this beautiful, sweet child.

  Everyone left around dinnertime, and it was just Maggie and Elijah once again. They ate takeout and worked until dark before heading home. Maggie hadn’t said much in hours, but Elijah wasn’t pushing her on it.

  When they got home, Maggie took a shower and then crawled into bed, her hair still wet. She didn’t cry as much as she wanted to.

  Kimberly wasn’t the one on her mind tonight. Another orphan was. Maggie saw little Jason sitting in the hospital, alone. He was nine years old, old enough to realize his dad was gone and his mom was fighting for her life. He’d been so happy to see his cousin. She was the only person he knew that had bothered to come for him.

  Nine-year-old Jason jumped from his chair and ran to Maggie before collapsing into her arms in a mess of sobs. She carried him back to the chairs and sat next to him. They hadn’t let him stay with her in the motel as she was just fifteen, but she was at the hospital whenever she could be. That is, until a few days later, when Jason’s mom finally succumbed to her injuries.

  The look on his face when they took him away from her was forever seared into her brain. She stayed in touch with him, but the next time she saw him was when he was eighteen, and he was damaged from the nine years they spent apart. He was no longer the same sweet kid. He was angry and troubled. It took him a couple of years to move past that. She never thought she’d see him happy like he was now.

  A knock on her door took her out of her thoughts.

  “You awake?” Elijah asked from the hall.

  “Yeah,” she responded.

  He pushed open the door, but didn’t walk in. He was dressed only in soft cotton pants, but Maggie’s mind was too full for his bare chest to even register. She patted her bed, and he finally crossed the room towards her. The springs gave under his weight as he sat across from her, studying her face.

  “Look, Mags. I know something is wrong,” he said. “I was going to leave it be and let you tell me if you felt like it. Bu...” He spread his arms wide in exasperation, “I was lying in bed, and couldn’t stop thinking about you being in here upset and alone.”

  A sad smiled crept across Maggie’s face. Elijah always knew what she needed, even before she did.

  “It’s Kimberly,” Maggie said, looking down at her hands. “Elijah, her grandmother is going to die. And I know what happens next.”

  “Because of Jason?”

  She nodded and sniffled. She could keep the tears in when she was alone, but not when Elijah was here, staring at her. She raised her head and met his gaze.

  “I’ve never told anyone this before.”

  “I’m not anyone.” Elijah cupped her cheek and circled his thumb against her skin. “I’m your best friend. I’ll love you no matter what you tell me.”

  That did it. Maggie shook as the tears broke free, trailing down her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose. Elijah pulled her into his lap and rubbed soothing circles on her back.

  She calmed down and pulled back to look at him. She needed to tell someone, and Elijah was the one person she could tell anything to.

  “Do you remember when we were fifteen, and I hopped a bus to New York to be with Jason?” she asked.

  “Yeah, your dad
was livid because you took his beer money to do it.”

  She told him then. Everything about that trip. It was the hardest few days of her life up to that point, and all of those emotions came pouring out as she told Elijah of the little boy who lost everything, but trusted his cousin so completely.

  “This is the part that’s bad.” She hid her face in her hands. Elijah pulled them away, so she’d look at him.

  “Tell me,” he whispered.

  “I went back to Boston to find my dad and step-mom talking about taking Jason in. My dad’s brother was the only person he felt any loyalty to, but that wasn’t the only reason. There was some money that came with Jason as the only child of his parents. It was for his upkeep. That was all they wanted, and I knew none of it would actually go to his care. It was sick.”

  Maggie felt some of the old anger returning as the words poured from her mouth.

  “I went into the kitchen and started yelling at them. My step-mom backhanded me and I hit my head on the table. I got a pretty nasty cut, but that didn’t stop me. I didn’t want Jason to go through everything I’d experienced. I thought there had to be better people out there. People who deserved kids. People who would love him.

  “So, I made a split-second decision. I told them that if they took Jason in, I’d go to the police. I said I had proof of all their abuse over the years. I said I had pictures of bruises and cuts. I didn’t, of course, but they didn’t know that. They believed me, and Jason was sent into foster care.”

  She looked up at him, her shoulders sagging as the weight of her secret left them. Her quiet sobs were the only sound in the room until she spoke again. “I thought it would be better for him. But it wasn’t. How can I ever forgive myself? Jason never would if he knew.”

  “You were just trying to protect him.” Elijah sighed, leaning his head against hers.

  “Please don’t try to make me feel better right now. I don’t deserve it.”

  “Do you want me to go so you can be alone?” Elijah leaned away and waited for an answer. He knew her well.