Promise to Keep

by Jessica Wood

  As much as I’ve wanted to resist it, my heart has continued to reach out for you over the years. The hatred I had held onto toward you was built upon the intense hurt and love I’d always had for you. Maybe it’d been fate trying to tell me something, but earlier this week, a quote in the newspaper had caught my eye: “Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.” It’d come at the perfect time. It’d been right after that night at wedding reception, that night you’d poured your heart to me as I sat there ignoring you. And when I went to find you after you ran off in tears, I saw you collapse to the ground and at that moment in time, I thought I might have lost you.

  It was then that I’d realized that forgiveness may be the ultimate display of love. And if I truly loved you like I’d always thought I had, then forgiveness was something I had to learn to do.

  Please give me time to forgive you, and please also try to forgive me for all the times I’d hurt you, forsaken you, and disappointed you. Despite everything that’d happened between us, I am choosing to hold onto the moments that my heart cares for the most: the moments I’d fallen in love with you again and again.

  Here’s to many more of those moments.

  Love,

  Jackson

  I quickly finished the love letter as Chloe was fast asleep next to me in the park. I put the pen and notepad back in her purse. Then I reached over and slipped the note into the front pocket of her jeans. I wanted it to be a surprise, something to put a smile on her face when she’d least expect it. After hearing her recount of the story, I knew I’d wronged her in so many ways, and it was time for me to make up for them, one smile at a time.

  “Mmm.” Chloe mumbled as she stirred. A few seconds later, her eyes fluttered opened and a sweet smile spread across her face when her eyes focused on me. “Good morning.”

  “Good morning, sleepy head. I’m surprised you can sleep with all that noise.”

  She rubbed her eyes and looked around. “What noise?”

  “Your snoring.” I shook my head, trying my best to keep my composure. “Why do you think I’m already awake?”

  “You’re still an ass.” She yawned, unfazed by my comment. Even after almost ten years apart, she still knew when I was bluffing. I studied her with amusement as she stretched, trying to wake herself up.

  I got up from the grass and looked back at her. “Take my hand.” I reached out and offered my hand to him.

  She looked at me and cocked an eyebrow. “Should I trust you?”

  “You tell me?” I grinned, realizing she remembered our conversation from childhood about what I thought when she would agree to take my hand.

  I exaggerated a shrug and placed her hand on mine.

  I laughed and pulled her up from the grass. I held her hand as we walked down the pathway. We didn’t stop until we reached small metal bridge on the far end of the lake.

  “It’s still here,” she whispered as she reached for the red heart-shaped love lock that was locked up against the railing. She turned the lock around and her thumb brushed across the inscription etched on the back:

  Jax & Clo

  June 2003

  Unbreakable Friendship & Love.

  Promise to Marry in 2014.

  “You know,” I began. “It’s already the beginning of 2015. We’re a bit behind.”

  She turned around to look at me. “Yeah?” She looked at me hopefully.

  I nodded.

  “But…” she frowned, “where do we even start?”

  I pulled her toward me and cupped her face with my hand. I tilted her chin up so I could look straight into her beautiful brown eyes. “Why don’t we start from the beginning?”

  “The beginning?” She searched my face for an explanation.

  “Yes.” I beamed down at her. “If you’re free tonight, I’d like to take you out to dinner.”

  She beamed up at me, her cheeks flushed a rosy pink. “You mean like a date?”

  I chuckled. “Yes, a real date.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Present Day

  Thirty Years Old

  CHLOE

  “I’m so glad you’re okay and coming back home, Aunt Betty.” I leaned forward and squeezed her arms over her front passenger seat.

  She looked back at me and met my gaze with a warm smile. “Me too, honey. Did Jackson come and talk to you yesterday?”

  I couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. “Yeah, he did. I know it’s going to take some time for us to truly forgive everything that we’d done to each other, whether intentional or not, but I think we both want to work it out and move past it.”

  “Oh, that’s so great, honey.” She placed her hand to her chest. “I’m so happy for you.”

  I beamed. “Me too. I really can’t believe it actually. He’s actually taking me out on our first date tonight.”

  “Wow, I can’t believe it took that boy twenty-three years to build up the courage to ask you out.”

  “Uncle Tom!” I giggled. “You’re so mean.”

  Uncle Tom raised his hands in the air. “Hey, not mean. Wise. Don’t you remember? I called it that very first day you moved in with us that he was teasing you because he liked you.”

  “He actually did,” Aunt Betty nodded with a laugh. “Well honey, that’ll be a fun time. What are you guys planning on doing?”

  “I’m not sure actually. He said he’d surprise me.”

  “Awww. How sweet.”

  “Yeah.” For the rest of the car ride home from the hospital, I couldn’t help but daydream about what our first date would be like.

  While Uncle Tom helped Aunt Betty into the house when we pulled up, I opened the trunk to grab Aunt Betty’s things. Since she’d stayed for a few days, Uncle Tom had brought her a box of her scrapbooking items to help her days go faster.

  “Aunt Betty, where would you like me to put your scrapbooking stuff?” I called out as I walked through the front hallway.

  “Can you put the actual scrapbook on the bookshelf in the study, and you can take the box of scrapbooking supplies up into the attic for now.”

  “You got it.”

  “Thanks, honey.”

  When I got up to the attic, I realized that I’d never been up here before. I was surprised to see how many boxes of things that were stored up here. I even noticed a few boxes with my name on them.

  As I was riffling through some of the boxes of my things from childhood, I noticed a few boxes tucked further into the attic that caught my eye. From the darker age-worn shade of the box and the thick layers of dusts that seem to blanket on them, they seemed to have been untouched for decades.

  My curiosity got the best of me as I pushed through the dozen of boxes that came between me and the old cluster of boxes. When I got to the boxes, I brushed aside some of the dust to see what was written on the boxes.

  Judy’s Stuff

  I gasped seeing my mom’s name on a few of the boxes. These boxes contained my mom’s things. I’d never really seen any of her things before and had no idea they’d been stored here this entire time. I opened one of the boxes. It contained mostly clothes. I dug through the box and underneath some clothes was a large ruby-colored jewelry box. I picked up the box, feeling the rich velvet beneath my fingers.

  When I opened the box, my eyes lit up to see it filled with stacks and stacks of letters addressed to my mom.

  As I flipped through some of the letters, I realized they looked like love letters, all written in the same handwriting.

  My mind whirled at this discovery and as much as I didn’t want to hope it to be true, my thoughts instantly wondered if these letters could be from my father—the mystery man my mom had never talked about, even before her drinking completely took over her life.

  Suddenly one letter caught my attention.

  Judy,

  That night we first met in front of your sister’s house when you were getting her mail, I knew it was fate that had brought us together. After talking to you for those
few magical minutes, I knew there was something undeniably real between us. You mentioned that night how much you love writing and receiving handwritten letters, so here is the beginning of my love letters to you.

  Love,

  John

  Then I caught my name mentioned in another letter.

  Judy,

  You are the world to me, my love. You know that, right? Then you should know how happy I was when you told me that you were pregnant with our child. And only you would be so prepared to be a mother that you’ve already decided on what you’d want to name your first born. Chloe and Jeffrey are perfect names!

  It makes me sad that you were worried at first about telling me. You should know me by now, and you should know that nothing would make me happier than to start a family with you and grow old with you. Don’t worry about my parents. They will eventually come around and realize how perfect you are for me. Once I have things figured out with them, I want you to marry me! I hope you say yes, my love.

  Always Yours,

  John

  I stared at the letter, overwhelmed with emotion. They’re talking about me before I was born!

  My mom had said that my father had passed away before I was born. But was it possible that he was still alive? It sounded like the guy’s parents didn’t approve of his relationship with my mom. Was this why my mom didn’t tell me about him? Could this be my father?

  I flipped through the stash of letters and finally found one of the original envelopes that came with one of the letters. When I turned the envelope around and saw the name on the return address, my body froze as I felt all the oxygen being sucked out of the room. Shock flooded my entire body, numbing everything in its path.

  John Pierce.

  Jackson’s father. The man I had slept with. The man who’d once loved my mom.

  My knees suddenly gave out and I collapsed onto the floor as the weight of what this all meant became too heavy to bare.

  Could Jackson’s father be my father? Could Jackson and I actually be half brothers and sisters? And then another sickening thought caused my stomach to twist in unease. Had I really slept with my own father?

  Panic gripped me and I found it difficult to breathe. “This can’t be true,” I cried as I shook my head. “This just can’t!” I stared at the letter in utter disbelief.

  Unable to accept this reality, I felt an uncontrollable urge to run away from everything.

  Without a word, I left the house and got into my car. I wasn’t sure where I was going, but I wanted to be anywhere but here. I pulled out of the driveway and sped off down the street.

  Tears streamed down my eyes as I tried to process what this all could mean. Feeling frantic and out of control, my foot pressed further down onto the gas pedal.

  Suddenly, before I knew what was happening, I watched in surprise as my car flew off the edge of the bridge. As if in slow motion, the world started spinning outside my car window, and the sickening sensation of falling at high speed gripped the pit of my stomach. Before the impact of the water hit the car, the last thing I registered was the empty darkness that engulfed me.

  ***

  Thank you for reading Promise to Keep, book two in the three-book series Promises. The conclusion to Chloe and Jackson’s story unfolds in Promise of Forever (book three), which will be out on March 31, 2015 and available on pre-order.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Thank you for reading Promise to Keep, book two in the three-book series Promises. The conclusion to Chloe and Jackson’s story unfolds in the final book Promise of Forever (book three), which will be out on March 31, 2015 and available on pre-order.

  Please also consider telling your friends and leaving a review for this book. As an indie author, word of mouth and reviews help other readers to discovery my works. Thank you.

  OTHER BOOKS

  If you would like to stay informed of new releases, teasers, and news on my upcoming books, please sign up for Jessica Wood’s mailing list and visit me at my website: http://jessicawoodauthor.com.

  Below is a list of Jessica Wood’s books:

  Emma’s Story Series

  A Night to Forget – Book One

  The Day to Remember – Book Two

  Emma’s Story Box Set – Contains Book One & Book Two

  The Heartbreaker Series

  This is an Emma’s Story spin-off series featuring Damian Castillo, a supporting character in The Day to Remember. This is a standalone series and does not need to be read with Emma’s Story series.

  Damian – Book One

  The Heartbreaker – Prequel Novella to DAMIAN – can be read before or after Damian.

  Taming Damian – Book Two

  The Chase Series

  This is a standalone series with cameo appearances from Damian Castillo (The Heartbreaker series).

  The Chase, Vol. 1

  The Chase, Vol. 2

  The Chase, Vol. 3

  The Chase, Vol. 4

  The Chase: The Complete Series Box Set – Contains All Four Volumes

  Oblivion

  This is a standalone full-length book unrelated to other series by Jessica Wood.

  Oblivion

  Promises Series

  This is a standalone series unrelated to other series by Jessica Wood.

  Promise to Marry – Book One

  Promise to Keep – Book Two

  Promise of Forever – Book Three

  ***

  Pre-Orders Currently Available

  Promise of Forever – March 31, 2015

  ***

  Oblivion - Synopsis

  I wake up to a life and a man that I can’t remember.

  He says his name is Connor Brady—the tall, sexy CEO of Brady Global, Inc.

  He says my name is Olivia Stuart, and that I was recently in an accident and lost my memory.

  Also, he says I’m his fiancé.

  Although I don’t remember Connor, or anything about my past, something about him seems familiar. He is kind, protective, and breathtakingly-gorgeous. But there is just one problem—he seems too perfect.

  As I begin to rebuild my relationship with Connor and accept the idea that I may never remember my past, I unexpectedly meet Ethan James.

  Ethan is the mysterious, rebellious stranger who pushes my boundaries to their limits and makes me feel alive. As our lives collide time and time again, the bits and pieces of my past start to unravel, unearthing the secrets that have been buried deep inside my subconscious. With every new memory I gain about who I once was, I become more torn between the man who is my fiancé and the stranger who is the key to my past. Is my life with Connor really as perfect as he leads me to believe?

  You can get your copy of Oblivion here.

  About The Author

  Jessica Wood writes new adult contemporary romance.

  While she has lived in countless cities throughout the U.S., her heart belongs to San Francisco. To her, there’s something seductively romantic about the Golden Gate Bridge, the steep rolling hills of the city streets, the cable cars, and the Victorian-style architecture.

  Jessica loves a strong, masculine man with a witty personality. While she is headstrong and stubbornly independent, she can’t resist a man who takes control of the relationship, both outside and inside of the bedroom.

  She loves to travel internationally, and tries to plan a yearly trip abroad. She also loves to cook and bake, and—to the benefit of her friends—she loves to share. She also enjoys ceramics and being creative with her hands. She has a weakness for good (maybe bad) TV shows; she’s up-to-date on over 25 current shows, and no, that wasn’t a joke.

  And it goes without saying, she loves books—they’re like old and dear friends who have always been there to make her laugh and make her cry.

  The one thing she wished she had more of is time.

  If you would like to follow or contact Jessica Wood, you can do so through the following:

  Mailing List: http://jessicawoodauthor.com/mailing-list/ />
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