The Promise (Neighbor from Hell Book 10)

by R. L. Mathewson

  “Maybe it’s Julie,” Matt said as he began drumming his fingertips against the table and really making her regret promising not to kill him. “It would make the most sense.”

  “It’s not me,” Julie said from her usual spot next to him where she waited for her daily entertainment to start with a stack of gossip magazines, a large cup of coffee, and a-

  “I really should know better by now,” Julie grumbled, letting Joey know that Matt had finally noticed that large blueberry muffin that she’d foolishly brought with her.

  “You really should,” Matt readily agreed.

  “It’s not Julie,” Reed said as he walked into the kitchen.

  “Then who is it?” Matt asked, making her sigh even as she considered crawling beneath the table so that she could pass out.

  She just wanted a little sleep before she had to drag herself to work. She really didn’t want to go to work. Not today. Today, all she wanted to do was pass out in his bed and stay there until she could open her eyes again without feeling like she was dying.

  “Why do you want to know?” Reed asked, dropping into his chair.

  “Why wouldn’t I want to know?” Matt asked, snorting in disbelief. “The woman has you screaming to the rafters every night. Of course, I want to know who it is.”

  “I already told him that it was me,” Joey mumbled weakly, wishing they’d take pity on her and let her sleep.

  “She really did,” Julie said, sounding amused.

  “Fine,” Matt said, sighing heavily. “If you’re not going to tell me who it is, then at least tell me why you needed a favor at six in the morning.”

  “I need you to wait here for Trevor and Jason and give them a ride to school,” Reed announced, making her frown.

  “Why?” Matt asked the question that she didn’t have the energy to ask.

  “Because I need extra chaperones so that Joey and Shawn can go on the field trip,” Reed said, and admittedly it took her sleep-deprived mind a few seconds to grasp what he said, but once she did…

  “Really?” she asked, shoving her chair back and scrambling over the table and onto his lap so that she could wrap her arms around him as she kissed him.

  “Oh, my god! What is the meaning of this?”

  *-*-*-*

  “You know,” Joey said, pausing to take a sip of her soda as she watched another group of students walk towards the ax throwing booth that she wouldn’t mind trying, “this isn’t so bad.”

  “It’s too loud,” Shawn, her assigned field trip buddy, said, taking a sip of his soda before he put it down on the ground between them and focused back on building her fortress.

  “There is that,” she said with a nod and a yawn as she took in her first field trip and had to admit that this wasn’t a bad way to spend a school day. She’d never been to a Medieval Faire before and as she sat there keeping Shawn company, she had to admit that it looked like a lot of fun.

  “Do you want to have a look around?” she asked, although she was more than fine where they were, she felt that she should at least try to encourage Shawn to have a look around.

  “No,” he said, shaking his head.

  “Okay,” she said, nodding as she settled back against the small fence that separated the booth area from the game area.

  She would have preferred to take him over to the picnic area where she could have set him up at a table out of the way, but he’d barely made it off the bus before the noise and crowd became too much and he’d started to panic. Before he could lose it, she’d managed to get him over by the fence, shoved her iPad in his hands, and demanded a fortress. After glaring at her, he sat down with a sigh and began working on her fortress.

  “I love field trips,” Jason, Reed’s cousin who was working on Garrett’s house this weekend, said with a heartfelt sigh as he sat down next to her with a replica medieval mug in one hand and a large turkey leg in the other that made her stomach turn.

  “What are you building?” Trevor asked as he sat down next to Shawn with a large tray of food.

  “A fortress,” Shawn said, throwing Trevor a nervous glance as the large man placed the tray of food between them.

  “And a bridge,” Joey said, biting back a smile when Shawn leveled a glare on her.

  “We didn’t discuss a bridge.”

  “We’re discussing it now,” she said as Trevor handed Shawn a small tray with a hamburger, hot dog, and fries, making sure that he had everything that he needed before he handed Shawn a fresh bottle of Coke.

  “Thank you,” Shawn said, ducking his head with a shy smile as he picked up his burger.

  “You’re welcome,” Trevor said with a fond smile, setting to work on his own food as he watched Shawn work.

  “Hey, Pookie, still mad?” Jason asked Garrett, whom she noted always had a glare on his handsome face, as he joined them.

  “Shut up,” Garrett said, dropping his head back against the fence with a sigh.

  “That hurts my feelings, Pookie,” Jason said with a sad shake of his head only to pause mid-shake as something caught his attention and within seconds there was an anticipatory gleam in his eye that had her frowning and following his gaze to find Reed standing in front of them, looking down at the clipboard in his hands.

  “Don’t,” Garrett said with a tired sigh.

  “Can we help you?” Jason asked, blinking innocently up at Reed as his eyes narrowed suspiciously on his cousin, who seemed to enjoy screwing everyone over.

  “Have you seen Matt?”

  “I believe Matt was getting some food for Joey so that they could enjoy a romantic lunch for two,” Jason said, blinking innocently as Joey bit back a grimace while she shifted in an attempt to get more comfortable on the rough ground as Reed’s eyes narrowed dangerously on them.

  “He also said something about winning a teddy bear that Joey had her eye on first though,” Trevor added as he took Shawn’s empty plate away and handed him a large brownie.

  “She wants the white one,” Shawn added, making her lips twitch as Trevor shot him a wink.

  Jaw clenching, Reed glanced over at the long food lines before glancing back at the strongman game just as Matt picked up the large hammer. Without another word, Reed tossed his clipboard to Jason, walked over to the game and-

  “That’s going to leave a mark,” Joey found herself mumbling with a wince as she watched Reed grab the large hammer from Matt and shoved him out of the way.

  With a glare in her direction, Reed raised the hammer and swung it, nailing the plate with a loud ding that echoed throughout the busy fair. He did it two more times before he tossed the hammer back to Matt, who caught it with a grunt, grabbed one of the white teddy bears that she’d had her eye on and walked back towards them. When he reached them, he hunched down by her side and handed her the teddy bear.

  “Thank you,” she said, smiling down at the large teddy bear in her arms only to glance past Reed and couldn’t help but notice how cute the brown teddy bear was.

  “You want a brown teddy bear, don’t you?” Reed asked, reaching over to push her hair back over her ear with that smile that she loved so much.

  “We really do,” Shawn said, making their lips twitch.

  “It’s true,” Joey said, nodding. “We really do.”

  “High maintenance,” Reed said with a mock glare.

  “I really am,” she said, nodding in agreement as she watched him walk back over to the game, grab the hammer back out of Matt’s hands and won the brown bear for her just as she couldn’t help but notice how cute the pink teddy bear was.

  Chapter 44

  “So, you still haven’t told me why you’re using my room,” Matt said as he dropped down onto that mess that he called a bed with a sigh.

  “And I’m not going to,” Reed said as he adjusted his tie one last time only to pull it loose and toss it aside with a sigh and reach for the striped one.

  “The black one,” Matt said as he searched through the mess on his bed.

  Tossing
the striped tie aside, Reed grabbed the black tie and put it on, all while telling himself that he had nothing to be nervous about. It was just dinner, drinks, and if he planned this right, a romantic night downstairs with her “pretties” where he would finally tell her that he loved her.

  He’d been debating telling her at all for the past month, but now he was at the point where he needed to tell her. He never thought that he could love someone as much as he loved her. She was everything that he’d ever wanted and more. She was the woman that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

  “Where are you going?” Matt asked as he settled on a half-eaten candy bar.

  “Out,” he said, straightening his tie and deciding that it would have to do as he turned his attention to his hair, making sure it looked right before he reached for the bouquet of white roses and-

  “Are the flowers for Joey?” Matt asked as he popped one of the chocolate covered orange jellies that Reed picked up for Joey, into his mouth.

  “Does it matter?” he asked, wondering if he had time to run out and get another box only to curse when he saw the time.

  He was running late.

  “Does Jackson know yet?” Matt asked, finishing off the box of chocolate that had taken Reed a week to find.

  “No,” he said, taking one last look before he turned around and-

  “You really don’t think he’s going to find out?” Matt asked excitedly, trying to get off his bed only to get tangled in the mess that Reed had been meaning to talk to him about.

  “I don’t care if he finds out,” Reed said, heading for the door.

  “Wait!” Matt said, rushing to catch up with him. “Why not?”

  “It’s none of your business,” he said, pausing in the hallway

  “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing,” Matt pointed out, following him.

  “I’m taking Joey out to dinner,” he said, sighing heavily as he walked across the hallway and knocked on his bedroom door.

  “Where are we taking her?” Matt asked, catching up with him.

  “You’re not invited,” he said, glancing down at his watch.

  “Of course, I am.”

  “You’re really not.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be invited? It’s not like you’re proposing or anything,” Matt explained, reminding him of the one thing that he’d hated about this situation.

  “Reservations are for two,” Reed said, refusing to let the little bastard tag along.

  Not this time.

  Every single time he’d tried to take her out for dinner, a movie, or even a fucking walk, the little bastard was there, but not tonight. Tonight, he’d made damn sure that the little bastard wasn’t joining them.

  “Really?” Matt asked, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest as he considered him. “Does Joey know this?”

  “Why?” he asked as he knocked on her door.

  “Because she’s not here.”

  “Where is she?” he asked, already heading for the stairs.

  “No clue,” Matt said as Reed grabbed his keys and headed for the door.

  “Shit,” Reed said as he headed out the door and-

  “I haven’t thanked you for watching over my sister, have I?” Jackson, who had made himself scarce since the camping trip, said, pushing away from the house where he’d been waiting for him.

  “Are we still playing this game?” Reed asked, shifting his attention to his best friend just as Jackson’s lips pulled up into a shit-eating grin and confirming his suspicions.

  “I guess there’s no point anymore, is there?”

  “How long have you known?” Reed asked, heading for his truck.

  “That you were in love with my sister?” Jackson asked, chuckling as he joined him. “Probably before you did.”

  “Why the pretense?” Reed asked as he unlocked his truck and climbed in.

  “Because I love my sister,” Jackson said as he climbed in the passenger side and sat back with a heavy sigh.

  “Meaning?” Reed asked, not bothering to start his truck as he waited for whatever was coming.

  “Joey never cared enough about the little pricks that she’d dated in the past to hide them.”

  “Our situation is a little more complicated,” Reed said, giving Jackson a pointed look that had his best friend chuckling.

  “True,” Jackson conceded with a nod, “which is why I didn’t interfere because Joey doesn’t do complicated. She likes straight forward relationships without drama or a chance in hell of it going anywhere, but you don’t.”

  “No, I don’t,” he agreed, wondering why he’d ever bothered trying to lie to himself.

  Because he’d wanted her and would have agreed to anything to have her.

  Absolutely fucking anything.

  “Plus, Joey would never do anything to hurt you again. She’s not cruel.”

  “No, she’s not,” Reed murmured in agreement because she was probably the kindest woman that he’d ever met.

  “Which of course makes me wonder what kind of life you can offer my sister.”

  “I’m planning on asking her to marry me,” he said because he’d realized that he couldn’t live without her.

  “I figured that much out for myself, but what I haven’t figured out is what kind of life Joey is going to have here,” Jackson said, making him frown.

  “Anything she wants.”

  “There’s nothing for her there, Reed, and we both know it. Joey needs more than a part-time job substituting at a public school. She needs a hell of a lot more than this town can give her. I don’t want Joey to end up like your mother,” Jackson said quietly as Reed felt his words slam into him.

  “My mother never regretted marrying my father,” he bit out.

  “No, she didn’t, but she gave up everything to be with him and I don’t want that for Joey. Not after everything she’s been through,” Jackson said as Reed rubbed his hands roughly down his face.

  “She’ll suffocate in a place like this, Reed.”

  “I would never let that happen.”

  “Really? And how exactly are you going to stop it from happening, Reed?” Jackson asked, leveling a hard look on him. “Joey will wither away in a place like this and we both know it.”

  “I’m not going to let that happen,” Reed said, feeling sick to his stomach as Jackson’s words settled in the pit of his stomach as he realized that Jackson was right.

  “Even if that means letting her go?” Jackson asked as he opened his door and Reed realized that he might not have a choice.

  Not if he wanted to keep his promise.

  Chapter 45

  “What the hell am I doing?” she asked, dropping her hands away with a tired sigh and glanced back at the email that was waiting for her to figure out what she was going to do.

  She couldn’t believe that she was even considering doing this. She should just go home and let Reed know that it was over, but she wasn’t ready to do that. She hadn’t been ready two months ago and she wasn’t ready now. She just wanted a little more time to figure everything out.

  She’d considered asking to finish out her sabbatical, but she didn’t have any reason to do that. She’d already sent her paper in, she wasn’t taking any classes to enhance her degree, and she doubted that they’d be willing to let her stay because she’d fallen in love with Reed.

  That left her with two choices.

  She could tell Reed that she was going back and try to enjoy what little time they had left, which of course was the smarter choice, or she could hit Send and throw everything that she’d been working for away on the off-chance that this was going somewhere. She just wished that she knew what she was supposed to do, she thought as she shifted her attention back to the stack of essays waiting for her attention. She was hoping to distract herself from the mess that she’d made of her life only to frown as she glanced over to her left and found Reed leaning against her classroom door, watching her, and looking so incredibly
handsome that it took her a moment to realize that he was talking.

  “I was with your grandmother when she found out about the accident,” Reed said as he pushed away from the door and walked into the room. “Did you know that?”

  “No,” she said softly as she watched as he walked around her classroom, taking in all the changes that she’d made.

  “She was helping me with my homework when the call came,” he said as he shifted his attention to the replica map of the Thirteen Colonies on the back wall. “I remember watching all the blood drain out of her face when they told her about your mother, but she didn’t cry. Not until she found out that you’d been in the accident too and that you might not make it.”

  He paused by the poster of the Mayflower Compact to send her a curious glance. “You remember the accident, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” she said hollowly as her grip tightened on the edge of the desk and she thought that she might be sick.

  Nodding, he returned his attention to the posters that she’d lined the room with. “She wouldn’t stop crying. I tried everything to make it better. I broke out her secret stash of chocolate from above the fridge. I promised her that everything would be okay. I hugged her and kissed her, but nothing worked. She wouldn’t stop crying and, at that moment, I hated you,” Reed said, shaking his head with a sigh as he ran his fingers over the books that she had stacked on the windowsill.

  “I didn’t even know you, but I hated you for hurting her like that. It didn’t matter to me that you were only a baby and that you’d lost your mother, I hated you and I swore that I would never let you make her cry again,” he said as he shifted his attention to the large globe that she’d helped herself to out of storage.

  “So, you watched over me,” she said weakly.

  “So, I watched over you,” he agreed with a nod as he continued making his way to the back of the room. “Do you know what I promised your grandmother?”