Chapter 20 - The Unbroken Promise
Two days later, my small two-bedroom apartment in town smelled like fried eggs and fresh toast.
Emily sat at the kitchen counter in oversized flannel pajamas, swinging her bare feet against the barstool. The bruises on her wrists were fading from dark purple to sickly yellow, but her appetite had finally returned with a vengeance.
"Dad?"
"Yeah, Em?" I asked, sliding two slices of buttered sourdough onto her plate.
"Are you going to the grocery store job today?"
I looked down at my phone resting on the counter.
There were four missed calls from Dave’s replacement at Apex. A walk-in freezer at a restaurant downtown had a burned-out fan motor, and the manager was offering double time if a technician arrived within forty minutes.
I reached out with two fingers, tapped the screen, and switched the phone completely off.
"Nope," I said, setting the spatula in the sink. "Not today."
"Why not?"
"Because today we’re going to the hardware store," I said, sitting on the stool next to her. "We’re buying lumber, wire mesh, and three gallons of green paint."
Emily stopped chewing. Her eyes went wide. "For what?"
"For that treehouse you asked for back in October," I said, tapping the tip of her nose with a flour-dusted knuckle. "The one with the rope ladder and the secret trap door."
She stared at me for three long seconds, as if checking the fine print one last time to make sure there wasn't a catch hidden in the deal.
Then, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, a real, bright grin spread across her face.
"Can we put a lock on the door?" she asked.
"A lock?" I smiled gently. "Why a lock?"
"To keep Mrs. Harris’s lemonade out," she said.
I laughed—a deep, genuine laugh that cleared the last of the stale cold from my chest.
"Deal," I said, holding out my hand.
She took my rough, grease-stained thumb in her small palm and squeezed tight.
"No exceptions," she whispered.
May you like
"No exceptions, Em. Not ever again."
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen. If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://metro.treeiq.biz New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
