Don't Promise (Don't 3)

“Bye, girl. Tell your dad I said Merry Christmas.”

“You too.”

I tucked the phone in my pocket. I didn’t know what Cole would think about the double date with Mary Ellen and Aiden. But we needed a night out.

I turned the corner for the kitchen, to see Cole standing on a stepstool to reach something for my mom in the cabinets over the refrigerator. I didn’t know why those cabinets even existed; they were impossible to access.

“Be careful up there,” I teased.

Cole laughed. “Are you more worried about me or these china bowls?” He showed me a handful of red and green soup bowls. I couldn’t remember ever seeing them before.

“The bowls of course.” I leaned against the counter, watching my mom take the bowls and then direct him to grab something else.

“Cole, thank you so much. Frank would get them, but you’re so tall.” She beamed at him.

He folded up the stepladder and returned it to the laundry room. “Ready for our walk, darlin’?” He kissed the top of my head.

“Yes, I’ve got all our snow gear ready to go.” I led him to the back door. I handed him a pair of gloves and one of my dad’s wool scarves. “I promise not to let you freeze out there, island boy.”

“Oh, you don’t think I can handle it?” he taunted.

“We’ll see.” I winked. I knelt to help Grayson pull on his boots. My mom had borrowed snow gear from the neighbors for him to wear.

He looked like a tiny adorable stuffed animal.

“Ready to play in the snow?” I asked.

Cole tried to drag me into a kiss but I darted ahead of him, ducking under his arm and out the door.

9

Cole

The woods were quiet as if the snowy blanket had hushed all the usual sounds. Kaitlyn and I walked side by side along the trail. I held the leash for the sled and pulled Grayson behind me. He was content to ride through the path.

“So this is where you used to play as a kid?” I asked.

“Yes, the other neighborhood kids and I would take the trail to the park. Our parents weren’t worried because we didn’t have to be on any major roads. It was like we had our own secret path.”

“It’s completely different here than the island.” I looked up at the trees towering overhead. Snow drifted from the limbs as a squirrel scampered up the side.

“Yeah, it is. I miss the trees at the beach. Real trees.”

“I hadn’t really thought about it before.” I was quiet. I wondered what other things she missed about North Carolina.

She reached for my hand through our padded gloves. “I love Texas. You know that, right? And sometimes I’m going to miss being here, but that doesn’t mean I have any regrets. Being with you is where I want to be.”

I stopped in the middle of the trail. Grayson grabbed a handful of snow and started to pile it into the sled.

“Sometimes I worry that you’ll want to come back here. That Texas isn’t enough.” My eyes narrowed.

She shook her head. “I don’t want you to ever think that. I can’t believe you would worry. We have everything ahead of us, Cole.”

“But things are different. You’re pregnant. Your parents are great. You have all these memories here. Friends. Neighbors. Your whole life is here.”

She pulled the glove from her hand and traced the side of my face. Her hand was warm against my cheek.

“Cole, I have all of that with you in Padre. Our baby is going to have all of this, just in a different place. What brought this on? Why are you saying this?”