Page 7 of Promising You
“So is this the bird?” I ask, hoping to refocus her attention.
She nods. “She can’t fly anymore.”
Lilly kneels down on the ground again. The bird was twitching a little before, but now it’s motionless and I’m pretty sure it’s dead. I glance over at Garret. I have zero experience with kids and have no idea how to handle this situation.
Garret kneels down next to her, his voice softer now. “You need to let the bird rest. She’ll be okay.”
“How do you know?”
“When you’re hurt you have to rest to get better. Just like with me. I have to rest to get better, right?”
“Can we take her inside? She can rest in my room.”
“This is her home. She lives in the woods. She doesn’t want to go inside.”
“But nobody will take care of her.”
“She has a mom, just like you. Her mom will take of her.”
“But what if her mom can’t find her?”
“She’ll find her. But she shouldn’t have left home like that. Just like you shouldn’t have run off, Lilly. You can’t do that ever again, okay?”
She nods.
Garret takes Lilly’s tiny, mitten-covered hand and stands up, pulling her up with him. “Let’s go inside. I’m hungry from all that sledding.” His tone has lightened, making Lilly smile.
“You didn’t even go sledding, Garret.”
He smiles back. “I know. But watching you and Jade go sledding made me hungry.”
He picks up my hand with his free hand and we all walk back to the house.
When we get inside, Lilly takes off her coat, hat, and snow pants and hangs them neatly on the hooks by the door. Next, she takes off her boots and sets them on a rubber mat. It’s funny to watch her. I was never that orderly as a kid. I just tossed all my stuff on the floor. I still do, at least in my dorm room. Here, I follow Lilly’s lead and put everything in its place.
Once her snow gear is put away, Lilly runs into the kitchen. I start to follow her but Garret holds me back.
“What happened out there has to stay between you and me,” he says. “Don’t tell my dad and definitely don’t tell Katherine.”
“I won’t say anything. But won’t Lilly say something?”
“No. She knows she’d be punished for running off like that. She won’t say anything.”
“Sorry, I should’ve kept an eye on her.”
“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your job to keep an eye on her. It’s my job. And I fucked up. If Katherine found out, she’d never leave me alone with Lilly again. She’s finally starting to trust me and then this happens.”
“What do you mean? Why didn’t she trust you with Lilly?”
“Because before I met you I was drunk all the time. And not very responsible. But still, I would never let anything happen to Lilly.”
“You know, you were really good with her out there. You knew just what to say.”
He shrugs. “I tried. She seemed to believe it. And thanks for calming me down.”
“I know what it’s like to be small and have someone big yelling at you. It’s scary, even if the person doesn’t mean to be scary.” I stand up on my toes to kiss him. “And you’re so big you can be kind of scary to us small people.”
Lilly comes running out of the kitchen. “Charles made hot cocoa!” She tugs on both of us. “Come on.”
