Nothing More

I’ve got.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep that promise, but this is my only chance.

With a deep breath, I nod slowly. “I promise not to try to fix you.”

She exhales and I suddenly realize that she’d been holding her breath.

“Your turn.”

She’s hesitating this time. “I promise not to tell lies.”

She holds out her pinkie and I loop mine through it.

“It’s a pact now. Don’t break it,” she warns.

I glance at Lila sitting at the table, content with her car.

“And what happens if I do?” I ask her.

“I disappear . . .”

Nora’s words cut at me and I’m terrified by them because I know—I know without a doubt—that she means them.