Eli's Promise by Ronald H. Balson

Author:Ronald H. Balson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

* * *

Nathan was standing outside on the stoop when Preston’s Bonneville screeched to a stop in front of the building. Preston jumped out and headed for the door, but Nathan stopped him.

“Hang on, Pres. Let me talk to you for a minute.”

“What’s going on, Nate? Something’s wrong. Chrissie’s crying. It’s that asshole Nicky, isn’t it? He’s been calling the house all night saying he’s sorry. What the fuck did he do? I’ll kill that son of a bitch. What did he do, Nate? What happened to Chrissie?”

“Slow down. I want you to take it easy. Chrissie’s upstairs and she’s upset, but she’s okay. Nicky was an asshole today, he went off on Chrissie, but she quit her job and now it’s over. It’s finished. She’s not going back, and she never has to see him again. The last thing we need is for you to get upset and get out of control. She needs our support. Most of all, she needs you to be compassionate and understanding.”

“I’m not going to get mad at Chrissie. I love her. I’ve been begging her to quit that bullshit job for weeks.” Preston appeared to calm down, but then he looked in Nathan’s eyes. “It’s more than that, isn’t it, Nate? There’s something else, isn’t there? It’s not just about her quitting her job, or she would have come home. She wouldn’t need to stop at Mimi’s.” He pushed Nathan aside and bounded up the stairs.

Mimi met him at the door and quietly said, “Please be kind to her. She’s been through a lot today.”

The minute Preston saw the bruise, he flew into a rage. “He did this to you? He hit you?” He spun around and headed for the door. “I’m going to teach that punk a lesson.”

Christine ran for him, wrapped her arms around him and held tightly. “Please, please don’t go over there. He’ll call the police and you’ll get arrested. It’ll just make it worse. I quit my job today. I’m not going back. Can’t we just leave it at that?”

Preston was incensed. His face turned beet-red, his muscles tightened and his breathing rate doubled. He was ready to explode. “The bastard hit a defenseless woman. He hit my wife, for God’s sake! I’m going over there and teach that prick a lesson he’ll never forget.”

“Whoa, hold on, Pres,” Nathan said as calmly as he could. “Chrissie’s right. He’s probably at home and drunk, and if you go there and cause a scene, you’ll end up in jail.”

“Please don’t go there,” Christine said. “Pres, there’s something more important. You have to help me talk to my father. He doesn’t want me to quit my job. I called him a few minutes ago and told him what happened, and he said he’d straighten it out; he didn’t want me to quit. He insisted I return to work on Monday.”

“Not happening.”

“Pres, it’s my job to keep my eye on Nicky and report to my dad every day. Dad promised me it would never happen again, and he wants me to keep working.

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