Page 75 of Promise Me Never

“I guess I wanted what I thought you had. For once, I wanted a happy ending.”

Poppy reached out and took Savannah’s hand in her own. “Savannah, I’m so sorry for the way Mom made you feel. We should have been close all this time and she made it impossible. It’s heartbreaking when I think back to everything. But you have to know, I never wanted it to be that way. I always loved you and wanted you in my life.”

Savannah squeezed her hand. “I guess I should get into therapy.” She rolled her eyes. “Should have done so a long time ago. Saved myself a lot of pain.” She took a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have blamed you. I’d like to try to heal things between us.”

Poppy’s face lit up. “That makes me so happy.”

“Look, it’s not going to happen overnight. I need to sort through my feelings, figure out what’s next.” The implications of Poppy being alive hit her suddenly. “The house is yours. Felicia’s living there now.”

“That’s the last place I want to be,” Poppy said.

“I get it. But you’re rich now. Bennett’s assets all belong to you. In fact, I guess I owe you some money. I used some of his money to buy my apartment.”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“No, that’s not—”

“Seriously. I don’t care about the money.”

“That’s very generous of you. There’s still millions that belong to you. We’ll sort it out. But where have you been all this time?”

“I was in the hospital for about a week. In and out of consciousness. I had planned to go back and turn him in. But then I found something out that changed everything.”

“What?”

“I was pregnant. I knew if I went back, it would be my word against his. I couldn’t take the chance that he’d get custody of our child. He was the one with the money, the connections.”

“Pregnant! Did you have—”

“I’ll get to that. I saw an article saying I’d drowned. I decided since the world thought I was dead, I’d stay that way until I could figure out what to do. I called a trusted friend who came to the hospital and gave me enough cash to get away. I pretended not to remember my name so there was no record of me there.”

“So where did you go?”

“I came here, to New Mexico. I found an artist commune where they didn’t ask questions. I became part of the community. A midwife delivered my daughter. And we’ve been living there, peacefully, off the grid ever since. You can’t imagine how freeing it is to not have technology taking over your life. It wasn’t until I saw the poster for your book talk that I even knew he was dead.”

“You can reclaim your identity now. Your daughter is safe. Where is she?”

“With my friends at the commune. Would you like to see a picture?”

Savannah nodded.

She pulled out a photo of a beautiful little baby with red hair and green eyes. Savannah ran her finger over the photo. “She’s gorgeous. What’s her name?”

“Millie.”

| Seventy-Seven |

Savannah

Savannah looked around at the house that had been her home for such a short amount of time. She and Poppy were packing up Bennett’s office. Poppy had come up with the idea to turn the house into a rental space for writer retreats. Felicia had been more than delighted with the plan. Writers from all over would flock to come and write in the house of the great Bennett Bryson, and Felicia would cook for them. She’d still have a purpose. Of course, they would have no idea what a fraud he had been. Savannah still couldn’t get over the fact that he had used AI to write his last two books all the while criticizing her writing. It made her blood boil. He’d been condescending and insufferable. Pretending to mourn her sister when he had tried to kill her. She was glad that Poppy would inherit all his assets. After everything she’d been through, she deserved that and more. Especially for little Millie.

Felicia walked in holding the baby. She was besotted with her. When the baby spotted Savannah, she held her arms out. From the first moment Savannah had met her niece, it was love at first sight. And the child returned that love in equal measure.

Savannah took her from Felicia and kissed her cheek. “Hello, beautiful. What are you two up to?”

Felicia smiled at her, a warm smile that reached her eyes. “I’m going to take her down to the pond to see the ducks. She loves them just like her Mommy.”

After Felicia and Millie left, Savannah turned to Poppy. “I can’t take it. She’s so darn adorable!”