Page 1 of Promised Secret (Promises, Promises #3)

DAN

Nine years old

My lao-ba dragged me to the clinic again. If he wanted to be a workaholic—as I’d heard the neighborhood gossips describe my old man as on occasion—then he could do as he liked. But why did he have to drag me along, too?

It was summer vacation, and being at the clinic was at the bottom of the list of things I wanted to do. My friends were going swimming at the springs today, and no matter how much I begged my lao-ba to let me go, he refused, saying it was dangerous, and brought me here instead.

His reasoning was that since I’d inherit the clinic in the future, I should spend my summers learning from him, just as he’d done from his father, and my grandpa had done from his father.

My great-grandfather opened Kither Springs Health Clinic when he and his wife had settled into this small town years and years ago. Back then, the clinic focused more on TCM, or Traditional Chinese Medicine, and practices my great-grandpa learned from his hometown in China.

Years later, the clinic moved with the times and specialized in Western medicine, but my father still forced me to spend my summers learning TCM since it was knowledge I wouldn’t be able to learn in medical school.

He expected me to follow in his path and take over the clinic from him one day, but I didn’t even know if I wanted to be a doctor.

I wanted to be something cool, like a superhero or maybe a police officer with their impressive uniform and hat.

They were the real heroes of our modern world, gaining fame and love from their community.

I made siren noises as I pushed my toy police car across the clinic’s vinyl floors. Since I couldn’t play with my friends today, then I had to find a way to entertain myself. It was a slow day at the clinic with only Lao-ba and me there.

Seconds later, a pair of black loafers came into view and blocked my car’s path. My eyes moved from the shoes, up his black slacks, and to the stern face of my father.

“Dan,” he called my name affectionately, his face softening for the briefest of moments before turning into his usual firmness. “Why are you playing on the floor again? Did you finish reading the book I gave you?”

Mentally, I rolled my eyes because there was always another book for me to read. I didn’t show my annoyance on my face, though, and nodded with a smile. While I thought all this studying was boring at times, I knew my dad was doing what he thought was best for me. It was what he’d always done.

We only had each other. He loved me and worried about me, and that was the reason I never fought him about my studies.

He nodded approvingly, a small smile barely gracing his lips as he fondly patted me on the head. It was his version of a hug.

My lao-ba wasn’t the type to tell me he loved me or one to give out hugs often. He was an “actions” kind of guy. He was the type to wake up before it was light out to make me a well-balanced homemade lunch to take to school or bring me an after-dinner plate of cut fruit to munch on while I studied.

He was always there for me when I needed it, and if he was overly cautious with me—much more than I’d seen my friends’ parents be with them—I attributed that to him having to raise me on his own.

He wanted me to have a good life, and that was the reason I never fought with him about my studies when I didn’t know if I even wanted to be a doctor.

“Come, I washed some berries. It’s good for the brain,” he said, helping me up and guiding me to a stool behind the reception desk.

Dad’s receptionist was off today, so the desk was currently a mess, with all his medical papers sprawled across it.

He sat in the office chair, pushed the bowl of blackberries toward me, then focused back on his own studies.

Lao-ba always emphasized that the path of a doctor was one of continuous academia. I didn’t mind that aspect much. I enjoyed learning, and I found the books Dad gave me interesting enough. I just didn’t want to study every second of the day. I wanted to be outside and play with my friends.

I munched on the berries and wondered what my friends were up to. Jones always disappeared in the summer, off playing with his out-of-town friend he was so secretive about. Ryker probably went to the springs with the others from our class. He was never one to turn down going swimming.

Lao-ba glanced at me and laughed when he saw my face. “Aiya, how did you get it all over your face?” He shook his head, stood to go wet a napkin, and returned to scrub my face. The napkin pulled away with dark purple splotches all over it and even I wondered how I’d made such a mess.

Dad balled up the napkin, aimed at the trash can, and tossed it like he was a pro-basketball player. I laughed when he missed the target by a long shot. He laughed, too. Affection filled his eyes as he gently pinched my cheeks.

I skyrocketed out of my seat, still laughing as I fetched the makeshift ball for him to try again.

The front door opened when I picked up the napkin, and in walked a woman in a wide-brim hat, dark sunglasses, and a mask.

She wore a long trench coat to complete her look, which had me staring, because who wore a trench coat in the middle of summer?

Was she a spy on a secret mission? Excitement bubbled up inside me at the thought that our clinic was involved in some sort of James Bond–type activity.

The lady turned halfway around to reveal a boy who looked about my age. He saw me but quickly averted his eyes to stare at the ground. The lady—his mom, maybe?—told him to sit in the waiting area, then went to speak to my dad.

Her back was toward us, but I could see her taking off her sunglasses. Lao-ba’s face went grave at whatever he saw. He shot to his feet and guided the lady toward the treatment area in the back. I stood to follow him as I usually did, but he stopped me and instructed me to play with the other kid.

That was strange.

He’d never asked me to play with a client’s kid before, but I wasn’t going to argue about playing. I smiled and ran to grab my toy police car. The balled-up napkin was still in my other fist when I ran back to the waiting area.

“Hi, I’m Dan,” I said in greeting.

The kid peeked at me through his long bangs, and I noticed how his eyes took up half his face. They were wide, cautious, like he was almost scared of me…which was ridiculous. Why would anyone be scared of me? Everyone loved me.

I beamed my smile at him—the one everyone called charming—even though I didn’t like smiling right now because there was a hole in my mouth. My tooth was taking forever to grow back.

My smile seemed to have startled him as he looked visibly more shaken. He squeaked out a “Hi,” then went back to staring at his hands on his lap. His entire body was stiff, and his shoulders hunched to make him look even smaller than he already was. He had to be younger than me.

Maybe he was one of those kids who were scared of the older ones? I puffed up my chest, knowing that as his elder, it was my job to protect him and make him feel safe.

“Do you like playing?” I asked and offered my blue-and-white police car to him. He didn’t reply or look at me. “Look, when you drive the police car, you have to make the noise or it’s not real.”

I demonstrated my amazing siren imitation and zoomed the police car from one side of the clinic to the other. He watched me with a blank stare, looking unimpressed. I used my hand to push the toy car back toward him, stopping at his feet. The sudden action had him almost jumping from his seat.

“Don’t be scared! I’ll protect you. That’s what police officers do, you know? They save people from evil and protect the peace of the town. They’re heroes,” I stated and patted my chest confidently like I was one of the heroes I was speaking of.

One day, I would be.

The kid finally looked up at me, eyes focused on me as he took in my words. I beamed at finally getting his attention. “Don’t worry. As your elder, I’ll protect you! That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

“What if I want to be the one to protect?” he asked, fists balled in his lap. “I want to protect my mom.”

I nodded with approval. I liked people who fought for their loved ones.

“Then you protect each other. Your mom will protect you, and you’ll do the same for her.”

“But how?” he asked, sounding a bit desperate.

I thought about the question, since I’d never needed to protect my lao-ba before. He always told me to focus on my studies instead of fooling around and playing make-believe. I looked at my toy car, and the answer instantly came to mind. It was so obvious.

“You become a police officer, too!” I told him and knelt down to pick up my toy car again. I dropped the balled-up napkin in my excitement. “I’ll show you how. C’mon!”

Just this one time, I’d play the bad guy and let him be the officer so he could practice saving the day.

He looked at the hand I held out for him to take.

Then, very hesitantly, he accepted it. His hand was warm in mine as I helped him stand from his seat.

Good thing I was holding it, too, because he slipped on the napkin and started tumbling backwards.

I pulled on his hand to keep him from banging his head and help stabilize him, but the action only caused him to tumble forward instead.

I readied myself and looped my hands around him in hopes of catching him before he took us both down, but I hadn’t expected his head to suddenly swing forward and hit mine. It all happened so quickly. Soft lips smashed against mine, and my mind went blank.

My friends said you couldn’t go around kissing because you could get cooties. Lao-ba told me it wasn’t true, but still, maybe kissing did give you cooties and that was why my heart was pounding so hard it rang in my ears?