Delicate Promises

by Kelly Elliott

  “Hey, it’s me. I can’t sleep, and I really need to talk to you. Please call me.”

  I hit End and tossed my phone to the side. Exhaustion hit me like a wall and I closed my eyes.

  Tomorrow. I’d get this fixed with Kynslee tomorrow.

  The pounding on the door had me bolting up in bed. For a moment, I found myself reaching for my gun. My heart raced and sweat instantly beaded down my forehead.

  “Hold on, what the hell!” I heard Trey say as he stumbled toward the door of the cabin.

  “Is Miles up?”

  The voice was my brother’s. I dragged my ass out of bed and toward the kitchen. I needed coffee. I needed aspirin. Hell, I needed a miracle to cure this massive hangover. Jesus, when was the last time I drank so much beer?

  “Dude, stop yelling,” I said.

  “Miles, you need to come up to the house. Now.”

  “Rich, give me like thirty minutes to get the cotton out of my mouth and shower the smoke and booze off of me.”

  He had a look on his face that made me stop in my tracks.

  “What’s wrong? Mom? Lana? The baby?”

  He shook his head. “They’re fine. Everyone’s fine. I mean, Mom’s a bit…pissed off and upset.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  Rich rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the floor, then up to me.

  “Dad’s back.”

  The coffee pot I’d been holding in my hands slipped and fell to the floor, shattering everywhere.

  Thirty minutes later, I walked into the living room of my mother’s house and came to an abrupt halt.

  There he was, after all these years. Peter Richard Warner. My good-for-nothing dad.

  My father stood before me, a smug smile on his face as he took me in. He was a mirror image of Rich. His body looked like mine. Broad chest and stocky build. Even for a guy in his early sixties, he looked like he had kept in shape. His brown hair was now leaning more toward gray. My mother sat in a seat next to Lana. Worry was etched all over her face. Lana stared at our dad with no emotion on her face at all. She was a blank canvas. Who knew what in the hell was going on in her mind.

  “Miles, it’s good to see you. I heard you were home from the Marines.”

  It didn’t take me long to react, and apparently Rich had been at the ready because he grabbed me when I went after my father. He held me back as I shouted. “What the fuck are you doing here? You’re not welcome here, asshole!”

  “Miles, that’s enough,” my mother said, walking over to me.

  “No, Mom. I’m only getting started.” Focusing back on my father, I snarled at him. “What’s wrong, Dad? Girlfriend leave you high and dry? Now that you found out the farm is paid for, you thought you’d come back home and take it?”

  Dalton Adams stepped forward. He was the attorney in town. The guy who had helped me save the farm.

  “Miles, I know how you’re feeling, believe me, I know,” Dalton said.

  My eyes caught Dalton’s. He did know. His father had up and left his momma and six kids. That was why he had worked so hard with me. It was Dalton who convinced the bank to give me an extension on the loan. Once they found out I was joining the Marines, they gave me a four-month extension, and if I hadn’t come up with the money at the end of the time period, they would have foreclosed on the farm. Needless to say, I came up with the money.

  I relaxed, nodding to Rich that it was okay. I’d gotten the worst out of my system. I still wanted to beat the shit out of my sperm donor, but I’d let it go. For now.

  “Why are you here?” I asked in a calmer voice.

  “Miles, as you’re aware, we’ve been searching for your father since you paid off the farm to get the title transferred into your name,” Dalton said.

  I nodded. “Yes, and it looks like you found him.”

  Dalton pulled in a deep breath and let it out. “Yes, well, we have a problem.”

  “What sort of problem?” I said, looking at my father. He smirked, and I fought the urge to punch that fucking smirk off his face.

  Dalton cleared his throat. “Your father has stated that your offer is not something he can entertain.”

  Rich moved closer to me, clearly expecting me to go after our father again. Instead, I laughed and folded my arms over my chest. “Why am I not surprised?”

  A look of anger passed over my old man’s face.

  “How much more do you want?” I asked.

  “Miles, may I speak with you alone?” my mother asked.

  Turning to her, I nodded.

  “Let’s go outside,” she said.

  After giving my father a look that I hoped screamed I hated him, I followed my mother outside.

  We walked off the porch and over to a swing my father had put up years ago when Rich and I were younger. My mother sat in it. She closed her eyes, dropped her head back, and drew in a deep breath through her nose before she let it out.

  “Mom, what did you want to talk to me about?”

  She cleared her throat. “If it were up to me, that man wouldn’t get a dime. He has done nothing to contribute to this farm for over fifteen years.”

  “I agree. I thought my offer to buy him out was fair.”

  “And unnecessary.”

  “But needed. Mom, his name is on the title. He could sell this place out from under us.”

  She wiped a tear away. “Yes, and I have no doubt he wouldn’t do that simply to be an ass.”

  “More like a motherfucker.”

  Her eyes snapped up to mine. “I’m sorry.”

  “Miles, there’s something you need to know before we go back in there.”

  “Okay.”

  “Your father and I split up a few years after we got married. When I caught him cheating on me.”

  “What?” I wasn’t sure why I was surprised, but to know that he was a cheater the entire time made me feel ill.

  “I look back now and think what a stupid fool I was to believe him when he begged me to forgive him and come back. None of you were born yet, and I was still young and foolish. I moved back in with my folks and started to go out a lot with some friends, and I connected with an old boyfriend from high school. I had filed for divorce from your father, so I didn’t feel like I was cheating. We went out a few times and I ended up sleeping with him. A month later I found out I was pregnant, with you. Miles, Peter is not your father.”

  My entire world spun, and I found myself fighting for air. I held up my hand and motioned I needed a few minutes to let this soak in. Mom simply nodded and waited for me to come around.

  “Does he know?”

  She nodded. “Of course, he knows. Your father said we would put it all behind us, and he would raise the baby, raise you, as his own. He begged me to forgive him, and I did because a part of me felt guilty, as well. I think we both felt guilty and were trying to fix things. I got back with him, had you and life settled down perfectly for us. I was actually happy, and your father was happy. We had Rich and we didn’t wait long to try for another baby.”

  “Lana.”

  “I thought everything was how it was supposed to be. After your father left, I found out from friends how much of a cheater he truly was. Turns out he was unfaithful a number of times, and he’d mostly been with women I considered friends.”

  “Mom, I’m so sorry.”

  She shrugged. “I wouldn’t have Rich or Lana had I not gone back to him. In the end, I got the better part of the deal, you kids.”

  “Does my biological father know about me?”

  Chewing on her lip, she shook her head. “Your father, I mean, Peter, asked me not to tell him. He wanted us to be a family and didn’t want anyone else interfering. I agreed.”

  All I could do was nod.

  “Peter showed up this morning and knocked on my door. The moment he did I called you kids and Dalton. Your phone went right to voicemail.”

  “I’m sorry, Mom. I went out last night and…”

  She held up her hand and s
hook her head. “Miles, don’t explain. I just need you to know that your father has put in a condition with the sale of the farm, and it involves only you.”

  “Me?”

  “He’ll take the price that you’ve offered, but only if you marry in the next fifteen days.”

  I laughed. “What? What the hell kind of request is that?”

  She wiped a tear away. “One he thinks you won’t meet, or one that you can’t.”

  Looking at her with what I was positive was a confused look, I asked, “Why does he think that?”

  Her throat bobbed when she smiled. “He said you have too much of your father’s blood running through you, and you won’t make the commitment. And you can’t do it because Kynslee will think you’re only marrying her to save the farm.”

  “How does he know about Kynslee?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure, but he knows you are dating her.”

  I wanted to ask my mother a million questions about my real father. “I take it my biological father is a player?”

  “Yes. He has never married.”

  Rubbing the back of my neck, I let that soak in. Maybe that explained a thing or two about my fear of telling Kynslee the truth about how I felt for her? Or the reason I left that morning and pushed her into Jack’s arms?

  “Miles, stop overthinking this. You are not like your birth father. Please trust me when I say that.”

  “Well, it appears Peter thinks I am. And as far as Kynslee goes, she knows I love her. She would have no reason to think…”

  My voice trailed off. I closed my eyes and leaned against the tree. It took everything I had not to throw up.

  “Miles, what’s wrong?”

  Burying my face in my hands, I groaned. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

  “What is wrong?” she demanded.

  “When I came back to town, I wasn’t sure how to approach Kynslee about a relationship. I was stupid and I called in a promise that we made each other when we were eighteen.”

  “What kind of promise?” Mom asked.

  “Before I left for the Marines I made Kynslee promise if we weren’t married by thirty, we would marry each other. Well, I went to her house on her birthday and handed her a ring, thinking she would find it romantic and…”

  My mother groaned. “For the love of all things, Miles Warner! I could smack you on the side of the head right now. No wonder the girl was so angry with you. If her daddy found out what you did...”

  “Mom, I know. Kynslee and I worked through it, but she wants to take things slow. If I go to her now and tell her I need to get married in the next two weeks she’s going to think I needed her to marry me all along just to save the farm. At first she thought there was an ulterior motive to me coming back out of the blue and wanting to get married.”

  She shook her head. “We’ll explain it to her, Miles. We will tell her everything.”

  I jerked my fingers though my hair. “There’s a problem.”

  “What?” she asked, her eyes filled with fear.

  “Kynslee is pissed at me. Like, ignoring my text messages and phone calls kind of pissed.”

  She sat back down on the swing. “What did you do?”

  “I sort of acted like a jackass last night, and she honestly has every right to be angry with me.”

  “Oh shit,” my mother whispered.

  I nodded. “Yeah. Oh shit is right.”

  Kynslee

  WAVING GOODBYE TO Annie, I watched as she pulled down the driveway.

  “Trey is an idiot,” Patty said, handing me a cup of coffee.

  I took it and inhaled the heavenly scent. “Lord, that smells good, and yes, he is. She’s a nice girl.”

  “I’m pretty sure Heather has a girl crush on her.”

  Laughing, I sat in the rocking chair. “I think she does. She rushed out of here early. What was with that?”

  Patty smiled. “Kenny called. He’s off for a few days.”

  I took another sip of coffee and smiled. I was happy for Heather and Kenny.

  “Have you heard from Miles this morning?”

  I sighed. “He left a message. I called him but he hasn’t gotten back to me. I’ve sent him a few texts as well and haven’t heard back. I need to run to The Mercantile and check on an ad. Hopefully they have it up and running. It’s to promote the fall festival. After that, if I don’t hear from him I’ll swing by his place. He probably was too drunk last night to charge his phone.”

  “Do you mind if I hang here at your place a bit more? I think I’m going to go for a ride, and I’d like to shower before heading out afterward.”

  I stood. “Have at it. I’m going to check on that ad and then I think head on to Miles’s house. I’m sure he’s nursing a hangover.”

  “I’m sure. Did you see the cheap-ass beer Trey bought?”

  I chuckled. “Have fun on your ride! It’s a beautiful fall day.”

  She smiled and raised her coffee mug. “Thanks for the fun night! I forgot how fun slumber parties were.”

  “We need to do that once a month!” I said, walking back into the house. I tried calling Miles once more and it went to voicemail.

  “Hey, it’s me. I’m here at the store checking on an ad, then plan on heading your way. I hope you’re not too hungover. Call me when you get this.”

  After showering and getting myself ready, I rushed out the door and headed to The Mercantile.

  My stupid anger had slipped away as the night went on. I understood that Miles wanted a night with his friends, I trusted Miles not to do something stupid, but I did need to make him understand how hurtful it was that he just left me sitting there.

  I walked through the front of the store and saw Lyndsey and Katy working. Lou and Mark worked during the week mostly, and Lyndsey and Katy worked weekends.

  “Morning, girls. Been busy today?”

  “It was busy this morning, but things have slowed down,” Katy replied.

  “My folks in?”

  Lyndsey shook her head. “They were earlier, but they went to the library.”

  “That’s right. It’s the fall book fair!” I said, heading back toward my office. My parents had volunteered every year for the fall book fair ever since I could remember. It had always been one of my favorite events of fall, that and the fall festival.

  After I dropped my purse on my desk, I took another look at my phone to see if I had anything from Miles.

  Nothing.

  A strange ache formed in my chest, and I started to worry. I sent him another text and went to hit send when a knock sounded on my office door. I hadn’t shut it fully, so it pushed open, and I nearly fell out of my seat when I saw who was standing there.

  Peter Warner. Miles’s father.

  “Peter?” I said, quickly standing.

  “No, no. Go ahead and sit down, Kynslee.”

  I glanced behind him to see if Miles was with him.

  “The young girl up front, Katy, I believe was her name, told me to come on back when I told her I was your boyfriend’s father.”

  I felt ill. How in the world did Peter know about me and Miles? Surely if Miles had talked to him, he would have told me. Narrowing my eyes at him, I sat back down. “Does Miles know you’re in town?”

  “Yes, he does. I just left the farm. We’ve got an interesting deal going on, Miles and I.”

  I lifted a brow. “Is that so? And why should I care?”

  He dropped his head back and laughed, then looked directly at me. “So he hasn’t told you yet?”

  Tilting my head, I leaned back in my chair and shot daggers at him. “Peter, I’m very busy and not in the mood to play games. What’s your point?”

  He lifted a brow. “Sounds like you don’t know the part of the deal where I hand over the title of the farm under the condition that Miles gets married in the next two weeks.”

  It felt like someone had dropped a lead brick into my stomach. Much to my own credit, I didn’t so much as flinch, but I was positive Peter saw t
he shock on my face. Maybe a little hurt was also mixed in there.

  My head spun, and I had to sit there like nothing was wrong. I’d known there must be a reason Miles had showed up that day and wanted to cash in on that promise, as he had so eloquently stated. He was using me. I was being played as a fool and I had fallen right for it.

  Again.

  I was going to be sick. I needed to get Peter out of my office now.

  “Peter, I’m not sure what game you’re playing, but I don’t have time for this.”

  I walked to the door and held it open. “If you don’t mind, please leave before I call someone to remove you.”

  My father and mother showed up.

  “Peter? Peter Warner?” my father said, shock laced in his voice.

  Peter gave me a wink. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

  I pressed my lips together tightly and lifted my chin.

  Do not break down in front of this man. Do. Not.

  Peter gave a nod. “Ally, Steve, good seeing you again.” He walked out, and I covered my mouth with my hand, grabbed my trash can and threw up.

  He had used me. I’d known it was too good to be true.

  Miles had once again managed to break my heart into a million pieces.

  I’d left everything behind. My clothes, my cell phone, everything. The only thing I grabbed was my purse before I made my way to the house my parents had on Lake Travis. I sat in the window and stared out over the lake, watching the breeze as it blew the trees back and forth. I concentrated on not crying. Determined not to shed another tear, I slowly rocked to the rhythm of the trees.

  Back and forth. Back and forth. I chanted the same thing over and over again as I moved with the trees.

  So stupid. So stupid. So. Stupid.

  It had been four days since I walked out of my office after Miles’s father stopped by. I told my mother and father where I would be, and that was it. They knew I was upset, but luckily, they let me go. They knew that I needed to be alone, and moments like that made me love my parents even more. They knew if I needed them they were a phone call away. I also knew I had a four-day buffer before they called to ask what was wrong. I had asked them not to share my location with anyone, not even Miles.