The Colonels' Texas Promise

by Caro Carson

  The kind she felt for him.

  The kind he didn’t feel for her. He loved her, his longtime pal. But he didn’t love her. Did he even realize he’d just told her to put her heart back on the chopping block while she tried to have the kind of marriage they were specifically not trying to have?

  She sat back and picked up her champagne glass. She looked at him over the rim, unable to place the expression on his face. What was up with Evan?

  A waiter stepped in quickly, put a plate in the middle of the table, mumbled, “Your scallops,” and took off like those scallops were about to explode.

  She and Evan looked at each other in surprise.

  “How long do you think he was standing there?” he asked.

  “You mean, how long was he sweating it out, watching his customers have this intense conversation, praying that we’d let go of our hands so he could put his appetizer down and get the hell away from the drama?”

  “Yeah. That.”

  They looked at each other another second, then burst into laughter—which, given the elegant restaurant setting, meant they sat there sniggering and snickering and trying not to be too loud.

  It felt good. She really liked Evan, and if she could just focus on how good it was to be around her friend and keep her fairy-tale fantasies in check, everything might be okay.

  She stabbed a scallop. “Rob wanted you to be in the wedding party, you know.”

  “I’ll bet he did.” Evan sounded super sarcastic. Or bitter. Or something.

  “I told him no. I didn’t tell him why.”

  “Why did you say no?”

  “Because of this pact we had. Don’t you think it would have been sort of rude to have you stand with us at the altar to watch me nullify the pact?”

  “Ah. That. Yes. When I heard you got married, I was...upset.”

  “You were? I thought it was kind of obvious that the pact couldn’t hold. There was no way I was waiting until I was thirty-seven to be married. That sounded like waiting until I was one hundred and seven. I was sure there was no way you would make it to thirty-seven without being married, either. You’d have this fabulous blonde wife, and there was no way I’d be the stupid old maid who had expected otherwise. You had so many girlfriends, I knew you would fall for at least one of them.”

  “Nope.”

  “Never?”

  He ate a scallop.

  She forgot about the food. “Why not?”

  In the silence that followed, she knew what she wanted the answer to be, because she still wished fairy tales could come true.

  Evan just made a dismissive gesture with his fork. “Are you still nervous about marrying me tomorrow?”

  “Very,” she whispered. She wished for fairy tales, because she was already in love with him.

  He set down his fork immediately and took her hand again. “Don’t be. I promise you, this marriage is going to be nothing like your last one. I will never cheat on you.”

  “I’m ignoring every red flag.” I’m already in love with you. You don’t love me back. You’re not even looking for it. This is going to be disastrous.

  “What red flags? This is nothing like last time. How long did you know Rob?”

  “Before I married him? Six months. It took him a couple of years to break his promise and cheat on me for the first time.”

  Evan leaned in, speaking with an urgency that she found thrilling. “How long have you known me? It’s been sixteen years, and we’re still keeping this pact. We knew each other for three years before that in college. We practically lived together in the dorms. That’s nineteen years. I haven’t broken a promise to you in nineteen years.”

  She felt the hope rising.

  “So tomorrow, when I stand before the judge and make a promise to you, remember that it’s more than words. You have a track record with me. You can believe me, Juliet, when I say that I’m not the kind of man who cheats on his wife. I’m not the kind of man who would keep a girlfriend on the side.”

  It wasn’t the same as love, but trust was significant. He wouldn’t cheat on her. Her heart wouldn’t shatter that way. She was never going to look through a credit card statement and find gifts for a girlfriend.

  “I trust you,” she said. They weren’t the three little words of fairy tales, but they were three very, very important little words. “I trust you.”

  His smile was absolutely breathtaking. He squeezed her hand, hard. “Good. That’s a start. It’s safe to swing for the fences again. I won’t let you down.”

  He let go of her hand, and they both leaned back a little. A waiter dropped a bread basket on their table, then darted away. Juliet looked at Evan, and they started snickering again.

  The sommelier topped off their champagne glasses, then backed away, and a professionally dressed woman stepped in, perhaps the manager. Juliet barely glanced at her, but Evan stopped laughing.

  “Evan?” the woman said. “It is you. I thought so. I got back early, and the station manager brought me here for a debrief. I was going to come by tonight afterward and surprise you. I know you hate surprises, but I thought you wouldn’t mind.”

  Evan closed his eyes and kept them closed, a man saying a fervent prayer, or a child hoping everything would disappear.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on, sweetheart, but...” The woman brushed her hand over Juliet’s rose. “Surprise.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Linda.”

  Evan spoke the woman’s name without opening his eyes.

  “Are you just going to leave me standing here,” the woman said with a tight smile, “while everyone stares at me?”

  Juliet couldn’t not stare, but she wasn’t staring at the strikingly beautiful Linda. She felt mesmerized, incapable of moving, incapable of speaking, incapable of doing anything except staring at Evan.

  Linda didn’t wait for Evan to answer her. She turned around a chair from the empty table next to them and sat down, lightly and politely.

  Evan opened his eyes and looked straight at Juliet. Only at Juliet. “I am so sorry.”

  Her heart shattered.

  It felt so horridly familiar, that crushing of expectations. It felt exactly as it had years ago, when Rob had first looked like a man facing a firing squad as he’d also said I am so sorry.

  Who is it this time? Juliet looked at the woman. Linda was someone people noticed, confident and attractive, fully made up with tons of wavy blond hair. She was exactly Evan Stephens’s type.

  Nothing’s changed.

  “Who are you?” Juliet asked, although she could guess why this woman was seating herself at their table like she owned Evan’s time.

  “I was going to ask you that.” Linda turned away from Juliet, back to Evan, not panicking.

  Juliet knew that feeling: not panicking. Those minutes where one didn’t panic, because there must be a sane excuse.

  “What have I just surprised myself into, Evan? Who is your dinner companion?” Linda was exceptionally poised, professionally so, like a model or a spokesperson or an actress. Evan had always preferred blondes, but never bimbos, after all.

  Juliet practically felt it when Evan dragged those blue eyes away from her and looked at Linda for the first time—the first time Juliet had seen him look at Linda, for he’d clearly looked at her many times before. There was a difference in how people looked at one another when they were strangers compared to the way the gaze settled on the face of someone they knew well.

  It was the tell when Rob lied. He’d fake a pleasant greeting when he was introduced to a lover in public. Nice to meet you. What did you say your name was again? Juliet had always known. He already knows her.

  Evan was looking hard at Linda now. There was no welcome on his face, not one iota of happiness to see her, but she wasn’t his enemy. He looked concerned. “I had no intent
ion of you finding anything out by surprise. When you returned from Haiti, I was going to contact you and speak to you in person.”

  “What are you saying?” She was still not panicking, but she turned to Juliet. “Who are you?”

  “Linda.” Evan said her name firmly, to draw her attention back to himself, so that Juliet wouldn’t become her target. In a surreal kind of way, Juliet appreciated the effort. It was courteous of him. Chivalrous, really. Rob certainly hadn’t tried to stop any girlfriend from screeching at Juliet.

  Wasn’t that what Evan had just promised her? This marriage is going to be nothing like your last one.

  “Who is she, sweetheart?”

  “This is an old friend of mine from college. Juliet Grayson.”

  Linda relaxed a fraction. She turned to Juliet, still wary. After all, there were flowers involved. “I’m Linda Pettington, his girlfriend. I’m sure he’s mentioned me. We’ve been together for so long. Half a year now. A little more.”

  This woman had the prior claim.

  I am the other woman.

  Juliet was the thing she hated most. She could hardly speak for the crushing sensation in her chest. “I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have—I’m so sorry.”

  Evan stopped her. “Don’t be sorry.” He laid his hand over hers. She was still gripping her fork, her knuckles white. “This is on me, Juliet, not you.”

  But Linda was panicking now, looking at Juliet as a stranger does, cataloging the appearance, storing information. “You’re sorry for what?”

  Juliet wanted to answer Linda, but the words wouldn’t come. I would never hurt you. I didn’t know he was your man.

  “Linda,” Evan said firmly once more, taking control of the situation. “It’s a long story, and I know you’re going to be shocked, but Juliet and I are getting married tomorrow.”

  “Married!”

  All eyes in the restaurant turned their way.

  “Married.” She stood, all professional poise forgotten. The shock on her face was genuine. “How could you? I thought we were going to—Oh, Evan, how could you?”

  As Linda fell apart, Juliet kept herself together by calling upon her military bearing, although she wore a pastel sweater dress. She sat as if she were standing at attention. Knees together, feet together, shoulders back, eyes front. Most important of all, no expression on her face, a neutrality that was impervious to distractions—which didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of them.

  She heard everything Linda said, every attempt Evan made to restore sanity. The tears began, and the maître d’ approached to kindly offer to escort Linda elsewhere or to call her a cab, as if Evan had driven her here and had intended to dump her and leave her stranded.

  No kindness was offered to Juliet. She’d never appreciated before how everyone must have been on her side when she was the person being cheated on. This time, she was the villain.

  “You should go with her.” Her voice sounded decisive, the voice of an officer, thank God.

  “I’m not leaving you here.” Evan spoke as firmly to her as he had to Linda, who stood over them, weeping.

  “You two should go talk in private,” Juliet said.

  “We will. Not tonight.”

  The maître d’ took that as his cue. “Miss Pettington, won’t you come with me? We’ll wait on the patio for a cab to arrive.”

  Her tears were real. “N-no, thank you. My station manager is h-here. He’ll get me home.”

  “Then perhaps you would care to step onto the patio for a few moments to compose yourself. Please, right this way.”

  Evan rested his arms on the table and stared at the scallops in the resulting silence.

  Juliet felt sorry for him. That was different, too. She’d never felt any sympathy for Rob during these scenes. Then again, Rob had tried to save his own hide and weasel out of any suggestion he was at fault. Evan had been courteous and compassionate and had claimed all the blame for himself. This is on me, not you.

  “You should go speak to her, Evan. It’s okay.”

  “It is not okay. I’m not leaving you at the table alone, with everyone staring at you.” Evan looked at each table around them. Diners turned away and became engrossed with their own plates.

  “I said it was okay.” She put a little steel into her voice. “I’ve been through worse.”

  God knew what he saw in her face, because he closed his eyes once more, just for a moment, before addressing her with quiet, urgent words. “I’m not Rob. I am nothing like Rob. I would never—”

  “And yet, you did. To her, if not to me.”

  “I am not Rob.”

  “But I have been her.”

  They both knew that heavy truth.

  “She’s wondering how she could have missed the signs. She’s wondering why she isn’t enough. You should do what you can to soften the blow. Please.”

  They stared at one another, neither blinking, a horridly serious version of the staring contests of their youth.

  Abruptly, Evan pushed back his chair. “Do. Not. Leave.”

  She sat alone, aware of all the looks being sent her way. The blatant curiosity didn’t feel unusual. Another scandal. Another time to be stared at.

  She looked out the window. The water was black, but just off to the right and a little below her spot, she saw Linda, alone on the patio decking, a man’s jacket around her shoulders like a cape, although there was no other sign of the station manager she’d referred to.

  A station manager? Television. That was why she looked familiar. Juliet had seen Linda on billboards that advertised the local news. Linda’s professional poise was gone now, though, as she cried into the glass of red wine she clutched with both hands.

  Evan joined her, looking businesslike and polished in his civilian clothes, tailored slacks and the dress shirt that was unbuttoned at his neck. He must have said Linda’s name, because she suddenly spun around. She let Evan walk up to her, let him put his hand on her arm as he talked to her, a natural move of comfort between two people who had known each other well.

  Juliet could hardly stand to watch. Half a year, this woman had had with him.

  Linda took a step back and Juliet saw the heartbreak in her face, the kind she knew came when one realized her whole world had just changed. Juliet had been just as heartbroken to learn that Rob was having sex with someone else, a woman who’d come over to her house and screwed her husband while baby Matthew was there.

  Evan had not done anything like that.

  Linda must assume that Evan had been sleeping with Juliet for a long time, long enough for them to be marrying tomorrow. That hadn’t happened, and Evan hadn’t planned to keep seeing Linda once he was married. When you returned from Haiti, I was going to contact you and speak to you in person. Evan had explained that to her several times at this point.

  As Linda ranted and raved, Juliet felt the tiniest bit of annoyance. The woman had the right to be upset, but Juliet had had the right to be horrified when she’d been in her position, because she’d had a wedding ring on her finger and a child in a stroller. She still hadn’t indulged in this much public drama.

  Linda had been dating a man and had thought they were exclusive—or rather, they had definitely been exclusive if Evan had told her they were. Evan wasn’t the kind of man who cheated.

  Kind of a bizarre thing to think, considering the scene she was watching.

  When Linda raised her wineglass, Evan made no move to defend himself. The wine hit him in the face with a spectacular splash. Juliet heard murmurs from the other diners who had tables that were against the window, the sounds of people enjoying a show. Linda stormed away, disappearing from view.

  Evan only tilted his head and gave it a single, strong shake, one attempt to keep some wine out of his eyes. He didn’t wipe his sleeve over his eyes or take any other action. The wine had to be stinging hi
s eyes. He was letting it.

  He shouldn’t.

  Without questioning the impulse, Juliet picked up both of their napkins and walked toward the stairs that led out to the patio, aware that every eye in the restaurant was on her.

  She could make the walk with cool dignity, not because of her military bearing, but because she knew the truth. I am not a homewrecker.

  But that didn’t mean she was any good at building a home, either.

  * * *

  The night air was colder than Juliet had braced herself for.

  She crossed the deck to Evan anyway. He had his back to her, his hands braced on the railing as he looked out over the water. He didn’t turn at the sound of her high heels as she walked.

  “It’s me. I brought you a napkin.” She held one in front of him.

  He moved to take it as if his arm were made of lead, but he wiped the wine from his eyes.

  “I never even asked you if you were dating anyone.” She looked at Evan’s profile in the moonlight. “She’s very beautiful.”

  Evan continued to look at the water impassively. “She said the same thing about you.”

  “She seemed like a serious girlfriend. A significant one.”

  “We were only dating. I don’t break promises. She was out of the country on assignment and not due back until next week. I planned to invite her out for coffee and explain in person that I wouldn’t be seeing her anymore.”

  “But we would have already been married.”

  “Yes, we would have.” He did not look at her. “There was no way I was going to postpone our wedding so that I could wait until a woman I’d been dating returned to the country and found time in her schedule to have coffee with me.”

  Juliet had heard Linda’s opinion on that. The whole restaurant had. “She seemed to think you were not only dating. She thought you were going to propose.”

  He exhaled heavily. “I didn’t give Linda a reason to assume anything. I’d thought about it. I always think about it when I’m with someone, but...” He shook his head.