His jaw tightens. Just slightly.
"I think," he says, carefully, "that you're confused about what you want."
"I'm really not."
Kevin steps in before I finish. Placing one hand at the base of my neck.
Suddenly closing the distance, his other hand comes up toward my cheek.
“Wait. No! Kevin!” I yell firmly. I turn my face and place my hands against his chest and push.Is he seriously trying to kiss me?I think incredulously.No way. He couldn’t possibly.
Even as I push, at first he doesn’t budge and keeps moving in; then I push harder and adjust my feet, just in case a knee is necessary. Then I push him firmly away from me.
He stops, and I look at him, surprised and angry. What had he planned? That he’d come in for a sneak attack and I’d just fall into his arms? No. When has that ever worked?
The silence after it is the loudest thing on the street.
I drop my hands and step back. "Don't ever," I seethed, “try that again.”
The warmth in his eyes vanishes, replaced by the detached curiosity of a shark. The charm drops, and what he’s been hiding underneath it isn't pretty.
He gets a knowing smirk on his face. I hate that smirk, always have. That smirk means he’s about to do something stupid, and I know it.
"You know why he's here, right?" His voice drops all casual like. "Bo Gates."
"He's renting my guest house. He’s on temporary leave, then reserves."
"Is that what he told you?" It isn't a question.
I look at him.
"Tyler called him." Kevin watches my face while he says it. "Before Bo ever showed up in Everwood. Tylerasked him to come back. To keep an eye on you." He pauses, letting that hit me fully. "Because of me, actually. Tyler was worried about me being back in town, and he wanted someone watching out for you." Another pause. "But the thing is, Falon, he can’t be yours because of the promise.”
I narrow my eyes. “What promise?” I ask, feeling my stomach drop.
He smiles then, and it isn’t friendly. “Has been since we were kids. Junior year, Tyler made Bo promise he'd never pursue you. Never cross that line." He tilts his head, and I’m almost afraid to hear more. "So all that time he's been spending on your ranch, all those moments you probably thought you had, he's been doing a job. Tyler's job."
For a quick moment, the world fades away, and I am vaguely aware I’m on Main Street. Mrs. Winslow is on her bench, and the diner behind me, but the rest fades.
"Ask him." One could mistake Kevin's voice for gentle; I saw it for what it was, condescending. "Ask him why he really came back. Ask him about the promise."
I don't say anything. What is there for me to say? I’d like to call him a liar, but I know Tyler, and it would make sense why Bo keeps pulling back.
He sees that as he gets his words across. His shoulders ease back. He tucks his hands in his pockets. "I'm not trying to hurt you. I just think you deserve the truth."
He turns and walks away.
I stand on the sidewalk outside Ethel's diner with my coffee in my hand and watch him go.
That’s when the careful morning I had planned crashed and burned.
My mind reeled. Every time Bo stepped back from an almost-moment. Every careful inch of distance he kept. Ithought that was fear from war. I thought it was grief and the service and the weight he carried.
But there was a promise. Why don’t I get to choose? Who is Tyler and Bo to decide for me?
Millie honks beside me with her window down, happy as punch. She was in her new vet truck doing her Thursday house calls.
She takes one look at my face. "You okay, Falon?"
