“No, no, no.” Jake puts his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t tell her,” he says, leaning away from Mason, whose sheer size is imposing by his own right, and to have an upset Mason was never good. “Kevin did. He ran into her outside Ethel's after the bar night. I heard him telling his yahoos at the ravine when I was dumping my branches for the bonfire next month. Said that she’d be crawling back when she finds he wasn’t lying.”
Iwanted to think that Kevin wouldn’t be that dumb, but I knew he was. If he couldn’t get his way, then he’d stoop and try to manipulate it until he did.
I’d forgotten that Kevin was just as underhanded back then as he was now. I didn’t know if he’d overheard Tyler and me, or if he’d somehow found out, but to use it as a weapon was its own kind of low.
“He’d tried to kiss her first.” Jake goes on, then hesitates when my knuckles turn white around my mug. Rowdy nudges me to get my attention. “When she pushed him away, that's when he dropped it." Jake finishes, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else but here.
“I heard the same thing,” Levi says, nodding in Jake’s defense. “Heard it from Cassie that heard it from a student.”
The table goes deadly quiet.
The shift is felt even at the closest tables. It wasn’t common for men like these to look and give off an air of joint anger. It never is with men like these. The stillness that rolled off these men told you a change was happening, and none of it was good.
Mason's jaw tightens. Then he picks up his coffee a little forcefully.
"He tried to kiss her," Austin says. Not a question.
"She pushed him back.” Jake nods. “According to Mrs. Winslow, she’d been ready to knee him if he tried to push."
The corner of my mouth turns up a little. I could see it now. Falon, with her hands on his chest, pushing him away, and he not being smart enough to listen. I would have paid to see her do it, too, now that I know the truth.
"I'm not going to pretend I don't have something to say to Kevin Bennett the next time I see him. But he’s only part of the issue."
"Yes," Sam says. "He is."
I turn the mug in my hands. "When I came home, back to Everwood, I had an idea.”
"Say it, then," Sam says.
I look at him. "I came here with the thought that I’d only stay for a few months, until just after the Fourth of July. Then I’d leave and try to live without her.”
“That was a dumb idea,” Mason says, and Levi nods. Sam laughs and agrees with them.
“You were never going to leave, son,” Sam says in agreement. You’ve been pining after her for years.
“You’re right, I'm not leaving. I came here for three months to stay close and do right by Tyler. The Kevin watch was after I’d already arrived and got off the bus.” I set the mug down. "If I choose her and to stay, I’d be betraying Tyler and going back on my word.”
Nobody says anything. They don't have to. Jake gives a single slow nod. Terrance looks at his coffee. Austin puts the spoon back in his saucer. Mason doesn't move, but he drops his shoulders.
Sam leans back in his chair and looks at me for a long moment. I feel like I’m back in the principal’s office after throwing a water balloon at the gym teacher.
Sam sets his mug down. "What's stopping you now?"
I take in a long breath.
Honestly, nothing. The promise is out in the open. Tyler's deployment doesn't change what I feel. Kevin doesn't change what I feel. The only thing that ever stood between me and choosing her was me.
"Nothing," I say. "Not anymore. But I’ll still have to deal with Tyler." I wasn’t looking forward to that.
Sam nods once. "You know, we’ve all been in the trenches.” He makes eye contact with all of us. Knowing we’ve allbeen there. “We’ve all served next to kin and friends. Out in the field, through thick and thin. Every day you are out there, your life is on the line. We’ve all taken on the firing squad, and none of us make it out unscathed. We all have burns and scars, both physical and mental.” He nods at Austin and me because we struggle the most. “A promise made to keep each other alive is a hope and a dream, it can’t be fulfilled. We all know it when we make it, but we have their backs, and they have ours. " He turns to me. “When did you make that promise, son?”
I blow out a forced breath. “Seventeen,” I say, feeling like just thinking about breaking it is a betrayal.
“Seventeen,” his eyes soften. “A promise made at seventeen is a wish, not a contract. No man in his right mind loses love over a childhood promise that could never be kept.”
The table is quiet.
“I told my CO when I was in Granada that I’d watch his back, and I did, but a sniper from behind us had it first, and I took command, much like you, Bo. You can’t hold water in your hand, and you can’t bet against love.”
