Delicate Promises (Southern Bride 2)

“Of course I would have!”

“Why?”

I laughed. “Because I would have wanted to see you, Miles. You’re my best friend.”

His brows pulled in. “Is that the only reason?”

“What other reason would there have been?”

I saw the hurt in his eyes. What had he wanted me to say?

My heart raced. “Why would you have asked me to come, other than to see me?” I asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

Miles worked his jaw open and shut as he appeared to search for the right answer. The waitress showed back up with our food. When the giant burger was placed in front of me, I stared at it.

“That’s huge!” I stated with a chuckle, the previous conversation forgotten for the moment, but I still intended on getting to the bottom of whatever this was.

“But it’s delicious! Can I get y’all anything else?” she asked.

“Nothing for me,” Miles said.

“I’m good, thank you.”

We ate in a comfortable silence. I had to admit, my burger was insanely good, and Miles’s burger looked even better.

“You want a bite, don’t you?” he finally asked as I stared at the cranberry dripping from the burger.

“It looks messy,” I said.

“You can’t handle messy?” he asked with a wink.

“Oh, I can handle messy. That’s not a problem.”

Miles handed me the burger, and I took a bite. An instant explosion of cranberry and bacon hit my mouth and I moaned in delight.

“Good God. That is so good,” I said with a full mouth.

“Yeah, it really is,” Miles agreed with a laugh. “I think we’re going to have to come back here and try all the burgers.”

I nodded. “I agree.”

“So does that mean more dates, Kyns?”

Our eyes met, and I put my burger down. “Miles, why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Asking me to keep a promise we made when we were eighteen like you’re under some obligation. Don’t you want to get married someday and have kids?”

“Of course, I do. Don’t you?”

“Yes, but do you want that with me?”

He smiled, and my heart felt like it stopped in my chest. He went to speak, and his phone rang and we both looked down to see his mother’s name. Why were we constantly being interrupted by something or someone? I needed answers, damn it!

With a look on his face I couldn’t decipher, he answered. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”

I took another bite of my burger, disappointment hitting my chest. Miles and I needed to sit down and talk about all of this. No man simply shows up and demands you marry him because you made a promise when you were eighteen. No romance, no courtship, no confession of love, just hey I’m here to fulfill that promise you made me. Were these dates something he truly wanted to do, or was it because I had demanded them? My head spun, and I set my burger down, suddenly not feeling well.

Miles stood quickly. “I’m on my way back. Give me some time, I’m in San Antonio with Kynslee.”

Reaching into his wallet, he pulled out a few twenty-dollar bills and put them on the table. Then he reached out and motioned we had to go. I quickly took a drink and grabbed my purse.

“Keep me informed, Mom.”

He pushed his phone into his pocket, grabbed my hand, and led me to the parking lot.

“Miles, what’s going on?”

“It’s Lana. She’s been taken the hospital. Something is wrong with the baby.”

It felt like a brick landed in my stomach. “What?”

Miles didn’t say a word the entire ride back to Hunt. My mind swirled with everything that had happened today. Lana, her baby, everything Miles had said…and not said.

There was something more behind him wanting to get married. I wasn’t sure if Miles was unable tell me how he truly felt, or if he needed to be married for some crazy reason he was too afraid to share. Whatever it was, now was not the time to question him.

I reached for his hand, remembering how he’d been there for me when June was sick. How he held me while I cried after she passed away. Giving his hand a light squeeze, I said, “Lana and the baby are going to be okay, Miles.”

He nodded. “She has to be okay. She has to.”

Miles

“DO YOU WANT me to drop you off at your house?” I asked as we got closer to the hospital.

“No, just go straight to the hospital. I can find a ride home.”

The entire drive back I couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation I’d had with Kynslee, when I wasn’t worrying about Lana, of course. My thoughts were flipping so much it felt like my head was going to explode. Why was it so damn hard to tell Kynslee how I felt about her? What underlying fear did I have that I couldn’t bring to the surface and face?

“I’m sorry we had to cut the date short.”