7. Evan
I wasn’tsure what to expect when I slid into the booth Frannie and I always shared at Pappy’s Last Call. There were several other places in town where we could have met up for Friday night dinners, but meeting at Pappy’s had become a tradition. I was a few minutes early for a change. Usually, she got there first and had already put in our regular order by the time I arrived.
Tonight, I wanted to be the first one here. I felt like I needed to get settled before seeing her. Maybe I just needed a few sips of beer to work up the courage to confront her about the rumors I’d been hearing. Miller wasn’t the only one who mentioned seeing Frannie with some guy. I overheard Silas Stewart of all people talking about his cousin’s kid getting in trouble at school, and then he made a crack about the principal being distracted by her new boyfriend.
There were two major concerns I wanted to address. Number one, identify the mystery man my best friend had been seeing so I could get a read on my competition. Number two, ask her why she didn’t feel like she could tell me she’d been dating someone in the first place. Frannie and I had been best friends since grade school, and I’d made sure to keep the growing feelings I had for her to myself. If she’d been seeing someone and didn’t want to tell me about it, there had to be a reason.
Pappy had seen me come in and brought over a pint of the local pale ale. “Evening, Evan. Is Frannie comin’ in tonight?”
“She should be here any minute. You might as well go ahead and put our order in.”
He chuckled. “The usual?”
I nodded. “Why mess with perfection?”
“I’ll get that started right away.” He turned to walk away just as Frannie came through the door.
My nerves settled at the sight of her. She had on a gray Tennessee Vols sweatshirt and a pair of jeans that molded to her curves. Her eyes lit up when she spotted me in our regular corner booth, and she headed my way.
I got up to pull her into a hug when she got to the table. “Hey, it’s good to see you.”
She hugged back, and I lingered a few seconds longer than necessary. “It’s good to be seen. I’ve had a week from hell.”
“Anything I can do to help?” Reluctantly, I released her and studied her face. She looked tired. The first week of school was always an adjustment, but there was something else going on.
She shook her head. “Not unless you know of a short-term rental that will let me bring a dog.”
“Why do you need a short-term rental?” I slid my beer across the table. She looked like she could use a sip or two, even with the gluten.
“Thanks.” She lifted the glass to her lips and gulped down a swallow. “Let me fill you in on my plumbing situation.”
Pappy brought over an order of deviled eggs on the house. Then Frannie launched into a convoluted explanation of what her landlord told her and why she needed to relocate for at least thirty days.
“That’s ridiculous. Is he going to put you up somewhere?”
She shook her head. “No. He gave me a super sweet deal on my rent since both of his grandsons are students at Beaver Bluff Elementary. There’s nothing about that in my lease, and I can’t ask him to cover my rent on something short term. That would cost him a fortune, and he’s already having to pay to replumb a whole house.”
That was Frannie. She always put other people first. Anyone else would be bitching and moaning about having to relocate, but she was worried about her landlord having to shell out the money for repairs on a house he owned.
“You can stay with me.” The offer flew out of my mouth before I had a chance to think it over.
“I can’t ask you to do that.” She shook her head, but I could tell by the hope that flashed through her eyes that she might seriously consider it.
It was the perfect solution. I’d get one-on-one time with Frannie and possibly be able to scare off whoever she’d been seeing. “Why not? I’ve got an extra bedroom. There’s plenty of space.”
Her head tilted back, and she stared at the ceiling. “I’ve got Pete the Dog to think about.”
“He can come too.” I wanted to do this for her, to be the man who came through for her in a time of need. I reached across the table and covered her hands with mine, pulling her attention back to me. “You’d do the same for me.”
She held my gaze. I stared into her eyes, wishing I could tell her how I felt about her, how I’d always felt. But I couldn’t. Not yet. Frannie deserved someone who could give her everything. Until I could be that man, I wouldn’t let on to my true feelings about her.
“There’s something I need to tell you, Evan. Something you’re not going to like.” She bit down on her lip and shifted her gaze to the table.
Pappy picked that moment to deliver our baskets of burgers. Frannie jerked her hands away from mine as soon as he reached the table. “Here you go. The whiskey burger and fries for you, and the lettuce-wrapped California burger for the lady. Y’all need anything else right away?”
“I think we’re set. Thanks, Pappy.” She gave him a grateful smile.
“Always a pleasure, darlin’.” He scurried off, unaware that he’d picked the absolute worst time to interrupt the conversation.
I wasn’t about to let the subject change. “What were you saying about something you need to tell me?”
Frannie picked up her pickle spear and set it in my basket, just like she did every Friday night. “Let’s eat before our food gets cold. I’ll tell you after dinner.”
I wasn’t okay with that, but I’d let her handle things at her own pace. While my mind raced with dozens of possibilities, we made small talk about her first week of school. Then I filled her in on the latest news from the lab. We wouldn’t hear back about whether the new lab had determined the strain of yeast our ancestors used for a little while yet, but Cole was hopeful he’d get some answers on how to recreate Devil’s Distinct.
Finally, after I’d downed my burger and Frannie had finished as much of hers as she could, I leaned back against the booth. “It’s time. Tell me what’s on your mind, Frannigan.”
She smiled at the nickname I’d been calling her for the past twenty years and slowly lifted her gaze to meet mine. “I’m just going to say it, okay? Once it’s out there, we can talk about it, but just let me get it out without interrupting me.”
I nodded encouragement, though the whiskey burger I’d just inhaled plunged to the bottom of my stomach like a giant boulder. What if I was way off base? What if she’d been diagnosed with something awful? What if she got a new job and was moving away?
“I’ve started seeing someone. He’s really nice, and we have a lot in common.”
My cheeks went ice cold, then flipped to blazing hot as I focused on keeping the hurt out of my voice. “That’s great. Why would you think I’d be mad about that?” Besides the fact that she belonged with me, which I wasn’t comfortable sharing quite yet.
“Evan…” She glared at me and crossed her arms over her chest. “I asked for you to let me finish before you said anything.”
“Sorry.”
She looked away. Her gaze flitted to the wall, to the ceiling, to the bar where Pappy was entertaining a few out-of-towners, and finally back to the table. “His name is Andrew. Andrew Stewart.”
It took a moment for the name to sink in. I didn’t know an Andrew, but… fuck me sideways… “You’re dating a Stewart?”
Nodding, she bit down on her lip and barely met my gaze before staring down at the red-and-white checkered paper liner of her burger basket. “He’s cousins with Davis, Harper, and the rest. His dad is their dad’s brother, but he’s not involved in the distillery at all.”
Dammit. I figured she’d been seeing a teacher from another school or something. But a Stewart? Frannie had the right to see whoever she wanted, but she knew about the longstanding feud between my family and theirs. Hell, everyone within a hundred-mile radius of Beaver Bluff knew about it. Folks in town weren’t shy about sharing which side they were on, either.
“Do you hate me?” Her forehead creased, and she squinted over at me.
“Of course I don’t hate you. I love you, you know that.” She just didn’t know how much or how deep the love I held in my heart for her went.
“But you’re mad.” She nodded, her lips screwed into a frown. “You know I love you, too. I’d never do anything to hurt you. It’s just…”
“What?” I lowered my voice and leaned closer, hoping she wasn’t about to cry. I could handle just about anything life threw my way, but when Frannie started to cry, I always went out of my mind trying to figure out how to fix things for her.
“He’s a nice guy. And my dad’s getting worse. His dream is to walk me down the aisle, and—”
“You’re not actually thinking about marrying this guy, are you?” I felt like someone had just plastered paddles to my chest and shocked my heart back to life. I’d never considered the idea that Frannie and I wouldn’t end up together. It had always been a foregone conclusion in my head. My heart had belonged to her before I even took an interest in girls. It had always been her.
“I’m not getting any younger,” she said.
“You’re twenty-seven. You’ve got plenty of time to get married.”
She wasn’t making sense. How could she possibly be considering marrying a Stewart?
Frannie took in a deep breath and sat up straight. “My dad’s dream is to walk me down the aisle and meet his first grandchild while he still knows who I am. I don’t want to deny him that. I can’t.”
“You can’t just marry someone to make your dad happy.” I reached for her hands, but she pulled them away.
She’d spent her whole life catering to her parents’ wishes. They didn’t think they’d be able to have kids, and both of them were older when her mom finally got pregnant. They’d always called her their miracle baby because they went through so much to have her. Frannie had always felt responsible for making them happy, which put a ton of pressure on her.
I wanted to protect her from that, but hadn’t figured out how. “Can you hear yourself?”
“I knew you wouldn’t understand. Andrew’s the first guy who’s even asked me out in over a year. My dad’s already getting worse. He might not even recognize me a year from now.” Tears welled up in her lower lids.
“Marry me, then.” I didn’t think before throwing that out there, but now it was too late.
Frannie’s eyes went wide and the silence between us stretched. “Don’t be silly, Evan. You told me before you left for Afghanistan that you never want to get married. I’d never ask you to do that for me.” She rummaged through her purse and pulled out her wallet.
“Tonight’s my treat.” I tossed a couple of twenties down on the table, not sure if I should take her rejection personally or chalk it up to her believing what I’d told her back then, back when I didn’t know anything about life or love or how to make sense of the feelings I’d had for her since I was a kid.
“You don’t have to do that. We always split it.” She tried to push my twenty back to me, but I insisted.
“You’ve had a crappy week. Let me do this.” I was ready to take the tab to the bar to settle with Pappy if she wasn’t willing to give in.
“Okay. Thank you.” Her tears had stopped, and my heart had stopped beating along with them.
“I’m serious about you and Pete the Dog moving in with me.” She might not want to marry me yet, but after thirty days of cohabitating, I was sure I could convince her not to move forward with Andrew Fucking Stewart.
“I don’t want to put you out. Your place is so, um, organized.”
“That’s a nice way of putting it. Didn’t you call it ‘sterile with no personality’ the first time you saw it?” The small cabin I lived in had everything I needed and nothing I didn’t. That meant it was free from the colorful throws, decorative pillows, and framed artwork that filled Frannie’s place. Except for a few family pictures and ones of me and Frannie through the years, I didn’t need anything else.
“Did I say that?”
“You sure as hell did.” I’d let Frannie get away with a lot, but I wasn’t going to pretend to forget how she’d described my place.
“Well, that was rude. I’m sorry if that hurt your feelings.” She slipped her purse strap over her shoulder and slid out of the booth. “I need to get home and start packing things up. Whatever I’m not taking with me has to go into storage so it doesn’t get damaged. Sounds like a fun way to spend a Friday night, doesn’t it?”
I wanted to ask her when she was going on her next date, but my pride wouldn’t let me. “I’m happy to help if you need it.”
“I’ll be fine. Besides, one of us has to be there to cheer on the football team tonight.”
Usually, we had dinner and then went to the games together, but I didn’t blame her for wanting to get started on packing up her stuff. Based on what happened between us tonight, we could probably do with a few hours apart. I knew I needed some time to process everything she’d said.
“My offer stands. I really wouldn’t mind you and Pete the Dog moving in for a month. It might even be fun.” I grabbed the check and cash from the table to hand over to Pappy on the way out. I might not be going home with Frannie, but I still planned on walking her to her car.
“Can I let you know tomorrow? They’re giving me a week to pack up and get out.”
I shook my head. This might be my last chance. “Just say yes, Frannie. I’m your best friend. There’s nobody better to put up with you and Pete the Dog, and you know it.”
She took in a deep breath. “Okay. Yes. Thank you so much.”
Pulling her into my arms for a goodbye hug, I couldn’t believe we were going to have a whole month together. By the time it was done, I planned on erasing any memories of Andrew Fucking Stewart from her mind. I was also going to double down on my workouts and push myself until I was in better shape than I’d been in the day I shipped out.
A month from now, I’d be telling Frannie exactly how I felt about her and why I needed to be the one waiting for her at the end of the aisle.