Preston's Honor

  She turned back around and her shoulders raised and fell minutely before she took the few steps that brought her to our table. She gave us a tight smile. “Hi, I’m Annalia and I’ll be serving you tonight. Have you ever been to Abuelo’s before?”

  I stared at her for a beat. Was she going to pretend we didn’t know each other? I wondered at the reason. Who was she trying to make things easier for?

  “Lia,” I let out on a breath. I felt as if someone had taken my body and given it a good shake and everything inside still hadn’t quite settled back into its proper place.

  Tracie looked from me to Lia and then back to me, understanding dawning in her eyes as her face paled slightly just as Lia’s had. She looked at her menu as if it might hold some sort of protocol on how to act in this awkward situation. Jesus, what were the odds?

  Lia let out a soft breath. “Preston.” Her eyes moved to Tracie and lingered for a second before she looked back at me.

  “I didn’t know you worked here.”

  “No, I see that.” She didn’t say it meanly, though, just as a sort of agreement.

  I looked at her nametag and noticed her name was spelled incorrectly with only one n. Something about that made a quiver of anger race through me, not the misspelling but the fact that Annalia wouldn’t say anything about it. She’d let it go because she wouldn’t want to be a bother. Why did that anger me? I didn’t know and I was too shaken to think more about it.

  “I was hoping I’d hear from you this week,” she said softly, her eyes shooting over to Tracie again who was still focused on her menu.

  I cleared my throat. “I meant to, uh, I just hadn’t gotten around to it.” She tried hard to hide the hurt that filled her eyes but didn’t manage it. My throat felt tight and my skin itched from the inside. “By the way, Annalia, this is Tracie. She, uh, cares for Hudson while I’m working.”

  “Oh.” The sound that came from Lia was mostly breath and sounded more like a strange moan than the word I knew she’d intended.

  Tracie smiled at Lia and it conveyed what I could only guess she was feeling, some discomfort, but possibly sympathy for the situation we were all in.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Tracie. I’m . . . I’m Hudson’s mother. Thank you for all you’ve done.”

  “Yes, I know your name,” Tracie said gently. “And I love watching Hudson. He’s a true joy.”

  “Yes,” Lia whispered and she looked so shattered that I wanted to hit someone. I wasn’t sure exactly who—maybe me. Maybe I wanted to beat myself senseless.

  “Lia,” I said and her eyes moved slowly to mine. “I meant to call you and tell you that we’re having a small party for Hudson tomorrow if you want to join us.”

  She blinked at me for a moment, those gorgeous eyes round and full of pain. God help me, I wanted to take her in my arms and soothe away the hurt, and it filled me with helpless distress. I didn’t want to feel this way. This was exactly why I’d asked Tracie to dinner and now the fates had walked me straight back into the eye of the storm when all I needed was some calm, some damn peace. Some stillness instead of the swirling, turbulent emotions that Lia always evoked inside me.

  “I . . . of course. Yes. Thank you. What time?”

  What time? I had no idea. I looked at Tracie and she smiled up at Lia again. “Eleven to one.”

  Lia nodded. “Okay.” The loud strains of whatever mariachi music was playing suddenly sped up and it seemed to jerk Lia out of the small awkward circle the three of us were creating back to the restaurant floor. “I’ll just get you some waters. Would you like anything else to drink? A margarita?”

  I looked at Tracie who shook her head. She wasn’t even twenty-one anyway. “Water’s fine,” I said.

  Lia pivoted and walked away, stopping at a table on her way and checking on them.

  I turned to Tracie. I hoped the look on my face conveyed the regret I felt inside. I hadn’t meant to do this to her. I would have never knowingly done this to any one of us.

  “She’s really beautiful,” Tracie said softly. “Hudson, he has her eyes.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, he does. Tracie, I’m sorry about this. If I’d known she worked here—”

  “Well, Preston Sawyer, is that you?”

  Surprised, I looked up to see Alicia Bardua standing a few feet from me. There was a hostess standing behind her where she had been about to seat Alicia and another blonde at a booth across from us. The hostess handed the menus to Alicia’s friend and smiled politely before walking away.

  “Alicia,” I said, the surprise I felt obvious in my tone. I’d managed to hide the displeasure. “I didn’t know you were back in town.”

  “Oh, just temporarily. I’m here for my sister’s wedding.” She walked closer to our table and gave a snooty smile to Tracie, holding out one hand with long, hot pink nails. “Hi, I’m Alicia.”

  Tracie smiled politely and shook hands. “Tracie.”

  Alicia put her hand on my shoulder. “I heard about Cole. I was absolutely devastated. I had to leave work early I was so distraught. I work for Vera Wang in New York City now if you didn’t hear,” she added.

  I wasn’t sure which part she meant for me to address but preferred not to discuss Cole with her. “I’d heard you’re doing really well, Alicia. My mom runs into your dad pretty often at different social events.”

  Alicia swept her pale blonde hair over her shoulder and preened for a moment. “Daddy’s real proud of me.” Daddy had spoiled her rotten, but I didn’t care enough about Alicia to be anything but cordial to her, and so I simply nodded, giving her what I hoped looked like a sincere smile.

  She’d expressed her forgiveness for me breaking our prom date at our high school graduation. Of course, I knew it really had more to do with the fact that she’d gotten another date immediately with the captain of the football team—whom she considered a step up from me and was still dating at graduation—than with any true soul-searching about her disgusting behavior.

  “I also heard you have a kid with that girl who used to hang off you and Cole.” She went on, giving me a smile full of fake sympathy. “Then I heard she ran off and I thought, well, doesn’t surprise me. But I’m glad to see you haven’t let it bring you down.” She glanced at Tracie and gave her a bigger smile.

  I felt a small jolt of anger. Lia had never hung off Cole and me. If anything, she’d made a concerted effort to avoid us in public. It had pissed me off actually. “Thanks for stopping by,” I said tersely, hoping she understood the dismissal.

  She looked slightly off-put but nodded and smiled back. “Have a nice dinner. I sure do hope I see you around while I’m here.”

  A water glass was set down in front of me and Alicia moved to the side slightly. She looked at Lia and her eyes shot open so wide she looked like a shocked owl. For a second I almost wanted to laugh. “You have got to be kidding me,” she said. “You work here?”

  Lia’s eyes widened as well when she saw Alicia, but she gathered herself quickly and nodded. “Hi, Alicia.” I remembered that long-ago day Alicia had been so cruel to Lia at school and felt the weight of sadness fall over me. Of course, Alicia had been even uglier to Lia with her words after Lia had run to the nurse’s office, but I’d never told Lia that. She had enough hurt to contend with as it was.

  Alicia looked over her shoulder to where her friend sat waiting for her and smiled tightly. “I’d better go. See you later.” She nodded to Tracie and me and then turned and sashayed the short distance to her table.

  “Are you ready to order?” Lia asked. I heard the tremble in her voice. Lord knew how many times I’d caused that tremble. I once again wished I could draw her close and provide comfort.

  “I am,” Tracie said. “Are you?”

  I hadn’t even taken in any of the words on the menu but at this point I just wanted to eat and get the hell out of there. “Yeah.”

  Tracie ordered and I pointed to something on the menu, hoping it was an entrée of some sort. Lia’s hand paused where
it had been writing on the small pad of paper she held. “You want an order of tripitas?”

  “Uh . . . sure. What is it?”

  “It’s pig intestines. It’s considered a delicacy, but . . . I’ve never known you to be a very adventurous eater.”

  Pig intestines. My stomach roiled at the thought. “Just bring me whatever you think I’d like.” I closed the menu and handed it to her. She took them and walked away.

  Tracie and I talked stiltedly for a little while. I didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable. I didn’t think either of us were under the impression the date—if it could be called that—hadn’t been shot to hell. I just hoped we could make the best of it, get out of here and . . . what? Did I even want to try again somewhere else? Another time? I was too mixed up to even think right then. I should have stuck with the tripitas. If anyone deserved to eat pig innards, it was me.

  I started to say something to Tracie but was distracted by Alicia’s loud, snooty voice coming from behind me. When I glanced back, she was talking to a busboy and asking for a manager. Not thirty seconds later an attractive older woman with her black hair in a twist at the back of her head and wiping her hands on an apron, came out of the back and approached Alicia’s table.

  “I’d like to request a different food server than the one I have.”

  “Was there a problem, ma’am?” The woman’s voice was soft yet firm. The people at the tables around us seemed to quiet slightly as if they, too, were listening to the exchange.

  Alicia’s voice lowered an octave as if she were trying to speak privately, but being that the voice she’d started in had been overly loud, this new “softer” voice could still be heard from four tables away. In every direction, I imagined. “That girl used to come to school with bugs on her,” she said and my heart dropped. “I don’t want her serving my food.”

  Every muscle in my body froze. You fucking bitch, Alicia. I looked back and the woman in front of her had crossed her arms over her chest and seemed to be standing taller. I couldn’t see what was on her face, but by the look on Alicia’s, the woman wasn’t cowering to her—at least not in her stance or expression.

  There was a lengthy pause as if the woman was deciding how to reply. “I’ll have Raul take your order,” she finally said, her voice clipped. I didn’t know her but I swore I heard the low simmer of anger in her tone. “I do hope he’ll meet with your approval.”

  “That’s fine,” Alicia said, obviously not catching the note of sarcastic disdain in the woman’s voice. Or not caring.

  Motherfucking hell.

  As the manager walked away, she passed our table, her eyes lingering on me for a moment.

  I frowned, looking at Tracie to see her expression was pained. “Wow, that Alicia’s a real bitch, isn’t she?”

  I let out a raspy breath. “She always was.”

  “Did you go to school together?”

  “Yes, we were friends, kind of.” We’d actually dated for a short time, which I was too ashamed to admit.

  “What . . . what did she mean about bugs?”

  My breath hissed from my lips in a loud exhale. “That . . . it wasn’t Lia’s fault.” I wouldn’t dredge up the story for Tracie—it was in the past, where it should be.

  She nodded, pursing her lips, studying me. “You’re still in love with Annalia, aren’t you?” She reached across the table and put her hand on mine. “It’s okay, Preston.” She looked down for a moment. “I had hoped . . . well, I’d hoped there could be something between us; I’m not going to beat around the bush about that. But after seeing you two together, I know there can’t be. And I won’t take it personally. I don’t think you’re available for anyone. You’re not over Annalia.”

  I stared at her for a moment, wondering what she’d seen exactly, because Annalia and I had barely spoken. From my point of view, it’d been stilted and painful and awkward.

  I glanced behind her at the depiction of the Mexican couple, my eyes lingering on their linked hands for a moment before I looked back at Tracie. No, I didn’t know exactly how she knew how I felt, but I couldn’t deny she was right. I couldn’t. Not even to myself. “No,” I said, letting out a humorless sound that was half-chuckle, half-breath and closing my eyes very briefly. “I’m not available for anyone else.” I haven’t been, not really, not since I first looked into Lia’s eyes when I was only a kid. And over her? No. I wasn’t over her—far from it. Only . . . I didn’t think she loved me back, and I had no earthly idea what to do with my feelings.

  “I’m sorry, Tracie. I wasn’t trying to play games with you. I respect you more than I can express, and we couldn’t have survived this past six months without you. I wish,” I released a harsh breath, “I wish it could be more than that.”

  She smiled softly and patted my hand again. “I love Hudson, he’s—”

  “Excuse me,” Lia’s voice came from above, and Tracie pulled her hand away where it’d rested on top of mine on the table. I pulled my hand back as well and Lia put our entrées in front of us. “Will there be anything else right now?”

  Tracie looked at me, regret in her eyes and then she smiled up at Lia. “No. Thank you, Annalia.”

  I glanced up at Lia to see her nod, her expression drawn, and then she turned and walked to the table next to us.

  I sincerely hoped the woman Alicia had complained to hadn’t told Annalia the truth about why she was sending someone else to take her order. I watched out of the corner of my eye as she began clearing her other customers’ plates and focused on my food.

  Lia had brought me some sort of burrito and I cut into it, taking a bite of the steak-and-vegetable-filled concoction. It was delicious, and I felt bad for eating it quickly, but I really just wanted to finish and end this torture for all of us.

  “We could get the food to go,” Tracie suggested, eyeing me as I swallowed the overly huge bite I’d just stuffed in my mouth.

  I gave her a wry smile and raised my eyebrows. “Would you mind?”

  She laughed a short laugh. “No. I’d prefer it actually.” But she gave me an understanding smile. “And I think Annalia deserves to work without the distraction of—” Her words suddenly cut off as her brows drew together and then she immediately sucked in a breath, moving as if she was about to rise out of her chair. Behind me I heard a small scream and a massive crash.

  “She tripped her,” I heard Tracie say incredulously as I whipped my head around to see Lia sprawled on the floor in a heap of broken dishes and half-eaten food.

  Adrenaline surged through my blood and I jumped out of my seat just as a man rushed up to me, putting his hand lightly against my chest. “Please sir, thank you, but no need to help. I’ve got this. “

  He turned so quickly he almost seemed like a blur and shocked me by throwing a plate on the floor with a purposeful flourish. “¡Óooorale!” he shouted over the sound of the shattering dish, scooping Lia up off the floor in one elegant movement and dipping her as she let out a squeak, her eyes wide and still full of what looked like shocked horror.

  As he pulled himself straight, supporting Lia with one arm until she was standing, he said with a grin, “We’re here every night, folks. Don’t forget to tip your food server.”

  The diners around me laughed and clapped at the impromptu show—what had turned a cringe-worthy moment into something light and funny—then turned back to their meals.

  A couple of busboys rushed in to clean up the mess and the waiter who’d held me back and helped Lia up—Raul I assumed—ushered her in the other direction and quickly toward the back. I looked over at Alicia who was smirking as she sipped innocently on a margarita.

  Red rage clouded my vision as I walked over to her table and put my hands down heavily on the edge, startling her as I leaned forward. “Leave. Now.”

  Alicia’s face screwed up before she laughed. “Or what, Preston?”

  “Or I’ll forward every lewd picture you ever sent to the guys you dated in high school straight to Vera Wang. Ma
ybe I’ll post them in the Linmoor Times. A full-page ad. I’ll at least put them on the Internet. And you know how it goes once something’s on the Internet. It’s forever. I have a lot of material to choose from, don’t I, Alicia?”

  Her face drained of color and her smile faded. She looked at her friend who was staring at her and then around at the other diners. “You liar,” she hissed.

  I narrowed my eyes and smiled. I was bluffing. I hadn’t kept any pictures, and I had no idea if anyone else had either. But the horror in Alicia’s eyes told me my bluff was working. My smile increased. “You don’t think men keep that type of thing? You don’t think we share them with our friends? Not only do I still have the ones you sent me, I could make six phone calls and have a hundred saved pictures to choose from in ten minutes. Too bad you burned so many bridges. I imagine quite a few of them are looking for an excuse to burn you right back. Now I’ll say it once more, get the hell out of here. Now.”

  Alicia gave me one final look of death, reached for her purse, and threw some money on the table. “I’ve lost my appetite anyway,” she bit out. “Come on,” she said to her friend, standing up and bumping me as she moved to leave. Her friend kept her head down as she followed behind. I stayed in place, looking over my shoulder to watch the door shut behind them.

  Huffing out a breath, I returned to Tracie. I sat back down, grimacing as I finally made eye contact. “I imagine this will go down in history as the worst date of your life.”

  Her lips tipped up in an amused smile. “It’s been . . . interesting, I’ll give you that.” Her face became serious. “I think it’s time you drove me home and figured out what you’re going to do about Annalia.”

  I flinched but it ended on a sigh. Yeah. That’s exactly what I needed to do. No matter what, she’d always be the mother of my son. I only wished she wasn’t the one who still owned my heart.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Annalia

  I stared at myself in the mirror, the eyes that gazed back full of all the misery I felt in my heart. Could this night have been any worse? Only if I’d gotten fired . . . which I still might.