Jennifer Healy had never appreciated the town or the people. Her ex-roommate had once joked that living in Promise was one step up from Mayberry RFD. The comment had angered Nicole. These people were sincere, pleasant and kind. She preferred life in a town where people cared about each other, even if Jen didn’t.
Only it wasn’t just the town that had brought her back. Everything she felt about Promise was genuine, but she had another reason. She’d returned because of Cal Patterson.
Almost ten years ago, she’d been infatuated with him, but since her best friend was engaged to him, she couldn’t very well do anything about it. Jennifer had dumped him and that would have been the perfect time to stick around and comfort him. Instead, she’d waited—and then she’d been transferred again, to a different branch in another town. Shortly after she’d left Promise, she’d had her first affair, and since then had drifted from one dead-end relationship to another. That was all about to change. This time she fully intended to claim the prize—Cal Patterson.
At the Mexican restaurant the other night, Nicole had told Cal that since breaking their engagement, Jennifer compared every man she met to him, the one she’d deserted. Nicole hadn’t a clue if that was the case or not. She was the one who’d done the comparing. In all these years she hadn’t been able to get Cal Patterson out of her mind.
So he was married. She’d guessed as much when she made the decision to return to Promise, but dating a married man wasn’t exactly unfamiliar to her. She would have preferred if he was single, but she had to admit it—his being married wasn’t a deterrent. It only made things more…interesting. More of a challenge. Almost always, the married man ended up staying with his wife, and Nicole was the one who got hurt. This was something she knew far too well, but she’d also discovered that there were ways of undermining a marriage without her having to do much of anything. And when a marriage was shaken, opportunities might present themselves….
“Nicole?”
Nicole realized Annie was staring at her. “Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts.”
“It’s time for a break.” Annie led the way into the back room. Once inside, she reached for the coffeepot and gestured toward one of two overstuffed chairs. “Sit down and relax. If Louise needs any help, she can call us.”
Nicole didn’t have to be asked twice. She’d been waiting for a chance to learn more about Cal, and she couldn’t think of a better source than Annie Porter.
Annie handed her a coffee in a thick ceramic mug, and Nicole added a teaspoon of sugar, letting it slowly dissolve as she stirred. “How do you know Cal?” she asked, deciding this was the best place to start.
“His wife. You haven’t met Jane, have you?”
Nicole shook her head. “Not yet,” she said as though she was eager to make the other woman’s acquaintance.
“We’ve been friends nearly our entire lives. Jane’s the reason I moved to Promise.”
Nicole took a cookie and nibbled daintily. Cal mentioned he has children.”
“Two.”
“That’s what he said.” The perfect little family, a boy and a girl. Except that wifey seemed to be staying away far too long. If the marriage was as wonderful as everyone suggested, she would’ve expected Cal’s wife to be home by now.
“This separation has been hard on them.”
“They’re separated?” Nicole asked, trying to sound sympathetic.
She was forced to squelch a surge of hope when Annie explained, “Oh, no, not that way. Just by distance. Jane’s father has been ill.”
“Yes, Cal had mentioned that she was in California with her family,” Nicole nodded earnestly. “She’s a doctor, right?”
“A very capable one. And the fact that she’s with her parents seems to reassure them both.”
“Oh, I’m sure she’s a big help.”
“I talked to her mom the other day, who’s so glad she’s there. I talked to Jane, too—I wanted to let her know about the baby and find out about her dad. She’s looking forward to getting home.”
“I know I’d want to be with my husband,” Nicole said, thinking if she was married to Cal, she wouldn’t be foolish enough to leave him for weeks at a time. If Jane Patterson was going to abandon her husband, then she deserved what she got.
“The problem is, her father’s not doing well,” Annie said, then sipped her coffee. She, too, reached for a cookie.
“That’s too bad.”
Annie sighed. “I’m not sure how soon Jane will to be able to come home.” She shook her head. “Cal seems at loose ends without his family.”
“Poor guy probably doesn’t know what to do with himself.” Nicole would love to show him, but she’d wait for the right moment.
“Do you like children?” Annie asked her.
“Very much. I hope to have a family one day.” Nicole knew her employer was pregnant, so she said what she figured Annie would want to hear. In reality, she herself didn’t plan to have children. Nicole was well aware that, unlike Annie, she wouldn’t make a good mother. If she was lucky enough to find a man who suited her, she’d make damn sure he didn’t have any time on his hands to think about kids—or to be lured away by another woman. Really, it was usually the wife’s own fault for not giving her husband the attention he craved.
“I understand you’re seeing Brian Longstreet,” Annie murmured.
Nicole had to pause to remember when and where she’d last seen Brian. “We had dinner the other night.” The evening hadn’t been especially memorable. It was Brian’s misfortune to meet her after she’d run into Cal at the Mexican Lindo. Afterward, Cal was all Nicole could think about.
“Do you like him?”
Nicole shrugged. “Brian’s okay.”
“A little on the dull side?”
“A little.” She’d already decided not to date the manager of the grocery store again. He was engaging enough and not unattractive, but he lacked the presence she was looking for. The strength of character. His biggest fault, Nicole readily admitted, was that he wasn’t Cal Patterson.
“What about Lane Moser?”
Nicole had dated him the first week she’d returned. She’d known him from her days at the bank. “Too old,” she muttered. She didn’t mind a few years’ difference, but Lane was eighteen years her senior and divorced. Besides, if he did any checking on her, he might learn a few things best left undiscovered. And he was just the type to check. “I’m picky,” she joked.
“You have a right to be.”
“I never seem to go for the guys who happen to be available. I don’t know what my problem is,” Nicole said, and even as she spoke she recognized this for a bald-faced lie. Her problem was easily defined. Repeatedly she fell for married men; actually she preferred them. It was the challenge, the chase, the contest. Single guys stumbled all over themselves to make an impression, whereas with married men, she was the one who had to lure them, had to work to attract their attention.
Over the years she’d gotten smart, and this time it wouldn’t be the wife who won. It would be her.
“Don’t give up,” Annie said, breaking into her thoughts.
“Give up?”
“On finding the right man. He’s out there. I was divorced when I met Lucas and I had no intention of ever marrying again. It’s all too easy to let negative experiences sour your perspective. Don’t let that happen to you.”
“I