Sweet Talking Cowboy (11 page)

To quiet the rumors at the precinct where Evan was
stationed, Briann insisted on having a back yard pool party and bar-b-cue and
inviting his fellow officers and their families over. 

Shelly arranged for help with the cooking and serving,
knowing her sister-in-law was reaching the stage in her pregnancy where her
wish to do things might outweigh her abilities.

Although Evan warned her that she would be subject to a
great deal of teasing from his co-workers, Briann was still surprised at their
ribald jokes and sexist humor.  Where they had been suspicious of Evan before,
now that he had not only a wife, but an obviously pregnant one, they crowed
loudly about his manhood and since there was almost fifteen years difference in
their ages, he was patted on the back while being teased for having robbed the
cradle.

Briann overheard that remark and couldn’t resist a quick
comeback.  “Well, he had to get me out of the cradle so we’d have someplace to
lay this baby.”

Having exhibited spunk as befitting a policeman’s wife, she
was accepted and the teasing abated.

Evan still saw Pete, but even though the marriage caused a
temporary rift between the two of them, Evan insisted on keeping that part of
his life separate from his family life.

In spite of their reservations concerning her marriage, when
Aunt Poog and Uncle Mike came to visit, they couldn’t help liking Evan.  He did
everything in his power to show them how much he valued his wife and how he
looked forward to becoming a father.

Mike couldn’t hide his disapproval of Evan claiming
fatherhood of Slade’s baby, but there was nothing he could do about it, so he
kept it to himself, and grudgingly accepted the fact that Evan would probably
be a very good father.

Evan took pictures of Briann almost daily and anyone could
see his excitement growing as her time drew nearer.

Briann knew Evan saw Pete regularly and didn’t begrudge him
that.  He was always considerate of her and discrete in his relationship with
Pete.  She was sure that Pete resented the marriage, but Evan seemed happy and
that was the important thing to her.

He insisted that they see a lawyer and set up a trust fund
for the baby and for Briann in case of his death.  He opened a checking account
in her name and made sure a generous amount would be deposited into it monthly.
She couldn’t believe how thoughtful he was.

When he began talking about hiring a household staff, she
put her foot down.

“I’ll be grateful for someone to come in once a week and do
the heavy chores, like mopping, washing windows, and whatever, but I’m
perfectly capable of cooking our meals and doing our laundry.  I’m not planning
on sharing my beautiful home with strangers and I don’t want my child being
raised by nannies.”  She couldn’t help remembering how needy the silver-spoon
quad-set had been when she’d first met them.  They didn’t even know how to
saddle their own horses.  Now they helped some of the younger kids at the barn
and were looking forward to taking turns caring for the baby while Briann gave
lessons once she was able to go back to work.  Briann was very proud of them.

Shelly was almost as excited and Briann and Evan.  She
helped pick out furniture for the nursery and insisted on going along on the
doctor visits.

When the doctor determined that it could be anytime, Evan
made sure that everything was packed that needed to be taken to the hospital. 
He took the nursery monitors and put one in his room and one in Briann’s room
so all she had to do was call his name and he’d be ready to go.  He had his
mother, Maggie, stay with her while he was at work and if he had to work late,
she stayed until Shelly could get there.  Briann felt she was the most looked
after impending mother ever.

As it worked out, Briann was sitting beside the pool
watching Evan and Shelly play water volley ball when her water broke.  It was
an unnecessarily wild scramble to get ready because when she called the doctor,
he insisted that they all just relax.  Yes, they were to bring her in to the
office, but since there were no labor pains yet, it was not a rush.

Briann was young and in good physical shape and although
there was a lot of pain, the doctor assured her that it was an easy birth.

When the nurse handed her the tiny bundle, Briann reached
for it, eager for her first look at this tiny life she had carried inside her
body for so long.  Looking down at the tiny face, tears began to flow from her
eyes.  Her daughter looked so much like Slade it was frightening.  The same
olive skins, the same black hair, even the same blue eyes.  So much like the
father that would never know of her, Briann’s heart almost broke again.  She
felt an up welling of love for the baby and the deep pain for Slade and what
might have been.  If only things had been different.

But they weren’t different.  That was past, and this was
now.  She swiped away her tears, pushed regret into the past and looked toward
the future.

She was sitting up in the bed holding her daughter, a smile
on her face when Evan and his family entered the room.  His hand trembled as he
gently stroked one of his big fingers against the tiny face.  Then he leaned
over and kissed Briann gently on the forehead.

“She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he breathed
softly.

She knew he was sincere and already his mind was racing
ahead to the things he could do for this tiny baby girl as she grew up.

Briann handed the baby to him.  “Here’s your daughter. 
You’ve been so anxious for her arrival; she’s arrived looking like you.”

He grinned.  “Just how’d you manage that?”

Briann shrugged.  “It’s just fate, I guess.”

From day one, Evan’s whole family doted on the baby’s every
movement.  They were convinced that she was not only the most beautiful child
ever born, but she was absolutely the most intelligent, as well.

When Tristin was three months old, Briann went back to
giving lessons and discovered Darci, one of the silver-spoon quad-set had been
having issues with her horse.  Briann began riding it to work through the
problem and when she had him once more working well, there were other problem
horses that needed her help.  From there she began taking in a colt or two to
train.

Tristin spent most of her days with Evan’s mother, Maggie,
being loved and spoiled rotten.  In spite of the spoiling, she was a sweet,
good natured child and as she grew older, Briann saw more and more of Slade
Butler in her looks and her mannerisms.  It was heart breaking but somehow, at
the same time, a blessing because she had come to accept that anger and hurt
did not equal hate and no matter what she wanted to feel, she loved Slade.

When Tristin’s fourth birthday passed, Evan seemed to
change.  He spent more and more time at home and Briann got the sense that he
was not seeing Pete, at least not as much as he had previously.

Finally one night Evan came home from work, his face haggard
and tired.  Expressing her concern, Briann wasn’t prepared for the shocking
reason for his exhaustion.

“Pete has gone off the deep end,” he confessed.  “Tonight he
was waiting at my car as I left the precinct and wouldn’t accept anything short
of a meeting in private, or he’d march into the building and openly proclaim
our…relationship to everyone there.”  His brown eyes flashed a look of pure
panic as he looked at Briann.  “I don’t know what’s going on with him!  He’s
gotten so…..irrational.”

Briann had made a point of never questioning him about his
relationship with Pete, even lately when he appeared to be distancing himself
from it.  All she could do now was take his hand in a show of her support for
him.

“Several weeks ago,” Evan continued, “I decided to center
myself on us, our family and our lives together.  I don’t want Tris to grow up
hearing rumors or suspicions about me.  I told Pete that I was having a hard
time living a double life and just didn’t want to deal with all the
complications.  He freaked out.  He accused me of falling in love with you!  He
begged me not to leave him out of my life.  He thinks you’ve been seducing me. 
I think it actually helped me see him in a different way, or maybe see myself
in a different way.  Anyway, tonight I told him it was over, at least for now. 
It had nothing to do with you, or my feelings for you, it’s just something I
have to work out in my own life.  He cried and pleaded, threatened, but I think
I convenience him that it’s over.  I left him in an emotional mess, but I think
he’ll be alright.”  Evan took a deep breath and forced a weak smile at her. 
“And putting this behind him is something he has to do for himself.  I can’t do
it for him.”

They were sitting side by side on the big couch in the
family room and Briann stretched one hand up to caress his cheek.  “I’m so
sorry that this has happened, Evan.  I can’t help feeling like I’m part of the
problem.  Me and Tris.”

His large hands closed on her shoulders and he shook her
gently.  “Don’t ever feel that way, Briann.  You’re the best friend I’ve ever
had, and I can’t imagine my life without you and Tris in it.  I….I..hope you
never find a man you….” he stopped in mid-sentence.  “That sounds so selfish of
me.  I don’t want to lose you to another man, but I can’t wish you a life
without love.  I wish…..I wish I could…..love you like that.  God knows if it
ever happened for me, it would be with you.”

Briann leaned her head against his strong chest.  “Let’s not
worry about things that probably won’t ever happen, Evan.  You’re my best
friend and the best father that Tris could have.  And as much as I hate to
admit it, I doubt I will ever love another man besides Tristin’s biological
father.  If I could, I’d want it to be you.  You’re a good man, and you’ve been
so good to both of us.  I won’t ever let anything come between us.”

In the storm of emotions they sought comfort from each
other, but as much as they wanted it to happen, there was no passion there to
share.  Briann felt heavy with sorrow when Evan finally sighed in defeat and
then chuckled softly.  “It is what it is, huh?”

She nodded, then stood up and leaned over to kiss him on his
forehead.  “Goodnight.  Get some rest.  We’ll worry about the future when it
needs worrying about.”

Evan was off for the next two nights and they spent their
time as a family.  One night they ate with his parents and Shelly and the
following night, they had a camp out in the living room.  Evan made a tent by
spreading a blanket across the back of the couch and supporting the other side
with the backs of two chairs.  They built a bed using blankets and quilts and
made S’mores in the fireplace.  Tristin was tired and fell asleep between them,
a smile on her face.

When Evan left for his shift the next afternoon, Briann
walked him to the door and promised to wait up until he came in.  He kissed her
cheek and waved as he backed out of the driveway.

She had tucked Tristin in earlier and was watching a
television show when she spotted the lights of a car turning into her drive. 
She knew it was too early for Evan and walked to the door, flipping on the
outside light.  She was surprised to see Evan’s supervising officer and a
policewoman getting out of a car.

A cold knot of fear tightened in her stomach as they made
their way up the sidewalk.  She felt her knees growing weak when she met
Captain Hicks’ sorrowful eyes.  Shaking her head negatively she stepped back
and allowed them into the entryway.

“Is it bad?” she asked, willing her trembling legs to carry
her into the living room.

Captain Hicks nodded.  “Evan was dispatched to check out a
suspicious man hanging around outside the liquor store behind the mall.  He
left his car to talk to the man; the next thing we get is a call from the night
clerk at the liquor store reporting shots fired and an officer down.  By the
time another unit arrived, the suspect was gone and……Evan never felt a thing. 
It was one shot.  I’m so sorry to have to tell you.”

Briann was shocked to numbness.  She just sat for some
minutes, and then sighed deeply.  “I need to call his sister.  She’ll want to
go tell their parents.”

The next days were a blur.  The funeral was hard, but
looking ahead into her future was worse.  Evan had become such a big part of
her life.

She called the precinct almost daily inquiring if they had
any leads as to why someone would kill Evan.

Once or twice she wondered if Pete could have had anything
to do with it, but shook that off as foolishness.  Pete had come to the funeral
and been above reproach in his concern for her and Evan’s family.  She just
wanted the person responsible to be brought to justice.  Weeks passed and
became months with no leads and only assurances that they were still
investigating.

Briann spent five days a week at Mirror Lake Stables, either
giving lessons or riding the colts that she had agreed to take and the other
two were spent enjoying the company of her beautiful daughter.

Poog had confided to Briann in one of their phone
conversations that Mike had been complaining of stomach pains a lot and after
consulting with specialists, they had diagnosed cancer.  They planned
treatments and she was confident that things would be fine.  Nevertheless,
Briann knew she needed to be there for them.  She dreaded the consequences of
moving home, of taking Tris to live near Slade, but family responsibility
prevailed, and she put her place up for sale.

Briann called them regularly to find out how the treatments
were going and was assured that although things were taking a lot of time,
eventually he would be alright.

It came as a shock when Poog had finally called and asked
her to come home.  The treatments hadn’t gone as well as hoped and Mike was now
refusing anymore of them.  He had been admitted to the hospital and they needed
her to come.

Briann never hesitated.  She packed her clothes, left Tris
with Maggie and headed home.