The Bachelor Project

“There aren’t that many.”

“I can think of a few,” his aunt said in a knowing voice.

“I’m sure you can.” And one of them was no doubt the great-niece of Bess’s good friend in Houston. “I’m not looking for a relationship.”

“Then how about a little fun? It’s not normal for a man your age to be so, well…so celibate.”

“Aunt Bess!”

“Well, it’s not.” She left him standing in the doorway, shaking his head as she hustled off to prepare dinner. Just before she placed a casserole in the microwave, she turned back to him with a twinkle in her eye. “I swear, Ethan, half the men in the retirement home get more action than you do.”

SINCE ROBIN HAD LONG AGO unpacked her two suitcases, she had plenty of time to explore the house and make an inventory of items she needed from the store. Unfortunately, her current bank balance wasn’t nearly as healthy as her wish list. She’d have to economize while she was hiding out in Ranger Springs, but at least she had the satisfaction of knowing her bridesmaids had been reimbursed for their gowns and shoes.

Not that any of them had been hurting for money, but she would have felt even more remorse over calling off the wedding if she’d left them with the bill for clothes they’d probably never use again. After all, most of them had half a dozen used bridesmaid dresses hanging in the closet, if they hadn’t been donated to charity or taken to a consignment store. The difference between her and her friends was that her beautiful unused wedding gown now kept her bridesmaid dresses company.

She paused, her fingers clutching the pen and paper, as she imagined her friends and family wondering where she was, what she’d been thinking when she’d canceled the wedding just three weeks before she was to walk down the aisle with one of Houston’s most eligible men. Everyone except Great-aunt Sylvia had accepted her engagement to Gig Harrelson as a given.

Robin wasn’t sure what her aunt hadn’t liked about Gig. He was a former football player—albeit second-string at Texas A&M—with the blond hair and handsome features one would expect from a true “golden boy.” He came from one of the best families, circulated easily in several different social circles, and could relate well to both men and women. Gig was an asset to his father’s banking business and would have made a perfectly wonderful husband.

Maybe she didn’t want a perfect husband, Robin mused. Maybe Gig had been a little too perfect, from his straight white teeth to his designer sportswear. Had her heart ever raced when he’d held her in his arms? Had she felt juvenile excitement at just a glimpse of him across a crowded restaurant?

Maybe getting away to this small town, to a totally different environment, had been the best idea. Not because she wanted a relationship with another man, but because she needed to put the last one in perspective.

Shaking her head, Robin returned to her inventory, but was interrupted again when the phone rang.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Robin, dear, I’m so glad you’re home. I have a favor to ask.”

Since the days were stretching ahead of her like a blank slate, a favor for Bess Delgado sounded pretty good. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m taking a little vacation to San Antonio to visit some friends. Ethan is going to be home, though, and I just hate the thought of him all alone.”

Robin took the cordless phone and started pacing the living room. Oh, no. Surely Bess didn’t expect a stranger to keep her nephew company! Robin sure didn’t want to give the man the wrong idea by spending personal time with him.

“Robin?”

“Yes, I’m here.”

“I know you’re just in town for a short time, but I feel as though I’ve known you for most of your life. Your Great-aunt Sylvia was always telling me about your latest triumphs and tribulations. That’s why I’d like you to spend some time with Ethan. Like most bachelors, he’ll probably spend hours sitting in front of the television unless he has something to do.”

She should tell Bess “no.” All she had to do was think of some really good excuse, something that rang true, yet would let her great-aunt’s sweet friend down lightly.

Instead, she heard herself say, “What did you have in mind?”

“Oh, nothing major, dear. Just sharing a meal. You might suggest he take you around to see some of the sights. There’s a very scenic drive near Wimberley.”

Robin paused at the side window, looking out at the pecan trees and remembering the late-night ruckus that had brought Ethan to her house that first night. Recalling the way he’d held her so firmly and listened so compassionately to her explanation of everything from growing up in the city to running away from her wedding. “Bess, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I’m sure Ethan has other things to do.”

“Oh, he works hard, but most of his friends around here are married couples, and busy with their own lives in the evenings. And he’s not dating anyone, so that wouldn’t be a problem.”

Robin scrambled for another excuse, this one closer to the real reason she needed to decline. “He might get the wrong idea.”

“You just tell him you’re new in town and you’d like a little company. I can’t imagine him turning you down.”

“I don’t want him to think I’m imposing on him.” Or worse yet, asking him out on a date.

“He won’t, dear. Ethan’s very nice. If he’s told me once, he’s told me a dozen times that he’s not looking for a steady girl.”

A steady girl. Robin had to smile as she strolled across the room. Had she ever heard that expression used? Probably when she’d been flipping through the old-movie channel and caught one of those Doris Day films from the fifties.

“I’d have such a better time with my friends if I knew Ethan wasn’t sitting home alone every night.”

Bess really knew how to pour on the guilt, Robin silently acknowledged. She sighed as she picked up a very good reproduction porcelain St. Charles spaniel on the mantel, then said, “I suppose I could give him a call, just to be friendly. I’m not so sure about suggesting anything as time-consuming as a drive through the country.”

“Whatever you’re comfortable with, dear.” Bess paused, giving Robin the impression the older lady was weighing her next words. “Perhaps the two of you could share a meal at Ethan’s house. I’ve fixed a variety of food. It’s all in the freezer.”

That sounded simple enough, but again, Robin wasn’t entirely comfortable with asking herself into Ethan’s personal world. Going to his house and rummaging through his freezer seemed so…intimate. Interacting with him in his professional capacity, or even seeing him in public was a different matter.

“I’ll think about it, Bess. That’s all I can promise. I just don’t want him to feel uncomfortable.”

“I’m sure Ethan will be glad to hear from you. I just know he’ll get lonely while I’m gone,” Bess added with a sigh.

Robin wondered if she’d have the nerve to pick up the phone and give the good-looking police chief a nice, friendly call. For the second time that week, she felt as though she’d slipped back into high school. Only this time, a member of the older generation was encouraging her to ask a boy out for a date instead of telling her that good girls simply didn’t do that sort of thing.

Robin placed the white-and-brown china dog back on the mantel. Oh, for the good old days.

Chapter Four

Ethan had almost banished Robin Cummings from his mind the day after his aunt left for San Antonio, basically because he’d been busy meeting with the Fourth of July planning committee. Since several streets had to be blocked and traffic stopped on Main Street, his officers were crucial to a successful parade. But as soon as he’d pulled into his drive and cut the engine of his Bronco the following evening, his thoughts returned to the woman he’d already sworn he’d never date.

He hadn’t had a chance when Sylvia had called him from Houston. She’d wanted to talk to Bess, but seemed more than happy to chat with him, instead. And then she’d pulled out the big guns—her fear that her poor, lonely great-niece would languish in the big family home where she was house-sitting, so far from Houston. Hundreds of miles from her friends and family. All alone, with only memories to keep her company….

He would have seemed a total cad if he’d said “no” to the very nice lady who was one of Bess’s best friends. He would have seemed petty if he’d come up with an excuse why he couldn’t possibly share a friendly evening meal with an attractive, single woman. A friend of the family. In the end, he couldn’t avoid a promise to Sylvia that he’d ask her niece out on a “neighborly” date.

After all, he couldn’t have the citizens of Ranger Springs—even the temporary ones—languishing from loneliness, he thought with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

So now he stood in front of the white wall phone in the kitchen, Robin’s number at the Franklin home written on a grocery receipt, his mouth as dry as the Texas prairie in August.

“I promised,” he reminded himself, his voice rusty. What he needed was an icy-cold longneck to help him through this, but even if he used the excuse of a dry throat, drinking didn’t seem right. He didn’t want his brain to be fuddled by alcohol when he called Robin.

With no excuses left, he picked up the phone and dialed her number.

“POLICE CHIEF PARKER?” Had Robin’s thoughts of him conjured up the call? All afternoon she’d been debating how to approach him, and now he’d landed in her lap, so to speak.

“Please, call me Ethan.”

Even better. So this wasn’t an official call. “How are you, Ethan?”