He chuckles. “You know, you don’t expect someone within the royal family to have such a great sense of humor, or at least you don’t see it that often. It’s refreshing.”
“It’s my downfall. Keller was always whispering under his breath to pull it together.” I pause and then sigh. “Ugh, sorry. I didn’t want to bring him up.”
“It’s okay,” Evan says, his voice full of understanding. “Keller was a huge part of your life. You were going to be married.”
“I know, but it’s just weird. And probably really uncomfortable for you.”
“No, it’s not. I know him. I could see him saying that to you.”
“You know him?” I ask.
He nods. “Yes, I’ve done some woodwork with him in the past. He’s also been a part of the different medal ceremonies that I’ve participated in. You probably don’t want to hear it, but he’s a good guy.”
“Yeah . . . he is,” I say. Just can’t stick around to marry me is all. “Just didn’t have what it takes, I guess.”
The servers walk into the room again. This time, they bring a three-tier plate of sandwiches and desserts while taking away our soup bowls. When they leave, I say, “This feels more like a tea party than a date.”
“I like tea parties,” he says while picking up a cucumber sandwich.
“Have you ever been to one?”
“Not really,” he says, “but I’ve seen them on television, and they seem enjoyable.” He takes a bite of his sandwich, and his expression morphs into shock. “Wow, this is really good.”
“It’s my favorite,” I say. “I love a cucumber sandwich. So delicious.”
“I was eating this first because I thought I wasn’t going to like it.” He examines the sandwich. “Now I regret my decision.”
“What were you saving for last?”
“The cod cake.”
I pluck the cod cake and set it on my plate. “Yeah, this is my first one.”
He smiles. “Still not a fan?”
“Getting there. It’s going to take time. Slowly but surely. At least this one is fresh, and it’s not fermented. Those I struggle with terribly.”
“At least you’re honest.”
I cut into my cod cake with a fork and dip it into my individual sauce bowl. The more the merrier. “Why did you join the military? I know that seems like an odd question, but I’m curious given who your family is.”
He dabs his mouth with his napkin. “I wanted to feel something, anything,” he says. “Growing up as a Sotherby, it just felt like everything was handed to us. My parents live among the upper crust, and they dragged us around from party to party. Mum would spend her evening with the women, trying to decide who would be the perfect match for her sons, and my dad would be in the parlor rooms, smoking cigars and making deals with the other pompous men in the room. I’d be stuck in the ballroom, watching everyone follow suit, and I hated it. I wanted so much more. I wanted to travel, feel alive, feel the earth, seek out way more than this world where we ate the finest food and sneered at the people who made way less than us.”
“Wow,” I say. “That’s impressive. So you thought the military was the way to go?”
He nods. “Yes. I just felt like I’d be doing something, to make use of the breath I was given. And it was fine to leave because my brother was staying with my parents, and he’d take over, but then I lost my brother in a boating accident, and everything seemed to fall apart.”
“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry,” I say, reaching out and placing my hand on his. I run my thumb over his knuckles. “I lost my parents in a car accident. It was devastating. I can only imagine how you felt.”
“Numb,” he says.
“That’s the perfect way to describe it.”
He nods. “I was on contract with the military, so I had to remain on duty until the contract was over, but after, I promised to take care of my parents. They were suffering terribly from the loss. I know Dad made some bad deals, and Mum spent most of her days in her bed, weeping. It changed the dynamic of my family, and I’m not sure we’ll ever recover.” His lips twist to the side as he looks up at me. “Makes you really want to go out on another date with me, doesn’t it?”
I chuckle and squeeze his hand. “I do. I like how real you are. But I do wonder, you know what my life is like here, right? It’s very upper crust.”
“I bet there’s a big difference from my family to yours,” he says. “You reach out to the community, raise money, do good for your people. That wasn’t the case with the parties my parents attended. The exact opposite actually. They were more about trying to get involved with the wrong people so they could make more, have finer things, present themselves as the true lord and lady of the Sotherbys.”
