He wasn’t going to get promoted. Colonel Jefferson Thibedeux stood in front of his boss’s desk and ground his teeth to the roots. He’d been working for five long years for the promotion to Brigadier General and he wasn’t going to get it. Not today, not ever.

Unless he found a wife, and skippity pronto fast.

“Look, Thibedeux,” General Armstrong said, his bushy brows drawing down over his eyes. “I know you’ve worked hard, given your all to the service, but they want a certain kind of soldier for this position—the second-in-command here at the Pentagon must be able to handle all the diplomatic functions, settle the incoming families of upper-level staff, coordinate logistics of the President’s travel, attend all sorts of ceremonial functions.”

“Yes, sir,” Jeff nodded, his forehead creased with stress.

“You understand what I’m saying?” the General asked, his eyes boring holes into Jeff.

Jeff struggled not to squirm. Put him in front of a commanding officer shouting at him for blowing a mission in a war zone and he wouldn’t balk a bit, stand him up here with Walter Armstrong implying he needed a wife and he felt like a six-year-old being reprimanded by his grandfather.

“I need a wife,” Jeff said bluntly.

The General sighed heavily, shaking his head. “Now, son, you know a requirement like that would not only be frowned upon by the White House, but is actually in violation of Army regulations. We can’t base promotions on someone’s marital status.”

“But hypothetically speaking, if I were married, I’d be more the kind of soldier you’re looking for?”

Armstrong watched him a moment more, making Jeff wish he’d just phoned in sick today. Finally, the older man huffed out a breath and sat forward, wiggling the mouse to bring his computer screen to life.

“Just do what you have to so I can give you the damn promotion. You know you’re the one I want, but it has to fly with the rest of the committee.”

Jeff nodded briskly and saluted before turning on his heel to leave.

“And Thibedeux?”

“Yes, sir?”

“This needs to be solved in the next forty days. I’ve held them off as long as I can. They’ll pick someone else if you’re not up to snuff by Christmas.”

“Yes, sir.”

Well, hell. There went the holidays.

* * *

Lisa Scotch opened the envelope carefully and slid the papers out. To her relief, the official seals and signatures were in all the right places. A dissolution of marriage is hereby granted, the document read.

“Is that it?” her mother asked from the kitchen where she was unpacking a box of dishes.

“Yeah, it’s official,” Lisa said, sliding the papers back inside and putting the envelope in her purse on the small foyer table. She’d only moved into the townhome three days ago, but the foyer table and a bed were about the only furniture she had.

“Well, congratulations,” her mother said, smiling.

“I don’t think that’s what you’re supposed to say to someone when their marriage fails, Mom.”

Her mother placed two glasses in the cupboard then turned back to Lisa. “It is when the man you were married to abandoned you three years ago, and hasn’t been heard from since.”

Lisa walked across the open floor plan and into the kitchen where she leaned back against the formulaic granite countertop.

“Now that’s not fair, Mom. Doug posted all those pictures of him with the blonde in Key West. And the ones of him with the brunette in Tokyo. Also the redhead in L.A. and the girl with the purple hair in SoHo.”

Her mother snorted in disgust. “I certainly don’t count that as keeping in touch, and it’s nice to know the Army and the courts don’t either.”

Lisa thought back to what she’d been through over the last six months, having to go to the Army in order to get Doug to respond to her petition for divorce. Bastard hadn’t answered any calls or emails, and she had no idea what his address was. Luckily, Doug wasn’t the first U.S. Army employee to run out on a spouse. They had protocols for that kind of shit, and Lisa had learned all of them. But if the end result was a divorce en absentia, she’d take it. It was signed, sealed and delivered by the State of Virginia, and now he couldn’t run up another bill that trashed her credit rating, or put her address as the reference for a lease he had no intention of paying.

If only the damage he’d already done could be repaired. Lisa didn’t want to tell her mother she might very well be moving again if she couldn’t get some of the debt Doug had dumped on her cleared up. Her job teaching in the Arlington public schools wasn’t going to pay for the massive credit card balances Doug had racked up over the last three years. She’d used the proceeds from the sale of their small house to pay off what she could, but right before he’d ditched her, Doug had taken out a second mortgage on the house under the guise of using the money for remodeling, so there wasn’t a lot of equity in the little cottage she’d lived in for the last five years.

“Well,” she said, pasting a smile on her face for her mother’s benefit, “the good thing is he’s gone for good now, and I have a fresh start.”

Her mother leaned over and squeezed her arm gently. “I’m so proud of you, honey. You handled this with such grace. You’ll find someone who truly deserves you next time around.”

Lisa snorted in laughter. “Mom. There is no way I’m ever getting married again.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Wild horses couldn’t drag me to an altar.”

Her mother’s eyes grew wide. “Please don’t say that, honey. I can’t bear the thought of you being alone. You’re only thirty. You have the rest of your life to meet someone and settle down, have some grandchildren for me.”

Lisa’s heart raced at her mother’s words. A life with someone—children—a partner. Those were things she’d once wanted more than anything, but not anymore. No, Lisa wouldn’t be getting married again. She’d taken that risk once, and gotten burned so badly she’d be a complete fool to try it again.

But telling that to her mother would only upset her, so Lisa opted for the easier route. “Well, maybe, but give me awhile to get settled as single me before you start asking for grandchildren, will you?”

Her mother smiled. “Of course, honey. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you were under some sort of pressure. You need to get moved in, enjoy your new place, and your new freedom. When the time’s right you’ll know it. You can’t rush these things.”

Yes, Lisa thought, especially when these things weren’t going to happen.

“Well, the first thing I’m doing with my newfound freedom is get some dinner. Want mac and cheese? It’s all I have.”

Her mother shook her head. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t you let me take you out for dinner to celebrate?”

“Oh, Mom, you don’t have to do that—”

“Honey, it’s my pleasure. I feel so bad your dad didn’t live to help you with this. If he had he’d have kicked Doug’s ass from here to that bar in Florida where the pictures with the blonde were taken—”

Lisa laughed.

“But he wasn’t here to protect you, and I let that bastard convince me he was good enough for you, so the least I can do is buy you dinner to celebrate being rid of him.”

Lisa leaned over and kissed her mother softly on the cheek. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Anytime, love.”