Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek) (29 page)

That got Luke thinking.

If it hadn’t been for Xoey’s paparazzi moment, the candid snapshot of him and Dani together wouldn’t be sitting beside his parents’ anniversary photo in his office at this very moment. Grinning, he took out his smartphone and got his camera booted up just as Jonathan and Derek started exchanging gifts. The shutter click caught both men in hysterics over what truly was the oddest pair of Valentine gifts he’d ever seen.

But the resulting photo...wow. It was the very picture of love.

Luke was humbled.

Suddenly, he was hyperaware of all the couples around him, some doing Valentine’s Day the traditional way, others embracing the ‘new’ traditions he’d introduced. And of course the token few dancing to their own beat completely. The one thing they all shared in common was that they were blissfully, irretrievably in the moment, that moment Valentine’s Day brought about.

Right then, Luke tossed the rulebook out in his mind and made a game-changing decision. He immediately went over to show Derek and Jonathan their inspiring photo and ask if they’d allow him to put it up on the Desert Confections blog amongst others in a gallery of images he’d be dedicating to the celebration of Valentine’s Day—new, old, and everything in between.

It would be fittingly romantic.

It would quite possibly unravel everything he and Quinn had done for his shop.

But how could he not? Where once he’d thought he was the unlucky bastard who just couldn’t catch a train ride to the altar even with a ticket, he knew now he simply hadn’t been heading in the right direction. The diehard romantic he’d always prided himself to be had not even begun to reach the depths of which he was capable. Because every feeling of love he’d felt in every past relationship paled in comparison to what he was feeling now.

Everything was different now.
He
was different now.

And the reason for that change was the very person running around the brewpub doing what she did best.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

LUKE SPENT
that afternoon wandering through Cactus Creek with Evan in tow as his official photographer for the day, photographing a broad spectrum of special moments around town to capture Valentine’s Day in all its multifaceted glory. Surprisingly, when he went up to introduce himself to his photo subjects after each shot, every single one of them knew of him and the throwdown. And over half of them, he discovered amusedly, weren’t the least bit shy to admit their allegiance to beer. When Luke would then go on to ask their permission to upload the photo for a Valentine gallery on the Desert Confections blog, the response each time was the same. Every couple asked to see the photo first. From there, the okay was inevitable because they’d see the same thing anyone viewing the photos would—love, pure and simple.

What more could you ask for on Valentine’s Day?

That’s exactly the conclusion Luke had come to before he’d begun collecting photos for the blog, before he’d even made the big decision that would affect all the Valentine’s Day and White Chocolate Day plans he and Quinn had worked so hard on for the past month and a half. The same month and a half he’d spent placing the entire focus of Valentine’s Day on his and Dani’s businesses, rather than their relationship where it should’ve been from the start.

All
that
was about to change as well.

As Luke began sharing these new plans with the random strangers he met throughout the day, not only did they provide enthusiastic support of his changes, they gifted him with priceless romantic advice as well. Each couple, in their own way, helped him remember how much he loved Valentine’s Day. Looking back on his life, he could recall most every Valentine card he’d ever written, every gift he’d fussed over, and each person he’d celebrated the day with. Valentine’s had always been a privileged time for him to lay all his emotions out in plain sight for one special person to see, and have that person show him the same.

But Dani never had any of that.

Yet she was still the most naturally romantic person he knew.

With that fresh in his mind, Luke uploaded all the photos onto the Desert Confections blog site, putting the starting gate spotlight on the photo of a pair of teens wordlessly cuddling at a bus stop like there was no tomorrow. Below their picture, he typed the advice they’d had for him, just as they’d said it: “
Remember to hold hands as much as you can, for no reason, even.
”

Reading that again made him smile.

The next photo to go up was of a third grade girl giving a boy at the playground a sweetly wrapped homemade chocolate. Luke and the two kids’ mothers had thought it just about the cutest thing they’d ever seen. The boy had torn open the chocolate right away, pausing a brief second before inhaling the treat to thank the girl and see if she wanted to ride bikes together the next day. When the little girl’s mom asked her why she’d given that particular boy a valentine when they always seemed to fight in the park, the girl replied like it was so obvious: “
It doesn’t matter if the person you like acts stupid sometimes. You should tell them you like them anyway.
”

Talk about profound.

The business guy sitting at a coffee shop with his fiancé had similar advice. The camera revealed the man looking at the love of his life as if the sun had just risen when she laughed and told him she loved him because he knew how to order her complex coffee drink exactly how she liked it. The man told Luke: “
While gestures may speak louder, it’s still nice to hear the words.
”

That one immediately made Luke think of Dani.

The photo following was the one that had hit him the hardest. It was of an elderly couple walking down the lake path this afternoon. The woman’s purse strap had slipped down her arm and her husband, hands shaking in his old age, tucked the strap back onto her shoulder as if he’d done it a million times before. The action prompted a smile between them with a familiarity that simply transcended time. Luke was racked with emotions when he showed them the resulting photo and listened to the sage advice they gave to him in that half-you/half-me way of speaking only those couples who shared everything could. The husband said, “
Though your brain can give you good advice, your heart is the only organ you should listen to about love
.” And the wife finished, “
But always remember to go with your gut on when you should heed that advice
.”

Luke finally understood.

Probably the funniest photo of the day was of a young couple perusing the display cases in Desert Confections. It had begun as a whimsical shot focused solely on the dog they had with them—a tiny yippee one in a pink dog dress and matching jeweled collar, sitting pretty in a giant purse carrier. But, instead of catching the moment when the pup got the little ‘doggie bag’ containing their special line of dog-friendly chocolates, the camera’s shutter lag instead caught the boyfriend rolling his eyes dotingly at his girlfriend. When Luke showed the photo to the couple, the boyfriend chuckled and said, “
Can’t really help it. Seeing someone you love be silly happy should always make you happy too
.”

And on it went.

The gallery displayed the new, passionate love as in the one between Jonathan and Derek who’d given each other a rock and a bottle for reasons that were significant to them alone. It showed the my-heart-is-yours love of a man giving his wife an eternity band with the promise of more years to come And finally, it celebrated the kind of love Luke hoped to one day have—the one of a man exchanging homemade cards, treats, and hugs with his wife and children.

The completed photo gallery showcased love in every aspect of the word. Seeing it all brought him a sense of calm as he opened the Desert Confections blog site and started typing:

HOW BEER BEAT CHOCOLATE ON VALENTINE’S DAY

Yes, it’s true. Shocking, I know.

But beer has in fact triumphed over chocolate by exactly one tie-breaking vote.

My vote.

All month, Desert Confections has promoted the “new” Valentine’s Day, challenging men and women everywhere to change how they celebrate this special day. Now while I do wholeheartedly believe that a day for women to spoil their men separate from a day for men to spoil their women is still a terrific idea, I’ve recently been reminded of what I seem to have forgotten along the way.

I - Love - Valentine’s - Day. Exactly as it is, antiquated though it may be.

And I’m not alone.

In the photo gallery below, you’ll see what I saw all day throughout Cactus Creek—folks showing their love for one another through gestures unreliant upon any preconceived rules. All of these couples graciously allowed me to post these photos to celebrate their love and to help remind me of what else I forgot.

Valentine’s Day isn’t about chocolate sales.

I think somewhere, for various personal reasons, I forgot that a little. One woman, though, has stayed true to the meaning of the day. I think you all know who. Dani Dobson has done nothing but inspire romance over the last month in her brewpub without any agenda (well, perhaps the thrill of beating me was a tiny bonus). All she wanted was for people to love and be loved, experience the greatness of romance without antiquated notions or new kitschy pressures.

We should all be so lucky to experience that from her. I know I am.

What’s even more incredible is that Dani was able to show me all the most romantic parts of Valentine’s Day, amazingly, without having experienced one of her own. Those closest to her tell me she has spent the last seventeen years never once having celebrated Valentine’s Day, instead choosing to ensure all those around her created the best memories possible in her place.

And she doggedly insists that she’s not a romantic.

I’ve never wanted to prove a woman more wrong in my life.

So from today, I will. I plan on showing Dani what a romantic she truly is by having her closet romantic meet my inner romantic, who now has new life again because of her. And according to him, I should start at the beginning by giving Dani every one of the seventeen Valentine’s Day memories she missed out on growing up, and allow myself to experience the holiday anew in the process.

I can’t wait.

Now in addition to that, I’d also like to get some help from all of you. From what I hear, it’s no secret that over the years, Dani has inspired more than just me in lessons of love. So, my request is this: if you have a special story of love starring Dani or her brewpub, please send it to Ocotillos via a Valentine’s card so she can be reminded of just how much she and her business have touched all of you. I know your valentines will mean as much as any I could ever give her.

With that request, I sign off on this Valentine’s Day eve with this final concession. Though I still think chocolate reigns supreme over beer any day (hehe), I do defeat to Dani, not just by town tally, but because—unique though her methods may be—she has clearly proven herself far more of a romantic.

For now. But just wait, honey...I’ll catch up.

Happy Valentine’s Day, all.

Luke

* * * * *

DANI STARED
at her laptop screen.
No freakin’ way.
Luke did not just go and make that outrageously romantic declaration on his web page.

Oh yes he did. The blog tags showed tons of replies already, all in huge support of both his concession and this romantic crusade of his. Some folks posted suggestions for his seventeen Valentine’s Day re-do’s while most just gushed their congrats for the ‘happy couple’.

The happy couple
. That’s what she and Luke were being called. When she clicked over to her twitter feed, she felt her jaw drop.
Holy Hefeweizen.
Tweets were pouring in by the second. It was unbelievable.

Why the heck are so many folks online now instead of on their Valentine dates?!

True, it was after midnight but still, she never thought quite this many people cared about the throwdown. As she spent some time reading through the posts and tweets, however, she realized the majority wasn’t about the brewpub’s victory over Desert Confections, but rather, in giddy response to the news of her and Luke being in a fairytale relationship.

“I think people like us.” Luke came up behind her and leaned against her doorframe to her office, looking very much like her very own personal Prince Charming come to life.

“I can’t believe you did that,” she whispered as she made her way over to him.

“What? Give you the win on a silver platter? I mean, how else was beer going to beat chocolate in—” Amused as the devil, he caught her hand before it socked him in the belly.

Cradling her in close, he said softly, “I did it for all the reasons I wrote,” before slanting his mouth on hers in a deep, drugging kiss.