Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek) (36 page)

Dean choked on his water.

“Sure,” replied the waitress, smiling like she was talking to her own grandma. “Dani loves talking to the customers. I’ll go see if she’s free.”

“How delightful.” Claire practically glowed. “Thank you. We can’t wait.”

Dean was too busy coughing water out of his esophagus to stop the madness.

“What. Are. You. Doing?” he finally choked out to Claire when he managed to pull oxygen back into his lungs.

“Isn’t it obvious? You were in the military—it’s called re-con, dear.”

About halfway through their lunch, a sweet voice tinkled in greeting. “Hi, folks. I’m Dani. How are you enjoying the food and beer?”

Remembering what Claire had said about recon, Dean tried to take hold of the situation before she could. “I’m so sorry my wife called you over. We know you’re busy so—”

Claire kicked him in the shin, stopping his attempt at a tactical strike.

Dani didn’t even seem to notice. “Oh gosh, you’re doing me a favor. I’ve been doing paperwork all day, so meeting you two gave me the perfect excuse to get out of my office. I hear you two are crop farmers up north. What brings you to Cactus Creek?”

With a smug smirk, Dean raised his eyebrows at Claire, daring her to field that question.

“Just wanted to do some shopping,” replied Claire in a half-truth. They
had
gone to Luke’s shop to get chocolates; Quinn just hadn’t let them actually pay for it.

“Oh, that’s nice,” smiled Dani. “Hey, so what crops do you folks grow? We use local produce in all our food and beers here. I’m a firm believer it makes everything taste better.”

Dean studied the exchange between the two women as they launched into an animated discussion about their favorite crops and the newly created fruits that have been hitting the local farms the past few years. Oh boy, from the looks of it, if Luke didn’t make Dani a part of the family by marriage, Claire would bring her in anyway by adoption.

Throughout their conversation—which seemed harmless enough—Dean kept a low profile and focused on enjoying his beer. It was damn good beer too. Perhaps the best he’d ever tasted. So good in fact, it made him miss the moment Claire slipped the farm invite to Dani.

Dammit.

“I’ll be there!” nodded Dani enthusiastically. “Oh hey, I know someone whose parents have a pick-your-own crop farm too. Maybe you know them? His last name is Bradford.”

For the second time that day, Dean coughed on his drink.

Claire shot him a look. “I don’t believe I know any crop farmers named Bradford,” she evaded smoothly before smiling in that woman-to-woman way. “Is this young man your beau?”

Good lord, the way the woman could question was actually an art form.

“Okay, enough prying into the woman’s life,” interrupted Dean sternly. His well-covered glare said, ‘Enough!’ “You have to excuse my wife. She goes a little overboard when she gets to chat with others since she’s only got boring ole me to talk with day in and day out at the farm.”

Dani’s laughter chimed in the air. “Aw, I’ll bet she counts herself lucky to have that.”

Why, that sounded absolutely genuine. Dean couldn’t help but be charmed.

“My brother Derek and I used to love listening to our dad tell all his old stories,” she continued with a fond look in her eyes. “In fact, Derek just came back from his honeymoon in Europe where he’d found the exact fountain in Seville that my parents had taken a picture in front of decades ago. My heart just melted when I saw the photo of Derek and his husband kissing in front of it just like my parents had done.”

This time, Claire coughed on her drink, in unexpected surprise.

That made Dani’s eyes settle on Claire’s face, still politely, but with a tinge of protectiveness that hinted that if Claire was about to disparage her brother’s marriage in any way, their conversation would immediately be over.

Dean beamed at that—he respected the hell out of a strong woman who protected her family. “That reminds me of Eric, one of my best Army buddies. Claire, remember how you gushed over that story?” He turned back to Dani. “It was during that whole ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ era of the military so no one knew my good friend Eric was gay. Well, besides me, but I’ve always had a surprisingly good gaydar. Anyway, once, when my unit did a short stint in Italy for a few months, we all managed to get over to Venice to visit. When Eric took in the sights, he was thunderstruck. We stopped on a bridge over a canal and he whispered that if he was lucky enough to find the perfect man to spend his life with after he got out of the military, he wanted to return to that very spot with him.” A soft look of joy lit his eyes. “I was ecstatic to get a Venice postcard from him and his partner a few years later.”

“That’s so romantic,” sighed Dani, her eyes flickering once more at Claire then, as if still trying to figure her out.

Claire caught her gaze. “I’m not homophobic, I swear. It was just surprise, nothing else. When I get caught off guard, I get a knee-jerk reflex sometimes...with an emphasis on jerk.”

Dani’s expression started to warm up again.

Claire put her hand on Dani’s. “I’m sorry if I upset you. I truly do find it very romantic that your brother and his husband got to share that special moment your parents did. And I hope one day you get to do the same with whomever you marry—maybe make it a family tradition.”

Finally, Dani’s smile was back to full wattage. Seeing it, Dean found himself seconding his wife’s invitation to the farm. “I sincerely hope we see you at the farm soon, young lady.”

“I promise...on one condition.” Dani looked at her watch. “I insist you try a sampler selection of our fruit beers along with some desserts. The fruits are all from local farmers like you. You can even enjoy them on the roof deck while the sun sets. It’s nice up there.”

“Why, that sounds lovely.” Claire looked at Dean, the recon mission now forgotten as her eyes softened over the promise of romance.

He nodded his agreement. “I think that would be an absolutely wonderful way to end the day with my wife.”

Smiling, Dani walked them up to the rustically romantic roof deck adorned with an open-weave wooden arbor covering the dance floor. At closer look, Dean realized it was dried Ocotillo, not thin wood reeds, providing the shading. How creative.

After seating them on the west-facing end, Dani looked out at the scenery with wistful eyes. “This is my favorite view of the town from when I was a kid,” she revealed softly. “You see that rooftop?” She pointed out the Desert Confections building to them. “When I was younger, that building was a Mexican restaurant, and the family who owned it used to have these amazing parties up on the roof.”

Her eyes crinkled softly. “This brewpub actually used to belong to my parents. They bought it when I was just a toddler and spent years working so hard to make it successful. We all made sacrifices. For me and my brother, that meant less time making and keeping friends; for my folks, that meant less time for us. But we made do. Thrift store buys, pretending our dinners here were fancy restaurant meals, stealing family time on the slow nights, that sort of thing.”

She slid her gaze back to the neighboring rooftop, her eyes sparkling with memories only her mind could see. “My brother once told me that when I was in the first grade, I announced to my parents that all birthday parties were stupid so I didn’t want one thrown for me. So of course, they heeded my wishes. Then one day, that same year, he caught me sneaking up here to spy on a little girl’s party that was happening on top of that building. Apparently, I was laughing and dancing around this rooftop all alone, living vicariously through those kids.”

Abruptly, she cleared her throat and quickly blinked the past away, along with the mist that had gathered in her eyes. “I have no idea what made me think of all that,” she chuckled, embarrassed, before looking thankfully at the approaching waiter. “Oh good, here are your dessert and beer samplers.”

When Dean took out his wallet to pay, she gave him a firm headshake. “It’s on the house since it was my idea.” When Claire tried to object, Dani didn’t give in. “Nope. For local farmers, it’s my pleasure, really. Plus, I love seeing couples up here at this time of day.” Her eyes drifted across the landscape once more. “Well, I better get back to work. You two enjoy.” Then somehow, she slipped away while the desert sunset stole the couple’s attention.

After she was gone, Claire said softly, “I like her.”

“Me too. She’s perfect for Luke.” Dean frowned sympathetically. “But she’s scared.”

“You think? She seems so open and loving.”

“So were you, remember? You had the same barriers up all around you when we first met. It took me
two years
to wear you down.”

Claire thought about that for a few seconds before her expression became mulish. “Well, I don’t want Luke and Dani to wait years. They deserve happiness now.” She flashed a determined, enchanting little pout at him.

Oh no
.

“I want grandchildren while I can still run after them, Dean.”

He sighed, long and slow. “I don’t like the sound of this.”

“I think I have a plan.”

Shaking his head, he reached for one of the little sampler beer glasses and was tempted to toss it back like a shot. “Of course you do, dear.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DANI WALKED INTO
Desert Confections just before eight p.m. to meet Luke for their date, only to find a sign awaiting her with a giant arrow aimed upward printed on it. Rissa, who was manning the register, simply grinned and pointed to the old rear stairwell behind the kitchen. After getting no further clues or hints of any sort, Dani gave her a gee-thanks nose scrunch and warily climbed all the way up the creaky steps to the rooftop. Nothing but darkness greeted her.

“Luke?”

“
SURPRISE!
”

Frozen, Dani could hardly believe the sight before her. One by one, tall floodlights surged to life all around her to reveal an extravagantly decorated rooftop and a swarm of people rushing forward to greet her.

Two strong arms wrapped around her waist.

“Happy birthday, sweetheart,” said Luke in her ear, the big smile he was wearing plain as day in his voice. When she turned to face him, completely speechless, he laughed and put a sparkly cone-shaped party hat on her head. “By that mouth agape look of shock, I take it you like this little birthday shindig we put together?”

This ‘little shindig’ was every kid’s ultimate dream, decked out with decorations, game booths, a piñata that was obviously handmade, cotton candy, and enough food to feed an army.

It was beautiful. Everything about the party gave her the same feelings she used to get watching the parties held on this very rooftop when she was a kid.

Only this time, she was invited. Even better, she was the guest of honor.

Her first birthday party.
A river of emotions overtook her as her mind worked to crystallize everything around her like snapshots to fill the empty places in her memory album.

Derek came up and swung her up in a giant bear hug. “Happy birthday, sis.”

“Derek!” Dani flung her arms around him and gripped him tight. They hadn’t spoken in over a week. The last conversation they’d had, the day after she’d explained why she couldn’t go through with the winery idea, he’d barely said two sentences to her. Looking at him now, she was almost shocked to see him looking so...happy. She shot him a hooded look. “Nice to see you’re still alive. Are you doing okay?”

“Of course I am.” He gave her a puzzled look. “Why?”

“It’s been a while since we’ve talked…”

A startled look shot across his face. “Did you think I was avoiding you?”

When she nodded sadly, he drew her in for another hug. “I’ve just been doing some heavy duty thinking alone is all. Plus, I was keeping a low profile because I was helping Luke with this party.” He shook his head at her. “I told you, I’m not upset over”—he flicked a glance over at Luke a few feet away—“what happened. In fact, I have a related idea that I want to run by you. After your birthday bash, of course.” Barely contained enthusiasm tipped the corners of his mouth up into a mysterious grin. “You were the inspiration for it.”

She latched onto his wrist. “No, wait. Don’t run off with that cliffhanger. Tell me now,” she pleaded, thrilled that he seemed to back to his cheery old self again. Maybe happier, even.

“Later, I promise.” He kissed her forehead. “There will be no thunder stealing today. Just enjoy your party.” He gave her a soft smile. “By the way, look around. This is way better than that lame kiddie party you saw up here in the first grade.”

Dani felt her heart clench and tears well up in her eyes. “It is, isn’t it?”

“I’ll take about twenty-five percent of the credit for how it turned out,” he winked, “but the rest was all Luke. That’s a good guy you’ve found, sweetie. I’m happy for you.” He kissed her cheek again and then patted Luke on the shoulder in big brother fashion before disappearing with Jonathan into the crowd…which seemed to be descending upon her all of a sudden.