Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek #1)(88)

“Wow, you’re really anxious.” He kissed her forehead comfortingly. “They’re just my parents. Relax.”

“I’ve never met a boyfriend’s parents before, okay?”

“Oh, so now I’m your boyfriend? But I told my parents we’re just casually—” Luke had the good sense to make a run for it then.

Dani chased him all the way up the dirt walkway he’d ridden his bike on everyday as a kid. He wasn’t at all surprised to hear the twin hyena laughs coming from the porch.

“Don’t stop on our account, dear,” called out Claire. “Whatever he did, I’m sure he deserves the beating you’re about to give him.”

“Gee, thanks, mom!” he hollered back at her, not missing a beat. “She’ll do it, too, you know! She has a right hook like a wrecking ball.”

“And that’s why we like her so much,” cheered Dean, continuing to drink his coffee as he passed a small plate to his wife. “Try the gooseberry scone, Claire-dear. It’s delicious.”

“It’s a wonder why I ever come back to visit you two.” Luke leaned down to kiss his mom on the cheek and hug his dad. “You’d think my getting my butt kicked by a girl was like a breakfast show for you two.”

“Yes, well, we were getting a little bored out here for the last hour,” replied Claire with a smile only he could see. She was teasing of course. He’d texted that they were running late.

“Oh yeah, sorry about that, mom. You see, Dani—”

Dani shoved him off the top step with a hard bump and stepped forward to greet his parents formally. “We forgot to set the alarm,” she lied politely before her eyes shot wide open at the way that sounded...to his parents. “Our own alarms...I mean separately...that is...”

Luke snorted in quiet laughter.

Dean lightly smacked him upside the head. “Did I raise you to laugh at your woman?”

He shot his dad an incredulous look. “If not, you did a really good imitation of it.”

Dean pondered that. “Okay, I’ll give you that. But your mom just makes it so hard not to laugh at her when she says some of the things she does. When you think about it, the fact that I hold my tongue as much as I do is a real testament to how much I love her,” he ribbed.

“Like you’re not a walking punchline,” retorted Claire with a sniff, turning to Dani and holding a conspiratorial hand up in a stage whisper. “The tales I could tell you about this man...”

Eyes dancing with delight, Dani looked at the three of them like they were the nuttiest comedy act she’d ever met, for which, she was all ready to buy tickets to the next show.

Luke was ready to give her a lifetime membership.

His heart ballooned to crazy proportions again; it was starting to become quite the affliction. He cleared his throat and directed Dani toward the house. “While the cackling comedians here are finishing their coffee, which they only just started a few minutes ago, not an hour ago”—he gave his mom a mock-stern look—“I’ll show you inside.”

Though she looked disappointed to leave the laughter his parents were still sharing through digs and zingers, Dani happily followed him into the house. Seeing an old bookshelf filled with family photos, she rushed right past him, leaving him in the doorway. With the squeaky screen door slapping him on the ass, Luke just stood there and watched Dani pore over all the various mementos of his childhood like the youth soccer team photos that memorialized his chubby years and his many hockey ‘participation’ trophies. She touched them all with fingers that could’ve been stroking fine china.

Then he heard her breath hitch when she discovered the black and white photograph of him when he was just a baby, being held by a man he’d only had a few precious years with.

“You look just like your father,” she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion.

“Lucky for him,” said his dad from the doorway, sounding as reverent as he always did when he talked about Neal Bradford. “All the Bradfords were always more handsome than the Hennesseys,” he joked, his eyes sad as he looked at the photo of his childhood friend.

Dani spun around to look for the source of the fatherly teasing, seeking its warmth like someone coming in freezing out of the cold. Her eyes looked wistful when she found his dad. Then her expression became confused. “Wait a sec. Dean, did you know Luke’s father?”

“I actually knew Neal even before he met Luke’s mom. We were great buddies all through high school. He was my only childhood friend who still kept in touch with me after I’d joined the military. The only one who’d make a fuss whenever I’d come back to town for a visit.”

Dani smiled. “Oh, so that’s how you met Claire.”

“Actually, no,” said Claire as she slid into her husband’s arms. “Dean and I didn’t meet until a few months after Neal passed away.”

Dean took another sad look at the photo of Neal Bradford. “After getting stationed out in Virginia, I did two tours back-to-back. Got married too. But we ended up divorcing after eight years—it came as more of a surprise to me than her. With both my marriage and my time in the army finished all at once, I just packed myself up and headed back to Arizona to start fresh. Since Phoenix was expanding pretty rapidly at the time, it was easy to get a job, though it took me a little longer to get settled. When I finally did, I went to go look Neal up...only to discover I’d missed saying goodbye to my old friend by just under a few months.”