Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek #1)(90)

Another father-daughter Dobson curse.

“Oh, my dear,” soothed Claire, patting her on the hand, “you and my son are so much more alike than you two seem to think. Love is hard; it isn’t perfect. And it certainly can’t be outmaneuvered. Searching for it like my son does won’t make it come, and avoiding it like you do won’t make it stop existing. When it comes to love, you don’t know if you’ll land on your feet or splatter on the pavement...but either way, fall you must. To be in love, you and only you need to know whether or not you want to take that step, regardless of the outcome.”

Dani took a deep breath and admitted quietly, “My…reservations when it comes to love and my trust issues aren’t just about my mom.”

“I know, dear. Broken hearts tend to be worn on our sleeves without our consent.” Claire sighed, looking out in the field, over at her son and her husband, who were now running after a dog who was stalking the cat they’d wanted to keep around to chase away the birds. “Like me, Luke stopped believing for a while too, after his wedding that never happened. Oh, we watched him go through the motions of life—dating, throwing himself into his work, being there for his friends. But, he no longer seemed himself. The Luke that had always believed in the type of love he wanted so desperately to have and keep, not just always give...that Luke disappeared. We truly thought he’d become broken at that point.”

“How did he recover?” Dani asked softly, wanting, needing to know how a person could overcome the thing she feared most—a heart not just shattered, but ripped completely out from a loss so severe, a hole remained in your chest where all your hope and trust once was.

“He met you.”

Dani blinked in surprise.

“Sometimes when you’re ready to believe, love appears, but sometimes, life gets it backward. It doesn’t matter. The result is still the same.”

Claire didn’t have to say it. Dani already knew what the result was.

Because that’s what she wanted too.





CHAPTER SIXTEEN


LUKE HIT HIS HEAD on the roof of the chocolate display case when he saw her approach.

Angela Prichard stepped forward and peered into the glass case. “Hi, Luke.”

Memories slammed through him. Four years since she’d stood him up a day before their wedding and her voice was still exactly as he remembered it.

“Hey, Angie.” He hurried out from behind the counter. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for calling.” Grabbing a seat at the nearest cafe table, she tucked her purse on her lap and looked across at him nervously. “Um, so how’ve you been?”

“Good. Busy.”

She glanced around the shop with a soft smile. “I can see that.” Eventually, her gaze collided with his and held. “Your new shop is amazing.”

Thank god history was a good icebreaker. “It’s nothing like the one in Mesa, huh?”

“I’ll say. You and your shop have become quite the household name.” The admiration in her voice was genuine. “I always knew it’d be like this for you one day.”

The familiar comfort of being around her returned like welcome rain and he finally smiled his first real smile. “You always did believe I had it in me.”

She tilted her head. “Why’d you call me, Luke?”

“Were you surprised?”

“Try shocked.” Her teeth caught on her lower lip. “Was it because you heard about—”

“Uh, yeah, I actually did hear about your divorce. I’m sorry.” The sorrow in his voice was genuine. “But that’s not why I called,” he admitted awkwardly.

“Then why? I didn’t think you and I had anything left to say.”

“Oh, we did; I just didn’t want to hear it. I do now. Tell me what went wrong with us.”

Her mouth fell open, startled. “But I told you—”

“No, all you said was that you didn’t want to marry me.” He couldn’t raise his eyes to meet hers. “But then you went and got married really quickly to the next guy who came along.”

“I am so sorry, Luke,” she said softly, her voice filled with remorse.

Blinking slowly, he finally looked at her. “I’m not trying to make you feel bad. Really. I just want to know why it is that my not-so-happily-ever-after highlights include being stood up a day before my wedding, dumped a week after getting engaged, and nicknamed the rare species of male serial monogamist who can’t get a woman to commit to him.”

Angie looked stunned.

“Is it me?” he asked quietly. He didn’t use the past tense.

“Luke, of course not. You’re an amazing man who pours his heart and soul into love.”

His expression became even more hooded. “You make that sound like a bad thing.”

“No, it’s an incredible thing. Just... I think not everyone loves the way you do. Even though I think we all want to.” Her lips tilted down at the corners. “Tell me something.”

He glanced up.

“You loved all your girlfriends, right? I’m not talking about Quinn and the girls you just dated, but the three others like me that you were serious about. You loved us each, right?”

“Of course.”