Love, Exes, and Ohs (Cactus Creek #4)(3)

It was one of her many Xoey-isms.

That she exercised and celebrated quite frequently.

While he didn’t date nearly as much she did, between the two of them, their dating track record was fairly notorious.

Which is precisely why their little town of Cactus Creek was convinced that they were both madly in love with each other.

For his part, they were absolutely right.





CHAPTER TWO


WHEN HER LAST particularly grating grievance from last night’s date was followed up by silence instead of Isaac’s usual droll commentaries, Xoey Montenagro knew he was parking his truck.

The dog park they both loved was in a drop zone area where his phone wouldn’t work. Stubborn man that he was, he simply refused to change to the cell phone carrier she used, for reasons that essentially boiled down to his not wanting to. Meanwhile, her phone worked perfectly fine smack dab in the middle of their little slice of heaven out on the northern most edge of Cactus Creek.

While she was sure most of her friends would think it was weird, she actually liked that Isaac never felt the need to tell her when his phone was about to cut out anymore. It spoke to the fabric of their unique friendship. It was a friendship she absolutely cherished, and admittedly, one they would never have had if Isaac hadn’t doggedly ensured they would remain friends after she ended their relationship last year.

That’s the kind of guy he was—the world’s most perfect ex.

Now her best friend.

Official ceremony pending.

“How is it that you have reception out here?” called out a woman waving her phone around in the air the next bench over. “I have zero bars of service.”

Xoey turned and smiled. “There’s only one phone carrier that works in this part of town. I take it you’re not from around here?”

Odd for a tourist to come out to their dog park over all their other town attractions, but to be fair, Cactus Creek’s dog park was more a canine carnival than anything else that often drew many a curious visitor over, dog in tow or not.

“I’m from Tucson. My fiancé and I had a rare weekend off together so we decided to play tourist and head up to Sedona and the Grand Canyon,” replied the woman pointing at a man running around the park with a cute floppy-eared basset hound puppy. “We’ve actually heard amazing things about the brewpub here, and with it having a pet-friendly roof deck, we thought we’d stop by there for a late breakfast on the way.”

It’d been over a half a year since she’d formally taken over the full responsibilities of being part-owner of Ocotillos—her friend Dani’s family brewpub—but it still surprised her how different the rush of pride was whenever she heard a compliment like that now.

“Be sure to try the beer pancakes,” she suggested to the woman. “They’re my favorite.” Checking her watch, Xoey saw they were still an hour from opening up for brunch, even though the food would be mostly ready. “Hey, if you folks are in a rush—or just starving from your drive—you can knock on the door and tell them Xoey sent you.”

If she’d had a business card, she would’ve given the woman one. But she hadn’t bothered to make herself any. Which was why most of the emails she got from vendors and other folks she came across in her day-to-day operation always spelled her name with a ‘Z’ instead of an ‘X.’

Still. Any small act she could do to keep herself away from the straight and narrow was one she readily welcomed in her life.

The woman blinked in surprise at Xoey’s offer. “Oh! Wow, are you the…manager there or something?” She gave Xoey a curious look.

Xoey laughed good-naturedly. She was perfectly accustomed to the reaction—her casual bartender-chic appearance didn’t exactly scream ‘responsible business owner.’ “I am, and one of the part-owners there as well.”

“I’m sorry to sound so surprised.” The sweet soccer-mom-to-be looked immediately contrite. “It’s just…you look so…young.”

Ah, the polite description for her stiletto boots and diamond studded belly button piercing she knew was just barely visible under her loose waistband-skimming tee. “No worries at all. Most folks around here think I look ‘young.’ When they start thinking I look old, that’s when I’m going to start looking for some apologies.”

The woman laughed. Checking her own watch, she shot Xoey a lopsided grin. “You know, we might just take you up on the name-dropping. If only because I never get to do anything so glamorous back home—that’s usually the sort of thing only my sister, the sophisticated MBA with the high-powered lunches, gets to do.”

“Well then I absolutely insist.” Xoey grinned back warmly.

As the woman stood up to join her fiancé, a glance around at the dogs and dog owners around the park brought the curious expression back to the woman’s face, along with a dozen or so invisible floating question marks.

“I don’t have a dog,” supplied Xoey helpfully. “I can barely take care of myself, let alone a pet.” She gave a grinning shrug. “This way, I still get to get my weekly canine fix without having to worry about—” she pointed over at the woman’s fiancé, who was currently on poop patrol, “…any of the responsibility.”

Isaac plopped down beside Xoey on the bench just as she was giving one final wave to the woman and her now leashed and poop-free floppy-eared pup.