by Violet Duke
Feeling like a postman at the North Pole, Luke grinned as he clicked open the first entry.
Interestingly, it was from a woman who’d written in not to enter the contest but rather, to praise it and share why she believed random acts of romance deserved all the recognition in the world. She described how just last week, her stoic, very non-mushy husband of ten years had surprised her by reprogramming all her favorite shows into the blank queue of the DVR box they’d just replaced and taking the extra time to also add a few new shows he thought she might enjoy. Better than the occasional diamond or pearls, his doing this tedious task for her was just one of the many unthinkingly thoughtful ways he always made her feel more loved than any store-bought gift ever had and ever could. That to her was romance in its truest form.
Luke was moved. He immediately posted a reply to thank her for her story and arrange for a box of chocolates to be mailed to them for being such an inspiration.
The stories that followed after it were all just as adorably inspiring, ranging from surprise lunch-hour walks, to cuddled-on-the-couch talks, and carefully laid-out plans of text messages on the hour every hour declaring one special thing about the other person.
Then there was the one that really got Luke choked up. A man posted a photo of his young wife who was on her second year of deployment. For his act of romance, the man emailed friends from his wife’s unit last night to help him set-up an online serenade for her to view out in the desert today. In a real-time video of him standing in the living room in his PJs, with a disclaimer apologizing for his well-known inability to carry a tune, the man began belting out the lyrics to her favorite song by Rascal Flatts with the accompaniment of thirty of her fellow service men and women singing behind her. The performance, along with her teary-eyed reaction to it all was all captured on YouTube so she could replay it whenever she got lonely out there.
That right there was what this was all about. Over the next hour, dozens of other stories got posted, each one as great as the last. Soon, Luke found he couldn’t hold off any longer; he’d been bursting to do a random act of romance for Dani all day. A glance at the clock told him she’d be setting up for tonight’s big concert by now so he reached for his cell phone...and then paused. No sweeping declarations of love, he reminded himself. Keep it casual. Light and flirty worked for them. He thought hard about what casually romantic message he could send the woman he was falling madly in love with. Did such an oxymoronic thing really exist?
A lot of mulling around later, he finally decided on texting her:
>> I MISS YOU...WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?
Perfect. Honest emotion combined with shameless flirting. Right up their alley.
Not a minute later, Dani texted back:
>> A T-SHIRT THAT READS: CHOCOLATE=GOOD…BEER=BAD WHICH DO YOU WANT ME TO BE?
Chuckling, he had an answer for her right away, but before he could send it, his phone beeped again. A second message from Dani:
>> P.S. I MISS YOU TOO. BE READY FOR A ‘RANDOM’ VISIT LATER TODAY. WE’LL TEST OUT ONE OF YOUR STORAGE CLOSETS THIS TIME.
In chorus with his laughter, his heart rate was rapidly thrumming a deep tattoo against his lungs, past the overflowing of dense emotion. His skin was humming, his mind swaying—yep, he knew the symptoms well. But never this well.
It was clear, he was blatantly, irretrievably head over heels.
More so than he’d ever been with any woman in his entire life.
* * * * *
DANI RE-READ the text she’d just sent Luke, wondering if right this instant was too soon to make good on her text…
Nope, she decided a second later.
Grinning, she shut her office door and headed out.
Was a part of her wanting to butter him up? Admittedly, yes. Come hell or high water, tonight was the night she was going to tell Luke about the I-tried-to-sabotage-your-shop situation. He deserved to know. She was positive they’d get through this. It was in the past and nothing terrible had come of it. True, he might be upset that she hadn’t told him earlier but no matter. Even if they ended up getting into an argument, she didn’t want this cloud hovering over their relationship anymore. His trust was too important to her.
He was too important to her.
Yup. Though she’d fought it, she’d gone and gotten attached to Luke, that much was clear.
Looked like she really was her father’s daughter after all.
But being a second generation for this masochist affliction of the heart had its benefits. From here on out, she was going into this relationship with Luke with her eyes wide open, and her heart carefully guarded. The logical part of her knew that it was unlikely her heart would remain completely intact throughout this relationship, but at least she was fully prepared to protect it from the utter doom her father had gone through.
She just had to keep reminding herself that nothing lasted forever. Simple as that.
There wasn’t a rule that said she couldn’t enjoy the ride along the way, however.
Starting with a random act to show him just how she felt.
Unfortunately, the presence of a local news van parked right outside the front entrance of Ocotillos waylaid her mission before its launch. Puzzled, she walked over to the news reporter, Paul something-or-another from the funny hour-long news at five.
“Can I help you with something?” she asked him.
The reporter glanced from her to a piece of paper in his hand that had her photo and a bunch of notes on it. “Oh good, you’re Dani, the owner and brewmaster here right?” She nodded, and he flashed a perfect white grin at her. “I’m Paul Edison. I was just coming in to meet you. Our station heard about this throwdown between you and the chocolate shop next door so they sent me over to see if I could snag a human interest piece for our pre-Valentine’s segment tonight. Are you game? It’ll just be a few questions.”
“Sure,” she replied, joining him over by the cameras under the brewpub sign.
Paul had a quick word with his sound guys as a stack of papers got thrust in his face right before his cell phone rang from his pocket. He answered and hung up quickly. “Geez, they’re rushing us on this one. Sorry, Dani. You okay to get started?” At her nod, he swiftly explained, “Okay, we’ve been slotted a few minutes for the segment but keep your replies short just in case they need to cut things down when it airs—” His phone rang again and he silently motioned to her that they’d be ready to shoot in one minute. The equipment got set up in a blur around her and before she knew it, Paul had a wide smile pasted on his face as the cameraman stuck on a headset and gestured a silent countdown with his fingers. Three, two, one...
“Thanks, Jane,” said Paul on cue. “I’m here in Cactus Creek where some of you may have heard of the battle brewing in the world of romance. Two local businesses—the ever popular brewpub Ocotillos and the new chocolate shop on the block Desert Confections—have been going head-to-head with promotions and activities to encourage romance for the past month and a half. Now, I know what you’re all thinking. Chocolate has always been playing in this arena next to flowers, but beer? This Valentine season, Dani Dobson has been showing everyone why beer is now a contender.”
Dani waved at the camera.
“So, Dani, we’ve been hearing about these...let’s call ‘em atypical promotions you’ve been having at Ocotillos to inspire romance. Can you tell us a little about it?”
“Sure, Paul. We’ve set up what we call the ‘Meddling Cupids’ dating network through our website where friends set their friends up on blind dates.” Dani had started concocting the idea for the Meddling Cupids extravaganza at the start of the throwdown, reasoning that since people are always trying to hook up their friends, why not make it bigger, better...and throw in some beer? With the help of one of their regulars, a techie over at ASU, Ocotillos had launched the finished site a few weeks ago. Pulling out her smartphone, she showed the TV viewing audience the Meddling Cupids link off the Ocotillos website. “It’s like an online da
ting site but the actual single people don’t do any interacting—just their friends. So basically, if you have a friend you want to set-up, you log in and input your friend’s info and photo on the site. Then you search the postings and interact with other folks around the city who are also setting up their friends. The actual single people don’t talk to each other; everything is completely reliant upon the friends. If both sets of friends think it would be a good match, they arrange for the couple to meet for the first time tomorrow on Valentine’s Day for cupid-determined date.”
Paul glanced at the camera. “Now I know why both of my sisters and my mother know more about this brewpub than I do. They’re rabid fans of this Meddling Cupids network. Real shocker there,” he kidded. Dani laughed alongside him. “But it sounds like this isn’t the only winner you’ve had in this romance throwdown, Dani. I’ve also been hearing a lot about these singles mixers you’ve been having here on Sunday nights.”
“Oh gosh, those have been great. We’ve been having beer tastings and other fun activities that pretty much defy the traditional stuffy blind dates. It’s been a lot of fun. We love seeing what are essentially blind dates go so well.”
“You sure the beer isn’t playing a role in all that success?” he teased lightly.
She didn’t miss a beat. “Well, good beer and good dates do go hand in hand.”
“They usually do for me,” he winked. “Okay, so then what do you think about this whole two-part Valentine’s holiday your chocolate shop adversaries are promoting?”
“Actually—” she paused dramatically before flashing a comically reluctant grin. “I think it’s great; I love the idea of having two separate days. Plus, it’s genius to give guys a month to prepare to reciprocate on March 14th,” she chuckled. “Though it pains me to admit it, I think Desert Confections has a winner on their hands here.”
Suddenly, a small group of college guys shouted at the camera from behind her, “Yeah, BEER!!!” The growing crowd in front of the brewpub cheered and hooted.
She laughed. “I guess they’re not voting chocolate tomorrow.”
“Wow. Looks like this heated rivalry between you and your neighbor has been great for business in these parts.” Paul winked as he glanced around at the now swarming street corner.
Joking or not, Dani didn’t care for his nudge-nudge insinuation that this throwdown was just some town marketing ploy. Donkey. When he elbowed her like they were old buds sharing a private joke, she had to restrain herself from ‘accidentally’ elbowing him back in the balls.
Not clued in one bit, he continued, “So can we expect more throwdown action around here for Desert Confections’ proposed White Chocolate Day in March as well?”
She recovered her composure and smiled like she was selling toothpaste. “Unfortunately, we’ll be busy with Arizona Beer Week after Valentine’s Day. But, we will be firing back with our own Asian holiday import on April 14th. That’s a unique holiday devoted to all you singles out there so you better believe Ocotillos will have something off the wall planned.”
“Very cool. Any last things you want to add in the time remaining, Dani?”
“Maybe just a little reminder for folks to come down for the concert we’ll be having this weekend to celebrate our crushing victory tomorrow,” she threw in for fun.
“Ouch, you’re aiming for the gracious win, I see.”
Her eyes twinkled at that. “Trust me, my opponent expects nothing less from me.”
“Ah, sounds like there’s no love lost there. Darn, and here I was hoping the online gossip about you and the enemy being madly in love was true,” he lamented playfully.
What? Where the heck had that come from? Dani froze. An uncomfortably long split second stretched past as she attempted to find an answer for Paul. And herself.
A reporter to his very core, Paul’s eyes took on a new light as he found the stray thread of a story here and began pulling. “Or is it true? You and your archrival falling in love would be the ultimate fairytale ending to this Valentine standoff. Is there something to the rumors?”
There was that grating made-for-TV laugh of his again.
Now annoyed on top of tongue-tied, she just smiled awkwardly and said the first thing that popped in her head. “Sorry to disappoint but what you see is what you get. No fairytale love story here. This is just a good ole-fashioned pistols-at-dawn duel. All in fun.” She blinked and stared at the camera. Stunned. Her eyes felt waxy and the air like sawdust…which was just as well because she was having a hard time getting her lungs to expand.
What the hell just happened?
“Well there you have it. While love may not be in the cards for this dueling duo, the romance revolution they’ve started in this throwdown has certainly stirred up love for folks all across Arizona. Of course the question still remains, on this Valentine’s Day, which will you vote for: chocolate or beer?” Paul flashed his killer smile one last time. “Back to you, Jane.”
* * * * *
LUKE TIREDLY walked back into the shop for his evening shift. He’d been running around with so many corporate deliveries that he’d worked right though his normal schedule. Worse still, being out all day, he hadn’t even been able to see Dani today as they’d planned. That truly had sucked since he’d really been looking forward to it.
Checking the time, he reasoned that there was just enough time before the concert for Luke to sneak Dani out for a little random romancing. He grinned and went into Quinn’s office to see if she could keep working for just a tiny bit longer.
Quinn jumped about three feet in the air when she saw him. “Luke! What are you doing here?” She propped her hip awkwardly on her desk and glanced uneasily at her computer.
His eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing!”
“You’ve always been a bad liar.” Sweeping her to the side, he went over to her computer screen and found himself more confused. It was just a video news clip.
“You know, I really need to get back to—”
His look silenced her. Pushing her hands away from the keyboard, he rewound the video back to the beginning and hit play.
It was Dani, looking particularly cute as she answered some news reporter’s questions for the five o’clock news. Luke’s nerves relaxed. Was this all Quinn was freaked out about? More chocolate vs. beer stuff? Funny, he figured Quinn would welcome the attention—
His smile fell apart when he heard Dani’s final answer in the interview. Her flippant comment dismissing the possibility that she and Luke were in love slashed him right in the gut. It wasn’t just hearing the words that stung. It was seeing the stricken expression on her face that proclaimed the mere idea of being in love so far from any realm of possibility for her.
“Luke, I’m sure she didn’t mean that how it sounded.”
He remained silent, staring at the blank screen long after the clip ended.
Quinn put a comforting hand on his arm. “Don’t blow this out of proportion.”
He shrugged her off and headed out the door.
She ran after him. “Luke, stop. Cool down a bit before you head over there.”
“I just want to talk to her,” he said quietly.
Walking into Ocotillos, Luke didn’t know what he was going to say or what he thought would happen when he saw Dani. One thing was for sure—he hadn’t expected to see Dani and Rylan up in her office, heads low, voices hushed in deep conversation, arms wrapped tight around each other. Luke’s feet cemented in place. Hands fisting, he watched as Rylan gently smoothed back Dani’s hair to comfort her while she continued to spill her heart out. What they were discussing, he couldn’t hear. But it didn’t matter. The harsh reality of what he was seeing delivered a blow to his solar plexus sharp enough that the details would’ve just been overkill.
She was confiding in him. That was why the current expression on Dani’s face was one Luke had never seen. Until this precise moment, Luke hadn’t realized how very little he knew about Dani or h
ow surface level their time together had really been. She’d never once let him in the way she was doing now...with another man.
Honestly, Luke thought it would’ve been better if he’d caught her making out with Rylan instead; at least that wouldn’t have been as personal, or cut so deep. The twisting pain he was feeling in his belly was worse than betrayal. It was raw doubt of the loneliest form that came from looking in a window at everything he couldn’t have, just inside.
What was it she’d told that reporter dick in the interview? ‘No love story here…All in fun.’
Yeah, that’s all their relationship thus far had been. Seeing her with Rylan, a man who clearly had a significant and permanent place in her life, made that fact painstakingly obvious.
Blind frustration soon turned into numb hurt. He felt like the ground around him was cracking, like everything he’d recently started believing in again was slipping away. But why? It wasn’t as if he’d expected Dani to feel the same way he was starting to, right?
Vaguely, it registered that Quinn was now standing beside him, seeing what he saw.
Without a word, Luke turned away from them all and left the building.
Where he was heading, he had no idea.
CHAPTER NINE
RYLAN REACHED OUT and snagged Quinn’s elbow on the sidewalk outside of Ocotillos, narrowly preventing her escape. “Leaving so soon, sugar?”
She stiffly averted her eyes and kept her lips pinched silent.
He eyed her mutinous expression. “What evil is that busy li’l head of yours convincing you I’ve done?” he asked with forced calm. “Because whatever it is, you’ve got it all wrong.”
“Get your hands off me.” She tried in vain to pull herself out of his grip.
“Not until you tell me why you’re giving me the cold shoulder.”
“Why don’t you go back to Dani’s office? It looked pretty warm in there,” she bit out.
