Once Upon A Valentine

by Emma Roman

  He waved his hand at her like she was crazy and smiled. "Oh no. Years ago, I could, but not now."

  "Tell me what happened? Did you ask her out right away?"

  "No. We would practice in class and afterwards everyone would go to a club to practice the moves we learned. At the end of the course, I asked for her number so we could go dancing together. Years later, she told me she thought we were just going to be friends. From the very first night I laid eyeballs on her, I wanted to go out with her."

  "How long did it take before you went out on a date?”

  It was hard to imagine Jack being young and chasing after a woman. Sure, he'd lived in town her entire life, but Taylor never thought much about him and Margaret. They were just a couple her parents' age.

  "On the night of the last class, we'd gone to the club. When she decided to leave, I offered to walk her to her car. As we said goodnight, I kissed her."

  "Oh, you sly devil you, going in for the kill. What did she say?"

  "She was stunned," he said with a grin. "Then she said, ‘Wait. Where are you living?’ Graduation was looming and eventually, I would return home to Cupid. But I had a few months, so I gave her the name of my dorm. We began to go out and things progressed from there."

  "Wow...I can't believe you're a disco dancer."

  "Want to see me do the Bus Stop?"

  She laughed and noticed new customers had come in and she needed to inquire on the kitchen. "I would love to see you do the Bus Stop, but now, I better get back to work. Mom and Dad wouldn't appreciate it if they came back to a broke restaurant. Have a great day, Jack."

  Laying his hand on hers, he patted the back. "Thanks for talking to me about my wife. I miss her so much. Our anniversary was yesterday. Someday I'll tell you how the Cupid statue brought us together."

  Taylor froze in her tracks. The Cupid statue? That damn little man with a bow and arrow caused more trouble. Shaking her head, she couldn't conceive marriage would happen to her. Locating a good man was like finding gold in Texas. Hard to find. Maybe a husband wasn't for her.

  Almost being arrested. That was more her cup of tea.

  3

  Ryan took a bite of the chicken and the flavors flooded his mouth. The girl could cook. He took another taste and chewed slowly, savoring the spiciness of the salsa and cilantro. Glancing up, he noticed she watched him with a smile on her face.

  "What do you think?"

  "Your mother's cooking is good, but this chicken is better than anything I've ever tasted at this restaurant," he said, loving the way the dimmed lighting made her face appear soft, her brown eyes shone.

  "Thanks," she said. "It's one of the recipes I want to add to the menu."

  Staring at her, he couldn't help but wonder why she was still single after all these years. Sure, he'd dated Kelsey, but with her family situation, he'd quickly realized he would never be her man. Leaving for the military had been the opportunity to start fresh away from the watchful eyes of Kelsey's brothers.

  "Tell me what happened with the ex," he said curious.

  She gave a little laugh. "Simple. Lawmen cheat. What more do you want to know?"

  "Well, I don't think you'd told me he was in law enforcement. I will agree there is a statistically higher rate of infidelity amongst officers, but that doesn't mean we all cheat. How did you learn he was having an affair?" he asked.

  Giggling, she looked at him. "Easy. I came home from work early and found him and the girl he's now celebrating his honeymoon with having sex in our bed. We had been living together six months, saving money for our celebration of love. He got the wedding and I went to culinary school."

  Ryan stared at her, wondering if she was over her fiancé. "How long ago did you break up?"

  "Almost a year. Actually, I'm over him if that's what you're asking. As far as I'm concerned, his new wife is the one who got the raw end of the deal."

  "Why?"

  Shaking her blonde hair, she sighed. "Now I question if he was cheating on a girl when he met me. I'm better off without him and it did give me the freedom to go back to school."

  Taking another morsel of the moist succulent chicken with just a hint of spice, he asked, "Is that where you learned to be a chef?"

  "Baking has been a love of mine for many years. So when Kevin and I split up, I took my portion of our ceremony money and used it to attend a cooking school. There, I was given the skills and knowledge I needed." She gazed around the family diner. "Someday I'll change up the menu."

  Wistfulness shadowed her face. "Is that what you want to do?"

  "Yes," she said quietly. "I had been researching opening up my own restaurant in Dallas when my mother called me crying, begging me to come home."

  "What was wrong?"

  There were a few patrons left in the diner as she leaned in and whispered softly, "My father has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. They've been planning on traveling the country for years and now they're running out of time. So I'm here and they aren't scheduled to return until next summer."

  "Then why not go ahead and make the changes now? Give it a try while they're gone and if it doesn't work on the townsfolk, then you can go back to the old way."

  "I considered it."

  "Any woman strong enough to dance naked around a fountain in town should have no qualms about trying something new. Unless she's afraid she'll fail."

  That was it. Hesitation crossed her face and he wanted to ease her mind. "Look, I'm no food expert, but this is the best meal I've had in months. If the items on your menu are as delicious as this salsa chicken, then you've got nothing to worry about."

  Reaching out, he took her hand. "Hot and spicy cuisine, just what I desire. Would you go to the movies with me next week? We could drive into Fort Worth to see a movie and go to dinner."

  Tilting her head to the side, she studied him. "Why aren't you married?"

  With a shrug, he said, "I'm divorced. Took the vows while I was in the service and then when I came home, she'd created a life without me. After the divorce, I went to college where I dated - but nothing serious."

  "Have you ever cheated?"

  Frowning, his stomach tightened into a nervous ball. He hated lying to her, but if he told her the truth, she would never give them a chance. Only once in his life had he stepped out on a girl. He'd been young, stupid, and naive to the pain it would cause.

  Unfortunately, it had been on her best friend, Kelsey. But Taylor wouldn't be talking to him if she knew. All he wanted to do was explore this attraction between them. "Never."

  Licking her lips, she looked down at her plate and then back up at him. "Right now, I'm not dating. You're a nice man, a very intriguing man, but I'm not keeping company with lawmen again."

  Releasing her hand, he leaned back in his chair. "But I'm not a cheater."

  "I'm not willing to find out."

  Taylor thought of Ryan all night long. When he asked her out, she'd been tempted to go to Fort Worth to a movie with him. Sitting across from him had felt natural and the man could get her blood pulsing faster than the mixer in her kitchen.

  And when he'd picked up her hand, her heart had sped like a horse shooting out of the gate. Even in high school, one glance from Ryan had warmth spreading through her like an electric blanket on high. He and Kelsey were an item and she wasn't about to poach her best friend's man. Even today, her stomach clenched uneasy that he'd asked her out. Attraction ran between them like a hot wire, but there was Kelsey and she'd refuse to go in difference to her.

  The door to the restaurant opened and Jack walked in.

  "Good morning," he said going to his favorite table.

  She waved at him, knowing what he would order and going into the kitchen to prepare his breakfast. Two eggs over easy, a pancake with a side of bacon. Later he would choose something to go, but his second meal he changed on a regular basis.

  Just as she finished cooking, her waitress came in and put in his request. As she hurried out the door, she glanced at Jack
's waitress. "I'll make sure he gets his eggs."

  She set the plate in front of him and said, "Morning, Jack. How are you today?"

  He frowned. "Did I talk your ear off yesterday about my wife?"

  "No, I enjoyed hearing about the woman you gave your heart to. I'm a romantic, and love stories like yours and Margaret’s always interest me. You only told me how you met her. How long did it take for you to convince her to marry you?"

  With a grin, he took a bite. Sighing, he glanced up. "Took me over a year. Margaret had an aversion to going back to a small town. She wanted to live in the big city because she believed a small town's gossip mills could churn out bad news faster than the local TV stations."

  Chuckling, he seemed to withdraw inside himself. "For months, I drove back and forth between Fort Worth and Cupid, trying my darndest to persuade her to move. One night on my way to see her, just as I pulled into the Granbury city limits, a tornado struck the small town. Five minutes earlier and that twister would have sucked me up and spit me out who knows where."

  "Oh my. What did you do?"

  The thought of a tornado spiraling out of the sky in her path was more frightening than a man who cheated. One was a life and death situation. The other, well, once he got caught...

  "The road was blocked with debris and emergency vehicles trying to reach the victims. So I turned around and went back to Cupid. Cell phones weren't available, so I didn't talk to her until ten that night. Worried sick, she agreed to move."

  Taylor thought about his story and was confused. "You never officially proposed to Margaret?"

  "Oh no, I did. Thanksgiving Day at her family's, I asked her to marry me."

  "What did you do?" Taylor asked, wondering how the man popped the question to his wife. Was it a romantic gesture or just a let's get married.

  Her conscious called her a liar, but her heart knew she'd suffered betrayal at the hands of her fiancé. Not only had he bruised her delicate organ, but he'd injured her pride and left her leery of getting into a relationship again.

  "Previously, I'd spoken to her father. Gathered at the table, each person said what they were thankful for. It came my turn and I said how thankful I was for Margaret. In front of her family, I dropped to one knee and told her the only thing that would make me happier was if she would marry me."

  Tears welled up in Taylor's eyes. "What a beautiful story, Jack. It gives me hope that there are still men like you in this world."

  He lifted his cup to his lips, taking a sip.

  "Can I ask you a question?"

  "Sure," Jack said. "Depends on what it is as to whether or not I'll answer."

  "Did you ever dance naked around the Cupid statue in town?"

  A smile spread across his face. "I can't believe that notion still exists. What do you think? Do you think an upstanding man in the community, a rancher, a previous city council member would skip around that symbol, without his clothes?"

  Taylor shook her head. "Of course not. Men aren't as gullible as women."

  He leaned forward and in a low voice whispered. "A week before I met Margaret, a bunch of my buddies and I were fooling around getting into mischief. On a dare, we decided to test the superstition. Within a year, everyone was wed."

  Taylor's eyes widened. "But...but I don't want to be married."

  "Well, then, don't dance around the cupid."

  With a toss of her blonde hair, she gasped. "Too late. I already did."

  Ryan made his last drive through town. By the fountain, the bank, the schools, and a few spots where break-ins occurred in the past to make certain everything was legit before his shift ended and his associate took over. As sheriff, he didn't have to do patrols. Sitting behind a desk got boring after a while and he liked to be involved in his community.

  Driving by the Cupid statue, he saw Taylor walking. For a second, he was afraid she was going to stop, but she kept strolling in the dark. Parking the car, he hurried after her.

  "Hey, you going dancing again?" he called behind her.

  She turned and faced him, her hand to her throat. "You just took ten years off my life."

  "Sorry," he said, thinking Taylor appeared stunning. "Needed to check you had your clothes on under your coat."

  "My birthday suit is completely covered up," she responded.

  "Why aren't you in your car?" he asked almost sad that she was dressed. But then again, he had warned her and he really didn't want to arrest her.

  "Walking is good exercise. I stayed later than I intended at the restaurant. Normally, I'm home two hours ago. My choice was either spend the night at the restaurant or walk home."

  "Next time ring me," he said, not wanting her to walk alone. "I'll take you home."

  "That may go over well here in Cupid, but in Dallas the police department frowns on escorting civilians home. I can hear them saying don't call us on your phone."

  "Well, you're not in Dallas, anymore. Anytime you need an escort home, call. Crime is not normally a problem, but you never know who is passing through," he said, enjoying the way the wind tousled her blonde hair. All he wanted was to take her in his arms and kiss her, but he didn't think she would appreciate him exploring her full red lips.

  "Come on, I'll walk you home," he said. "It's a beautiful night, even if it is a bit chilly."

  Stepping up beside her, they started the short jaunt to her home and she turned toward him. "So Cupid doesn't have a lot of crime and you're not really busy."

  "Most of the time. Occasionally, Mrs. Foster's cow gets out and goes wandering down the road looking for sweeter tasting grass. And Mrs. Smith's tom cat likes to cause trouble tomcatting around. Sometimes we arrest a drunk. The busiest time is during football season. If the hometown wins, the mischief abounds."

  Smiling, she glanced at him. "Almost ten years since we graduated high school. Seems like yesterday. You and Kelsey, Meghan and Max."

  "You and a different guy every week."

  "That's not true," she responded. "I didn't date much in school. There was no one serious until college. That didn't last."

  Could she be a risk he wasn't willing to take? His first wife had been petty and quarrelsome. He refused to put up with crazy a second time around. Yet, he wanted to learn more about Taylor.

  Shrugging, she sighed. "I've never been very lucky in love. I'm way too picky and not inclined to accept a lot of male crap."

  "Male crap?" he replied. "What about your part in the relationship stuff. You didn't have a starring role in the drama of why you broke up?"

  Huddling deeper into her jacket, he watched the confusion on Taylor's face. Had she never really thought about why her relationships never lasted?

  "So, I made Kevin cheat on me? Is that what you're saying?"

  "No. He made the decision on his own, but were you having trouble at the time? Did he just randomly decide to choose this other girl and take her home to bed."

  Stopping, she turned, her eyes glaring. "You're brave to stand there and tell me it was my fault he cheated."

  "I didn't say that. I asked what part you played in your breakups. Do you scream and yell when you fight? Are you too controlling? Do you spend too much money? Are you lousy in bed?"

  Taylor began to laugh. "Everything comes back to sex, doesn't it? Men are so focused on getting into a woman's panties, nothing else matters."

  "Wait a minute. When you weren't wearing any clothes the other night I was a polite officer. I treated you with the utmost respect I could a naked woman."

  Alluring, gorgeous, full-figured, in the buff woman, which required every bit of his control to maintain his professional demeanor.

  "You did. You gave me a blanket to cover myself."

  "All right. So what other reasons for your breakups?" he asked. "I'll tell you mine, if you'll tell me yours."

  "Oh, so this is a comparison of why we've been dumped?"

  "Not exactly, but I do think it shows our weaknesses."

  Ryan spent several months in therapy to h
elp him realize what caused his wife to move on without him. The end of his marriage was more than being in the military and overseas all the time. His lack of attention and making her feel preferential and desirable hadn't helped.

  Coming home, his need for control when he felt like she'd taken over everything while he was gone had been the death blow. Unable to understand the problem until it was too late, his insistence to be the man of the house killed his marriage.

  "Weaknesses? What's that?" she said, eyeing him. "Or maybe I don't want to tell you."

  They resumed their casual stroll again, he realized soon they'd arrive at her house. He wanted to end on a positive note.

  "Taylor, I'm attracted to you. I want to go out with you. I want to show you I'm not a cheater, but a man who thinks you're an intriguing woman. But I have flaws. I like to protect the people I care about. I want to be the man and you be the soft woman beside me. I want to be partners. And I definitely want to get naked with you."

  "Ryan," she said, her voice deep and low, her frosty breath shimmering in the darkness.

  "You've been hurt in the past by a lawman. I promise you, I will never cheat on you if you give me a chance."

  "That's what you say now, but what about later?"

  "I'll never cheat on you," he promised.

  They arrived at her house and together they walked up the front sidewalk to the door. He leaned in close to her and wanted to kiss her, but could see her eyes had grown large and were filled with wonder and a hint of apprehension.

  "I want to go out with you, but I'm not going to ask again. You let me know when you're ready to date and we'll find something to do that will be fun."

  Reaching out, he pulled the lapels of her coat tighter and brought her chest against his own. "Night, Taylor. Sweet dreams."

  Dropping the fabric, he stepped off the porch and walked back down the street in the direction of his patrol car, grinning. He hoped he'd made an impression on how intent he was about dating Taylor. The woman could ignite his sexual desire with a glance and there was something about her that appealed to him on every level.

  Now he had to wait and see if she found him attractive.