Danny sighed and looked down at his knee. Pain flared, and he rubbed at it. I, of all people, should know life doesn’t work out how you plan.
“I can’t believe it’s really you! What are you doing here? It’s been so long!” Sarah lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him tightly.
Her arms felt good. Warm. Familiar. For a second, he leaned into her embrace and let her sweetness and energy refuel his battered soul. The intoxicating scent of her strawberry shampoo made its way into his nostrils. Had she always smelled this sweet? He wanted to lean in more and feel normal for a change. Normal, like any guy being hugged by a beautiful woman.
Danny indulged himself in the fantasy and lifted his arms to hug her back when a lightning bolt of pain shot up his thigh. That pain had been real not the phantom pain he occasionally felt. He jerked back and closed his eyes, trying desperately not to grimace. If there was anything he’d learned back in that hospital in Ramstein, Germany, it was to not show anyone how much pain he was in.
When the pain was under control, he opened his eyes and smiled. Sarah had a look of concern on her face, but at his smile, it quickly disappeared. Her eyes lit with light, and she returned his smile.
Oh, my beautiful Sarah. She was just as he remembered. With her milky white skin, her cute button nose, and luscious black hair; she looked like a goddess. And he was… he was…
His heart thudded in his chest, making him hot and uncomfortable. He wanted to run, to disappear into thin air. His fingers tensed up into a fist, knowing he wouldn’t be able to escape her without making a scene. He gritted his teeth and tried to stay calm, but it was impossibly hard with her gorgeous blue eyes staring right at him, peering into his soul.
Sarah took a step back and set the box she was carrying down on the counter. Danny’s eyes lingered on the delicate skin of her fingers. The lack of a ring. His heart surged at the possibility, but as soon as a spark of hope ignited inside of him, it was quickly extinguished. Even with the girl of his dreams right in front of him, it would never work. A bitter taste settled in his mouth.
“Danny?” Sarah whispered, waving a hand in front of his glazed-over eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry. Just zoned out a bit. I’ve only been in town for a few weeks, and I’m still getting used to seeing friends from high school. Everything changed, yet things are still the same.” Danny gestured around Cupid’s Café.
Sarah nodded and said, “I think that the whole place could be redecorated, and as long as Katy was at the helm it would feel like home around here.”
Danny laughed. “She is a force of nature.”
“Yep.”
Sarah sat down on the stool to his left. Danny took a sip of his coffee and silently sighed in relief, glad that she hadn’t opted to sit on his right-hand side.
“Right. So tell me. Where have you been? You just up and disappeared after high school,” she accused.
Sarah remembered how she had knocked on his apartment door the day after graduation. His dad had answered saying that all of Danny’s stuff had been cleared out. He had no idea where he’d gone nor did he care. And it wasn’t just Danny’s pathetic excuse of a father, no one seemed to know where Danny had gone. It had been one of the toughest summers of Sarah’s life. She’d imagined everything from death to alien abduction.
“I enlisted in the Army,” Danny said flatly.
Sarah’s lungs refused to work. She suddenly realized that her wild speculations of Danny dying without her ever knowing weren’t too far off.
Chapter Four
“What? And you didn’t tell anyone? Not even me…”
Sarah looked down, feeling the pain of ten years ago come rushing back to her. She’d sat in her bedroom crying her eyes out. It was like a limb had been ripped off her. Danny had been there for her, whenever she needed someone, and then one day he was gone.
“You and Robert were going strong. I didn’t want to get in the way of that,” Danny answered.
A fist squeezed her heart. It hurt, even more, knowing that he’d left under the assumption that she and Robert had some sort of imagined future. It was a few months of dating, not an engagement. Danny had always been the one. She’d just been waiting for him to figure it out.
In hindsight, she realized that dating his best friend hadn’t been a great plan. If she’d been thinking more clearly, she would have found some random, good-looking guy at school. But she’d been young and foolish.
Sarah didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure what to say or how to explain that Robert had never meant anything to her. Instead, she watched Danny’s long fingers tighten around his coffee mug in a strangle hold. That’s interesting. Talking about Robert and her irritated Danny.
Sarah reached out and placed her hand over Danny’s. The coffee sloshed a little when Danny jolted. “Danny, you were my best friend. I would’ve liked a little notice before you ran off to join the military. I… I… missed you.”
Sarah poured her heart into those words, and Danny turned to look at her. The storm clouds were back. Chaotic gray swam through those striking eyes of his. Pain, regret, and just a touch of fear swirled in his eyes. Then, it was gone. All the emotion drained from his eyes, and he pulled his hands away from hers, taking a drink of his coffee.
A lump formed in her throat, but she held the tears at bay. Fine. We aren’t the same people we were ten years ago. I can understand that, but…. Sarah closed her eyes for a second and refocused on the here and now. “So… tell me all about the Army. Did you go overseas?”
Danny lowered his mug, eyeing her. Her tone was too chipper, but it beat breaking down and crying in the middle of Cupid’s.
“Yeah,” Danny whispered and then cleared his throat. “I got stationed in Afghanistan. Our unit was really tight. I liked that. At first, it wasn’t too bad, mostly routine---except when it wasn’t.”
Danny's voice pitched low, and he rubbed at his right knee. Then, he shook his head. “I’m out now and resettling in the area.” He shrugged. “Enough about me. What have you been up to?”
“After high school, I went to culinary school to become a pastry chef. Robert went to college on the East Coast. So, it didn’t really work out for us.” Sarah felt the need to explain the true nature of her relationship with Danny. So, she added, “Not that I ever believed it would last. We were just dating for fun. He’s married now---some blond newscaster.”
“Is he really?” Danny hadn’t heard from his high school buddy in a decade. He would never have guessed he would settle for a blond. He used to hate them in high school. Danny never understood the aversion.
“Yeah. Can you imagine?” Sarah giggled.
Danny wondered if she remembered the time the head cheerleader, a strawberry blonde, had hit on him. Robert had nearly lost his mind. You’d have thought that the cheerleader looked like Medusa the way he was carrying on later that night back at Sarah’s.
“Yeah. Funny how things change,” Danny said, a hint of bitterness in his voice.
Danny couldn’t stop looking at Sarah. Her absence in his life had left a huge gaping hole that nothing but her presence could fill. He’d thought that Robert and Sarah had been perfect together, and it had hurt to see her with him. It ached so much that he’d needed to get away. His father was threatening to kick him out after graduation anyway. So, he met with the recruiter, signed his name on the dotted line, and left. Danny wasn’t sure what to make of the fact Sarah never thought of Robert as a serious relationship.
Looking at her now… she was so perfect. She was beautiful of course, he’d always thought that, but now her face held a hint of maturity; the blush of innocent youth was gone, leaving a resilient and strong woman behind. Danny found that incredibly sexy. His heart responded with a steady thump. All he wanted to do was lean forward and kiss her like he should have done ten years ago, but the reality of his situation was holding him back. He couldn’t offer Sarah anything. War had taken its toll on him.
“So, what are u
p to now?” Danny asked, trying to keep the conversation going. The sound of Sarah’s sweet voice was like honey to his ears. If he couldn’t be with Sarah, he might as well enjoy what little time he had before she found out how wrong he was for her.
“I’m the owner of Sweet as Shortcake. It’s a little bakery down the road. One of our best sellers is my strawberry shortcake.”
Sarah pushed the boxed confection toward Danny. “Here, take a look.” Then, she opened the box and handed Danny a fork. “Better yet, take a bite. I promise it’s the best shortcake you’ve ever had.”
Danny smiled and took the fork. “Katy promised me the same thing. I think you both are overselling this stuff.”
Sarah’s eyes glittered with confidence. “Just take a bite.”
Danny dug into the shortcake, making sure to get a strawberry covered in whipped cream. He popped it into his mouth, and a sweet, tart, and creamy flavor exploded in his mouth. “Sarah,” he practically moaned. “This is fantastic.”
Sarah laughed. “I know, right? I did pretty well in culinary school, but I figured out early on I had a thing for desserts. So, I focused on being a pastry chef. I came across this recipe for shortcake in an old cookbook of my grandmother’s. I fiddled with it and tweaked it until I got it just right. Actually, I’m still tweaking it. I just made this version this morning.”
“I can’t imagine this getting any better,” Danny said and popped another forkful in his mouth.
“Stick around. I’m sure I can improve it enough to win a national competition. Then, Sweet as Shortcake will be a destination spot. I can’t wait for that to happen.”
“I think you have a winner right here.”
“Almost,” Sarah shrugged.
“So, do you enjoy owning your own business?”
“I love it. The shop is nothing fancy, but it’s perfect for me. I’m really living the dream.” Sarah paused, seeming to think about her next words. “The only thing that’s missing is… a boyfriend.”
Danny’s throat closed up, and he almost choked on the piece of strawberry in his mouth. He took a swig of coffee before managing to say, “You’re… you’re single?”
His chest felt like a hundred pound weight had just flattened it. Here was the girl of his dreams, single, and yet so out of his reach. It isn’t fair! His fingers tightened around his coffee mug, so much so that he thought it would shatter at any moment.
“Yeah…”
Now that the words were out, Sarah desperately wanted to call them back. She’d taken a giant leap of faith and put her heart on the line, and Danny looked like he wanted to throw his coffee mug at her. I’m so foolish and stupid. Again. Why can’t I do anything right when it comes to Danny?
Trying to salvage what was left of her pride, she said, “I’ve just been so busy with work that I haven’t had the time to date.”
That wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t completely true either. Mostly, Sarah didn’t want Danny to think she was pathetic enough to have given up on the dating scene. She’d dated a few guys, but never really connected with any of them. Deep down, she knew the real root of her problem. Her heart had been set on Danny FitzPatrick.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll find someone,” he said.
They sat in an awkward silence for a minute. Sarah wasn’t sure how to restart the conversation after her serious misstep. Thankfully, Danny found a topic they could both relate to.
“Do you keep track of people from high school?” he asked.
“Some.”
“Do you know what happened to Megan?”
“Oh, you mean the girl who vowed she would be President by the time she was thirty-six?” Sarah asked, thinking about the overly high-strung high school girl who barely slept in her quest to conquer the world.
“Yeah.”
“I heard she settled down and became a blogger. Maybe that’s the new fast track to the Presidency.”
Danny cracked a smile, and the tension she’d felt a minute before evaporated. Sarah burst out laughing. Danny quickly following her example. For the next hour, they spent their time reminiscing about the past, having a great time. It seemed like Danny had never gone away.
Sarah quickly found herself becoming more and more comfortable. She hadn’t laughed this much in a long time. She wanted to see Danny again and spend some more time with him. If he wasn’t interested in her romantically, then Sarah was determined to at least rekindle their friendship. She couldn’t lose him again.
“So, any reason why you’re here at Cupid’s?” Sarah asked, silently praying that he wasn’t here to meet up with some other woman. If there wasn’t another woman, she had hopes of convincing Danny that she was the perfect girl for him.
“Oh, I’m here to meet up with one of my old buddies. You remember Mitchel?”
“Your old chess club rival? Sure.”
Sarah pictured the gangly boy who was often found in the school cafeteria with a chess board in front of him, hunched over the lunch table. “Are you guys going to play chess?”
“Pool actually. He changed hobbies.”
Sarah tried to picture the young man, leaning over a pool table.
“I can’t imagine it. I think I’ll always remember him as that kid at lunch, playing chess all by himself,” Sarah commented. “He was obsessed.”
“And now he’s obsessed with pool. I couldn’t get him to stop while we were in Afghanistan together.”
“He was in the Army with you? Now, that’s something I really can’t imagine.”
“People change.”
The way Danny said the words resonated deep in Sarah’s soul. There was something profoundly sad and heartbreaking about his tone. Sarah had no idea what it could mean, but she wanted very badly to know.
Chapter Five
Katy Cupid made her way out of the kitchen, holding up two large platters in her hands. An older couple had just ordered the Night Owl, a special breakfast dish served only between eleven and noon. She balanced them skillfully, glancing over at Sarah and Danny who seemed to be hitting it off. Sarah’s laugh echoed through the diner as she played with the end of her hair, curling it on her finger. Katy rechecked that inner “gift” and smiled. Everything was going just as planned.
She walked up to table number four and served the older couple. That particular table was right next to the front door. As she stood there, about to ask them if they needed anything else, a man in his late twenties entered the restaurant. He had long, gangly limbs and black hair that fell over his eyes. His features were bird-like, his nose much too long for his face.
He looked around the diner with a piercing gaze, looking for someone. Katy was about to welcome him to Cupid’s when he called out to Danny.
“Fitz! There you are.” He walked up to Danny, a smile on his face. “Good to see you. How’s the leg?”
Danny turned around, and Katy almost dropped her serving tray. Danny’s face was chalk-white, and his eyes looked too big in his head. Katy could have sworn that Danny was silently shouting in his head for the newcomer to turn around and leave.
Apparently, Danny’s friend didn’t pick up on the hint because he asked, “It’s got to be better than when I saw you in the hospital.”
He patted Danny on the shoulder, and Danny’s face went even paler. Katy feared he might pass out. Instead of calling for help, Katy stood transfixed listening to the conversation.
Leg? Hospital? Katy stared at the two men, trying to figure out what was going on. Had Danny been injured in the Army? She ignored the stares coming from the elderly couple, who were also entranced by the unfolding scene.
“It’s fine,” Danny answered tensely.
He’d seen the flash of shock in Sarah’s eyes when Mitchel had mentioned his leg and the hospital. He hated that look. The shock was always… always followed by pity. He felt what little life Sarah had re-sparked within him die.
Danny forced all his churning emotions into that compartmentalized box the Army was always telling him
to use to get the mission done no matter what horrors were going on around him. Danny hadn’t been thankful for that training until now. It was going to get him through the next few minutes. It doesn’t matter. You weren’t worthy of her then, and you sure aren’t now. He took a breath and locked all of it away. When he looked up from his coffee, he had himself under control.
Slowly, Danny reached into his back pocket, grabbed a few bills, and left them on the counter. Refusing to say a word, his fingers clutched around the cane to his right. With some difficulty, he got up. He looked relatively normal as he stood there, leaning on the cane… but in the small space between his shoe and his pant leg was a prosthetic. It shined a bit in the diner’s lighting, just adding to Danny’s discomfort.
He watched her eyes travel down to his foot. Her eyes met his just as her hand came up to her mouth. A soft gasp of dismay hit Danny’s ears louder than the explosion that took his leg. When those beautiful blue eyes that haunted his dreams filled with tears, Danny almost broke. I have to get out of here.
His fingers tightened around the handle of his cane, and he took a stilted step forward. “See you later,” he whispered.
Sarah didn’t say a word. The shell he’d put around himself was cracking.
“Mitchel, come over here and make yourself useful.”
Mitchel hurried to Danny’s side. Danny placed his left hand on his friend’s shoulder for support. With Mitchel’s help, he could get out of there twice as fast. They reached the door, and Danny paused near Katy.
“Thanks, Katy. Don’t worry I’ll be back.”
Danny wasn’t sure if it was the truth or a lie. He wanted to come back, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to risk seeing Sarah again. The shocked expression on Sarah’s face confirmed that he had lost her. There was no way she would consider being with him now. Pity was something he couldn’t tolerate. Bile bubbled in his stomach, making him feel like he would be sick at any moment. The ding of the door chime rang after him as he left the restaurant, leaving everyone in a state of utter disbelief.
Cafe Love: Cupid's Cafe Box Set Books 2-4 Page 9
