by Natalie Dean
“You look like you’re thinking,” Dani said in amusement beside him.
“Of course, I am. You said something worth thinking about.”
He caught her flush out of the corner of his eye. “Usually when I start talking about fat-phobia or anything social, people zone out.”
“That’s because a lot of people don’t like to challenge things they assume are true.”
“Oh, and you do?”
Benji shrugged. “I dunno. If I think a barn is in good shape, but then a professional carpenter comes along and tells me the beams are made wrong, I feel like I should at least take what he says into consideration and do my research. Sure, it may be uncomfortable and annoying that I gotta do all this extra work, but if it resulted in a better barn, I really have no room to complain.”
She chuckled lightly. The sound was so perfect that he resolved to make her do it again and again.
She was smiling. “Not a perfect metaphor, but I get it. And thank you. Even my brothers will just try to change the subject.”
“They don’t agree with you?”
“Nah, they just find that societal talk boring. They don’t see the need to worry about what’s outside our door when we all have each other.”
“But you think differently?”
“Well, yeah. Just look at the situation we’re in now. I could lose them any day now and then it’ll just be my folks and me.”
That soured the mood considerably, and Benji watched her expression go from playful to incredibly guilty. It was like seeing her shrink in real time and he was reminded of that terribly wounded conversation in the grocery store.
“It’s not your fault, you know.”
“Hmm?” she said, turning her whole upper body toward the window. Although Benji couldn’t see her reflection, he didn’t need it to know that she was tearing up. He could hear it in her voice.
“Your brothers. It’s not your fault. They’re grown men and, although I don’t really know them yet, I’m willing to bet that they’re just as stubborn as you are.”
That got a shaky laugh out of her. “Oh, so you think I’m stubborn?”
“Hey you, don’t turn this around on me. I was trying to comfort you,” he joked. He liked joking. It was what he was good at, not all this emotional mumbo jumbo.
“I know,” she murmured, finally turning back to face the front. “And thanks.”
“Any time, ma’am.”
“Ew. Don’t call me ma’am. Like, ever. Especially since I’m a year younger than you.”
“What, you don’t like my dashing cowboy role-play?”
“Oh, role-play on the first date? That’s pretty forward for this town.”
Benji felt his heart thunder at her casual joke. She said it so matter-of-factly, giving him a lopsided grin, and he couldn’t help but wonder who this woman was. He preferred coasting through life, enjoying everything and never getting too ruffled up. Working on the farm and hanging out with his brothers and family. No stress. No problems that usually weren’t solved in a day or two.
But Dani. Dani made him want to experience more. She so fearlessly grabbed life by the reins and did whatever she wanted, seeing the worst in people but never stopping. She was like a live wire, and he wanted to grasp it with both hands just to see how it felt.
Huh, he wondered if maybe he should stop comparing her to dangerous, harmful things.
Or just things in general, because she was a human being. Possibly the most human one he’d ever met outside of his family.
“What’s the matter?” she persisted when he had fallen silent. “Cat got your tongue?”
“Nah, it’s just anything I think of saying doesn’t seem like something polite you should say to a lady.”
She snorted, and it was strangely cute. Just like everything about her.
“I ain’t a lady.”
“Coulda fooled me. You seem to have the uniform on.”
“Please, being a lady is a way of life, not a wardrobe, and one I reject outright.”
“Then what are you?” Benji asked, thoroughly amused.
He liked how Dani could effortlessly churn from one bit of wit to the other, never trying to placate him or figure out what she needed to say to endear herself to him. She was just so effortlessly her. Either take her or leave her.
And Benji certainly didn’t want to leave her.
“I’m…” She seemed to think it over for a moment, as if she was surprised that Benji was continuing the conversation. He wondered if other people had shut her down in the past. “I’m Dani. And that’s enough.”
“Yes,” Benji agreed wholeheartedly. “It certainly is.”
14
Benji
Benji pulled into a parking spot at the cozy diner, throwing his truck into park before sliding out and rushing around to open Dani’s door for her. Just as he guessed, she hadn’t been expecting that and already was moving to get out.
“Oh, right…” she said as he held his hand out to her. “Figures you’d be old-fashioned.”
“Treating your date respectably is not old-fashioned,” Benji countered. “Besides, of the two of us, who is wearing high heels and has to jump down from my truck?”
“Hah! You may have a point there.” Her hand rested on his arm as she did indeed jump to the ground, but she did it without so much as a wobble. She was quite sturdy for being in a pair of demure black… what kind of shoes were those? He had bought a pair once for a cousin on the ranch his age as a birthday present, but really his mother had picked them out.
Wedges. That was right. He remembered something about the sole gave women more… stability? Or something? He didn’t know. Women’s fashions were weird and uncomfortable, but boy did he like how they made Dani’s legs look.
“All right, shall we go inside?”
He picked up on the fact that she sounded nervous but was nice enough to ignore it. He’d been around Dani enough to know that appearing unruffled and strong was a safety measure for her, and he had no desire to weaken the façade if she was feeling antsy.
Besides, he could guess what was bothering her given what he knew of her history. Apparently, she’d been mercilessly mocked in high school for her weight, clothes and just not being a Miller in general but daring to be the child of ranchers. He imagined showing up on the arm of an actual Miller’s son was going to cause plenty of talk.
But it was to be expected. Ever since Ben had gotten back together with Chastity and married her, the whole town had been abuzz with their most sought-after bachelors going off the market. Then, when Bart and Missy became more well-known as a couple, people really started giving the three remaining brothers the eye.
Bryant had certainly taken advantage of that, shacking up with plenty of girls who had dreams of marrying into the wealth, but he would always break it off with them before a week could even pass.
But Benji had taken all of this into consideration. At first, he had intended to go far away to the city, where they could have a great date away from prying eyes. But then he realized that he wanted people to see him and Dani together. That maybe they’d get a glimpse of the amazing things he saw in her and give her a break. Maybe be a bit friendlier.
Or maybe he just wanted to show her off. Like some sort of weird, middle-child need to declare that he was interested in someone before anyone else could swoop by and snap her up.
His mind was brought back to the present and the actual date rather than the why of how he had planned it. Holding the door open for Dani, they then walked over to the hostess, who greeted them with a classic, customer service smile.
“Two this evening?”
“Yes,” Benji said, making sure to put his hand on the small of Dani’s back. He wanted it clear that they were here on a date, not as friends or any other excuse that other people might make up in their heads. “A booth please, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, right this way.”
She grabbed two menus and lead them over to a s
ide booth, letting them both slip in before laying the menus on the table. She said the normal hostess stuff then walked back to her post, and then it was just him and Dani.
On their date.
He almost couldn’t believe it was happening. Sitting in front of him, bathed in the old lights of the diner, she looked like a classic movie star captured in soft filter, all smooth edges and femininity.
“What?” she asked when he’d been gazing at her just a little too long. “It’s too soon for me to have something in my teeth.”
“Sorry,” he said, propping his chin in his hand. “Just catching up with reality.”
“Oh, are you on a three-second delay, or something?”
“You know, it kinda feels like it.”
She laughed, shaking her head and making her hair bounce all around. He wished he could feel it in his hands but reaching over and grasping a copper strand seemed entirely too forward.
Dani tilted her head and a mischievous look came to her eyes. “You’ve found my secret. I’m actually an ancient deity and my sheer amount of gravitas can warp the perception of time around me.”
He couldn’t stop the laugh before it was out of his mouth. Not that he would want to stop it. “Funny, I always thought it was gravity that did that.”
“Close enough.”
Benji opened his mouth to respond, but he was startled by the waitress as she seemed to pop out of thin air beside them.
“Hi, there! My name is Rachel, and I’ll be your server. Well I’ll be, Dani Banani, is that you?”
Benji’s eyes flicked to Dani just in time to see all of the color drain from her face. “Rachel. Hi.”
Wait. Rachel? Benji felt like he knew that name. Rachel… Rachel.
“And double goodness gracious! Is that Benji Miller? What are you doing here? I swear I ain’t seen ya off the ranch since two or three years ago.”
Right then the barest hint of a memory slid into place. She had been a cheerleader… With dark, pretty hair who liked double French braids and would always bring him beef jerky for his troubles. That seemed right.
“I go to church sometimes,” he said as politely as he could. Which probably wasn’t actually very polite, but he wanted to get back to his date with Dani, who was looking more and more uncomfortable by the second.
“Of course, you do, you Miller sons are all such good people. Our town is lucky to have you.” Her smile grew saccharine sweet. “Lookey here, even doing charity with my little Dani Banani here. That’s so kind of you, considering all that happened with that terrible fire.”
“I’m not your Dani Banani.”
“It’s not charity.”
Both Benji and Dani spoke at the same time, her tone heated and his urgent, but Rachel just blithely went on to take their drink order. Benji was wondering if her unintentional barb was maybe a little intentional, but before he could decide one way or another, she was whisking off.
Benji looked to Dani, who had that same stone face on that she had been wearing when he had first met her.
“Are you okay?” he asked quickly. “I can ask for a new waitress. Or we can go.”
“No!” she objected emphatically before blushing. “I mean, no. One, the things that happened between me and her were in high school. Now that I’ve… been through what I’ve been through, they really don’t seem all that important. Two, if I leave, it shows her that she still has power over me. And she doesn’t.”
Dani drew in a deep breath, and he felt some of her previous good mood recover.
“So no. I’d like to stay here with you and enjoy this date and your company.”
He decided to turn the tables on her with the same teasing she’d done earlier.
“Oh, so you enjoy my company then?”
To his surprise, she didn’t backtrack or sputter or banter back. Instead, she gave a sharp nod. “Yes.”
Oh.
Well then.
“Glad to be of service,” was all he could say, wishing he had his drink just to have something to do while his brain thought of what to say next.
There was a lull in the conversation for a moment, but it wasn’t an awkward one. If anything, it was the opposite of that. Dani was gazing at the table, a contented, almost thoughtful expression on her face, and that gave Benji another chance to look over her again.
She really was something. All cherub-faced and innocent-looking, but with the strength of iron just underneath. She would have been a great spy back in the day. Letting people underestimate her and then ripping the rug right out from under them.
Then again, she seemed to have people constantly underestimating her already. Including him when he had first met her. He was glad he had gotten wise to that before she did any rug-pulling on him.
The comfortable silence was broken as Rachel showed up with their drinks, pulling a little notepad from her apron.
“Do you two folks know what you’d like to order?”
Well, at least that was one thing Benji knew he could do without somehow looking the fool.
“Yeah, actually. I’d like your open-faced burger, with extra mac and cheese on top. Mashed potatoes on the side, extra gravy.”
She laughed too loudly and brightly, making him almost wince. He caught himself at the last second, but it wasn’t the easiest feat.
“Well look at you! I guess with all that muscle and hard ranch work, you really bust up an appetite, don’t you?”
“Uh, yeah…”
“Goodness, if I ate half of that, it would go right to my hips!”
“Uh-huh.”
Benji didn’t know how to comment on that. Rachel would be more attractive to him if she did add a little bit to her very tiny hips, but he didn’t believe she should change her body to fit his preference. He also thought it would be pretty rude to indicate that she wasn’t his type right out in the open while she was working.
Thankfully, she moved on to Dani.
“And for you, Ms. Banani?”
“It’s Dani. And I think I’ll do the biscuits and gravy.”
“Oh, honey! You haven’t been here in a while, but did ya see we got salads now? They’re pretty good. I’m in love with the strawberry and avocado spinach salad.”
Something about her tone was off, and Benji lifted his gaze from where he had been scoping out the desserts. He got the feeling that something was happening right in front of him, but he didn’t know what.
But… it was weird that Rachel would suggest a salad, right? That had to be weird.
“Oh yeah, I’ve had the salads here before, but I want something more filling since I’ve had a long day. Biscuits and gravy, please.”
“Just trying to watch out for ya, girl. All those carbs, ya know? And it’s so late in the day.”
Wait. Now he knew things weren’t right.
“Rachel,” he started, but then Dani was cutting him off.
“I am so impressed that you’re continuing your study of nutrition while waitressing full time, but I assure you, I know what I’d like to eat tonight.”
“All right then girlie. Li’l Dani here always did love her pizza!” Another laugh that he liked even less than her last one. “I remember all the time she’d go up for seconds at the cafeteria. Sometimes she’d even polish off ours at the table if we were full. You know, since we were all watching our figures for cheerleading.”
To Benji’s great horror, she reached down and gently pinched Dani’s cheek. “You’re still our chubby-faced little kitten, aren’t you?”
Benji reached out and pulled her hand away, setting it down at her side. “I think you should go get our order.”
“Huh?” Her smile curled wickedly, and suddenly Benji got the sense that he was looking at a cat who had just managed to eat the canary. “I was just reminiscing. You know, ’cause she was a cutie.”
He had been a little slow on the uptake, but he could tell that she meant the exact opposite.
“She is. As in present tense. And I would call her bea
utiful, not cute, but I understand it’s different between girlfriends.” He let enough tone seep into his voice to let her know that he was wise to her games. To be perfectly honest, he was having a difficult time containing his temper. It wasn’t often that he lost it, but realizing that this woman was trying to humiliate Dani right in front of him made him burn much hotter than he had in years. “I’d appreciate it if you gave our order to another waitress and let us enjoy this date that I’ve been very much looking forward to for several days.”
“Y-you—” she sputtered, looking completely shocked at his response. A quick glance to Dani told him that she was regarding him with a similarly surprised expression. “But I—”
“No, no buts. No questions. I think that our interaction is done for the night, Rachel. It’s been great reconnecting with you.”
He let go of her and tried to give her a charming but empty smile, and thankfully, she seemed to get the message. Letting out a huff, she marched away toward the kitchen.
“I cannot believe you just did that,” Dani said with a laugh once the woman was gone.
“I can’t believe that you just sat there without knocking her block off,” he retorted, feeling embarrassment seep in now that the situation was settling. “She was outright insulting you.”
Dani shrugged. “I was handling it. In a way.”
“How?” he asked, completely baffled.
“I dunno, it’s weird, psychological girl code stuff. If I act upset or make a scene, she wins. By playing it cool and always having a comeback, I show that she doesn’t phase me. That she’s literally nothing to me.”
“So what, you two have a fake compliment-off and just progressively hurt each other’s feelings until…”
“Until someone interrupts, usually.” She sighed. “Look, I know it probably seems strange and passive-aggressive to you, but I can’t stand up to most of these people when my family’s business relies on us staying just barely out of being social pariahs to this town. If I make her mad, she tells her friends, her friends tell their parents, and the next thing we know, what few contracts we have go to your family, because of course, everyone loves the Millers.”