“Well, um, maybe your dad then?” She looked at me for help, hating the defeat on my daughter’s face just as much as me.
“Dad’s pretty lousy in the kitchen,” Hardin said, and my attention quickly cut to him.
“Thanks, bud.”
He shrugged, the smirk he was trying to hide pulling desperately at his lips. It was more than I’d gotten from him in a year, so I’d damn well take it. “Just statin’ facts.”
“I’ll have you know, there are some meals I can make really well.” Turning my focus back to Danika, I added, “Just not very many of them.”
My old man spoke next, sending the case home. “To give you a reference, his cookin’s somewhere between that petrified turkey and the Jell-O mold full of cat food on Christmas Vacation.”
I could have argued. I mean, I wasn’t that bad, but I was too lost in the sound of Danika’s laughter to say a word.
“Well, I guess I could teach you sometime,” she told Macie before turning to me. “That is, if it’s okay with you?”
“Please, Daddy. Please?” Macie pleaded, clasping her hands in front of her chest.
It was a struggle for me to deny my girl anything, but if it meant getting more time in with Danika, it was a no-brainer. “Fine with me. We’ll get somethin’ worked out.”
Macie’s fists shot into the air. “Yes!”
Too soon after that, Danika stood from her chair, clasping her empty coffee mug in her hands. “It’s getting kind of late. I should head home; I have an early morning tomorrow.”
“Leave the mug, darlin’,” Dad said, rising to his feet the same time I did. “I’ll take care of that.” She did as ordered and came around the table for a hug filled with familiarity, and I was once again hit with the ugly reminder that, while she and my dad appeared close, this was the most time I’d ever spent in the company of the girl who’d lived right across from me for years. “Thanks for the sweets and the company, Dani girl.”
“Pleasure’s all mine, Jed. Talk to you soon.” She placed a kiss on his cheek and stepped back. A second later, she was returning the hug Macie had shot in to give her.
“I’ll see you soon?” my girl asked, looking up at her with excitement.
“Sure will, honey,” Danika answered softly, smiling beautifully at my baby girl as she brushed a lock of hair from her forehead. “I’ll look forward to it.”
Hardin was standing at the end of the table with his shoulders back and chin tilted like he was trying to make himself look even bigger as she stepped up to him. He extended his hand and cleared his throat before saying, “Really good meetin’ you, Ms. Dani. You know, like in person.”
She graced him with a giggle and took his hand, lifting up on her tiptoes and pressing a kiss on his cheek, same as she’d done with my father. “You too, Hardin. And I’ll talk to Nona about that bake sale sign-up.”
My son blushed a furious red while a goofy, love-struck smile stretched across his face. “Y-yeah. Good. I mean, great. That’s great. See you soon, Ms. Dani.”
She turned to me, that timidity returning to her features, but before she could give me some watered-down version of a goodbye, I spoke up, stepping from the table. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
“Oh. You don’t have to do that.”
“I insist.”
Those big eyes grew even bigger. She looked like an adorable little doe caught in the headlights of an eighteen-wheeler. “But it’s just across the street.”
“And it’s dark out. What kinda man—not to mention cop—would I be if I let a woman walk out into the night all by herself?”
“I—well . . .”
“He’s got a point there, darlin’. Safety first and all that,” my dad said, giving her a wink.
She hesitated for a few seconds before finally giving in and, with one last wave to my family, started for the door with me following closely behind.
Danika
The cold night air was a welcome relief to my flushed skin. My cheeks had been on a low burn the whole time I’d been sitting at that table.
Although I was constantly flustered around this man, there was a part of me that hadn’t wanted the evening to end, so when he started the trek toward my car at a sedate pace, I had to roll my lips between my teeth to keep from smiling.
Silence descended on us as we made the slow journey down Jed’s walkway, and I’d just begun fiddling with my keys, trying to find something to say that would be clever or funny when Leo spoke, putting an end to the anxious quiet.
“You mean what you said? About teachin’ my girl to make those lemon bar things?”
I turned my head and tilted it up, taking in his profile as we walked. “Of course. I mean, as long as you’re okay with it.” He didn’t say anything for a beat, and I quickly twisted back to face the street and knotted my fingers together nervously.
“Not a problem with me at all.” He turned and hit me with that tiny smirk that did crazy things to my belly. “You met her. I’m sure you can already see denyin’ that girl somethin’ she wants isn’t an easy thing to do.”
I let out a little giggle and shook my head. “No, I suppose it isn’t. Tonight was the first I’ve ever really talked to either of them. I really like Macie. Hardin too. You have incredible kids, Leo. You should be very proud. You’ve done a great job with them so far.”
That smirk turned into a full-blown smile, the effect of it hitting me so hard, it was a wonder I didn’t stumble over my own two feet.
Note to self: keep eyes on ground in Leo Drake’s presence to prevent embarrassing catastrophe—like falling on my face.
By the time I gained my bearings and was able to face him, he was already looking ahead again. “Hard to see it that way when you’re the parent in the thick of it. Feels like I’m failin’ ’em more than not. Hardin especially. Tonight was the first he’s pointed anything even slightly resembling a grin in my direction in a long time. That boy’s in a perpetual state of pissed-the-hell-off whenever he’s in my presence.”
I could see by the hard set of his jaw that it was weighing on him, and I wished so badly there was something I could say to make him feel better, but in the end, all I came up with was a lame, “I’m really sorry.”
One of his shoulders lifted up in a shrug as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Par for the course. One of the parents always has to be the bad guy. Since the divorce, that’s been my cross to bear.”
“Why does that make you the bad guy?”
His attention returned to me. “Divorce was my idea, sweetheart.”
My lips parted in surprise. “Oh.”
“You didn’t know? Figured that would’ve been spread like wildfire all through town.”
“It might have. I don’t really know. I try not to pay attention to gossip, at least as much as possible in a town this size.”
He let loose a low, raspy chuckle that made goosebumps spread across my skin. “Good call.”
“Still,” I said once we reached the edge of my parents’ driveway. “I’m sorry. Just give him time. He’ll come around. He’s a great kid, and I’m sure he didn’t get that way all on his own. He’s great because he had parents who guided him to it. He’ll see you just want the best for him.”
I beeped the locks as we came to a stop on the driver side of my Explorer, and when I turned to look up at him, he was staring down at me with an expression I couldn’t quite make out. “Why weren’t we friends growing up, Danika?”
The question took me aback. “Sorry?”
“I just don’t get it.” The streetlights cast a glow down on him, accentuating his sharp cheekbones and square jaw, giving an intensity to his big, strong frame. He’s always seemed larger than life to me, but when he came back to Hope Valley after being gone for so long, I realized it hadn’t all been in my head. He wasn’t only larger than life. He was just plain large. Tall, a few inches over six feet, broad shoulders, a wide chest that led to a tapered waist and solid, muscular thighs. I felt
tiny standing in front of him just then. “I sat there tonight, watchin’ you, listenin’ to you laugh with my kids, and I couldn’t help but wonder why we weren’t closer.”
“Well, uh . . .” I licked my suddenly dry lips, pulling the bottom one between my teeth as my gaze cast down to the ground in front of my feet. “I guess, because you never really knew I existed.”
His dark brows slashed down into a distinct V. “Fuck me. I was an idiot.”
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected him to say, but I knew it certainly wasn’t that. My skin began to grow tight and itchy. My belly felt like it was full of bubbles, and my heart began to beat at a much faster pace as I murmured, “I’m not really sure how to respond to that.”
“Nothin’ to respond to. Just statin’ a fact.”
It felt like I’d just swallowed cotton balls, but I somehow managed to whisper, “Okay,” through the Sahara-like dryness in my throat.
At that soft word, he graced me with a smile that sent me into a tailspin while reaching up to brush my hair over my shoulder. “Get yourself home, honey.”
“Okay,” I repeated, my brain malfunctioning at the barely-there touch. I moved on autopilot, opening the door and climbing in. I grabbed my seatbelt and pulled it across my chest, luckily getting it in the slot on the first try.
“Drive safe, Danika.”
“Yeah. All right.”
He let out another chuckle as he grabbed the top of the door, leaning in just enough that the smell of his cologne filled the whole cab. “I’ll see you real soon.” With that, he pushed it closed and took two big steps back.
Instead of heading back for his father’s house like I expected, he stuffed his hands into his pockets, drawing my attention to how perfect his jeans looked on him, and waited for me to start my car and back out.
I managed that without crashing into anything—thank God—and started down the road, replaying those last words in my head as a huge smile slowly overtook my face.
Because how he’d said them sounded an awful lot like a promise.
Chapter Four
Danika
Pure Elegance was the salon run by my friend Nona Wanderly. It might have been the only salon in town, but there were others to choose from in the towns around ours like Hidalgo and Grapevine. However, it was the most popular because Nona and her girls gave seriously good hair. If Nona had been old enough to do hair back when I’d been a teenager, I imagined life would have been a lot easier. As it was, I was just grateful I had her now.
Using my shoulder, I pushed the heavy glass door open and stepped inside the salon.
“Oh, please. Please tell me one of those is for me.”
I spun around to find Gypsy at the counter, staring at the two white to-go coffee cups with the red Muffin Top logo in my hands.
Gypsy, another friend, worked the front counter. I had the utmost respect for all my friends, but when it came to Gypsy, that respect knew no limits. The woman was a force. She’d been kicked while down more times than any human being deserved, and each time, she’d get back up, dust herself off, and carry on.
Before this gig, she’d been working two jobs to help take care of her brothers and sisters because their parents were the worst kinds of deadbeats. She’d been a checkout clerk at the local grocery store and a dancer at a strip club called Pink Palace.
She’d gone through a particularly nasty patch when a local bad guy had bought the club and started using it as a front to move meth. When all of that went down, she’d quit and started working for Nona, but the ugliness of that situation had still blown back on her. It had been a big thing when she and another one of the girls from the club had been kidnapped by said bad guy. With the help of the police and the men from a local private investigation and security firm called Alpha Omega, they’d both been rescued and the bad guy was put out of commission, but before all of that, she’d gotten tangled up with one of the Alpha Omega guys working the case—and it had to be said, those were some seriously hot guys.
During all that drama, the two of them had fallen in love, and after it all went down, they’d made things official. They’d gotten married, and she was now settled down with Marco Castillo, and together, they were raising her siblings, living their happily ever after.
It wasn’t a surprise that the strip club had been shut down after that, but the other girl who’d been taken with Gypsy, McKenna, bought the place with her man, Bruce, a former bouncer, and together, they reopened it as a cool-as-hell burlesque club called Whiskey Dolls. All the girls stayed on, loving the new direction they were moving in. It went from seedy to classy and cool, and the women went from taking off their clothes for money, to putting on amazing shows people from all across the state came to see.
I made a face and put one of the cups on the counter in front of her. “Is that a serious question? You really think I’d come here without a coffee for you and Nona?”
She smiled while bringing the cup to her lips. “No. Because you’re a smart, smart woman, and you love your friends.”
“You’re right, I do. That’s why I brought you a new creation.” She took a sip, her eyes going huge. “Three shots of expresso, skim milk, three pumps almond syrup, two pumps coconut syrup, with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. I call it an Almond Joy.”
“I call it a caffeinated orgasm. Damn, hon. I love Marco with everything I have, but I’d leave him in a heartbeat and marry this.”
“Glad I could be of service,” I said on a laugh. “So how is school going?”
After working at the salon for a while, and subsequently discovering her love for all things hair, Gypsy had decided she wanted to go further, so now she was enrolled in a program, working her way toward becoming a licensed stylist. As soon as she was finished with her schooling, Nona was giving her a chair in her salon for as long as she wanted to work there.
“It’s good. It hasn’t been easy, doing that, plus working, taking care of the kids, and making sure my man gets the attention he deserves.” She gave me a lascivious wink, telling me exactly what kind of attention her man got from her. “But Marco’s been great, and I’m nearly done, so things should start to slow down soon.”
“Good. I’m glad. You deserve it.”
“Thanks, hon. That means a lot.”
The phone rang, taking Gypsy’s attention, and I gave her a quick finger wave before spinning around to head for Nona’s station. “Hey, No.”
Nona’s glossy red hair swished as she turned her head. “Hey, doll!”
Nona Wanderly wasn’t only a genius when it came to hair, she was also one of my closest friends. Like me, she was a Hope Valley native, so I’d known her for as long as I could remember. The gorgeous redhead had two teenage kids from her first marriage that had turned bad. A couple years back, she’d hooked up with another Hope Valley police detective, Patrick “Trick” Wanderly, and now the couple was happily married, having blended their families seamlessly and added to it with a son of their own, Liam, only a few months back.
I lifted the cup in my hand. “Brought you a little something.”
“Oh, you sweet lifesaver.” She snatched the coffee from me and took a healthy glug before placing it on the shelf in front of her mirror and waving for me to take a seat. She got to work, sectioning off my hair and painting the strands before wrapping them in foil, and I took that opportunity to catch up with her and a few of the other women around her station.
Going to a salon for a woman wasn’t just about getting her hair done, it was about communing with her people. If you didn’t know what was going on in your community, it was a fact that you’d be filled in on everything happening just by sitting in one of those chairs.
I loved salon days, not only because of the scalp massages and trims, but because I got to hang with my friends.
Currently, one of the town residents, Sadie Cosgrove, was sitting at the station beside mine, getting her hair done by another stylist, Blair, and filling us in on all the goings-on around town.
Sadie was a sweet woman in her forties with a penchant for gossip.
It was also known around town that she liked to play matchmaker, only she was just as bad at it as my mother, so when she looked over at me and said, “So, Dani, I have this cousin over in Norfolk—” I couldn’t help but to let out a pained groan.
“Please no. No fix-ups.”
“Oh, that’s a great idea!” Nona declared. “Why haven’t I thought of fixing you up until now?” She kept going without giving me a chance to reply. “I mean, maybe not Sadie’s cousin, but someone else around here.” She quickly cast her eyes to the woman in question. “No offense to your cousin. I’m sure he’s a great guy, I just don’t know anything about him.”
Sadie gave that some thought before shrugging her shoulders. “Ah, no offense taken. He is kind of a dud.”
My head whipped around in her direction before Nona grabbed it and forced it back into place. “Then why would you want to set me up with him?”
“I knew you were single, and he was the first person who popped in my head,” she answered unapologetically. “But if we’re gonna brainstorm on a guy for you—”
“No. We aren’t brainstorming anything,” I insisted.
At that moment, Gypsy came scurrying over like a shark that smelled blood in the water. “Did someone say fix-up?”
I was suddenly starting to seriously rethink my love of going to the salon.
“No one said anything about a fix-up,” I grumbled.
“Sadie mentioned her cousin,” Nona chirped like she hadn’t heard me. “But I’m thinking local.”
“Ooh!” Gypsy threw her hands up. “I know there are still a few of the Alpha Omega dudes who aren’t tied down. I can talk to Marco tonight and figure out which would be a good fit.”
“No fix-ups!” I exclaimed.
No one listened.
“Or what about Micah Langford?” Blair asked, drawing the intrigued attention of the women around me.
“Oh, yes,” Sadie said, waving her hand in front of her face. “That detective is one fine hunk of man.”
Waiting for Forever (Hope Valley Book 8) Page 4