Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek) (33 page)

Dani glanced at the clock—yikes, it was later than she’d thought. “Damn, I’m sorry you worked straight through. You know what? Go on home already. You earned it.”

He slammed a finger up to his lips. “Shhh! You know Elle has ears like a bat!” Wary, he stuck his head out the door and cased the hallway to see which waitresses were nearby. “Last thing I want is for Elle to call Terri and tell her I’ll actually be able to make it home in time for Jenna’s ballet recital. Thanks, but no thanks—my ass is working my full shift to make sure I miss it. It’s Terri’s turn to sit through the thing and videotape Jenna’s three minutes on stage.”

Not even attempting to hide her smile, Dani made a zipping motion of her lips and slapped Sam on the back sympathetically. They’d all heard about little Jenna’s last recital—it had lasted
five
hours. And since it had been during Terri’s shift waitressing, Sam had been on video duty while Terri had been in Ocotillos, crossing her chest in thanks every time he’d sent her a pained text from his seat in the auditorium amidst a sea of rabid dance moms.

“Hey, what’s this?” she asked Sam, belatedly noticing the big file box on her desk.

Amusement twitched across his lips. “Your mail, madam. We eventually had to box it all because it was overflowing your similarly neglected in-tray this week.”

Ah yes, that sounded about right. When her head was focused on a new brew, there were times her workers had to club her over the head with day-to-day business things. The year she’d made her award-winning black lager, she’d completely forgotten to renew their logo napkin contract. For a week, they’d had to use picnic napkins—the big country-cute square ones that had no place in a bar—to tide them over until she’d gotten everything straightened out.

That was what had given birth to Sam’s ‘
Dani, open me
!’ folder hanging from a string in her office doorway, right at nose-level. She was embarrassed to admit that on two occasions—okay, maybe three—she’d walked face-first into it while she was deep in thought about a beer recipe.

No one said brewing wasn’t a dangerous business.

Particularly lately, it seemed that Dani had suffered two more face whacks from the folder just this week. “I’ll be better once I fix this recipe, Sam, I promise.” Dani opened the file box. “Hey, if you need to hide out from Elle, why not eat here and help me sift through all this mail?”

Sam gave her a strange look and backed away slowly. “You don’t remember, do you?”

“Remember what?” Her blank expression turned more suspicious with every step he took toward the door. She peered in the box to take a look.

And fell into her seat in shock.

There were dozens and dozens of pink and red envelopes in the box. “
No
.” Her voice was hoarse as she picked one of the cards up delicately. “People actually sent us Valentines?”

“A lot of people.” Sam’s shoulders lifted in a hey-it-was-inevitable way. “Luke pretty much became the most romantic guy in Arizona since his little concession speech. It was just a matter of time till the right people read about his whole ‘send a valentine to Ocotillos’ request. Hell, all of us here were prepared from day one to get slammed with letters. We’ve been getting dozens a day for the past two weeks. Hence the box.” With that, he quietly moved to the door to give her some privacy.

“Wait, stop! You can’t leave me alone with these. You have to help me open them.”

“Nooo.” He took two more steps back. “Sorry, I’m allergic.”

“To Valentine’s Day cards?!”

“To the ones in that box? Oh yeah. Remember, I’ve been working with you long enough to know exactly what kind of stories are going to be in those cards. If I read ‘em, my allergies will hit and turn my eyes all watery. Not good. Sorry, boss.” He exited the office quickly.

“Vick!” called out Dani when she saw her headwaiter outside. “Help me out will you?”

Vick started in the door with a smile until he saw Sam shaking his head slowly, eyes closed. Then he saw the box. “Nuh-uh,” he jumped back out to the hallway. “Sorry, Dani, but those there are addressed to you and it is a crime,
a federal offense
in fact, for me to open another person’s mail.” Clearly, his acting classes were
not
paying off since laughter was bubbling out with the bullcrap dribbling from his mouth. “You know how I’m a stickler for the law.”

“Are you frickin’ kidding me? I’m the one who bailed you out of jail for fighting a few years ago!” she blasted out, smacking his arm with one of the big pink envelopes.

“Yes, and I know you want me to stay on the straight and narrow. What you’re asking is what they call a gateway crime.” He tsked as if devastated there weren’t a better solution.

“Argh!” She pushed past both exasperating men to make a plea to Javier, who’d come over to see what was making Dani have a near meltdown. When he saw her holding one of the Ocotillos Valentine’s Day cards, he spun around to run right back to the kitchen.

She caught him by his apron strings. “Javier!”

Slowly, Javier turned and gave her a polite look. “
Si
, Miss Dani?”

“Please, please, you have to do this with me.”

His round eyes turned thoroughly perplexed. “
Lo siento, no entiendo. No hablo Ingl
é
s.
”

She glared at him. “Really? You don’t speak English suddenly?”

He blinked innocently and replied in more Spanish.

Dani’s head flipped back. “You guys are just plain mean!”

“Naw, we just think it’s time you saw how great you are, boss,” shrugged Vick.

“Plus, it
is
Luke’s gift to you,” reasoned Sam.

Javier shook his head with a dopey, lost smile, staying impressively in character. Another sentence in Spanish, undoubtedly a beautiful sentiment, came flowing out of his mouth before he kissed the top of her head and pushed her back into her office.

She gave them one last pleading look.

They closed the door in her face.

Now alone, Dani dragged herself over to the box, took a deep breath, and gently tore open the seal of the first Valentine’s Day card.

Dearest Dani,

Happy Valentine’s, my dear. This is Janet Myers. You may not remember my husband Ken and me but we met you two years ago at your brewpub. My husband had just been laid off from work and our finances had gotten so tight that we ended up cancelling our long-awaited vow renewal ceremony that we’d planned to have in Sedona. We were heartbroken. As fate would have it though, we decided to have lunch at Ocotillos that day. And thank heavens we did.

To this day, we still can’t remember how you got us to go, but somehow, you arranged for us to see your friend at the local Y to take some ballroom dance lessons later in the day. We didn’t have anything else planned so we went and had such fun. Later, when the teacher convinced us to head back to Ocotillos for dessert, we agreed, having no idea what would be in store for us.

Even now, the sight that greeted us when we went up to your roof deck is still fresh in my memory. And like it did then, it still brings tears to my eyes. The trouble you went through to transform your deck into the beautiful white wedding landscape that evening still astonishes me. From the lights, to the flowers, to the food...it was simply magical. And with our new ballroom dancing skills, we were able to dance to our original wedding song in style, to a live band, no less.

That night meant so much to us, Dani. I hope you know. We will forever be grateful that you gave us the vow renewal ceremony we’d always dreamed of.

With love,

Janet and Ken Myers

* * * * *

Hey there Miss Dani,

Pete Mallory here. Alright, I’m not a mushy kind of guy, but when it comes to my wife and kids, I’ll gush like a little baby. And I wouldn’t be able to say that now if it weren’t for something that happened fifteen or so years ago.

Back then, I’d been just another dumb hick not appreciating the love of his life. After a big fight over who knows what now with my girl, I went over to what used to be your daddy’s place, Dobson’s. I was getting drunk off my ass and even dumber still when your daddy came over and gave me the swift kick I needed.

He sat me down and had a long talk with me about the love of a good woman and, more importantly, the love that a good man should be man enough to give her. Now, I never had a daddy like the one you had. Mine used his fists instead of his mouth to do the talking. But your daddy was something. He called my girl up for me and helped us patch things up. We musta sat in that tavern until hours after closing, but when we left, we were together again.

We’re still married, she and I, with a son and daughter of our own. Turns out everything your daddy told us about love and families was all true, and I can’t think where my life woulda ended up if I hadn’t walked into your daddy’s tavern that night. From the sounds of it, you’re a lot like your daddy. And that’s good because there’re a lot more jackasses like me who need saving.

You know, he told me you and your brother were why he was blessed to know love the way he did. Well, because of y’all, I’m blessed to know it too.

-- Pete & Jill Mallory + Vinnie, age 13 & Kelly, age 9

* * * * *

Dani,

It’s been many, many years. My name was Cora Rogers back when I knew you. You were my Algebra student—smart, funny, and dead-set on fixing me up with your father for Valentine’s Day. Though he and I didn’t hit it off on our date, I wanted to write to explain why that date was so very special to me.

Your father was definitely a charmer, but unfortunately, there was just no spark. So, we spent the night talking as friends instead. Mostly about you. He was so proud of you with your big heart, and he just adored the way you took care of him every Valentine’s Day. The stories he told me truly warmed my soul.

That night, I went home and finally opened the closet door to something I’d been hiding from for some time. Very few people knew this about me then, but when I was sixteen, I’d gotten pregnant and put my child up for adoption. Now, I never regretted doing what was best for her. Not once. But seeing how much you filled your father’s life—and trust me, you made his life so full—I began wondering if my daughter had grown into an amazing woman like yourself.

I started thinking about her more and more until eventually I signed up for a site that reunites parents and adopted children. As it turned out, my daughter had been looking for me as well. Eleven years later and we’ve been in each other’s lives ever since. You inspired me to find her, Dani. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to be at my daughter’s wedding last Valentine’s Day.

Wishing you all the happiness you’ve given me...

Sincerely,

Cora Stevens

* * * * *

Dear Ms. Dobson,

This is Becca & Lance Lowry. We’re New Yorkers that visit Arizona every few years in the winter to stay with my husband’s family.

Long story short, four years ago, my in-laws and I visited Ocotillos for dinner and had a wonderful time. We remember the night well, especially the part where you all started singing that funny drinking song and introducing a beer so good it became a delicious memory we couldn’t soon forget. With that memory still with us, last year, we all came out to Ocotillos again but were sad to find the brew we’d remembered so fondly wasn’t available.

When our waiter told you how disappointed we’d been, you did the sweetest thing we still can’t really believe. You told us you would make the seasonal beer again just for us and that if we came back in three weeks before we headed home it’d be there waiting. I had no way of knowing if you were blowing smoke, and you had no way of knowing if we’d actually show.

Thankfully, we both had faith in the other. When we all came back three weeks later, sure enough, you had that wonderful brew waiting—a special tiny batch you’d made just for us. It was just as good as we remembered.

Sadly, unexpectedly, that was the last cherished memory we got to share with my husband’s father. You gifted us with that. You truly have a heart unlike any other, Dani Dobson. Thank you for being the special person you are.

—Becca and Lance Lowrey

* * * * *

AND ON IT WENT.

From long, emotional stories sent by regulars she’d known for over a decade to shorter, excited notes from couples who’d just met this past month during one of Ocotillos’ blind date nights, every Valentine’s Day card was filled with moving stories of love. Letter after letter, each one of them squeezed the tears right out of her heart.

By the time she got to the last card, Dani was a wreck, a curled-up mess of tears. She didn’t even remember picking up the phone or dialing the number but somehow, Luke answered and swept in minutes later to hold her as she cried her eyes out.