California Girls

“Let’s get this over with,” DeeDee said. “Because when we’re done here, I want to go to The Cheesecake Factory. They have a Sunday brunch and I want that giant Belgian waffle they have. And a mimosa.”

“When you go, you go big,” Cassie said.

“I can’t help it. That’s just who I am.”

“Shall we?”

Zennie jogged to the path, then set the slow warm-up pace. They quickly sorted themselves into two pairs of two, with Clark next to her.

“This is nice,” he said. “Thanks for asking me.”

“You’re welcome.”

“We should probably get all our talking done now because in about fifteen minutes I’m going to be out of breath.”

She smiled. “You’ll do fine.”

He glanced at her and grinned. “I’m doing my best, Zennie.”

He was, she thought happily. And so far, it was really good.

*

Ali loved Daniel’s kitchen. It was big, there was tons of counter space and while she’d never had real feelings for a range before, she was pretty sure she could do three full minutes on why this Viking range was amazing.

She happily unpacked the groceries she’d picked up on her way home from work. That night she was going to get wild and try chicken marsala. The recipe she’d found online looked easy enough. She would serve it with mashed potatoes and the fresh green beans she’d bought.

Since she and Daniel had taken things to the next level, she’d found herself wanting to cook more. Nesting, she assumed. Staking out her place in their couplehood by doing kitchen things. It was old-fashioned and traditional and she honestly couldn’t help herself. Besides, cooking dinner made her happy.

She’d chosen a nice bottle of wine and had even picked up some frosted cookies for dessert. Tonight was going to be special, she thought with a smile. Tonight, over chicken marsala and mashed potatoes, she was going to tell Daniel she loved him.

It was time, or possibly past time. She’d suspected her feelings for a while, but had been waiting to be sure. Her confrontation with Glen had made everything clear. Daniel was the right guy and she loved him and she wanted him to know.

After collecting everything she would need, she pounded the chicken breasts flat, then went to work on peeling the potatoes, her cast and broken arm barely slowing her down. She’d just finished that when Daniel got home.

She heard the sound of the garage door and had to laugh as her stomach immediately started fluttering. What that man did to her. She washed her hands and hurried to meet him, only to come to a stop when she saw his serious expression.

“What?” she asked, in the hallway by the kitchen. “What happened?”

When he didn’t answer right away, she knew something was wrong. She could see it in the tense set of his mouth and the way his shoulders were tight.

“Daniel, you’re scaring me.”

“I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

The blunt words hit her like a two-by-four, knocking the air out of her and nearly sending her to her knees. She had to grab the wall to stay on her feet.

“What?”

He looked away. “Glen came by to see me this afternoon. He said he made a mistake when he ended things with you. He said he was sorry and that he wanted another chance with you.” He returned his attention to her, his gaze stricken. “He’s still in love with you.”

“He’s not.”

“Ali, I saw him, I talked to him. He’s broken. You two were together a long time. You were going to get married. You have a history with him and—”

Disbelief and anger and pain battled for dominance. “No,” she said loudly. “No. Stop talking. Just stop.”

She sucked in air as she tried to make sense of everything. She’d just seen Glen. Yes, he’d talked about them getting back together, but he hadn’t been serious. He didn’t like that she was with Daniel.

She snapped up her head. “This is not what you think. Glen is playing both of us. He came to see me, as well, and I made it incredibly clear that he and I are done. He was a mistake and while I’m willing to be polite for your sake, in a perfect world I would never see him again.”

She moved toward him, stopping when they were only a couple of feet apart.

“Daniel, I swear, I can’t decide if you’re the nicest guy on the planet or a complete moron. You know I don’t care about him. You’ve been amazing to me. You’ve been there for me, you’ve been a friend and a lover and you said you were in love with me. Wasn’t any of that real?”

“Of course it was real,” he said with a growl. “I gave you all I have.”

“Then why would you let me go?”

“Because I want you to be happy.”

“But I’m happy with you. We’re happy together. I’m cooking you chicken marsala so that I can—” Realization dawned. He didn’t know. She’d never said the words back and he didn’t know. While he could hope for the best, he could very well be thinking she assumed he was her rebound guy.

“Oh, Daniel, I’m sorry.” She closed the distance between them and took his hands in hers. “I was making dinner because I wanted tonight to be special when I told you I loved you.”

She stared into his dark eyes. “I love you. I waited to say it because I wanted to be sure. Because Glen was such a mistake. I love you, Daniel. I think we’re great together but not if you won’t fight for me. Not if you’re willing to just walk away.”

“I would only walk away if that was what you wanted.”

He hauled her against him and held her so tight, her ribs hurt.

“I thought you weren’t sure,” he admitted, his voice shaking. “I’ve loved you for nearly two years, but this is all new to you. I wanted to give you time and space. I was okay with you not saying anything back until today when Glen showed up. He made it sound like you wanted to get back together with him.”

She raised herself up on tiptoe and kissed him. “Never. Never, never, never. I swear. I love you, Daniel.”

He kissed her back, stealing her breath in the best way possible.

“I love you,” she repeated between kisses.

“I love you, too.”

After a few minutes, they managed to catch their breath. He brushed the hair off her face.

“You’re cooking?”

“Yes, and I bought wine and dessert and the whole thing. It was going to be very romantic.”