25. Daphne
25
DAPHNE
I ’m surprised that there are journalists—other than Noah, of course, who has come for dinner with his parents and sister—but I shouldn’t be. I know there were press releases sent out. We finish dinner and Luke asks if I want to be part of the interviews. I shake my head and he excuses himself to take care of that business.
Word has circulated that the vintner is in the house, and Mackenzie is in demand, talking people through flights and tastings. I’m content to watch Luke and listen to Rafe grumble about cell phone service. He’s cropping his pictures and uploading them to his social media accounts, showing me his progress as he goes. I’m surprised by how many followers he has as FoodFiend7 and agree for him to add a selfie of us together so long as he leaves out my name.
I’m sure that everyone I know in Empire has come for dinner tonight. Willow and Jim have a table by the window, while Bruno and Marissa arrive later. Everyone is dressed up, too, and I like that Bruno and Marissa are having a date night, too. My dad arrives just before eight with several of his neighbours and stops to chat. I introduce him to Rafe, and he smiles indulgently when he glances toward Luke.
Luke is in his element, charming reporters, posing for photographs, joking with Merrie. He makes it look easy and I’m glad when Patrick and his party leave.
“Unusual choice for you,” Rafe says eventually, not looking up from his phone.
“Yes,” I agree, because it’s true.
He flicks me a glance. “I’m glad to see you taking a chance.”
“What does that mean?”
“That the two of you are so different it’s obvious it can never work out.”
“How can you know that?”
“It’s hot, right? The sex is great. You can’t resist each other. Honestly, it’s coming off the two of you in waves, and I’m happy for you, Daphne. Everyone should have at least one fling like that in their lifetime.”
“Even though it ends.”
“Of course, it ends. That doesn’t mean you don’t love the adventure of it. It doesn’t mean that you don’t learn something. It doesn’t mean you regret it. Just hang on and see where it goes.”
“I thought you were the one with the list.”
“I am, but sometimes you have to chuck the list and have some fun.” He gives me a stern look. “You were past due for that.”
“I have fun…”
“And historically you’ve only dated men who were ‘the marrying type’.” He makes the quotes with his fingers. “There’s nothing wrong with mixing it up a bit. You don’t have to marry every guy you take home. If you did, there’d be a lot more work for divorce lawyers.”
I smile at that.
“Kick up your heels, Daphne. Variety is the spice of life.”
“The essence of romance is uncertainty.”
“Oh, that’s good. I like it. So go for it. Who cares if it’s just one of those things?”
“Should I sing along?”
He shakes a finger at me. “And one day, when you find Mr. Right, who will probably be a lot like Justin with similar credentials but will actually have a soul, and he puts a ring on your finger and gets to the church on time, you’ll have some memories to prompt that mysterious little smile, the one that will drive said man insane.”
He’s right. I have had a habit of assessing every guy in terms of his commitment quotient. There is something liberating about the prospect just enjoying Luke.
Is it possible that he really intends to stay?
Or are those just words, words that he knows I’ll like?
Rafe nods approval of his own advice then turns his attention back to his phone. “Do you think the crumble looks better in this picture of it pristine, or the one with the bite out of it? I can argue it either way.”
It’s almost eleven when things slow down. Willow has pitched in with clearing tables and Sylvia looks both exhausted and happy. Rafe is nodding with satisfaction at the response on his socials, and Luke saunters across the bistro to take his seat again. He takes my hand and kisses the back of it, closing his eyes for a moment.
“You owned it,” I tell him and he smiles.
“I hope it’s enough.”
“Great launch,” Rafe says, rising from his seat. “I’ll stop in for lunch tomorrow before heading home.”
“Thanks for coming,” I say.
“Thanks for arranging the details,” he replies, then nods to Luke. “Thanks for the conversation.”
“Ditto.” Luke stands and they shake hands.
“If you have time, stop in for lunch tomorrow,” Rafe says. “I have some ideas of people you can contact for more promotion. Never hurts to reach out and with an influential foodie, a free meal might yield great results.”
“Thank you,” Luke says with a smile and we leave together.
Rafe drives off into the proverbial sunset with a lot of honking and waving. The Maple Leaf Motel wasn’t his style, so he’s gone to the Travelodge in Havelock for the night. Mackenzie is still walking Merrie’s patrons through the wine flights, doing one of the many things she does well, and we leave her to it. We’re holding hands as we walk and Empire is its usual quiet self.
“Good date,” I say and feel Luke smile at me.
“Great date,” he agrees. “Again. Maybe we should make a habit of it.”
“Same time next week?”
“Something like that.”
“I didn’t realize you were a romantic.”
“Neither did I, but a relationship can’t just be a sequence of hook-ups. It’s got to be more, it’s got to be romantic and magical, and that means you can’t just show up. You have to put some effort into it.”
I lean against him as we walk, his words making me all warm inside. “My parents used to have a date night every month. They dressed up and went out for dinner in Havelock. Sometimes they went to Toronto for a weekend. They’d have dinner out, go to a show, visit a museum together. My mom was always so happy afterward.”
“You must miss her.”
“I do. So much. But I kind of feel like she’s still here, reminding me of what’s important, nudging me in the direction she’d choose for me.”
“Like a guardian angel?”
“Yes! Just like that.” I study him. “You must miss Taylor.”
“I do.”
“You said you thought he guided you to Merrie’s place that day.”
“I do. I did.” He looks down at me, his eyes vehemently blue. “And that’s what’s behind the new plan.”
“Ah, the new plan. What are you going to do for an encore?”
Luke takes a breath, as if to steady himself for this confession. “I bought the Odeon Theatre this week from Nate Thompson.”
I stop to stare at him. “Shut the front door.”
“I did. I didn’t want you to handle the sale for me, because I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“It is.”
“He wanted to sell, but not to Patrick. He warned me that it needs a ton of work, but he didn’t want to pour cash into it himself. I bought it for a buck, Daph, and the promise to bring it back.”
“Why would you want to own a theatre?”
“Because it brings everything together beautifully.” He nods in the face of my confusion. I can’t see the connection, but I have to wonder one thing.
“What did Patrick want?”
“To get under my skin.”
“Did it work?”
“Not this time. Even though the man has a gift.” He’s pretending it doesn’t matter, but I know better. When he bends to steal a kiss, I put a fingertip over my mouth and look into his eyes again.
“Promise me something,” I say and his gaze sharpens. “Whatever you choose to do, don’t choose it because of Patrick. Don’t chart a course just to get even with him or to make him angry.”
“What then?”
“Let it all go. Make your choices based on yourself, what you want and what you envision. Maybe he has the power to point out a failure to you, but don’t give him more power than that. Act upon the information; don’t respond to his provocation. It’s the only way you’ll ever break whatever hold he has over you.”
Luke’s smile dawns slowly and is blindingly brilliant. “That’s what I’ve already done,” he says and I smile, sliding my fingertip across his lips. “Thank you, Daph.”
“For what? As your legal counsel, I should be giving you the best advice I can. What have you done?”
“Rewind,” he says, spinning a finger. “Patrick stopped by the table tonight to point out the weakness of my plan with The Carpe Diem Café.”
“And that is?”
“Location, location, location. In a way, Empire isn’t any better than the site Merrie had before. It’s a lot cheaper, but it has significantly less traffic. There will be people like Rafe, who make a regular pilgrimage to town just for the food, and people like you, who walk across the street once or twice a week for lunch, but she needs a stronger customer base than that. And Patrick is probably right about winter and its complete elimination of any visitors to Empire.”
I don’t argue that there are virtually no visitors to Empire regardless of the time of year, because he knows that.
I’m interested that he’s jubilant after any discussion with Patrick. “He doesn’t seem to have depressed you,” I venture and Luke grins.
“Because I’m ahead of him this time. I started to think about this earlier in the week. I realized that it’s not just one restaurant. We need an entire plan for the town, even to make that restaurant a success, and if I’m not just setting Merrie up for failure, I need to think ahead. I need to think bigger.” He squeezes my hand. “I need to listen and learn about the merit of plans.”
Oh. I like that he’s sharing the credit with me, but he’s the one leaping in here. Before I can point that out, he continues.
“So, we need to look at other places with seasonal traffic and learn from them. What they do is cultivate traffic during the best season, with festivals and events. They may do that in the off-season, too, but the point is that they fill the well when times are good, and that gets them through the slow months, when times are less good.”
“Fair enough.” It’s true that we have very few festivals in Empire these days. There used to be a strawberry festival in June and a fall fair, as well as a Santa Claus parade in December, but we’ve rolled all of our events into the much larger versions in Havelock. If Luke plans to revive any of those, it will be an uphill battle, but I keep quiet and hear him out.
And I’m glad, because he surprises me completely.
“There’s only one kind of event that I can personally organize, because I’ve done it a bunch of times before.”
The light goes on. “A concert?”
Luke smiles and shakes his head. “Not just any concert, Daph. A reunion of the band, right here in Empire, for a tribute to Taylor.”
“The band, Elwood, the band,” I say under my breath and he laughs.
“Pretty much.” He pushes his hand through his hair. “Brent and Zach are both up for it. In fact, they said they were waiting on me and can’t believe it took me so long. I’ve talked to our head roadie, who is as surly as ever, and even he’s excited to be on board. Once Wookie walks through the theatre tomorrow and gives me a list of improvements, I can cut our social media queen loose on the project. Chelsea is just brilliant at what she does. The gear is in storage, the buses and the trucks mothballed, but all of that can get sorted…”
“I thought you didn’t want to perform anymore,” I interject and he falls silent.
He takes a breath and fixes me with a brilliant blue look. “I didn’t. Because I didn’t think I could do it without Taylor there on stage with me. For an entire year, I couldn’t hear the music and I thought that chapter of my life was over. But the music’s back, Daph, thanks to you. And as soon as I had this idea, everything started to come together, as if it was meant to be. I have to do it. I have to prove to myself that I can do it, and I have to honour Taylor this way.” His eyes narrow a little. “Does that make sense?”
I nod, because there’s a lump in my throat. On the one hand, he’ll be staying a little longer in Empire which is awesome. On the other, bringing the band back together probably gives him a reason to leave.
I’m going to focus on the moment and the chance to spend more time with him.
“I’m thinking about the fifth of July. That’s the Saturday after Canada Day.”
“So soon? How are you going to do that?”
“I don’t know, Daph. That’s part of the adventure.” His grip tightens on my hand. “Want to meet Wookie with me in the morning? I’d love to have your input.”
I squeeze his hand back, liking the suggestion that we’re a team, even for a while. “Yes,” I whisper, then we’re at the steps of my house and I have a much better idea. I reach up and kiss him slowly, liking how his arms close around me and he abandons himself to the kiss. It feels like a celebration and a homecoming, both inevitable and unpredictable.
“I love the suit,” I whisper, running a hand down his lapel. “And I loved watching you tonight.”
“I was watching you,” he admits, then kisses my ear. “I love the dress.”
I smile. “And here I was hoping you’d help me take it off.”
“Anything for you, Daph. Anything.”
I love that he gives me the choice, that he never presumes what will happen between us, that he waits and lets me make the first move. I love that I’m getting bolder at doing that and when I unlock the door and tug him inside, I love the way anticipation floods through me.
It could be the first time, but it will be better than the first time. It gets better every time and that’s an adventure I don’t want to see end.
For the moment, though, there is Luke. I back him into the wall and kiss him as if my life depends upon it. He responds immediately, lifting me against him, kissing me back with both reverence and passion. My hands are in his hair, my tongue is against his, and his hands are under my jacket, on the bare skin of my back. He murmurs my name, the way he’s made it his own, and I stop him with a touch, my hand flat on his chest. I feel his heartbeat beneath my palm a steady beat that’s picking up even as I stare at him.
“No drapes,” I confess, pretending to be sad about it, and the corner of his mouth lifts. “I had to order the blinds I wanted.” I loop my hands around his neck. “We’ll just have to go upstairs.”
He glances at the stairs, then at me, and scoops me into his arms. “Challenges, challenges,” he murmurs and steals a smoky hot kiss.
I kick my feet and watch him as he climbs, then tap his chin with a fingertip. “Slow tonight,” I say, and he slants a glance at me. “So very, very slow.”