Page 29 of The Secret Crush Book Club (Peach Blossom #3)

Twenty-One

T he back porch was bathed in a soft glow as the sun set beyond the tree line.

Dani shivered slightly as she pulled her sweater more tightly around her shoulders.

The afternoon was calm as she breathed deeply, letting her thoughts drift along.

Work had been relatively low-key today, which was a blessing and a curse.

A blessing because it gave her time to think on other things as she made her rounds.

A curse…for the same damn reason. Dani’s thoughts were a tangled mess that she was still trying to make sense of.

Every time she thought she had a hold on things, something else popped up, sending her careening again as her thoughts raced to the bottom.

“Here you are,” Ava said, popping up behind her. Dani turned as she walked through the doorway. “What are you doing out here? I thought you were going to hang out with Zoey tonight.”

Dani nodded. “I am. She has a phone call with her agent though, so we’re pushing things back an hour.”

“Ah. It’s kind of cool that you know someone who’s an author, and your favorite one at that.” She walked around Dani before dropping down onto the bench beside her. “Think she would be cool with me asking her to come speak to my class about writing and stuff?”

Dani shrugged. “You should ask her, but I don’t think she would mind. She’s talked before about starting a youth book club to get more kids interested in reading and writing.”

“That’s good to know. I might ask her questions just about being an author in general.”

“Are you still thinking about writing that book?” Dani asked. It was nice to be able to talk about anything but her own problems. “What was the book about again?”

Ava snorted softly. “Which one?” When Dani glanced at her, she grinned. “I have a lot of book ideas, but I’m still not sure which one I want to lead with. It’s nerve-racking to put yourself out there when there’s no guarantee that it’ll be well received.”

Man, wasn’t that the truth. Dani could understand that on multiple levels.

Right now, she was also wondering if she had been putting herself out there a little too much as of late.

As much as she knew Jacob was full of shit sometimes, his words still occasionally found their mark with her and now she was left wondering if maybe she was too close to things to see if she’d miscalculated something along the way.

“Why are you so quiet today?”

Dani glanced at her. “Aren’t you usually the one telling me to shut up?”

“I mean, yeah, but not really. I don’t want you to actually be quiet,” Ava said. She jostled Dani’s shoulder with her own. “What’s going on? Is it about Jordan?”

Dani didn’t want to talk about it, but maybe that was her whole problem. She couldn’t keep everything bound up inside her head without going a little crazy with only her own thoughts for comfort.

“Sort of,” she conceded. It took her a moment to find her words. “Do you think I rushed into dating too soon?”

Ava raised an eyebrow. “Rushed? You didn’t date for like two years and even after you started, I think you went out like once or twice a year. You didn’t do it enough if you ask me.”

“Yeah, but what about Jordan?” Dani asked. “I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.”

“And you haven’t. At least not that he’s told any of us, and you know Dad would be the first person to sit us down if his grandson wasn’t happy about something. He loves Jordan more than us.”

Dani chuckled along with Ava at the long-running family joke. She knew their father didn’t love one of them more than the other, but he absolutely favored Jordan against the rest of them simply by virtue of him being the only grandchild.

“True,” Dani admitted. “But—”

“Did Jacob say something to you?” Ava cut in. She narrowed her eyes when Dani opened and closed her mouth a few times without saying anything. “I swear that asshole is looking for trouble. What did he say this time?”

She shook her head. “Nothing that I can’t handle.

” It was true. Dani could handle whatever was thrown at her.

Hell, she didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t fall apart just because someone said something mean to her.

“I just… Do you find it weird that I haven’t had a steady relationship since the divorce? ”

Ava shrugged. “Not particularly. Pop never did either after…you know.”

“But that’s different,” Dani insisted.

“Is it?”

Dani thought about it. “I mean, maybe.”

Ava sat back and crossed her arms as they both looked out over the backyard as the sun slowly dipped farther behind the trees. The air was cooler now than it had been a few minutes ago and Dani knew tonight was going to be chillier than it had been in weeks.

“We should move back inside,” Dani said softly. Ava leaned into her.

“In a minute,” Ava replied. Her voice was quiet, and it had Dani relaxing more as the sounds of the night started their evening concert.

Nights like these made it hard for Dani to imagine ever living anywhere else.

She wasn’t naive. She knew that eventually one of them would end up moving out of the house and starting their own life, independent from the family’s home base.

Dani’s bet was on Ava moving in with Grace in the next couple months.

She didn’t think Vini would leave completely, but Dani could see her globe-trotting with Jessica whenever she had a spare week where Aiden could hold down the fort.

She was happy for her sisters, but that left Dani standing alone as the Williams Clan fractured and split.

She wasn’t sure she was ready.

“Am I a good mom?” The question seemed to come out of nowhere, but Ava didn’t miss a beat.

“One of the best I’ve ever known.”

Dani looked over when one of Ava’s hands slid over her own.

Ava was looking at her, dark eyes warm and steadfast. There was no waver in her gaze.

Dani smiled and turned her hand over. Their fingers slid together as they both held tight.

Nothing else needed to be said, so they sat there in pleasant silence as the sky darkened, welcoming the night.

* * *

Dani should have known that the week wouldn’t continue along so easily.

Work today was the opposite of how it was yesterday.

Clearly, she had jinxed herself by even thinking that the day had been quiet and easy.

No, she needed to guard her thoughts against the universe, otherwise it would assume she needed a little more excitement in her life.

“Why is today so rough?” Natasha asked, her tone bordering on a whine as she collapsed into her chair.

They had been going almost nonstop since clocking in, and she looked like a stiff wind might blow her over.

Dani didn’t feel much better herself. She’d barely had time to take a sip of water and pee before her pager went off and she was off down the hallway again.

“Cursed,” she said as she leaned back in her chair. “We apparently pissed off the universe and now it’s getting its revenge.”

“Can it revenge softer? I can’t feel my feet.”

“You will tomorrow.”

Natasha snorted softly but didn’t deny Dani’s words. It wasn’t a threat. It was damn near a promise. Even with the best shoes, after a day like today, you were guaranteed to be sore and exhausted.

“So, hey,” Natasha said, getting Dani’s attention. “How are things with Zoey?”

When Dani gave her a sharp glance, Natasha laughed.

“I know you didn’t think you two were being subtle.” When Dani remained quiet, Natasha shook her head. “Mrs. P saw y’all holding hands outside the ice-cream parlor like a week ago, and Mrs. Susan was telling her how you two make swoony eyes at one another over your book club books.”

“We don’t make swoony eyes,” Dani countered. “I’m too old to make swoony eyes at anyone.”

“Girl, please. You’re not even thirty yet and even if you were fifty, swoony eyes has no age limit.” She looked Dani up and down. “You could have just told me you liked women too. I could have branched out and found someone else for you to go out with instead of Vernon. He says hi, by the way.”

Dani snorted this time in amusement. “You can tell him I said hi. Actually, it was on the date with him that I finally kind of realized what was up.”

“So I heard. Flirting with someone else in front of your date is a bold strategy, but it seemed to work out for you, so congrats.”

“I didn’t flirt in front of him,” Dani argued. When Natasha raised an eyebrow, she thought about it. “Okay, I didn’t flirt in front of him on purpose. I didn’t realize I was flirting until after the fact.”

Natasha raised her arms over her head in a stretch.

Dani winced when she heard something pop, but Natasha groaned in relief.

“I needed that one.” She grinned and wagged a finger at Dani.

“It’s all good, friend. Vernon still speaks highly of you, and I know you wouldn’t do that on purpose.

Nothing wrong with taking some time to figure things out.

How did Jordan take the news that you’re dating a woman now? ”

Dani scratched the side of her cheek as she smiled awkwardly.

“Well, there’s the thing. I haven’t told him yet.

Not explicitly anyway.” Jordan was a smart kid, so she didn’t doubt he knew she was hanging out with Zoey more often.

Dani had let the whole house know about book club.

“I just haven’t figured out the right time to say something. ”

“Girl, if you don’t, just tell him. I’m sure he’ll be happy for you.”

Dani nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Unless you plan to date around,” Natasha continued. “In that case, don’t say anything. You don’t want him getting attached and then you decide to date someone else or something. There’s nothing worse than a parent that bounces around between partners.”

Dani swallowed hard. That was almost word-for-word what Jacob had said. “Right. Wouldn’t want to do that.”