teased. “Come on.”
They linked arms and headed toward the kitchen of her little apartment, swapping fond looks with each other. “What’s next on your agenda, Mr. Ranch Fixer Upper?” she asked.
“Mending fences so that we can move the livestock when the spring grass comes up. Now that it’s March, that’s just around the corner. I also have to install the new irrigation system soon.”
“You’re keeping busy, I’ll give you that.” Too busy to reflect much on his recent breakup. “Ever notice how you use physical labor to avoid thinking about certain things?”
He shrugged. “Hey, if it works...”
He did seem in a better frame of mind than he had when they’d talked the previous evening. “I wish I was as good at distracting myself as you,” Dani said with envy.
He peered closely at her. “You’ve been crying.”
She pulled herself to her full five-foot-six-inch height. “I was, but I’m finished now. I’m excited to spend the evening with my best friend—eating, sipping wine, having ice cream, watching a movie, eating more ice cream....”
She expected a laugh, and Nick didn’t disappoint. “You and me both,” he said.
While he uncorked the wine, Dani donned oven mitts and brought the casserole to her cottage-style kitchen table. “When did we last have a pity party together?” she asked as they sat down in their usual seats.
“You mean at the same time?” Nick’s thick-lashed, mocha-colored eyes narrowed in thought. “I don’t believe we ever have. It’s usually either you or me hurting, never both of us at once.”
“A first for us, then, and after sixteen years of friendship.” They’d met in middle school at the age of fourteen, and had bolstered each other up through too many breakups to count.
“Bummer, huh?” Nick said. “If this is a first, we should make a toast.” He filled the glasses. “To no more breakups at the same time.”
“I’d rather toast to no more breakups, period,” Dani said. “But I know us both too well for that.”
Neither of them stayed in a relationship for long.
After setting down his glass, Nick eyed the casserole. “I’m sorry about Jeter, but I gotta say, I sure enjoy your choice of comfort food.”
Dani laughed. “You always cheer me up.” His sense of humor was one of his many positive qualities. “And I agree, there’s nothing better than mac and cheese with hamburger.” She nodded at the steaming dish. “Help yourself.”
“After you.” Beaming the sexy smile that made women swoon, Nick nudged the casserole her way.
He was such a gentleman, which was also sexy. “Have you heard from Mandy since you broke up with her?” she asked when they’d both filled their plates.
“You want to talk about this now.” He gave her a wary frown. “Are you trying to ruin my appetite?”
“Is that even possible? It’s just that I remember how Jasmine stalked you with phone calls and texts when your relationship ended.” Jasmine had been Nick’s previous ex.
“She was unstable. Mandy isn’t like that. We both knew we weren’t going to make it.”
“Too bad—she was great.” Dani sighed. “What a shame she wasn’t your Ms. Right.”
Nick almost choked on his wine. “You’re such a fairy-tale romantic. I’ve told you, there is no Ms. Right, not for me.”
His track record so far certainly proved that. He never went too deep into the reasons why he found his previous girlfriends lacking, but it happened over and over. Dani suspected that his issues stemmed from his mother’s extramarital affair and the subsequent breakup of his parents’ marriage when he was a kid. That and the broken heart he’d suffered in his early twenties.
In all the years they’d been friends, she’d only seen Nick in love that once. He’d met Ashley in college. They’d dated for nearly a year before they graduated and moved in together. Within months of that, they were talking marriage. Then Ashley’s mom, who lived in Missoula, had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Ashley had gone home to take care of her. She was only supposed to stay for a few months, but her relationship with Nick had fallen apart, and she never returned.
Nick claimed he’d been relieved. Even so, it had taken him ages to get over what had happened. Or maybe he never had, because he hadn’t let a woman into his heart since.
Whereas Dani fell head over heels several times a year.
“And I’ve told you that all it takes is the right person,” she said. “You can deny it until you’re hoarse, but I believe that your true love and mine are out there.”
“I’m not opposed to love, Dani—you know that. I just don’t do it.” With a shrug, he bent his head toward his plate.
“Sly used to say the same thing, and look at him now. He’s happily married, with a little girl.” Dani’s brother and his wife, Lana, had an adorable two-and-a-half-year-old, the happy result of Lana’s miracle pregnancy.
“If it can happen to Sly, it could happen to you,” she went on. “And to me—I hope.” She crossed her fingers and held them up.
Nick failed to comment.
“Out of all the women in the world, one is perfect for you,” she said. “Someday when you meet her, you’ll see.”
“Trust me, between the available women in Prosperity and the summer tourists who come through every year, I’m a happy man.”
“Except before, during and after the breakups.” She bit her lip. “I did everything I could to make Jeter love me as much as I loved him. What’s wrong with me?”
Nick shook his head. “That’s the wrong question. You should be asking, what’s wrong with Jeter? You’ve got to quit trying to please the guys you date and be yourself. You’re great just as you are.”
Nick had always been wonderful at boosting her self-esteem. “You’re sweet,” she said.
“I mean it, Dani. Now, about the guys you date. You say you want to get married and have a family, but you pick guys who don’t. Guys like me.” He shook his head. “Most of them are jerks, too. That’s why you get hurt.”
“So you and Sly keep pointing out.” Dani fiddled with her napkin. “I guess I’ll take a little break from dating.”
“That’s probably a wise idea.”
Except that she hated sitting home alone on a Saturday night. “I’ll make plans to go out with some of my girlfriends instead.” But that posed a problem, because at the moment, most of them were either in a relationship or married. “That is, if I can find someone who’s free to get together on a Saturday night.”
“I’m available,” Nick said. “You can hang with me.”
“Until
