Chapter Twenty-Four

A Sunday Dinner

“MY GOD, THAT was amazing, Danny.”

Danny peeked at his wife’s face and quickly returned his eyes to the road. They had landed in Philadelphia an hour before and were on their way back to Charistown after a four-day vacation in Key West.

“It was awesome, wasn’t it? All of us being together… Christ, I can’t remember the last time that happened. Watching my dad, Chris, and Chester trying to one-up each other was funny as hell.”

Julie snorted.

“What? What was that for?” Danny huffed, trying his best to sound annoyed even though he felt anything but.

“Really, hun? You don’t think you were part of that silliness?”

Shrugging his acquiescence, memories of the weekend floated through his mind. “So how about Chester? Finally found himself a woman…I never saw that coming.” Meeting his friend’s girlfriend had blown Danny’s mind. He wasn’t surprised she was beautiful—he’d have expected nothing less—but her appropriate age and maturity…wow. Just wow.

“I’m not surprised. Not at all,” Julie murmured. “Something happened to him, Danny. Something bad, tragic. He’s never shared it with me, but I know it deep down in my soul. A man like Chester loves hard, and I have the feeling that he only loves hard once. Maybe he’d already found it and lost it, or maybe he never found it at all. All I know is that he’s found something with Carmella. It may not be life-altering love, but it certainly has made him happier than I’ve ever seen him. It’s like he finally found…”

“Peace. He found his peace.” All of the conversations the two men had shared over the years swirled through Danny’s mind. It took Chester a hell of a lot longer than it did Danny, but the older man had found his peace. Danny’s cheeks lifted as the realization hit home.

“Your dad looked great…healthy,” Julie remarked. “You’d never know that he’d been hospitalized just a few months ago.”

Allan had gotten the flu in the fall and it landed him in the hospital for nearly a week. Danny and Julie flew down to North Carolina to be with Allan and Anita, leaving the bar in Max, Kyle, Ashley, and Ryan’s capable hands. It had been a remarkable feeling when, after twenty-four hours, they realized they hadn’t so much as thought of their bar or its well-being. Once they returned home, they spoke with their four bartenders, people they had taken to calling their kids, about them once again taking over so Danny and Julie could take a much needed, well-deserved vacation.

Obviously, with the two of them on their way home from the Florida Keys, the request was well received and accepted.

“What do you think about the cute duo that started coming in on Thursday nights?”

Julie’s question took his mind away from Florida and delivered it to the bar.

“Lyla and Janie,” Julie clarified unnecessarily.

He knew exactly who they were. He made it his business to know the regulars, and he’d made it his mission to know the people his kids showed interest in. Janie Silver appealed to Max in a way Danny hadn’t seen in the decade Max had been working for the Marcuses, so Danny paid close attention.

He grinned. “What do I think? I think those two are gonna be around for quite some time.”

“Ahh, so you noticed it too, huh?” Danny’s silence got Julie speaking. “Max looks at Janie like he can’t decide if he wants to devour her or run from her.” She giggled. “My guess is he’ll do both, though I hope not in that order. That sweet girl looks at him with stars in her eyes. I’d hate for him to ruin that. It could ruin her.”

Danny couldn’t disagree. As usual, his wife’s assessment was spot-on. “What about the other one, Lyla?”

“Hmm, that one is tough.”

He thought the same thing. From the moment he’d laid eyes on the petite brunette, he saw something he had never seen before. The woman was a complete contradiction. Her beauty was extraordinary, but often times it was masked behind sarcasm and dry wit. If one chose to only look skin deep, they might not see the kindness behind what could be considered rude.

In the few weeks that the ladies had been spending their Thursday nights at the bar, Danny had noticed Lyla’s sharp sense of humor, but he also saw how quickly she could bank pain if someone else’s attempt at funny crossed an invisible line she had drawn. She didn’t mind receiving drinks from men but frowned upon cocktails on the house. Regardless of how she got her drinks, her tips were generous to a fault. She was fiercely protective of Janie and from the start included Ashley in their conversations, which made the protective side of Danny happy as hell.

What did he think about Lyla Dalton? Something in her blue eyes spoke to him; he just didn’t understand what they were saying…yet. The woman ran deep, deeper than he could possibly imagine, but she was good people. And good people always had a place at Danny’s on Main.

Danny said, “Kyle and Lyla seem to speak the same language, the way they edge around flirting with one another but take home random hookups instead. Those two are similar creatures—playing with fire. Sure as hell hope they don’t burn each other.”

“Kyle deserves to find a good woman. Maybe Lyla will be just what he needs. I think she and Janie are gonna fit in just fine,” Julie concluded with optimism.

Danny lifted his chin. “It’ll definitely be interesting.”

###

INTERESTING WAS AN understatement. Janie Silver and Lyla Dalton were sugar and jalapeños. It didn’t matter that the duo wasn’t Danny’s staff; they meshed with the group and quickly found their place in Danny and Julie’s family. With their quirky sense of humor, willingness to listen, and the desire to help out whenever needed, Janie and Lyla seemed to give so much more than they asked for in return. But then again, wasn’t that the same with all of Danny’s kids?

When Danny found himself counting the two brunettes among his kids, he couldn’t have felt more pleasure. He didn’t need any more responsibility, but their eyes told him that they would accept his support, maybe flourish from it…no matter their age, they would embrace it. Chester had been there for him, and this was Danny’s way to pay it forward. It just so happened that with the right people, being a mentor came with a lifetime of love as well.

***

“A SUNDAY DINNER, Danny,” Julie practically sang as she placed her cell phone on the desk.

“Sorry, honey, what?” He had just entered the office and shut the door. Dinner hour on a Wednesday evening was packed, so the only way they’d be able to have a conversation was if the door was closed.

Excitement bloomed in her belly as she told Danny about her call. “That was Janie on the phone just now. Apparently she and Lyla have family dinners together every Sunday night. They’ve been doing it, just the two of them, since they were eighteen.” That part of Janie’s story made Julie’s heart hurt. Where were their families? “Anyway, she invited us to their dinner. All of us, Danny—you, me, Kyle, Max, Ashley, and Ryan, having dinner on Sunday night.” Her voice was practically a squeal, but her delight was impossible was to contain. “I’m baking dessert. I’m so excited.”

“Sunday dinner,” Danny repeated. “At Janie’s place.” An indefinable emotion sparked in his hazel eyes before humor crossed his face. “Why in fuck did we never think of that?”

“We’re pretty amazing, babe, but we can’t think of everything,” Julie teased. Danny’s smile was sexy. Didn’t matter how many times she saw it, it still took her breath away.

“Looking forward to dinner, honey. But I came in here to tell you something less than amazing… something else I didn’t think of.” A grimace combined with a hint of bashfulness wasn’t a look Danny Marcus wore every day—hell, Julie hadn’t seen that look more than once or twice in nearly three decades.