But then his mother giggled and reality hit him in the face.
Embarrassed, he dropped his hands and took a full step back. What had he just done? He was here to learn the cha-cha with his mother, not get lost in some make-believe world with Kimber!
Making himself ignore the fact that Kimber was still frozen in front of him, he cleared his throat. “Mom, are you ready to practice?”
“Well, actually . . . I’ve decided to come back tomorrow night to Shannon’s senior class.”
He turned to face her. “What? Why?”
“Well, I was talking with Gwen here while Shannon was working with you and Kimber and she was telling me how much fun the senior class was.” Her voice was as chipper as usual, but there also seemed to be something else underlying there. Like she had a really good secret that she wasn’t interested in sharing with him. “Plus, those folks know a lot of the dances, so I can work on improving, not just learning basic steps like you are.”
“Oh. I guess that does make sense.”
“I think it does. The senior class is going to be a better fit for me, I think . . . for several reasons.” She smiled over at Shannon. “I’m delighted to have gotten to watch you teach though. You did a good job.”
Gunnar looked back at Kimber. She’d moved a little bit away, but she didn’t look like her usual assertive self. Actually, she seemed to be feeling just as confused as he was. “I guess you learned to cha-cha for no reason,” he said to her. “I’m sorry to waste your time.”
“You didn’t waste it.” Gesturing toward her sister, she said, “Shannon’s been after me to learn something new.” She smiled tightly. “Tonight I did.”
“Ballroom dancing just might be your thing,” Shannon said, her voice all business. “You did a lot better cha-chaing than you did at ballet or tap.”
“Ballet was extremely painful, though I did better than Traci.”
“Only marginally so,” Shannon said.
His mother chuckled. “I find that hard to believe, dear. You look like you can do a lot of things well.”
“Not as many as one would hope.” Looking adorably flustered, she walked over to his mom. “I’m glad we got to meet. How long are you in town for?”
“Only about a week or so. Although these classes were a good excuse, I really wanted to meet Jeremy before I go on my Christmas cruise.”
“He’s a good kid.”
Right before his eyes, his mom turned into a grandmother. “He’s a wonderful boy.”
“Thanks, Mom,” he said.
Shannon gave his mother a card. “Here’s all the details about tomorrow night’s class. I’m delighted you’ll be there.”
“Thank you. I never imagined liking something new so much, but I do. I’m starting to realize that there are a whole group of people out there my age who like to dance. I’m really excited about my new hobby . . . and the cruise, of course.”
His mother looked so excited, Gunnar explained about how her cruise was a dancing themed one.
“I would love to go on one of those,” Shannon said.
“You should work on one of the dancing cruises, dear. They would pay your fare. I bet your husband’s too. I bet it would be great fun.”
“Dylan probably won’t want to dance, but he would love to go on a vacation. I’ll have to ask Dylan what he thinks about that. It would be perfect, especially if it was free.”
Worried about staying too long, Gunnar said, “Well, we should probably get going. It’s been a long day.”
“Do you need to go this minute?” Shannon asked. “We were just about to go upstairs and have some red velvet cake. Would you like some?”
“Did you make red velvet?” his mother asked.
“Oh, gosh no,” Shannon said. “I don’t cook.”
“Kimber?”
“I’m afraid I’m not the chef either. It’s Shannon’s sister-in-law, Jennifer. She lives with me and Gwen and makes an amazing array of things.”
“I haven’t eaten so well since I lived at home,” Shannon said.
“What do you say, Mom? Want some cake?”
Her eyes lit up with interest. “I hate to impose.”
“You won’t be imposing one bit,” Kimber said. “Jennifer has been trying out cakes all week. She’s thinking of offering them to some of her customers that she cooks for.”
“We have cake coming out of our ears,” Gwen said. “I promise, you’d be doing us a favor, Mrs. Law.”
“Would we be able to maybe take a piece home to Jeremy?”
“Of course,” Kimber said. “Come on up and join us.”
His mother beamed and followed Shannon up, talking a mile a minute to both her and Gwen.
Gunnar waited for Kimber to remove her shoes and then walked by her side. “How are you?”
“I’m pretty good. You?”
“Better now.” When she arched an eyebrow, he explained. “I’ve been kind of dreading this lesson for days. I can’t believe I got so lucky with you being here.”
Her cheeks pinkened a bit but she shook her head. “I didn’t really do much.”
“You did.” He couldn’t put into words how she’d helped him out. It was probably too personal for where they were, but he knew that holding her so close had felt amazing.
“Your mom is nice.” She smiled. “Chatty too.”
“You got that right. My brothers and I used to say that it’s surprising that we ever learned to speak.”
She laughed. “I’ve got a mom like that too.”
“I guess we’ve got that in common.”
“I guess we do.”
When they entered the kitchen, he found Shannon, Gwen, and his mother already sitting at the table nearby. The other blond in the room was slicing a thick wedge of red velvet cake.
She smiled at them. “Hi Gunnar. It’s good to see you again.”
“Likewise. Thanks for the cake.”
“I’ve already put your son’s slice in a plastic container.”
“Thanks. Jeremy’s going to love it.” Picking up his piece, he glanced at Kimber. “Are you having any?”
“Nope. I’ll have some tea and sit with everyone, though.”