“Annie’s great,” Colleen said absently, her gaze on the torrential rain outside. “You think Tim can even drive in this?”
“Donchya—”
“Finnie! I smell something.” Dad’s heavy boots clunked on the stairs, followed by Murphy’s lighter steps.
“What?” Mom was up in an instant.
“I don’t know. But I can smell somethin’ hot and burnin’ in the wall behind the fuse box upstairs.” He marched to the yellow phone hanging on the wall. “I’m calling the fire department.”
“A fire?” Colleen asked, her voice rising.
“Not sure, but we need to check,” he said, pressing the receiver to his ear, flicking at the plastic switch repeatedly, and then looking even more upset. “No dial tone.” He clicked over and over with frustrated fingers. “Our line’s dead. I knew we were hit.”
“Dear Lord, what should we do?” Mom asked.
“I’ll drive over to the Williamsons and use their phone. You two go out in the barn.”
“Dad!” Colleen gasped. “My hair! My dress!”
“Yer life,” he shot back. “Go!” He snagged his already soaking-wet jacket and marched out into the pouring rain, leaving Colleen and her mother to stare at each other in shock.
“Come on,” Mom said, standing. “Ya don’t argue with Seamus Kilcannon.”
Colleen’s jaw dropped. “Mom, I’m going to be ruined!”
“Better than burned.” She nudged her up.
All they had was an umbrella and raincoats, but Colleen managed to kick off her pretty shoes and stick her feet into the brown clogs she’d left in the hall when she came home from school the day before. Scooping up her dress so it wouldn’t get muddy, she and Mom left the house, dragging a terrified Murphy by the collar, somehow making it through the downpour into the old weathered barn.
Even with the umbrella, rain soaked Colleen’s face. With every step, she felt her pretty hair falling and her makeup running and the lower half of her daisy dress getting as drenched as Murphy’s red fur. She tried not to cry, not to complain, and not to say a really bad word that would get her knuckles rapped.
When the storm was over, she’d fix herself up. Maybe she and Tim would skip the dinner date they’d planned and just go to the dance.
Inside in the barn, she ran her hands over the wet locks, the curls Mom had worked so hard on now hanging like soaked noodles.
“Let me braid it, lass,” her mother said, easing Colleen around. “Then, when it dries, it will have beautiful waves, and we can just pin it back up when your lad arrives.” She flipped the strands with her capable hands, then draped the braid over Colleen’s shoulder. “It actually looks quite fetching.”
Despite the calamity, Colleen had to laugh at her tiny, ever-optimistic mother. “Is the glass ever half empty to you?” she asked. “This is a disaster.”
Mom patted her arm. “‘Let your hope, not your hurt, shape your future.’”
“My future’s not at stake,” she said glumly. “Just the night ahead.”
“Which could change your future. Ya never know.”
The thunder grew more distant while they waited, the claps further and further apart. The farm dogs, Moses and Samson, slept under the hayloft, unfazed by anything. Murphy was still quivering when they heard Dad’s truck rumble down the gravel drive, followed moments later by the shrill scream of a siren.
“Should we stay here?” Colleen asked.
“You stay,” Mom said, reaching over to wipe under Colleen’s eyes.
“Is my mascara running?”
Her mother bit her lip. “It ran away and left a river of charcoal.”
“Great.”
Finnie smiled. “We’ll doll you back up again. But it’s still drizzling. Wait here with Murphy, and let me help Seamus and see what’s happening.”
“What time is it?” Colleen asked.
“I’ve no idea, but I’m guessing well past seven by now.”
“Seven?” Then where was Tim?
After her mother left the barn, she sat for a moment and took a deep breath, reaching down to pet Murphy, who thumped his tail but was too scared to actually lift his head.
She got up from the bench and walked to the slit in the wood to peek out, half dreading the idea of her beloved home in flames.
But there was no fire, just a big truck and a bunch of firemen moving about with purpose and speed.
And no sign of Tim.
“Oh, Murph.” She sat back down with him and bent over to nuzzle her sweet boy, getting as much comfort as she gave. “Do you think I need to accept the fact that my prom date isn’t coming?”
He tick-tocked his fluffy tail back and forth.
“I can’t imagine why he would stand me up. But I think he did.”
On a noisy sigh, he folded on the barn floor and she lay down next to him, doing what she always did when she was sad. She imagined the day when she had her wings, her little rolling bag, and a ticket to see the world.
* * *
She wasn’t sure how long she’d stayed on the barn floor, but it was long enough for Colleen’s dress to dry. At the sound of men’s voices outside, she pushed up and headed back to the slatted wall to check out the situation. The first thing she noticed was that night had almost fallen, so now it must be eight o’clock. And no sign of Tim.
Disappointment stretched across her chest, along with worry. What if something had happened to him? Would he have just stood her up? It didn’t seem like him at all, not since they’d been dating for almost two months now. In fact, she’d been sure that he was going to ask her tonight to be his girlfriend. She’d imagined just how it would happen.
They’d be dancing to something slow, maybe that song by Chicago that played on the radio on their last date.
If you leave me now, you’ll take away the biggest part of me…
She closed her eyes and let the little fantasy play out, her hands up on his shoulders, her head against his chest when he’d say—
“You must hear the music in your head.”
With a soft gasp, she turned and blinked at the silhouette of a man standing in the barn door, a firefighter in full gear, his helmet in hand. Murphy barked, but Moses and Samson trotted up to him.
“Oh, I…” Color rose to her cheeks and burned, so embarrassed to be caught dancing with an invisible date. “Is everything okay out there?”
“Yes, there’s no fire, just a damaged fuse box. Looks like your house was struck by lightning, and some wiring melted, but no danger.” He leaned over to let the dogs smell his hand, but kept his head up, looking at Colleen. “Your mother asked me to get you.”
She took a few steps closer, squinting to see him in the dim light. “Is Tim here?”
“Tim?” He stared at her for a moment, making her wonder if she’d wiped off all the runny mascara and also making her wonder if his eyes were blue or brown. They were deep and dark and fringed with black lashes that matched his hair.
“Is there a guy outside by any chance?” she asked. “Wearing a suit? ’Cause I need to sneak by him and…” She wiped under her eyes. “Fix up.”