“The ladies are all watchin’ you, Uncle Keaton.”
“Didn’t notice.”
“I think they want to dance with you.”
“Too bad I already have a dance partner.”
She had a funny look on her face, the kind she gets when she’s keeping a secret.
My eyes narrowed. “What?”
“Nothin’,” she said innocently, which was how I knew for sure it was bullshit. She glanced up at the stage as we passed. “The Blum sisters are pretty, aren’t they? I wish I could sing like that.”
I snuck a glance at the stage without really meaning to. Daisy’s gaze tangled with mine for the briefest moment, just a flicker that I felt all the way down to my toes.
“I bet they’d let you sing with them, if you asked,” I offered.
“Oh, I’m no good. I don’t think I could sing in front of everybody.”
“But you could dance.”
At that, she lit up again, her attention off the Blums. “I could dance. ‘Specially if I ever get my pointe shoes.”
“You’re gonna clomp all over the house in them like a baby deer when you get them, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “Probably.”
I chuckled, and as the song ended, we came to a stop and clapped. Jo thanked everybody and announced a break before a Patsy Cline song came on over the speakers, and the dance floor came alive again.
But Sophie grabbed my hand with both of hers and started pulling me toward the bar. Because yes, there was a bar in our town hall. I was pretty sure they only used it for events like this, but I’d been wrong before.
“Come get me a Shirley Temple,” she demanded.
“You’re actin’ funny tonight,” I noted.
“I’m thirsty is all,” she said, and like a dummy, I bought it. For a second at least.
Because there next to the bar were all three of my brothers with beers in their hands and smirks on their faces.
When I looked down at Sophie, the twin to her father’s smirk met me. “It was Daddy’s idea,” was all she said before bounding off toward him and jumping into his arms.
I fumed, stalking in their direction. “What the hell are you three doing here?”
Cade shrugged. “Thought you needed to get out.”
“Didn’t know I needed you to decide what I needed for me.”
“Don’t be mad, Uncle Keaton,” Sophie said, tucked into Cole’s side.
“Yeah, don’t be mad,” Cole echoed.
I resisted the urge to grab him by his collar and take him outside where I could yell at him without an audience.
“Y’all lied to me, and used Sophie to do it. You don’t want me to be mad? Half the town is here, and the whole crowd is watching me like a gorilla at the zoo.”
Sophie looked guilty, which left me feeling guilty too. “Daddy really couldn’t go at first, right Daddy?”
“It’s true,” he answered, and I knew from his tone it was true and potentially had to do with Julie.
“But then he could go,” she continued, “but he said it’d be fun if you came. I thought so too. Plus, you’re a better dancer than they are, and Daddy said the only way to get you to come was to trick you. You aren’t mad, are you?”
She’d taken my hand again and was looking up at me in that way she had about her. My asshole brothers smirked louder.
I sighed. “I’m not mad at you.” My brothers were on the receiving end of a look to inform them they weren’t included in the statement.
She smiled. “Good. Will you dance with me some more then? Daddy always steps on my feet.”
“That’s because he’s got all the grace of a blind elephant.”
“Bye, Keaton,” Carson called after me.
“Have fun,” Cade said.
“Watch out for old Dolores,” Cole warned. “She looks thirsty.”
“Should we get her something to drink?” Sophie asked, concerned.
“I think she can manage that on her own,” I answered, shooting my dickhead brothers a very subtle bird.
They looked so pleased with themselves, I enjoyed a moment of daydreaming about turning their faces inside out before turning my attention to Sophie.
“How’s school?” I asked.
“Well, Brinleigh and Ashton are in a fight because Brinleigh said Ashton’s mom was a”—she dropped her voice and glanced around—“bitch.”
One of my brows rose, but she shrugged, knowing I wouldn’t rat her out.
“And Jared has given me his Ding Dongs every day at lunch for a week. Brinleigh says boys only give a girl their Ding Dongs if they like her.” She looked a little like she might have known something she shouldn’t have. Or at least like she thought she knew something she shouldn’t have.
I cleared my throat to cover a confusing mixture of amusement and discomfort and said, “Desserts are worth a lot in the third grade. He must think something of you.”
“He wants me to play Fortnite with him, but I’ve never played before. Have you?”
“Can’t say I have.”
“But you play video games?”
“I have before.”
She perked up. “Will you teach me? We could play together.”
“I dunno—”
“Pleeease?” she begged. “It would be so fun, and you could teach me to shoot all the guns.”
“I can teach you to shoot actual guns better,” when you’re older, we said at the same time.
“I know. But we can play Fortnite now. Please, Uncle Keaton?”
I shook my head down at her, but I was smiling. “You know just how to get what you want, don’t you?”
“I can’t help it. You’re a sucker.”
A laugh burst out of me. “Just for you, kid.”
“Hey, brother,” Cole said from just behind me, and I glanced at him, confused at the sound, downright shocked when I saw he was two-stepping up behind me with Daisy Blum in his arms. “Mind if we switch partners? Your date’s too pretty for you.”
“Don’t I know it,” I answered, slowing to a stop and passing Sophie to him. Because what else could I do?
This, I suspected, was my brothers’ intention.
Daisy’s cheeks bloomed pink and rosy, and she glanced down, hiding behind those thick, shiny bangs.
With my heart thumping in my ears, I extended my hand. “Care to dance?”
She slipped her hand into mine, the sensation sending a shock up my arm. When my free hand found the curve of her waist, her chin lifted so she could look into my eyes.
I felt the music more than heard it, my thoughts on fire, set aflame by her proximity. She smelled of flowers and fresh-cut grass, and with her body so close to mine, I could think of nothing else but her.
Neither of us spoke, shuffling slowly around the dance floor to Brenda Lee. The last time I’d danced in this room, it was with Mandy. The last woman I’d held in my arms was her, so many years ago. I’d considered there might be a time when I danced with someone else, but I’d expected to know the moment was coming. In my imaginings, it was a stiff and uncomfortable affair. I’d thought it would feel wrong.
The only thing that felt wrong was that nothing about this felt wrong.