“I’ll help you, too,” Daniel assured as he offered his hand out toRebecca.
That was probably the only reason she stood from the tableatall.
“You coming?” Tara asked Beau as Daniel and Rebecca went to join the rows that were gradually forming on thedancefloor.
Anxiety fluttered in her stomach as they locked eyes and she mutely pleaded for him to take her invitation. This was the moment she had been waiting for and Beau couldn’t turn her down, not after the way he had appraised her earlier in the parking lot. These cutoffs had to push him overtheedge.
Beau cracked a smile and gave a nod. “All right. But if I trip over my boots, it’ll be yourfault.”
Without another word, she grabbed for his hand and they came to stand in the same line as Daniel and Rebecca. With Beau on her left and her best friend on her right, Tara knew she had to make this moment count. Rebecca needed to wow the pants right off Daniel if Tara ever hoped to get a moment alone with Beau. And judging by the way they seemed to cling to one another already, she was pretty confident it wouldn’t takemuchwork.
There were just about a thousand variations to this dance, and some of the guests behind them were already in the middle of those complicated kicks, turns, and stomps that went above and beyond what Rebecca could master in onesitting.
So Tara, as well as the boys, kept it at her level. In time with the music, Tara showed her the four basic heel kicks, the two front hitches, and the stomp when it was time to turn. Rebecca was just about as uncoordinated as Tara had expected, but she started to get the hangofit.
As soon as she did, she abandoned her friend to Daniel’s occasional guidance and turned to Beau. All while she tried to give Rebecca instructions, he had been doing extra spins, so he could face her without stepping outofbeat.
“And you were worried about tripping over your feet!” she shouted over the band, a massive grin splittingherface.
Beau winked and she just aboutmelted.
There was something about being in a line dance with a couple dozen other people that made Tara feel a little more alive. Maybe it was in the way everyone moved in synch, having a blast as they shared a communal dance to their favorite song. When Tara was dancing, she loved it all. She didn’t really understand why she had quit it in high school. Possibly because it was all for competitions or showcases for school assemblies. There was a forced element in the way she had to learn the steps and attendpractices.
Here, she was free to step off the floor and take a break, or keep going with the rest of them. And everyone else wanted to be there too, which made everyone enjoy it that much more. ExceptRebecca.
Tara was too busy laughing at the faces Beau made at her and the extra sly moves he threw in to notice that her friend was strugglingabit.
It was only when Rebecca let out a soft cry that Tara came to a stop. Luckily, the other dancers were spaced far enough away that she wouldn’t stop the flow. Daniel supported her as Rebecca seemed to be favoring her rightankle.
They all ushered her off the dance floor and sat her down back at theirtable.
“I think she twisted her ankle in one of the stomps,”Danielsaid.
Rebecca waved him off as he knelt down to test her ankle’s flexibility. “You don’t have to do that,really.”
Tara wondered if her friend really was hurting or if she just wanted to get off the dance floor. When Rebecca looked to her with no hint of pain in her expression, it was confirmed. The extra nudge of her head toward Beau who was just as focused on Rebecca’s foot as Daniel was, Tara understood her perfectly and tried to suppress hersmile.
“I don’t think it’s broken,” Daniel reported, “but I’ve got some bandages in my truck. It’ll keep the joint from movingtoomuch.”
Rebecca placed her hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry to have ruined your fun,” she said, feigning herguilt.
Daniel lit up at her touch. “Not at all. I’m just sorry yougothurt.”
With that, he helped her to her feet and escorted her out of the bar, leaving Tara and Beau standing next to their table. They were alone now and the stars must have aligned, because the band decided to slow things down with a good ole’ fashionedtwo-step.
Tara bit her lips together nervously, hoping against all odds that Beau would ask her to dance so Rebecca’s fake injury would not be in vain. She saw that Beau neither sat down, nor eased in to make his move. If she had drank anymore earlier, she might have taken this bull by the horns and dragged him onto the dance floorherself.
“So,” he said, “do youwanna– “
Tara spun, a bit of her hair flying about hershoulders. “Yes!”
What she didn’t see was that Beau had his hand extended toward the table. Her smile faltered when she realized what he was trulyasking.
“Oh, sorry,” she tried to recover. “I thought you weregoingto…”
Somehow, even bringing up the opportunity for an intimate couples dance was so much harder than trying to convince him to join a line dance. This held more personal meaning. She would have been inviting him to hold her close and sway to the music, maybe even have a private conversation as the other couples who were wrapped up in their own littleworlds.
Beau’s outstretched hand came to rub at the back of his neck as if he were just as embarrassed as her. “If you want to dance, we can dance too. I just wasn’t sure if you were a little wore out fromearlier.”
