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“I’m glad.”
“You know,” he said, “in another life, I could’ve been your dad.”
A bark of laughter escaped me. “You couldn’t handle my mama.”
“No.” He chuckled, looking over his shoulder at where the woman in question stood with Liluye, drinking orange punch from clear plastic teacups and chatting. I could tell from her body language Mama was enjoying herself, but she still had a scowl on her face. “You’re probably right about that. But you’re a good kid. Thanks for always lookin’ out for me. I never woulda admitted this before, but sometimes, you stoppin’ in the store was the only thing to get me through a hard day. Sometimes, you were the only person I held a conversation with in a week’s time. You were the only one who could tolerate me. I appreciated that, even if I didn’t say so.”
“You’re welcome, but I’m glad you’ve got more people to talk to now.”
“That I do,” he said, glancing toward Liluye again. “It’s funny, ain’t it? All this time, they’ve been here. You and I were just too stubborn to see it.”
“You were definitely stubborn,” I said. “For me, it was about somethin’ else.”
Red nodded. “I understand that.”
“Maybe a little bit of stubbornness,” I admitted with a sly grin.
“I hope you know I got your back. You ever need anything, you let me know. Okay, kiddo?”
“Thanks, Red.”
He stopped moving when Devo tapped his shoulder. She almost had to tiptoe to reach it.
“Well, guess I’ll give you back your dance partner,” he said to her. And to me, he said, “Thanks for the dance.”
I saluted him before grabbing my date and pulling her to me.
“You sure are a popular woman tonight,” she said as she urged us back into the dance. The crowd moved clockwise around the floor, and we joined back in the shuffle.
“You ’bout ready to head out?” I asked while visions of dirty deeds danced in my head.
“Head out? You wanna leave already? We just got here.”
I shrugged. “We came, we saw, we danced, but I’ve got other plans for you tonight.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes, really. Plans that don’t include anyone but you and me.”
“Do these plans involve clothes?”
“Yes,” I said, and her face fell into a frown. But I leaned in closer and whispered, “Only so I can rip ’em off and ravish you till the sun comes up.”
That got her smiling again. Both her hands wrapped around my hips, and she squeezed, reaching up on her toes to kiss me. We stopped in the middle of the dance floor, and for a moment, I could hear people noticing, coughing and chuckling, but then it all faded away.
The only thing that mattered was Devo’s mouth on mine, her tongue dueling with mine, and the warmth beneath her hands as they slid slowly up my back. Finally, she pulled away, and we both gasped for breath.
Twisting the end of my braid between her fingers, she peered up at me from beneath her eyelashes as a pink flush spread over her cheeks and neck. “Let’s go,” she said, and she pulled her truck key from her pocket.
I snatched it from her fingers. “I’m drivin’. Don’t wanna have to arrest you for speedin’ or gettin’ reckless.”
“Oh, we’re definitely gettin’ reckless tonight.”
I looked for Frank. When I spotted him on the edge of the dance floor, twirling Nic around in a circle by her hand, I caught his eye and nodded to my mama. He nodded back. He’d drive her home. What a good dad he’d become. It filled me with joy to see how happy that little girl made Frank.
I caught a quick glimpse of Rye in a dark corner. His eyes were glued to the area all the book club ladies had just been congregating, but when he noticed me looking, he threw me a smile and a nod and then backed out of the tent.
Thunder boomed and lightning cracked in the dark sky outside, and as the rain began to fall, people scrambled from the edges of the dance floor for the cover of the tent. Devo held my hand tighter. She led me toward the exit, swiping my boots from behind the stage as we went.
