The door opened again, and Senior Jenkins strolled inside, wearing blue jeans and a red polo shirt withRusty’s Garageprinted on the front right above his heart. He’d been the original owner of the garage before Harper’s husband, RustyIII, had taken over the business. Like Erma, Senior was in his late seventies and probably would have kept running the garage if he didn’t have issues with his eyesight. He never spoke of it, but Erma had heard through the grapevine that he had macular degeneration. She admired the way he never let it get him down.
When he spotted Erma, Jasper, and Myrtle, he grinned and walked toward them. “If it isn’t two of my favorite ladies,” he said to Erma and Myrtle, bowing slightly at the waist. “Aren’t we blessed to have these fine women here tonight?”
“Yeah. Sure.” Jasper moved a few steps away from them and started fidgeting again.
Myrtle giggled. She might be in love with Javier, but she wasn’t immune to a little southern charm. “I should have known you’d be here,” she said with a smile.
“I wasn’t about to miss a chance to brush up on my dance skills. I can’t wait to show the ladies at the Swinging Sage my new moves.”
“What’s that?” Myrtle asked.
“A new senior center in Rockport. Just opened two weeks ago. They have dance night twice a month. This past Friday was the first one. The women outnumber the men, though.” Senior turned to Jasper. “You should come to the next one. Personally, I enjoy playin’ the field, but you might find a nice lady to keep you company. Myrtle and Erma, you’re welcome to join us.”
“Erma ain’t interested,” Jasper blurted, meeting Senior’s jovial gaze with a crusty scowl.
“I can speak for myself.” She shot him an exasperated glare before looking at Senior again. “Sounds like a good time. What do you think, Myrtle? You want to trip the light fantastic at the Swinging Sage?”
Myrtle moved closer to Erma. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t want to step out on Javier.”
“Gotcha.” Wow, Myrtle was more wrapped up in her Latin lover than Erma had thought.I hope he doesn’t disappoint her.
Sunny clapped her hands and joined everyone in the center of the room. “It’s a little after six thirty, so let’s begin. How about we start with introductions?”
“We all know each other,” Jasper said, his scowl deepening.
Erma elbowed him. “Why do you have to be so grumpy?”
“I ain’t grumpy—”
“But I don’t know all of you.” Sunny smiled, but a note of warning crept into the gaze she was aiming at Jasper and Erma. “I’ll start. I’m Sunny Abernathy, and I’m originally from Cumberland, Maryland, a little more than two hours from Washington, DC. I started ballet dancing when I was three, and then I moved to Atlanta after I graduated high school. I danced with Atlanta Ballet for ten years, but I was mostly an understudy. I did a lot of teaching on the side, and I loved it so much I retired from the ballet. I’ve been a dance teacher for fifteen years, and I moved to Maple Falls a few months ago and opened my studio in July.” She grinned and turned to Jared. “Your turn, Pastor Jared—”
“Why here?” Jasper asked.
“I needed a fresh start.” She didn’t seem offended by the question. “I have some family in Mount Ida, but once I stepped foot in Maple Falls, I knew this was where I wanted to live.”
For the next few minutes, everyone introduced themselves to Sunny. When it was Bubba’s turn, he could barely speak. He clumsily managed to tell Sunny his first and last name before becoming tongue-tied again.
When the introductions were over, Sunny moved on, letting the group know what to expect from the class and the types of dances they would be learning over the following six weeks. “We’ll start with the rumba first, then move to the waltz and cha-cha.” After discussing a few more business items, she said, “Time to begin our lesson. First, let’s pick our partners.”
Jasper immediately grasped Erma’s arm. Oddly, he seemed almost desperate to have her as a partner, when a few minutes ago he’d been begging God to help him.
Senior and Myrtle stood next to each other, their partnership claimed. Bubba and Jared exchanged dubious glances.
Sunny laughed. “I’ll take turns being your partner,” she said. “Which of you wants to go first?”
Jared nudged Bubba forward. The man’s cheeks turned scarlet.
“Someone’s got a crush on the teacher,” Senior whispered, loud enough for Erma to hear. Myrtle shushed him, and he pressed his lips together.
He was right, though. Bubba had puppy love written all over his face. Now Erma knew why the good ol’ boy wastaking dance lessons, something that was out of character for him.
“All right, Bubba. You and I will go first.” Sunny gestured for him to move closer to her, then pointed to a spot on the dance floor. “Stand here, please.” She went to Erma and Jasper, led them to Bubba, and directed Jasper to stand next to Bubba with Erma opposite him. “Senior and Myrtle, you’re over here.”
Once everyone stood in their places, Sunny said, “Now, let’s talk position. Face your partner.”
Erma looked Jasper in the eye. He did likewise.
Challenge accepted.
