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I gagged. “Ew, Ash! She’s, like, my mom’s age.”
He laughed. “Hey, older women can teach you things.”
“Now, you’re just trying to make me sick.”
“I’m sure older guys can teach you things too.”
“You’re older than me,” I shot back before the implication of my words hit me.
Ash’s eyes traveled down to my lips and back up. My cheeks flushed. Time slowed to a crawl. Had Ash ever looked at me like that? Not as far as I knew. Only in my dreams. I wondered in that moment if, finally, all those dreams were about to come true.
Then, the moment burst like a popped bubble.
Ash straightened to his considerable height, as if realizing exactly who he was flirting with. “That’s not what I meant.”
I deflated slightly at those words. No, of course it wasn’t what he’d meant. Ash Talmadge might have looked down at my lips, but as soon as he remembered that I was Derek’s little sister and completely off-limits … he’d never look at me like that again.
“Of course not,” I said, forcing out my own laugh. “I was joking.”
“Come on, deb.” He offered me his arm. “Let’s go show the world who their queen is.”
Somehow, he still brought back my smile.
“There is no deb queen.”
“There will be this year,” he said confidently as he followed the line of debs toward the stage.
My stomach flipped at his words. Even if he wasn’t thinking about me in a romantic sense, it didn’t change a single thing about how I felt about him. It never had.
The rest of the presentation that I’d spent my life anticipating went by in a blur. I walked across the stage to raucous applause. A bouquet of roses was placed in my arms while I smiled my pageant smile. It was over in a matter of minutes. And suddenly, I was a lady in the eyes of society.
The traditional waltz was the last official step of the night. Ash took my hand and drew me onto the dance floor, and even though he hadn’t waltzed in at least a year, we moved together as if we had been born to it. And we had been. A Ballentine and a Talmadge had been made for this.
“So, have you heard from colleges?” Ash asked as we passed another couple, who was struggling with the steps.
“Parsons.” I beamed. “I just got my acceptance letter in the mail.”
“Congratulations! And you’re pursuing fashion design?”
“Yes. I’m so excited.”
“I remember the outfits that you would make when we were younger. You wanted to put on a play for the Fourth of July, but we only had bathing suits and T-shirts. You stripped my mother’s hundred-dollar curtains and made suitable outfits for the show. When my mother realized what you were wearing, she literally fainted.”
I burst into laughter. “Oh my God, your mom never forgave me.”
“She did,” he assured me. “Your mom replaced them.”
That part of the story I’d forgotten entirely. Mom and Dad had divorced when I was in middle school after he had an affair. He and Kathy had been married for years now, Mom had moved to Charleston to be near her brother, and I was the one stuck in the middle of it all. Sometimes, I forgot what it had been like when Mom was here and she and Dad didn’t hate each other.
“That feels so long ago.”
“I suppose it was,” Ash agreed. “But the play was better with the new attire.”
“It was, and, yes, I’ll be doing fashion. I designed my deb outfit,” I said, gesturing to my long white gown. “And I’ve been putting together a new gown for Miss Georgia.”
“Which you will surely win,” he said with a dashing smile.
I laughed. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. It’s a long jump from Miss Savannah to Miss Georgia.”
The waltz came to a halt, and I let my arms drop. But Ash came forward, brushing a strand of loose dark hair off of my cheek. My heart thudded, and everything else seemed to disappear. The music dimmed. The rest of the debs were gone, and suddenly, we stood together, alone, on a crowded dance floor.
“You’re going to win,” he told me with utter confidence. “You don’t know how to lose.”
I wanted to step forward. I wanted to lean into him. Oh, how I had wanted that for so long. I would have given anything to have him see me in that moment. For it not to just be me craving this boy, but to have him desire me in return.
“Will you be there?” I asked, my voice breathy.
He smiled, and I was sure that I didn’t imagine the hint of desire on his handsome face. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
3
Miss Georgia
June 27, 2009
“And the winner is … Amelia Ballentine!”
My hands flew to my mouth as I gasped in shock. My runner-up pulled me in for a giant hug, congratulating me on my success. Then, the former Miss Georgia helped fit me into my crown, a bouquet of flowers was pushed into my arms, and I strode forward, smiling through my astonishment at my win.
