The Dance #2
“No, I never met her,” Cassie said. “We moved here right when your mother was getting married and leaving. People talked all over town about Patricia Austin’s daughter marrying a policeman and running off to Michigan.
Then later we heard about the cancer. I’m sorry.
Everybody said she was a wonderful woman. ”
“Thanks,” Maria said. “That’s what my dad says, too.” It was time to change the topic—it felt weird talking about Mom with a stranger who only knew her from the grapevine. “Well,” she said, “thank you for inviting us.”
“Of course,” Cassie said. “My son Neil is really the host of this party. He’s over there.” She motioned to a young man in a suit, talking to a couple guys who, by their dress and attitude, were probably ranchers. “Oh, here he comes!”
Sure enough, the young man was heading their direction. He was tall, with wavy brown hair and an intense expression. “There you are, Mom,” he said to Cassie. “Do you think it’s time to bring out the other beer? We’ve only been going for half an hour, but—”
Neil stopped in his tracks. “Well, hello,” he said to Maria. “I don’t think I’ve met you. Are you new in town?”
“Maria Gilbert.” Maria held out her hand, and he shook it, his handgrip a little extra strong. “I’m from Michigan, visiting my cousins at the Rocker A,” Maria explained.
“The Rocker A!” Neil looked impressed. “You’re cousins with the Austins? Are they here? I don’t actually know them. I just know some of the hands. And I look out at that huge ranch every day.” He laughed.
“Yes, they’re here,” Maria said. “Annabelle and Elijah.” She turned to look for her cousins, who had stopped to talk to a young guy—probably one of Elijah’s friends. “I can introduce you, if you want—”
Neil wasn’t listening to her anymore, and it wasn’t hard to guess the reason. He was looking at Annabelle. Now he was approaching her.
“Well, howdy,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Neil.”
“Annabelle.” Was Maria’s cousin fluttering her eyelashes?
“Nice to meet you,” Neil said, grasping Annabelle’s hand. “You wanna dance?”
Without introducing himself to anyone else, Neil towed Annabelle off to the dance floor. He looked ecstatic. Annabelle looked pleased. She had wanted to be the belle of the ball—and what better way to start out her evening than dancing with the host of the party?
Elijah was at the food table, piling a plate with meatballs.
Maria didn’t feel like eating. She didn’t know anybody else, although she was beginning to recognize guys she’d seen in the food line back at the ranch.
They were some more of the Rocker A hands.
Probably they wouldn’t ask her to dance—they were mostly a few years younger than her—but that was just as well.
Maria hadn’t come to dance or find a boyfriend.
She was just here to experience a real Western party and hopefully meet some people, platonically.
Maria was beginning to head toward Cassie Baldwin, who was talking to some other ladies, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around. It was a familiar ranch hand whose name she didn’t remember.
“I know you,” he said. “You’re the new kitchen worker at the ranch, aren’t you? Boss’s granddaughter?”
“Yes,” Maria said. “That’s me.”
“Sorry, I don’t remember your name,” he said. “I’m Rick.”
“Maria.”
“You wanna dance?” Rick asked.
“Sure!” Maria said. She hadn’t danced in a while, but she’d done the two-step with Seth, and that was what they seemed to be doing here.
Rick swung her onto the dance floor. “Annabelle’s made a hit with Neil,” he said.
“Do you guys know the Baldwins?” Maria asked.
“Of course,” Rick said. “Neil’s our next-door ranch neighbor. We see him and his guys all the time. Don’t really hang out with them, though. They pretty much keep to themselves. Good party tonight, though.”
Rick’s dancing was energetic, if a little off the beat. He swung Maria around the dance floor and deposited her unceremoniously at the edge at the end of the dance.
Maria straightened her ruffled outfit, got a drink of water, and went to meet some of the ladies.
It wasn’t too bad, she decided a while later, going to this party.
After Rick, a few other ranch hands from the Rocker A asked her to dance.
None of them were that good at dancing, but most of them were good-natured and fairly polite.
And the ladies were friendly when they learned she was Patricia Austin’s granddaughter.
The people of the valley seemed a little in awe of Patricia.
Maria had expected Annabelle to dance with other guys after she danced with Neil, but the two of them seemed to be stuck like glue.
On the way home, Annabelle gushed about him. “I don’t know how I never met Neil before,” she said. “I guess I should have gone to some of those rancher meetings Grandma tried to drag me to. Have you ever seen someone so charming?”
“Neil Baldwin? Charming?” Elijah said. “He’s just a neighbor.”
“He has that real boy-next-door charm,” Annabelle said.
“A few days ago, you said Tim had that real boy-next-door charm.”
“Tim!” Annabelle spoke contemptuously. “I told you not to talk about Tim to me. I’m not gonna think about him anymore.”
That was wise. Although rebounding to somebody else didn’t seem like a good idea.
“So you’re gonna chase Neil?” Elijah asked.
“Did I look like I was chasing him?” Annabelle asked. “He asked me to dance, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, but you encouraged it,” Elijah said. “Oh well, you’ll both probably forget the whole thing in two weeks.”
“You know what? You drive me crazy.”
“You’d drive anybody crazy!” Elijah replied.
Maria tuned out the siblings’ bickering and looked out the car window as the dark scenery rolled by. The moon was waxing. Somewhere off in the distance was the river. Ahead was the sign for the Rocker A ranch. It was funny living out here, where your next-door neighbor was a car ride away.