Chapter Twelve #2
Mark nodded and led Natalie to the dance
floor.
“We don’t really have to dance,” Natalie
whispered.
“It’s a simple one,” he assured her as he
took one of her hands in his and put his free arm around her waist,
keeping her at a respectable distance.
Since there was no getting out of it, she did
the same thing other women were doing and place her free hand on
his shoulder.
“Just follow my lead,” he whispered. “When I
move, you step back with your right foot. I’ll tell you what to do
until you get the hang of it.”
Feeling someone’s gaze on her, she glanced
over to her left and saw that Fran was watching her. Though Fran
smiled and offered a wave, she doubted Fran was all that happy to
see her dancing with Mark.
The music started, and Mark told her to step
back. Turning her attention back to him, she followed his
instructions. She would have had a better time concentrating on
what he was saying if she didn’t catch Fran whispering to
Katherine. Katherine glanced over at her and laughed.
They were talking about her. She just knew
it.
She stepped on Mark’s foot. Heat flooded her
cheeks. “Sorry,” she whispered.
“It’s alright. Move to the left,” he
replied.
Thankfully, that put her back into the right
position. Ignoring Fran and Katherine, she did her best to focus on
Mark’s instructions. Fortunately, she made it through the rest of
the dance without doing anything to further embarrass herself.
When the dance finally ended, he gave her
waist an encouraging squeeze. “You did great. Do you want to dance
again?”
“No.” And that wasn’t just because Fran and
Katherine were still watching her. She didn’t care much for this
kind of dancing. It wasn’t the least bit fun. People were so
serious about it. No one was smiling or clapping or laughing. Well,
Annabelle and Kenneth were laughing, but that was because they were
enjoying their conversation. “Can we take a break from all of
this?” she asked, gesturing to the room.
With a nod, Mark led her off the dance floor
before the next song started. He glanced back once, and she
followed his gaze, wondering if he’d noticed the way Fran and
Katherine had been watching them, but he was looking over at
Annabelle and Kenneth.
He took her to the veranda and led her to one
of the benches. He sat next to her and held her hand. “Did you see
anything about Kenneth?”
She shouldn’t be surprised that was the only
thing on his mind. He probably thought she’d noticed something and
wanted to talk to him in private. He had no idea her problem
stemmed from Fran or Katherine.
Since his eyebrows were furrowed in concern,
she decided to focus on Kenneth. “I haven’t seen anything outwardly
suspicious about him.” When she noticed his disappointment, she
added, “But I think he’s too eager to be with Annabelle.”
His eyes lit up in interest. “You do?”
“It’s like he’s trying too hard. I know he
wants to court her, but he’s being too obvious about it. He doesn’t
know her very well, but he seems to be doting all over her as if
they’re already engaged. I realize some courtships don’t last long,
but something doesn’t seem natural about the way he’s acting.”
“I knew it!” He squeezed her hand. “Now you
know why I don’t like him.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, Mark.
It could just mean he needs to find a wife in a hurry.”
He rolled his eyes. “His motives aren’t
innocent. You said he isn’t acting natural.”
“I know, but that doesn’t mean his motives
are bad. Maybe he’s just in a hurry to get a wife. Angela, Velma,
and I were in a hurry to find a husband, and we didn’t do anything
wrong.”
He thought over her words for a moment.
“Fine. I’ll introduce him to Fran. Maybe he can go after her.”
Before he could stand up, she tightened her
hold on his hand. “Mark, I want to ask you about her.” She waited
until she had his attention before she continued, “Fran said you
two courted.”
He grimaced. “It was nothing. I escorted her
to a dinner party one evening and then walked with her and some
others at the park on another day. We barely even kissed.”
“You kissed her?”
“A quick one. It wasn’t any good. I knew
right away things weren’t going to go anywhere.” He scooted closer
to her. “I knew before we kissed that you were going to give me the
best kiss I ever had, and I was right. I felt a connection to you
that I didn’t feel with anyone else. That’s something you can’t
force.”
Relaxing, she smiled. “I felt the connection
with you, too.”
“So you know what I’m talking about. To be
honest, I only considered Fran because her father is good friends
with mine, but there has to be more than that to establish a
lifelong commitment with someone. I don’t regret marrying you.”
“I’m glad to be married to you, too.”
“Good.” He kissed her then caressed her
cheek. “You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted to marry.”
Feeling much better, she let him stand up
from the bench.
“I’m going to introduce Kenneth to Fran,” he
said. “I wish I’d thought of it sooner.”
She rose to her feet. “You’re not going to be
obvious about what you’re doing, are you?”
“Of course not. I know how to be subtle. I’m
going to introduce him to several people. He hasn’t left my
sister’s side all evening. That means there are plenty of people he
hasn’t talk to yet. I’ll just make sure Fran is one of the people
he gets to meet. Will you talk to Annabelle while I’m doing
this?”
She bit her lower lip. Was this being
manipulative? No, it didn’t mean she was being manipulative. It
just meant she was talking to Annabelle while Kenneth met other
people. She wasn’t actively trying to come between the two. If
Kenneth happened to fancy Fran, then he’d end up liking Fran. That
was all. It wasn’t like she was forcing Kenneth to marry Fran.
Assured that she wasn’t acting
inappropriately, she said, “I’d love to talk to Annabelle for a
while.”
“Good.” He gave her another kiss. “I’ll bring
her out here. You just sit back down and wait, alright?”
With a nod, she settled back onto the bench
and waited for him to get his sister.
“Why are you hiding out here?” someone
asked.
Natalie glanced over her shoulder and saw
Katherine heading in her direction. After her unsettling
conversation with Fran, she wasn’t in the mood to speak with
Katherine since the two were obviously good friends.
Unfortunately, when she chanced a glance in
Katherine’s direction, the woman was still heading her way. Natalie
let out a long sigh. If this was a barn dance, she could hide. But
out in here on a veranda that only had a couple of benches, she was
stuck.
“What are you doing out here all by
yourself?” Katherine asked as she sat beside her, her voice laced
with hurt. “Are you bored?”
“No, I’m not bored. This is a lovely dinner
party,” Natalie hurried to assure her. “I’m waiting to talk to
Annabelle.”
“And you couldn’t do that inside where all
the excitement is?”
Since Natalie didn’t feel comfortable telling
her what Mark wanted to do, she wasn’t sure how to answer that.
“Or is it because you’re embarrassed about
the way you dance?” Katherine whispered.
Natalie’s face grew warm. “What?”
“I don’t think anyone else noticed,”
Katherine said. “You have nothing to worry about. Everyone’s having
too much fun. I’m sure no one saw the way you stepped on Mark’s
feet.”
If everyone was having too much fun, as she
put it, then how did she notice?
“You’re new to all of this,” Katherine
continued, gesturing to the ballroom. “Where you come from, they
probably don’t even dance.”
“We danced,” she replied before she could
think better of it. Was it really in her best interest to encourage
Katherine to keep talking? “We didn’t do that kind of dancing, but
we danced.”
“You did? What kind of dancing did you
do?”
“Square dancing.”
“What is square dancing?”
“Four couples form a square, and when the
fiddle starts, someone tells us what to do.”
“Oh. It makes sense now. You’re used to
having someone tell you how to dance. Didn’t Mark take the time to
explain what we do in Omaha?”
Natalie fidgeted. Why did Katherine have to
look at her with that mixture of shock and pity as if Natalie were
some kind of child who needed instruction? “Mark was telling me
what to do,” she said. “After a few steps, I wasn’t stepping on his
feet anymore.”
“I was sure I saw you stepping on his feet
quite a bit. But it’s alright,” she added before Natalie could
protest, “because you were nervous. It’s to be expected that you
weren’t going to dance as well as anyone else. I was wondering if
there’s anything I can do to help you so you’ll do better next
time. I’m a good teacher.”
Natalie’s face grew warmer. “I appreciate the
offer, but I’d rather have Mark teach me when we’re in private. I
don’t plan to dance again tonight.”
Katherine patted her hand in a way a mother
would to a child. “Good. I think that’s for the best. Our role is
to make our husbands look good in front of the other men. While a
lot of what we’re doing tonight is social, business contacts are
also established.”
Natalie already knew that, but she decided
not to comment. When it came to Katherine, the less she said, the
better.
Annabelle approached them, and Katherine
stood up. “Annabelle, I’m glad you could make it to my dinner
party.”
“Thank you for inviting me,” Annabelle
replied.
“I see you have an admirer,” Katherine teased
as she pointed to Kenneth who was talking to Mark and Janet. “Your
brother had to pry Kenneth away from you. I don’t think Kenneth
would have left your side any other way.”
Annabelle blushed. “Yes, Kenneth’s been very
attentive to me this evening.”
“You seem as taken with him. I can’t recall
anyone who’s ever courted you making you laugh as much as you’ve
been laughing tonight.”
“Kenneth has a wonderful sense of humor.”
“And he has good taste in women.” Katherine
winked at her. “I should return to the ballroom and see how the