The Dance
“All the Austins were invited,” Aunt Steph said, “and you’re an Austin, even if that’s not your last name, so that includes you.
Patricia wants you to meet the other ranching families.
She says she’s not going to have one of her granddaughters cooped up on the ranch when her other grandchildren are out in society. ”
“I guess that would be all right,” Maria said, “but I don’t have anything to wear. Savannah showed me Annabelle’s dress. It’s basically a ballgown! I didn’t bring a ballgown to Montana. I don’t have one, anyway.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Aunt Steph said. “I’m sure we can find something that fits you. You could borrow one of Annabelle’s other dresses. Or I might have something.”
Maria looked dubiously at Aunt Steph’s narrow frame. “I don’t think Annabelle and I wear the same size, and I know you and I don’t.”
“Maybe we could go into town and buy you a dress,” Aunt Steph said. “Although there are so few stores in town, there might not be anything suitable. If only we had a mall out here! Almost everything has to come by Amazon.”
Maria cut in hastily. “I don’t have the money to buy a dress for a one-time event like this anyway. Thanks for trying, Aunt Steph.”
“What if your grandmother got it for you?” Aunt Steph said. “I know she wouldn’t mind.”
“Absolutely not,” Maria said. With all the money Patricia wanted the Gilberts to pay back, why would she willingly buy Maria a dress? “Thank you anyway. Grandma Austin invited me here to work on the ranch, not to go to fancy parties.”
“She won’t be happy about you not going,” Aunt Steph said. “You don’t need a ball gown—Annabelle just gets overexcited about opportunities to dress up. Maybe you could wear a regular Sunday dress. We don’t have dances that often around here. I wouldn’t want you to miss out on the experience.”
It did sound interesting, a real dance on a Montana ranch. It would certainly be an exciting experience. Maria hadn’t dressed up for anything in a long time, not since Seth broke up with her.
“I guess I’ll think about it,” Maria said. “But I don’t want anybody buying dresses for me.”
§
On Wednesday morning, she told Jessie about the dance and the dress.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said, scrambling eggs vigorously.
“I can go in my Sunday dress and look silly while everyone else is in ballgowns; I can stay at the ranch and disappoint Grandma Austin; or I can let somebody buy a dress for me, which I don’t want. ”
“Or you could borrow a dress,” Jessie said.
“Aunt Steph already suggested that, but there’s nothing to borrow,” Maria said. “All the other women in this family are tall and skinny. Annabelle’s a size four or something. There’s no way I could borrow her clothes. Why couldn’t I have gotten my build from my mom instead of my dad?”
“Honey, there’s nothing wrong with your build,” Jessie said.
“You’re strong, that’s what. And you’re around the same size as my daughter.
She’s coming over tonight to drop off some stuff we’re storing for her.
I’ll tell her to bring some of her old dresses from dances—they’re pretty and modest—and you can look through them. ”
“Are you sure?” Maria asked. “You think they would fit me?”
“I’ve done a lot of sewing,” Jessie said. “I can tell sizes by looking. If you can’t wear my daughter’s dresses, I’ll eat my hat.”
“Well”—Maria pushed back a strand of hair escaping from her ponytail—“you don’t think it would be a lot of trouble?”
“Absolutely not.” Jessie effortlessly sliced a melon in half. “You’re not using the dress as an excuse to skip out of this, are you?” Her eyes and mouth looked shrewd.
Maybe she read Maria better than Maria read herself.
Was she afraid of going? Would it be like that young adult night she’d skipped back home?
“I guess I’m a little nervous,” she said.
“I won’t know anybody, except Annabelle and Elijah.
And I don’t have a date. I mean, I’m not trying to find a boyfriend right now, but Annabelle says everybody brings a date to these dances. ”
“You don’t need a date, honey.” Jessie chopped melon pieces. “Last I heard, Miss Annabelle isn’t bringing a date either.”
“Well, that wasn’t exactly her own choice.” Did Jessie know about the drama between Annabelle and Tim? If Maria had been in Annabelle’s place, getting turned down by the guy she hoped would take her to the dance, she wouldn’t want to run out and find another date at the last minute either.
Jessie shook her head. “That girl. She’s had every boy chasing after her since she was in high school. It must have been a shock when Tim didn’t fall at her feet like everybody else.”
“Well, I feel bad for her,” Maria said. “No matter how many guys are chasing her, she’s feeling really hurt. And everybody knew she liked Tim, so she’s embarrassed about that too. She’s gotta work with all those guys that are friends with him.”
“She shouldn’t be embarrassed. Nobody’s laughing at her. Tim wouldn’t put up with that, and the cowboys are a good bunch of guys that wouldn’t gossip or poke fun to start with.”
“Someone must have talked about it, since you knew too.” Maria had never seen Annabelle hang out with the kitchen staff in her downtime.
“I heard it from Tim. Annabelle came up when he was chopping wood and asked him if he was planning to go to the dance. He said he didn’t think so.
Then she said she didn’t have a date yet, and maybe he would take her.
He didn’t want to disappoint her, but he couldn’t lead her on, so he had to say no. ”
From Jessie’s second-hand information, the way Tim had handled Annabelle didn’t sound like jerk behavior.
It must be hard for a guy to figure out how to turn down a girl who asked him to a dance.
Maria wouldn’t have asked a guy herself, but remembering the way she had felt about Seth before he asked her out, she didn’t blame Annabelle too much for asking Tim.
“Anyway,” Jessie said, “you certainly don’t need a date to go to this dance. Why don’t you let my daughter bring her dresses over, and we’ll turn you into Cinderella for the night?”
Maria couldn’t help smiling as she rescued the scrambled eggs from the heat. “All right, Jessie. You win. Thanks.”
§
So, at seven-thirty that evening, Maria rode to the dance in a borrowed blue gown. Savannah, bitter that she was too young to go but happy to rant to somebody, had done Maria’s hair in an elegant French-braided bun. The mirror upstairs had shown a young lady Maria barely recognized.
Annabelle was resplendent in peachy pink with flowers in her hair. Elijah wore a suit and a clashing bright Hawaiian tie. Annabelle argued with him from the front seat of the truck.
“You can’t wear that tie,” Annabelle said. “Do you think I’m going to walk into the Baldwins’ barn next to that monstrosity? You clash with me, and you clash with yourself. You’ll just have to take it off.”
“Girls like this tie,” Elijah said. “They always comment on it. Just because you’re coming with me doesn’t mean you get to pick what I wear.”
“Fine,” Annabelle said. “Then I’ll spend as little time with you as possible. Maybe I’ll meet some new guy and show Tim that some guys appreciate me.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Maria said, but Annabelle waved her away.
“I’m determined to be the belle of the ball. I’ll show Tim.”
Maria didn’t bother to point out that if Tim wasn’t coming, how would he learn Annabelle had been the belle of the ball?
It wasn’t far to the Baldwin ranch. Elijah said the Baldwins were their next-door neighbors, but they’d never spent much time with them.
Mrs. Baldwin’s husband had left many years ago, leaving her with a ranch to run and a young son to raise, and she hadn’t had time to socialize.
But her now grown-up son, Neil, had decided to host a dance that he’d advertised all over social media as the party of the decade, with gourmet food and dancing and live musicians.
So everybody who was anybody was going to it, even if they were only going for the food and the music.
The Baldwins’ yard was full of cars. The dance was in a big barn hung with Christmas lights.
Inside, tables groaned with food. Other tables were set up for people to sit, and a big area was cleared for dancing.
Old-fashioned lightbulbs lit the inside of the barn.
Maria saw a few ranch hands from the Rocker A, but otherwise she didn’t recognize anybody.
If the only people she knew here were Annabelle and Elijah, she was in for a long evening.
She wished she’d brought a book. It felt rude to read at a party, but she could have slipped back to the car and read it there.
As usual, she thought of Seth, always the life of the party.
But she squared her shoulders and dismissed the thought.
Maria didn’t have to be “Seth’s girlfriend” to have a personality, to make friends.
Although it had been a long time since she went to anything like this—she was usually too busy to go to parties—she would make this party count.
She followed Annabelle and Elijah into the barn.
A gray-haired woman in a blue dress with small white flowers bustled up to Annabelle. “Well, hello,” she said. “You must be Patricia’s grandkids! I’m Cassie Baldwin. I see you out on the range sometimes.”
“Nice to meet you, Cassie,” Annabelle said. “Thank you for having us. I’m Annabelle, and this is my brother Elijah. This is our cousin Maria.”
“Nice to meet you,” Cassie said, extending a hand to Maria. “You must be Amy’s daughter?”
“Yes,” Maria said. “Did you know my mom?” She hadn’t thought about that, that neighbors might also remember Mom from back in the day. Maybe she could hear some new stories about Mom that Dad wouldn’t have known.