Chapter 47
As Dot and Danny were leaving the restaurant, a group of four women studying the menu suddenly looked up.
“Danny! Hi!” A young woman, around thirty with skin like porcelain, looked surprised to see him. Her light brown hair was cut into a French bob, and she wore a flowered linen sundress and a delicate gold chain around her neck.
Danny let go of Dot’s hand.
“Oh hey, Maddy. How are you?” Danny seemed uncomfortable and stiff after being so at ease over dinner. “Hi, Lauren, Zoe, Marissa. This is Dot.”
They all nodded hello with what Dot thought was a friendly-enough greeting.
“She’s a friend from NYC working here for a year,” he explained.
“Oh, where do you work?” the one he’d called Lauren asked.
“I’m just here for the election.” Dot braced herself. This could go either way in a state like this, but most young women she met were Democrats.
“The election? Which side?”
“Oh, ummm . . . for the Democrats.” Dot tried to soft-pedal it.
Zoe wrinkled her nose. “Are you the one sending all the texts for donations? Because it’s annoying and I’m never giving them a dime.”
Dot winced.
“Zoe! Let’s not ruin our night with politics,” Maddy said. Dot assumed she was the ringleader of the group. “Where are our manners? Let’s start over. Welcome to Wisconsin. I see you’ve met a good friend of ours.” She nodded to Danny.
“Yes, I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of great people. And it’s a pleasure to meet you, too.” Dot poured on a little extra charm. “I love your outfits.”
“That’s kind of you to say,” Maddy said, glancing down at her dress. “Of course, we don’t have Saks Fifth Avenue. We’re more like Kohl’s, right?” There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone.
“Oh, I love Kohl’s. Marshalls too . . .” Dot cheerfully said, trying to salvage the moment. Where was the Wisconsin nice?
Danny stepped in. “Well, we better get going.” He put his hand on the small of Dot’s back and pushed her toward the door. “See you around.”
“Bye, Danny. I’ll call you.” Maddy staked her claim right there in front of Dot.
Dot felt him tense. Did those two have a history?
“Sorry about that,” he said as they walked outside into the warm summer night.
“No need to be sorry. They seem . . . great.”
“We all grew up together around here. Just about everyone stayed around this area. They can be a little territorial.”
She felt uneasy after meeting his friends, like she didn’t belong there at all.
He opened her door to let her into the passenger seat of his pickup. She glanced up into the night and tried to put the restaurant encounter behind them.
“I love that you can see so many stars here.”
“Well, they’re the same stars you’d see in New York, right?”
“Nah, so much light pollution. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen stars in the city.” She settled into the seat and reached for the seatbelt.
“Well,” he said, “maybe I can help make up for that while you’re here,” he said. Then he waited a beat before gently closing her door.
DANNY PULLED UP to The Crew’s house to drop Dot off. He shut off the engine and neither of them moved for a moment.
Mary and Harper were on the porch with Pippi enjoying the cool night air—their air-conditioning was on the fritz, and the repairman said he couldn’t come fix it for another couple of days. They couldn’t quite see the street, so they strained their necks to make out what was going on.
“Do you think they’re going to hook up?” Harper asked quietly.
“What, is this some sort of rom-com?” Mary whispered.
In the car, Danny said, “I had a wonderful time, Dot,” and turned to look at her.
“So did I,” she said.
He leaned in toward Dot, and she thought he was going to kiss her. But he pulled back at the last minute. Maybe he’s just not that into me, she thought, a bit disappointed.
“Let me walk you up,” he said, opening his door. He came around to open her side of the truck and helped her down.
They walked slowly up the steps. Mary and Harper sank back down. Harper placed a hand over Pippi’s head to keep her from giving away their location.
Dot stood on the first step and leaned against the column holding up the porch. They were more evenly matched in height now that she had the elevation advantage.
“Well, thank you for a great evening,” she said, sounding a bit too corporate, as if they’d just had a business meeting rather than a fun, romantic dinner.
“Thank you for joining me.” He matched her off tone. “Would you . . . I mean, could I . . . well, heck, let me just ask. Do you mind if I kiss you good night?”
Dot was surprised by his shyness and chivalry. Guys in the city usually just assumed they’d be coming upstairs after buying one meal.
“Yes, please,” she said, smiling with a little giggle.
Mary and Harper grabbed each other’s hands and squeezed.
Danny brushed a lock of blond hair away from her forehead and leaned over to kiss her. His lips were firm and soft, and his touch was light. Dot’s knees wobbled.
Danny pulled back and looked at her, a pleased smile on his face. “Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome,” she replied.
“Hey, the fireworks show is Saturday—we’re going to watch from the roof of the Sin Bin. It’s got the best view. You all want to come?”
“I’m sure we will.” She was pleased to see him already making future plans, even if it was for a group hangout.
“Sounds good.”
“Good.”
“So, I guess this is . . . Well, good night, Dot,” he said as he started heading backward down the walkway.
Nearby, a car alarm blared. That spooked Pippi and she wiggled out of Harper’s arms and jumped down, barking loudly at the offending noise.
“Pippi!” Dot bent down to scoop her up. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the shadows of Harper and Mary in the dark. “You guys! Were you there the entire time?”
“Sorry! We were trying to be discreet,” Harper said.
“We didn’t want to spoil the moment,” Mary said, then she called to Danny, “Don’t leave on our account!”
“Ha, thanks—maybe next time. I gotta work early in the morning.” He waved to the girls on the porch. The car alarm went silent.
“Okay. We’ll hold you to it,” Mary said.
Dot turned back to the street, still holding Pippi, as Danny opened his truck door.
“Good night,” Dot said as he waved and took off.
She turned back to the house. “I can’t believe you eavesdropped on that entire goodbye,” she said.
“We didn’t want to interrupt,” Harper said, taking a bag of frozen peas and placing it on the back of her neck.
“Scoot over,” Dot said, working her way in between Harper and Mary and resting her head back. Pippi wriggled out of Dot’s arms and onto Harper’s lap.
“Here, take one of these.” Harper reached down and got another bag of frozen peas from a cooler. “Cool yourself down.”
“I’m not that hot and bothered,” Dot said, closing her eyes and reliving her kiss with Danny.
“Could have fooled us!” Mary sat up and tucked her legs under her on the love seat slider. “That looked . . . like more than a ‘thank you for helping me remodel the bookstore’ dinner.”
“And he’s already asked you out again,” Harper said.
“I’m not sure exactly what it was,” Dot said. “But falling for Danny Dawson of Cedar Falls was not part of my plan.”
“Tell us about it. We came for an adventure, to keep you company on your election gap year, and now we’ve fallen for guys we never would have met in the city,” Mary said, thinking of Jake and the night on the swing. “And they’re Republicans!”
“This wasn’t on our bingo card,” Dot said. “I was supposed to focus on my career not a guy. Let alone one that won’t vote for a Democrat.”
“Tell me about it. Once, I was giving Jake a hard time about supporting the other side, and he asked me if it really mattered to me how he voted. My initial thought was that yes, it did, but instead I said, ‘Just kiss me,’ and that was the end of that.”
“So that’s the trick—your sexual attraction has to be bigger than someone’s politics?” Dot asked.
“Well, it’s working so far,” Mary said.
“So, what are we going to do now?” Harper asked.
“To be honest, Harp. I don’t know,” Dot said. “And maybe, it’s okay not to know. At least not right now?”
“Maybe.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
In turn, The Crew laid back on the love seat, frozen vegetables pressed to their foreheads. Dot used one foot to push the glider for them, rocking them gently while they each thought of the Wisconsin boys who’d rocked their worlds.