Chapter 11 The Dance
Saturday was here, the day of the dance. Hallie sat in front of the vanity mirror in her room, curling her hair between texting Jessica. She finished with the last couple of strands and started pinning them up when her phone chimed again:
*Is Luke coming with you?*
She responded:
*Yeah it would look weird if we didn’t go together but it makes me nervous*
Jessica’s reply quickly flashed onto the screen:
*It’s a good chance to get to know him. Maybe you two could be a couple (five heart emojis)*
Hallie knew her friend was probably just teasing. She wrote back:
*Not you too!*
Jessica replied:
*Just have fun!*
Hallie smiled, feeling like her friend was with her, but part of her was wishing she was there with Jessica in real life.
Instead, loneliness was her constant companion ever since she moved back home after college. She couldn’t talk to Terry about any real problems in her life. Her sister either didn’t have time for anything more than small talk, or she would make fun of her.
Hallie had been looking forward to moving to the city, hanging out with all her college friends, working for some big marketing company. So why couldn’t she let the ranch go?
She piled her hair into a high bun and pinned it up, a few curls bouncing out here and there. Then she did some artistry on her makeup look with a little blush, nude pink lipstick and glittering blue eye shadow.
She was contemplating the look in her mirror when there was a knock on the door.
“I’m ready,” Luke said.
Overall, Hallie was happy with her makeup and her outfit, a pale blue figure-hugging satin dress with an off-the-shoulder neckline. She grabbed her handbag and went to answer the door.
Luke was waiting, and he was stunning. She had half-expected him to wear some cheesy outfit that attempted to look Texan, such as an oversized hat with a bolo tie. But here he was, rocking a metrosexual European look.
His hair swept back, he wore a blue sport coat, inadvertently complementing her with a darker shade of blue than her dress. His shirt was blindingly white silk with a subtle paisley texture, and his trousers rich grey over his glossy oxford shoes.
Maybe Luke was going to raise all sorts of hell at the dance, but he was going to look damn fine doing it.
Not to mention his scent, which was a refreshing, cooling balm on this hot day.
“Shall we go?” He offered his arm in a most gentleman-like way, something that she hadn’t expected from him.
“Let’s do this.”
***
AS SOON AS THEY ARRIVED at the dance, everything got crazy.
Hallie might have known this would happen. She entered the large refurbished barn, side by side with Luke, and they were blasted with loud pop music on top of the voices of people screaming with excitement.
“All right, it’s Hallie Mathews!” the DJ called out over the microphone. “And a new beau. I’m jealous.”
Hallie had been to too many dances to count at this place, a local ranch that hosted many events in the community.
The DJ was her old friend from high school, Perry McLure. He had always sort of had a crush on her, as did another guy from high school who had been a couple of grades ahead of her, Rob Hernandez. She had no doubt Rob would be here too, and she would be dragged back down memory lane.
Speaking of which, a bunch of women she’d gone to high school with approached her, and there was no getting away. She didn’t really want to hang out with them anymore. Some of them had been mean, though they now tried to gloss over that, and she wanted to move on past those school days.
“Hallie, how’ve you been?” a red-haired woman named Stacy said. Unlike most of Hallie’s classmates, Stacy had always been very sweet.
“I heard you were moving to Austin,” another former classmate, Amber, chimed in. She had beautiful high cheekbones and a slim build. Already, she seemed to be eyeing Luke.
“Yeah, I’m looking for jobs, but no luck yet,” Hallie said. “It’s nice to see y’all.”
“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Amber practically begged. Very impressive in the looks department, Amber was not exactly the sharpest pencil in the box, so Hallie wasn’t too threatened by her.
“This is my boyfriend, Luke,” Hallie said, feeling a tinge of pride, even if they weren’t really together. She had never had much luck with guys, so this made up for the public humiliation of never having a date at any of the previous dances.
The only exception was when she had gone with Perry to her high school prom, but they both knew she was never interested in him romantically, and it had been an awkward friend-date.
“Hallie!” Rob’s voice reached her before she even saw him making his way through the crowd.
He was dressed in a plaid shirt and blue jeans for the occasion; the clothes were simple, but they suited his powerful figure. He pulled her into a strong hug, and she responded in kind. His friendship meant a lot to her, even if she was trying her best to move on with her life.
“How are you, officer?” she asked. “Been arresting some criminals?”
“Nothing more than a DUI,” he responded. “How’ve you been? I haven’t heard from you in ages.”
“Well, you know, I’ve been looking for jobs in Austin.”
“I see you’ve brought a date,” Rob said, “good for you. Don’t worry about me. I’m real jealous, but I’ll get over it.”
Rob had admitted he was into her pretty soon after she graduated from high school, but Hallie had never felt the same way.
He was a very handsome guy and something of a hero with his police work; lots of the local women would have been proud to date him, but somehow Hallie never saw him as anything but a friend.
“Rob, this is my boyfriend, Luke,” she said, and the two men shook hands.
“It’s a real pleasure to meet you,” said Rob. “I hope you’re taking good care of Hallie.”
“Of course,” Luke replied, putting on his ‘sensitive guy’ persona. “She deserves nothing but the best.”
In the next moment, Rob looked away, distracted by voices raised in anger somewhere in the crowd. As a police officer, whether on or off duty, he seemed to have a sixth sense about these things.
“Who invited Travis?” Amber wondered.
“He probably invited himself,” Rob said. “Excuse me.” He moved through the throng of dancing people to where a tall, muscular fellow was yelling at a group of three guys. Hallie recognized Travis, a local cowboy with a penchant for starting fights.
“What’d you say to me?” Travis was shouting.
“You heard me,” the other man replied, striving to push him, but held back by his two friends.
“No, I want to hear you say it.”
Rob was quick to arrive and put himself between them. “All right fellows, don’t make me work tonight. We all came here to have a good time, didn’t we?”
“Well, he better watch himself,” Travis said, his voice still raised, although he seemed reluctant to take on Rob.
“You watch yourself,” the other guy replied.
“Let’s all take a deep breath,” Rob offered. “Travis, you go this way. Ken, you go that way. I don’t want to see you guys fighting, or I’ll have to arrest you. Come on.”
The men moved off, casting evil glares at each other.
As Hallie took her attention off the brewing fight, she realized Luke had snuck off in the commotion.
He hadn’t gone far. There he was, chatting with Amber a little ways off by the barn wall, his lighter brown hair contrasting with her cascade of heat-straightened chocolate brown. They both had their cell phones out. Were they exchanging phone numbers? Unbelievable!
Hallie followed Rob’s advice and took a calming breath before she approached. She had to appear in charge of the situation.
“There you are, my lovely,” Luke said, as if she had been the one who wandered off. “Shall we dance?”
She had not expected him to be so pleasant. But of course, he was always playing his little mind games.
“I don’t know,” she said, “Amber, would you excuse us for a moment.”
Amber walked away, not seeming too upset. Maybe she had gotten Luke’s phone number after all.
Hallie took advantage of the fact that most of the people were dancing and no one would overhear them.
“What about our talk earlier?” she whispered, trying not to attract too much attention. “Do you have short-term memory loss or something?”
“You did say you were going to kick me out for flirting,” Luke said nonchalantly, “but I don’t believe you.”
He was calling her bluff. She had to admit, having Luke around was a good thing as far as her relationship with her parents. If she kicked him out, she would have to start looking for a new fake boyfriend, and who knew when she would find someone her parents liked this much?
“I think it’s more than just this facade,” he said, coming closer to her. “I think you’re attracted to me.”
Hallie gasped in outrage. “Maybe women in Sarkadia are oblivious to what a jerk you are, but not here.”
This only brought out another amused smiled from him.
“I’m not only popular with the ladies in Sarkadia,” Luke said with his usual arrogance, “Even when I go abroad, they flock to me. Name any European country, and I’ll name a woman who has greatly enjoyed my company.”
“Is there a European country called Get Your Head from out Your Ass?”
He only smiled in a disarming way. “You Texans have a unique sense of humor. I like it.”
Suddenly, he turned away from her to look at Eloise, who was sitting in a cozy nook talking with her friends. As always, Eloise dressed demurely with a high neck line, but that didn’t seem to stop Luke from being interested in her.
“You’re right, we should dance,” Hallie said, grabbing his arm before he could get away.
He slowly brought his body around towards her again, his eyes focusing only on her, as if trying to read her. “Are you sure?”