A Big Life in a Small Town (Bellingwood #2) (16 page)

“You said Jack was the oldest. Where do the rest of you fall in?"

"Lisa is the baby and then the twins are two years older than she is. I'm right in the middle, Robbie is three years older than me and Jack is two years older than him."

Mark put his fork down and reached for another roll. As he tore it apart and buttered it, he said, "But, that's enough about me. I've been talking and talking. Tell me something about you that hasn't hit the Bellingwood gossip train."

Polly thought for a moment. "It's been nice talking about someone other than myself," she said. "I like hearing your stories. But,
okay. Something no one around here knows about me. Let's see."

She nodded to signify that the wine he poured into her glass was enough, and said, "Until I moved to Bellingwood, my life was pretty boring. I had thought about being a veterinarian when I was a kid. I loved horses but I didn't ever have a chance to own any. Dad was so busy with everything else on the farm, he couldn't swing it. I didn't push. One of my friends, Jan, always let me ride with her, but that was it. Of course, we had lots of animals out there. Dad didn't want them in the house, so my dogs and cats were always outside animals. I remember bringing SusieQ, our mutt, inside one night. I wanted her to sleep in my room with me. Well, the poor dog didn't know what to do in my room. She whined until Dad opened my bedroom door. He took one look at me, shook his head and let the dog back outside."

Polly picked her glass up and took a sip, "I should warn you. Wine goes straight to my head. Hopefully I've eaten enough that I won't get too loopy on you."

"As long as it relaxes you enough to dance with me, you're fine," Mark laughed. "What kind of girl were you in high school? I'll bet you had a lot of friends. Did you play in the band? Did you play any sports?"

"No!" Polly declared. "If I tell you that I can't dance, I'm being totally serious. I stink at it. Now, transfer my ineptitude for dancing to a basketball or volleyball court. Imagine the damage I could do to a team in competition." She snorted in laughter. "I didn't play any sports and we'll leave it at that. But, I was in band and I always had good grades."

She paused and said, "I did have a lot of friends. There were a bunch of us who moved in and out of different cliques. I was friends with the athletic girls. I just couldn't play with them and they knew better than to ask me. I was quite glad to sit in the bleachers and cheer for them. I dated a wrestler once and the next date was with Andy Tressler, the epitome of the chess club king. He was a little odd, so that didn't work out quite like I'd hoped. But, yes. I suppose I had a lot of friends."

"Have you seen many of them since you moved back?"

"You know, it's weird, but I haven't. I've found most of them on Facebook, but we've all got our lives going on right now and while it's good to see that they're all happy in their lives, none of us have rushed right out to get together again. I guess maybe fifteen years puts a lot of distance between us ... more than we ever thought."

"Would you like some dessert?" she asked. "Or would you like to wait?"

Mark sat back in his chair and stretched. "Maybe we should wait, if that's
okay. This was terrific and I ate too much. You're a great cook! Are you ready to do some dancing now?"

"You aren't going to let me out of this, are you?"

"I am not," he replied. "I left my speakers and iPod in the hallway. That will be a great space to practice." He stood up and swooped his hand out in invitation. "Shall we dance?"

Polly put her hand in his and stood up. Obiwan had been sleeping under the table while they ate and looked expectantly as she walked to the door. "Nope, not yet. We'll go out later, I promise. First, I have to face some torture."

Mark led her out into the hall and left the door to the apartment slightly ajar. A small portable speaker system was sitting on the floor beside her door with an iPod already docked.

"Before we do this for real, I want to teach you a few basic steps." When Polly grimaced, he said, "It won't hurt, I promise."

"I'm not worried about it hurting me," she said. "You're the one in mortal danger."

"I've been with worse; I can assure you."

"Let's do it, then, if I'm not going to be able to escape your clutches," she sighed.

He stood beside her and said, "Watch my feet and do what I do." Polly mimicked the movement of his feet as he slowly took her through the basic box-step. "Walk, side, together," he said as they moved.

"Can you do it on your own?" he asked. She tried to remember where to put her feet and quickly stumbled as her left foot caught her right heel.

"See!" she said.

"Try again. Here, do it with me," he put his arm around her back and guided her through the steps again. "Now, by yourself."

She tried it again and again until finally she felt what it was he was saying to her.

"That's it!" he proclaimed. "You've got it. Now, I'm going to turn some music on. See if you can do it in time with the rhythm of the song."

It didn't take long for Polly to trip over her feet and she cursed.

"No, don't freak out," he said. "You're doing fine." He flipped the light switch off and said, "There's enough light you won't fall down the steps, but this time shut your eyes and try again."

Polly said, "I'm putting a lot of trust in you. I don't let very many people see me this uncoordinated. I hope you know that if you tell anyone, you die."

"I'm fully confident that you could find a way to destroy me. My lips are sealed. Now shut your eyes and dance."

She closed her eyes and tried to feel the rhythm of the music, and then began to move her feet. She'd moved through several patterns of the box step when she felt him slip an arm around her waist. Her eyes flew open.

"Shut your eyes," he said and put her left hand on his shoulder, and then scooped her right hand in his hand. "Now, don't forget to breathe."

Polly tried to relax, but the next thing she knew he stopped and said, "Polly open your eyes."

"What?"

"I know you're an independent girl, but you have to let me lead when we're dancing. That's why you keep tripping the
men you're with. Feel where I want you to go. You don't have to be in control of this, let me do the guiding."

Polly felt a tear leak out of her eye. She shut her eyes quickly so he wouldn't notice, hoping the dim lighting would help.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine. Let's go again," she said. "I'll try to do better."

"Polly. You're doing fine."

"Okay," she said.

"Polly, open your eyes and look at me."

She looked up at him.

"This has you absolutely terrified, doesn't it?"

She nodded, afraid to say anything.

"You don't do things poorly, do you?"

This time she shook her head.

"Will you trust me to not let you fail at this?"

Polly shrugged her shoulders and took a deep breath.

"Okay. I'm ready to try again."

"My hand on your back and the one covering your other hand will tell you where I'm going. Tru
st that I can get you there too."

"I'll try."

The song had ended, so Mark waited patiently with her in his arms as the iPod advanced to the next song. He tightened his grip on her hand and she felt the strength of his muscles as he began moving her around the hallway. All of a sudden, she felt what he was telling her. She felt the movement in his muscles as he was preparing to turn her or move backwards. Before she knew it, the song was over.

He stopped, released her hand and stepped back from her. "How did that feel to you?"

"If I tell you I've never felt that free before, will you laugh at me?" she asked.

"That's perfect." Mark smiled at her and said, "Shall we try again?"

"Yes!" Polly wanted to keep dancing. No wonder people had been doing this for eons. It was wonderful!

The next song's tempo was a little faster and she managed to lose her place in the step a couple of times, but each time, Mark stepped with her and brought her back into the pattern. They danced through two more songs and he said, "Now, this time, instead of the regular four-four pattern, we're going to waltz. The step is the same, but the feel is a little different. You're going to have to trust me on this,
okay?"

Polly's confidence returned. She smiled and said, "I'm ready."

Within a few measures, she stopped him, laughing. "I wasn't ready. I have no idea what I'm doing here."

"We'll try again, then." He restarted the song and took her in his arms. It was a slow waltz and gave her time to concentrate on her feet. When the next waltz began, the tempo again was quick and he said, "Don't look at your feet, look up at me, we're going to fly this time."

Polly took a deep breath and decided to let him guide her. Her feet finally seemed to understand what it took to dance and when the song was over, she said, "I feel a little like Ginger Rogers!"

"You are doing well, but I have to warn you. You're probably going to ache a little tomorrow."

"Do we have to stop now?" she asked.

"Why don't we waltz once more and then return to a normal four-four song, so you have the rhythm in your memory. Then, maybe it's time for some dessert."

He turned on the music and they danced again, winding around the large hallway. He brought her to a stop in front of the door and as he backed away, he kept her hand in his and bowed deeply.

"Thank you for the dance," he said.

Polly bent her knees in a curtsy and replied, "Thank you!"

Mark picked up the speakers and brought them into the apartment. He put it on the table beside the door, and followed her to the dining room.

"I'll gather up the dishes and you get dessert," he said and began picking up the plates and silverware.

She brought a container of ice cream out of the freezer and lifted the lid off the pound cake. "Are you ready for this?" she asked.

"After that workout, I'm ready for nearly anything. Can I help?"

"No, you're doing all the work. You can stop any time. Would you like some coffee? Oh wait,” she said, “Dew?"

"I don't think so. This is going to make me sleep well tonight, caffeine would mess with that."

Polly sliced the pound cake and put it on the plate. Before scooping the ice cream, she put a small pitcher of homemade chocolate sauce in the microwave for a few seconds. When it was done, she had the ice cream on each plate. She opened a drawer and pulled out two dessert forks and set them on the plates. She fit both plates into her left hand, hooked the handle of the pitcher with her right hand and walked to the table.

"Just a second," she said and went back to the refrigerator, pulling out a dish of red raspberries in syrup. "I know they're not fresh, but I think they'll do.

Scooping raspberries over his slice of pound cake, she looked at him as if asking when to stop. He put his hand up and said, "All I can say is wow!"

She scooped raspberries onto her slice, poured a little warmed chocolate over both the ice cream and pound cake and offered him the pitcher when she was finished.

Mark took a bite and smiled. "No one has ever made a dessert like this for me. Polly, you'd make a wonderful wife."

Polly blushed, "How about I make a wonderful friend who says thank you for taking care of my animals and teaching me how to dance. Well, at least how to not make a fool of myself on the dance floor."

"That's a good start," and he winked at her.

"I don't want to frighten you, but there is going to be line-dancing and all sorts of other things happening on Saturday night. I would have liked to get you comfortable with the fox-trot, but that's a bit much for one night."

"I wouldn't have been able to absorb anything else tonight," she agreed. "But it was fun. Thank you for making it fun."

"I'll tell you what. I know that it's going to get busy around here tomorrow as everyone prepares for the big day. I could come over Thursday evening, though, and anyone who is around and wants to learn some steps, I'd be glad to help. I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but I could probably even convince Lisa to come with me. What do you think about that?"

"Would
you? That would be great." Polly reached out and laid her hand on his forearm. "Thank you. It's been wonderful."

Mark glanced at the clock on the microwave. "It's nearly ten o'clock. I've got another early morning tomorrow, so I should probably go pretty soon. Can I help you with the dishes?"

Polly was shocked. "Oh, no! I'll take care of those. In fact, I probably won't even look at them again until tomorrow. I'll take Obiwan down for a walk and then put the food away and deal with the rest later."

Obiwan heard his name and looked up. When Mark and Polly began walking to the door, he stood up and followed them.

"Yes, it's your turn for a little attention," Polly said. She pulled on her coat and a scarf, then snapped his leash on his collar before putting her gloves on. Mark was ready to go and opened the door of her apartment, then followed her out into the hallway.