by Abby Tyler
As Carly sprayed something fruity on her hair, Roscoe trotted up and sniffed the air.
“What you think, Roscoe?” Ginny asked.
His nose continued to move from side to side, then he left the room.
“Quite the critic,” Carly said with a laugh. She whirled Ginny around on the stool to face the mirror.
Ginny had to look twice. Her hair was glorious, straight out of a magazine. She thought it would most certainly be stiff and difficult to manage, but every curl was bouncy and soft.
“What voodoo is this?” she asked.
Carly smiled at her in the mirror. “Like it? You look amazing.”
“I look like a movie star.”
And she did. It was actually a great feeling. As Ginny slid on her dress and a pair of pretty shoes, she knew Carly was right. Let Carter see her like this and wonder if he had made a mistake.
They loaded up in Carly’s car to drive over to the high school. The dance would be set up in the cafeteria, one of the few spaces in Applebottom big enough to hold a dance.
When they stepped inside, streamers crisscrossed the ceiling from wall to wall, and a big archway of balloons led up to the stage at the end.
But the curtains were still pulled, hiding the actual platform. A long banner was strung across the curtains, reading, Surprise Decoration to be Revealed.
“That’s interesting,” Ginny said to Carly. “Is it always a secret?”
“Not usually,” she said. “But you never know. Each year is different.”
They walked along the perimeter of the cafeteria, looking over the refreshment table. Half of it was taken up with lines of small water bottles.
“No more punch bowls to spike,” Ginny said.
Carly laughed. “Did that ever actually happen? I think that’s something that only comes up in movies.”
“An urban legend,” Ginny agreed. “Do we have to make them all dance at arm’s length?”
Carly spun one of her long blond curls around a finger. “The kids will be fine. It’s the adults we’ll have to watch.”
Carly and Ginny sat on chairs along one wall as the students started filtering in. Soon, adult members of the community also began to arrive. While the teens were shy and stuck to the edges of the room, the older citizens sauntered out to the center, dancing up a storm.
Within an hour, the event was in full swing.
A teen girl jumped up on stage and dragged a microphone to the middle. She flipped it on, and a roar of feedback made her step aside for a moment, but then it receded.
“Hello everybody!” she called out, then waited for the general rumble to quiet. The music wound down and finally stopped completely.
“I’m Sabrina Mavis, and I’m the head of the Harvest Dance Committee at Applebottom High.” She paused to wait out the smattering of applause.
“We use the Harvest Dance to celebrate a successful school year as well as a thanks to the community and staff at the high school.” She paused again for more clapping.
“Now, it’s our big moment. Tonight, we will reveal a special set constructed by our football team as part of their team-building exercises. To talk about that, we have our own Coach McBride.”
The girl backed away from the mic, and Ginny’s breath caught as Carter hurried up the few steps to the stage.
She wondered if she would always feel this way about him, and if seeing him would always make her heart give a little flip.
This was why people didn’t date people they worked with. She and Carter had barely done anything, just a couple dates and some dog lessons, and here she was mooning over him like a teenage girl.
His eyes took in the room, and Ginny thought he paused on her for just a moment before moving on.
Carly leaned in. “He definitely just looked at you.”
Carter cleared his throat.
“Welcome everybody. The gym looks great, doesn’t it?” The room broke out in applause again, and this time, a few cheers. Several of his football players whistled loudly.
“Before we show you the hard work of our team, I wanted to thank all of you guys for supporting us this year. We had some real talent on the field.”
More applause.
“I bet you want to see the decor! Last weekend, since we had a bye week, the players got together to create something special for tonight. It was the perfect creation to work with Sabrina’s Ocean of Stars theme.”
He paused for a moment, his mind momentarily blank.
Could he do this? What had he planned to say to them?
To her?
A few people cleared their throats. He could feel his heart pounding.
He forced himself to go on. “One of the most important things we learned during this period is that if you make a mistake, you fix it. Tonight, I’m hoping to make a little progress on that.”
He found Ginny, and their gazes caught. She was watching.
She looked so different, her dark hair down and curled. And in a dress, long and blue. She looked elegant. And perfect.
They stared at each other so long, with him still not speaking, that several members of the crowd followed his gaze to look at Ginny. He could see their nods and their understanding from the edges of his vision.
One of his team members—Joey, he’d bet—shouted, “Just show us the stage!” Several people tittered.
“Will do,” Carter said, breaking free of Ginny’s gaze and letting his eyes glance through the crowd. Nobody was talking or looking anywhere but at him.
“Recently, I had an amazing night with an amazing person. And I wanted to re-create that moment tonight.” He picked up the mic stand and moved it to the side of the stage. He nodded at the girl waiting, her hands on the ropes to the curtains, and she tugged until they opened.
Carter couldn’t see Ginny right then, as he was turned to the stage, but an audible sigh fell across the audience.
They had done well. His senior boys stood in suits on a replica of the steps of the Titanic.
As everyone clapped for the beautiful set, Carter turned to find Ginny again.
He could see her eyes glistening even from this distance, and her hands were clasped together in front of her nose.
“Miss Ginny Page, would you do me the honor of being the first to walk up the steps?”
Now the whole town turned to look. Her friend Carly gave her a little push to move out of her chair.
She stood. The crowd began to part to let her through.
As instructed, the football players walked off the stage, two of them heading toward her to escort her to the steps. She seemed a little unsteady and smiled at them as they each took one of her arms.
They led her up to Carter, and he took both of her hands in his.
“Third date,” he said quietly. “I had to make it a doozy.”
She swallowed before she could respond. “You did.”
The music started up again as Carter led her to the base of the staircase. It wasn’t a million-dollar construction like the one at the museum. But the wood was stained, and the sides painted gold. Anyone who knew anything about the movie or the ship would recognize it.
They took the steps one by one up to the top. Then they turned and looked out upon everyone in Applebottom. A great cheer rose up. A photographer moved into place, his assistant setting up lights on either side.
“I wanted to ask for your forgiveness,” he said. “And to thank you.”
“You didn’t have to—”
“No, I did. I was stuck in my past. Only when you forced me to consider my life now and what made me happy did I figure it out.”
“I’m glad you did.”
They grinned at each other like foolish teens. Carter felt his stomach begin to settle. She wasn’t mad. This was going to be okay. He hadn’t blown it completely.
Carter leaned in close. “I guess it would be totally inappropriate for me to kiss you in front of all these impressionable young people,” he said.
Ginny nodded.
“Probably so.”
But then someone from the crowd shouted, “Stop your yacking and kiss her!”
Carter spotted a man in a long beard, sleeveless shirt, and a leather vest. His arms were outstretched. Of course.
As people recognized who had called out, they took up the cry. “Kiss her! Kiss her!”
“Who is that?” Ginny asked Carter. “Does he even live here?”
Carter chuckled. “That’s T-bone. He’s the mayor. And I believe he has just issued an official city proclamation.”
He turned Ginny to face him. The whoops and the cheers drowned out the music as she looked into his eyes.
He leaned in, and the kiss he dropped on her mouth was the gentlest, and quite possibly the most chaste, of their relationship.
It was also the sweetest. As the approval of the crowd washed over them, Carter realized that those people had made this happen.
Maude and Gertrude and Delilah and the school secretaries and Mr. Farley. Even the mayor. The whole dang town.
They were his team. They had led him to Ginny and Roscoe. Kept them together. And then when he’d messed it up, they’d helped her help him.
Applebottom itself had brought them together.
Chapter 21
The winter afternoon proved bright and clear as Ginny and Carter walked Roscoe from her house to the park. A few squirrels ventured out, digging at the base of trees for their buried nuts, and Roscoe lunged forward.
“Roscoe, heel,” Carter commanded.
Ginny stifled a giggle as Roscoe snorted out his nose, his one protest to being told what to do, but he obeyed, walking alongside Carter, the leash slack between his collar and Carter’s hand.
Ginny felt so free. Gone was the harness around her waist. They’d given that up between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
And with a new book from Delilah’s store, they’d taken a fresh approach with Roscoe at the New Year, and this one had worked much better.
They crested their favorite hill and paused. Down below, parents were taking advantage of the good weather. A dozen of them ringed the playground, their children shrieking and running amok.
Two women in scarves and long coats approached, their heads down in deep conversation. Only when Maude looked up, her friendly face breaking into a smile, did Ginny also recognize Gertrude.
“Who’s watching the pie shop?” Ginny asked when they got close enough to hear her.
Gertrude rolled her eyes. “This crazy partner of mine convinced me to hire some help for a few hours so we could take a walk around the park in daylight.”
“It’s beautiful out today,” Carter said. He tightened his hold on Roscoe’s leash to make sure he didn’t act up in front of the old guard of Applebottom.
“If you like turning into a freezer pop,” Gertrude grumbled. “Have I had enough fresh air yet?”
“Not even close,” Maude said. “You need your weekly constitutional.”
“I’d rather be at the shop.”
“Alfred Felmont is in Branson today,” Maude said, tucking a loose bit of her red scarf into place. “So you’re not missing him.”
“I’ll have you know that I didn’t even make a lemon meringue pie today,” Gertrude said. “And stop meddling with that scarf. You’re as fidgety as a mouse.”
Carter and Ginny glanced at each other and hid their smiles. Those two never would stop sniping. Carter had suggested Ginny send them some therapy assignments, but she wasn’t crazy. The pair most certainly knew they were perfect exactly as they were.
“Good to see the two of you looking so happy,” Maude said. She let go of Gertrude to pet Roscoe’s head. “What a good, handsome doggy.”
Roscoe lurched forward as if he would put his paws on her shoulders, his favorite greeting, but Carter kept him down. “Stay, Roscoe,” he said.
The Great Dane snorted in disgust, and Maude burst out laughing. “He sounds just like Gertie when somebody doesn’t finish their slice of pie!”
“Oh, hush,” Gertrude said. “Come along. Let’s not rain on their love parade.”
The two women moved past them to head down the hill.
“To the lake?” Carter asked.
“Sounds lovely.”
They circled the playground, the happy shouts of the children already making Roscoe jumpy and itching to run loose. As they reached the opposite side of the mass of parents and children, they spotted Delilah underneath a small portable tent shade.
“What’s she doing?” Ginny asked.
A couple with their German Shepherd moved aside, and they spotted a sign hanging on a white table.
Dog treats! Support the middle school soccer team!
“Oh boy,” Ginny said.
“Roscoe can handle it,” Carter said.
“Are you sure?”
The other couple bent down and fed their dog something from the table.
Roscoe stopped dead, watching the exchange. He looked up at Ginny as if to say, Where’s mine?
“Might want to feed him something,” Carter said.
Ginny fumbled in her backpack for a treat. She had quit strapping the special bag to her waist when they’d given up the harness.
The couple with the German Shepherd walked closer. The woman still held half of one of Delilah’s signature dog cookies.
“You want to say hi?” the woman asked her dog.
Roscoe lunged again.
“No!” Carter and Ginny both called out at the same time.
The woman looked startled, but she steered her dog a different direction.
“Please say they’re not locals,” Ginny said to Carter.
“Definitely not,” he said.
Delilah noticed them. “Hello, Carter! Hello, Ginny!” she called. “How’s that big doggy?”
Roscoe strained against the leash. Carter doubled it up in his fist.
Delilah held up one of the dog cookies. “Come get a treat for that big handsome boy.”
“That’s okay!” Ginny called. She could see the Carter’s hand turning red from the cinch of Roscoe’s leash. They had to get him out of here.
But Roscoe had seen the cookie. He lunged to the right, knocking Carter off balance.
Ginny squealed as Carter stumbled, the leash unwinding from his fist.
“Don’t let go!” she called, leaping for Roscoe’s back.
But they were way too late.
Roscoe took off. The leash jerked from Carter’s hand. Before they could even call his name, he had torn down the path toward Delilah.
Her eyes got big as he approached.
Ginny sprinted like she had never done before, reaching, trying to grasp the end of the leash, which bounced over the dead grass like a hyperactive snake.
Delilah backed away as Roscoe reached the table, leaping right up on top.
By the time Ginny arrived, he’d knocked over three jars of treats and vacuumed up all the samples. He jumped down and began eating the spilled cookies as fast as he could. Plastic baggies filled with dog bones slid in a cascade onto the ground.
“No, Roscoe!” Ginny shouted, grasping his collar and pulling him back.
Carter arrived, and between the two of them, they managed to separate Roscoe from the disaster he’d caused.
Delilah’s hands pressed against the sides of her beehive, the dog-bone shaped bow on one side completely askew.
“Oh no! The fundraiser!” Her face puckered. “We’re trying to raise money for a trip to St. Louis!”
They wrestled Roscoe back onto the path, and Ginny straddled him, her arms around his neck. “Oh, Roscoe,” she said. “How could you?”
Carter pulled out his wallet. “Here,” he said to Delilah. “Hopefully this will cover it.” He handed her a sheaf of cash.
“I can’t take your money.” She started picking up the packaged cookies. “It’s not as bad as it looks. Maybe twenty dollars’ worth.”
“Then here,” he said. “Let me cover it. For the trip.”
She accepted
a few bills. “Poor dog. And he was doing so well.”
Roscoe let out an enormous burp and lay down in the grass.
“Need a nap now?” Ginny asked him angrily. She looked over at Carter in despair.
“I think your doggy treats are Roscoe’s kryptonite,” Carter said. “Maybe that can be your slogan. ‘Makes even the best-behaved dog go bonkers.’”
She laughed. “Thank you. There’s always a bright side, isn’t there?”
“If he hadn’t ransacked your store last year, you wouldn’t have made me come help Ginny.”
“The best bright side,” she said, her face beaming. She righted her treat jars. They were still half full. “It’s worth a few lost cookies.”
Carter strode back over to them. Roscoe’s eyes were drooping.
“I bet you’re tired.” He took the leash from Ginny and looped it back around his hands. “Come on, you big lug. Let’s walk it off.”
After a short resistance, Roscoe lumbered to his feet. He looked longingly back at Delilah’s table, but when Carter told him to heel, he did.
“You okay?” he asked Ginny.
Now that the moment was over, she had to laugh. “I am. Thanks for covering the damages.”
“I guess there are some things even a well-trained dog can’t resist,” he said.
Ginny threaded her arm through Carter’s. “I think there are things nobody can resist.”
His face turned to her. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Epilogue
The team surrounded Carter on the field. Fourth quarter. The team was down by three points. Three lousy points.
“We can do this,” he said. “Applebottom High hasn’t won a game in five years. But this is it.”
Eleven faces looked at him, mud-streaked, tired, but determined.
Toby leaned in. “We going to do the special play?”
Carter nodded. “Let’s surprise them.”
Everyone stretched an arm toward the center, hands piled together.
Carter put his on top. He pushed down, and Toby said, “Ready, BREAK.”
They flew apart and the team ran back on the field.
