by Philip Craig
After that I took her to Oak Bluffs.
“What are we doing here?” she asked, with a small smile.
“We’re going to dance,” I said.
“Oh, I don’t know. I . . .”
“Anytime before last year, you’d have been taking a chance if you danced with me,” I said, “because I was terrible. I never knew where my feet were, or what I was supposed to do. But Zee Madieras has made me into a new man. She showed me how to dance any kind of dance, and now I’m going to show off with you. Come on.”
We went into the Atlantic Connection. It was crowded and the music hurt my ears, but the dance floor had space for two more, and I led her there. I put my arm around her waist, took her right hand in my left one, and stood there, holding her gently against me.
After a while she looked up at me. “This is it? This is the way you dance?”
I smiled down at her. “Great, isn’t is? As long as I don’t move my feet, I can dance any kind of dance.”
“And this is what your friend Zee taught you?”
“A terrific teacher. She changed my life. Isn’t this fun? God, when I think of the years I was ashamed to step out onto the floor!”
Geraldine put her head against my chest and began to laugh.
We danced until pretty late, and then I took her home. That week I took her fishing and clamming and qua-hogging. I took her out dancing two more times. We danced at the Hot Tin Roof and again at the Connection. Toward the end, I began to shuffle around a little, just to show I was willing to experiment. When I took her home that night, she pulled my head down and kissed me.
“Thanks,” she said. “Uncle Dan says that Zee Madieras is due home tomorrow. I guess that means you won’t be taking me out anymore.”
“There are a lot of nice guys who’ll want to take you out,” I said. “Just give them a chance.”
That night I didn’t sleep too well.
Zee’s ferry came in mid-afternoon. I had spent the day doing things that needed doing around the house. I was under the Toyota trying to find an irksome little oil leak when I heard a car coming down my driveway. I suspected that I needed a new gasket for my oil pan. On the other hand, maybe I could get away with just tightening a couple of bolts that had loosened up. The car stopped and a door opened. I slid out from under the Toyota and looked up at Zee.
My heart turned over.
I brushed at some grease on my shirt, then looked up again. Zee was walking toward me. She was wearing a pale blouse and skirt that emphasized her dark loveliness. She walked in beauty, like the night, right up to me.
“Well,” I said. “You’ve come back.”
“Yes.”
“Were your conferences enlightening?”
“Yes.”
“Have you made any decisions?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a lot to talk about?”
“Yes.”
“With me?”
“Yes.”
“I have a lot to talk about with you, too,” I said, “but first things first. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I will.”
THE MARTHA’S VINEYARD MYSTERY SERIES BY PHILIP R. CRAIG
A Beautiful Place to Die
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #1)
Death in Vineyard Waters
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #2)
Vineyard Deceit
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #3)
Vineyard Fear
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #4)
Off Season
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #5)
A Case of Vineyard Poison
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #6)
Death on a Vineyard Beach
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #7)
A Deadly Vineyard Holiday
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #8)
A Shoot on Martha’s Vineyard
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #9)
A Fatal Vineyard Season
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #10)
Vineyard Blues
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #11)
Vineyard Shadows
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #12)
Vineyard Enigma
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #13)
A Vineyard Killing
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #14)
Murder at a Vineyard Mansion
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #15)
Vineyard Prey
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #16)
Dead in Vineyard Sand
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #17)
Vineyard Stalker
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #18)
Vineyard Chill
(Martha’s Vineyard Mystery #19)
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1993 by Philip R. Craig
Originally published in hardcover as Cliff Hanger
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First Scribner ebook edition July 2016
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ISBN 978-1-5011-5356-3 (ebook)
