“Okay, everyone, food’s ready,” Tina announced. “Bring your plates and get your Grizzly grub.”
Jonathan noticed that old Doug was first in line. Doug had been a fullback, first string, and he’d probably dated half the girls in the school. He’d been known for both his monster size and the appetite that matched it. Now filling his plate took higher priority than flirting with Tina or paying attention to her little boy.
Did Jonathan want to be like the Doug Immeressens of the world? No, thanks. The guy might have been something back in high school, but today, like Jonathan, he was a guy alone floating in a sea of families. Old Doug was nothing to be jealous of.
“So, how’s it been going?” Simon asked. He checked out Jonathan’s hip jeans and shirt and the casual flip-flops. “Kyle says you’ve got your own company. And you built your own house,” Simon continued. “Looks like life’s agreeing with you.” His voice was channeling the green-eyed monster’s bro.
Jonathan nodded. Weird, he thought. What did he have to be jealous about?
“Your business must be doing well.”
“It’s okay,” Jonathan said with a shrug. He was making a living but he wasn’t exactly getting rich.
“There’s more to life than money,” his dad used to say. “Find yourself a good woman and you’ll be the richest man in the world.”
He’d found the woman, but so far he was still locked outside Fort Knox.
“Let’s get some food before it’s all gone,” Kyle suggested, grabbing a paper plate.
The food line was long, and once the first string had gone through, the pickings were slim, but Jonathan scored some pasta salad and the last burger on the barbecue.
“Jonathan, you’re just in time,” Juan told him.
Juan, too, had moved in the top circles in high school, but he’d always been an okay guy, happy to be friends with everyone. Even now, Jonathan was impressed that Juan remembered his name. Of course, Juan was running for representative for the fourth congressional district. As a politician, it was his business to remember names.
“Great to see you,” he added, and even though he was a politician, Jonathan suspected he meant it.
“As usual, the jocks got all the good stuff,” Kyle grumbled.
“You’re the one who wanted to come,” Jonathan reminded him as they walked back to their table.
One of Jonathan’s band buddies showed up with his wife and their twin boys and Jonathan’s party squeezed together, making room for them at the table. Visiting with another old pal, Jonathan decided it had been worth his time to come to the picnic. He kept the kids laughing by making funny faces and demonstrated his talent for hanging a spoon on his nose. Very uncool but the kids loved it.
Once they’d finished eating, the twins ran off to play. Jonathan noticed that his pal kept a watchful eye on them.
Which was more than he could say for some of the other parents. Many of them were too busy yukking it up and remembering the good old days to pay attention to what their offspring were up to. Like Tina, who was in a giggling huddle with the other cheerleaders.
Meanwhile, Mikey ran in ever-widening circles, chasing the bigger kids. He’d probably grow up to be a distance runner. Tina was right; little Mikey didn’t have an off switch.
But Simon’s two-year-old did. “I think we need to get back to your mom’s for a nap,” his wife said.
“You guys coming to the dance tonight?” Kyle asked.
“That depends on whether or not I get my nap,” Beth said.
Simon gave her bulging belly a pat. “She’s sleeping for two.”
And Simon was proud of it. A wife, a son and another kid on the way. Once again the green-eyed monster had to be slain.
“I guess there’s no point in hanging out here much longer,” Kyle said, watching them go. “I wish I’d brought Mindy.”
And Jonathan wished Lissa had been there. He hoped she was doing something with her mom and wasn’t out somewhere with Rand, who was also M.I.A. He scanned the crowd. There was no one here he wanted to hang with. No baby pictures he needed to comment on.
As his gaze roamed the herd of picnickers, he realized someone was missing from the picture. Little Mikey. Where was the kid? Not with his mom, who was busy flirting with Doug.
Jonathan suddenly got a sick feeling in his gut as he looked toward the river and caught sight of a small figure in shorts and a red T-shirt through the foliage at the river’s edge.
“Shit!” He took off running.
“What?” Kyle called after him, but he didn’t reply.
He was vaguely aware of Tina’s voice, casually calling, “Mikey.”
This particular stretch of the Wenatchee River was no lazy river. Its current would be too much for a small boy with a yen to go swimming.
Now Tina was calling her son, her voice laced with panic. “Mikey? Mikey!”
Jonathan kept on running. He got to the riverbank in time to find the boy in the process of removing his second shoe.
“Hey, Mikey,” Jonathan said, keeping his voice relaxed. “Whatcha doin’?”
“I want to swim in the river,” Mikey said, and pulled off his sock.
“That sounds like fun, but let’s go check with your mom first. I’ll give you a horseback ride.”
Mikey shook his head and stood, clearly more interested in a swim.
Jonathan moved to position himself between the boy and the river. “You ever ride a bucking bronco?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a big old horse like the cowboys ride in the rodeo. It’s a real fun ride.” Jonathan squatted down in front of him. “Hop on. I’ll show you.”
The river was abandoned in favor of the bucking bronco and Mikey climbed onto Jonathan’s back, arms clasping his neck. Jonathan breathed a sigh of relief. A chorus of people calling for Mikey drifted to where they stood by the water. By the time anyone had thought to look here, it would have been too late.
He scooped up Mikey’s shoes and socks and straightened. “Okay, are you ready?”
“Yep.”
Jonathan managed a tolerable neigh and did a couple of jumps, bouncing the little boy and making him laugh. “Now we’re gonna ride on over to your mom. Hang on.” He started loping, throwing in a jump or two and producing more laughs.
They’d only gone a few feet when Doug thundered through the huckleberry bushes, catching Jonathan in midjump. “What the hell?”
“He was about to try to swim in the river,” Jonathan said.
“Holy shit. Come here, kid,” Doug snapped, and pulled Mikey off Jonathan’s back. Then he plucked the shoes out of Jonathan’s hand. “Jeez, kid, don’t you know any better than to go near the river?”
Doug’s sharp tone was enough to make Mikey cry, but Doug didn’t waste time comforting him. Instead, he strode off, forgetting—or maybe not bothering—to say anything to Jonathan.
“All in a day’s work,” Jonathan muttered, following behind. Doug would come back a hero. Doug would probably get laid tonight. “You’re welcome. Glad to help.”
Now Kyle came running up to Jonathan. He’d passed Doug on the way, but Doug hadn’t said anything to him.
“Did you just do what I think you did?” Kyle asked, falling in step with Jonathan.
“Yep. Another future jock saved.”
“To grow up and torture some helpless nerd in high school,” Kyle added. “Look at that,” he said as they approached the picnic area.
Jonathan could see. He didn’t need it pointed out to him that Tina was now hugging her son and looking gratefully at Doug as if he were a hero straight out of a Vanessa Valentine novel.
Kyle clapped Jonathan on the back. “We know who the real hero is.”
“Yeah, the Invisible Man.”
“You won’t be invisible on the dance floor tonight.”
Damn straight he wouldn’t. He had some moves to show off.
* * *
Jonathan could hear the music from two blocks down as he walked over to Festival Hall from where he’d parked. The dance was in full swing. He entered as the DJ started spinning “Raise the Roof” to see a mob of dancers partying under a ceiling hung with balloons and red and gold crepe paper streamers.
There were Simon and his wife, dancing at the edge of the crowd. She looked like she’d swallowed one of those balloons. Simon was grinning down at her. Watching her smile up at him, Jonathan realized she wasn’t so plain, after all. Beth was actually pretty cute.
Maybe love did that to people. If so, it was the world’s best beauty treatment.
Jonathan forced himself farther into the room, although he found it difficult to move into the fray when he was so obviously alone. He knew other people were alone, too—but they were confident they wouldn’t leave alone. He wished he had that confidence. He wished he was a stronger, take-charge kind of guy. How did a man get the confidence it took to swagger into a room? Maybe he should have read fewer romance novels and watched more action movies.
Cut it out, he told himself. Grow a pair.
His tough self-talk only served to make his heart race. What would a romance hero do?
He wouldn’t give up; that much Jonathan knew for sure. Any hero worth his salt had to fight for the woman he wanted. Heroes didn’t give up.
He saw Kyle and Mindy off to one side of the dancing crowd, shaking it. Kyle looked like a man who’d won the World Poker Tournament. Who could blame him? He’d found a woman who thought he was fabulous.
Jonathan wanted that happy ending, too. Now’s the night to make it happen. You can do it. Stand tall, look cool.
He scanned the room for a glimpse of Lissa but didn’t see her. He started walking along the edge of the crowd. That reminded him of his nightmare and made him sweat. Crap. The evening had barely begun and already his confidence was sinking into the toilet. He worked his way to the bar and grabbed a bottled water. Remember, these people are nothing special.
The song ended and the DJ went into another fast number. Jonathan tried to look nonchalant, as if standing by himself was something he’d chosen to do.
“Hi, Jonathan,” a quiet voice said at his side. “Remember me?”
He turned and saw a short, slender woman with a heart-shaped face and short, dark hair. Amanda Adams. She’d been in band with him. “Sure,” he said. “How are you?”
“Good.” Amanda had never been much of a talker.
Jonathan had never been much of a talker, either, and his clever one-liners would only take him so far. He conjured up a nervous smile.
She gave him an equally nervous one in return.
“Uh, would you like to dance?”
She looked at him gratefully. “Okay.”
This wasn’t how he’d envisioned making his dancing debut. But Lissa was nowhere to be seen and Amanda clearly wasn’t having any more fun standing on the sidelines than he was, so what the heck. He’d envisioned holding out his hand to Lissa, just like the hero had in the book he’d read. Instead, here he was taking Amanda’s hand, which was a little on the clammy side.
He could identify. He smiled at her. “This’ll be fun,” he promised.
Once he had them on the floor, he went into his steps and her eyes lit up. She was tentative and clumsy-footed, but since she didn’t weigh much he was able to strong-arm her into most of the moves. He was vaguely aware of a few people watching, so he got bolder. He swung her out and then drew her back and spun them in a showy circle. The song was about to end, so he pulled out a couple more fancy steps. And then he got really bold and flipped her. Success!
This was greeted by applause from the people nearest them as the song ended.
“Wow,” Amanda said. “Jonathan, you’re an incredible dancer.”
“How come you couldn’t do that with me?” demanded Daphne, who was coming off the dance floor at the same time.
“I just...I don’t know,” he finished lamely.
“Well, if you’re lucky, I’ll give you a second chance,” she threatened.
“Uh, thanks,” he muttered, and got away from her as fast as he could.
He didn’t get far though. Another one of the girls from band had him by the arm. “Jonathan, how about a dance?”
“Sure,” he said.
“Can you spin me like you did Amanda?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said with newfound confidence.
After that dance, two more girls were waiting.
And so it went for the next hour, Jonathan spinning girls right and left like so many plates. He finally pleaded thirst and went in search of a drink.
There at the bar, as if she’d been waiting for him, stood Lissa in a black dress that hugged her every curve. Looking at her took his breath away, and the fact that Rand was standing beside her was irrelevant. “You’re pretty popular tonight,” she said.
“I guess,” he murmured.
“That’s a switch,” Rand sneered.
Jonathan ignored him, choosing to concentrate on something more important—smiling at Lissa.
“I didn’t know you could dance like that,” she said.
“I have a lot of hidden talents,” Jonathan told her, and asked the bartender for a beer.
“So, did you save me a dance?”
“Anytime you want it.”
“After this one, maybe,” Rand said, and began to escort her away.
Jonathan remembered the list he’d made. A hero was forceful, took charge. This, he concluded, was the time to show a little strength.
He blocked their way. “How about now?” he said, and took Lissa’s hand and drew her toward the throng of dancers.
“Oh, well, sure,” she said, following him, meek as a lamb.
The DJ had just started a slow song, U2’s “Sweetest Thing.” It had a funky beat but he thought he could make it work for a nightclub two-step. If he didn’t have a heart attack first. The old ticker was suddenly thumping like crazy.
This was it, the moment he’d been waiting for since middle school. He was finally getting to dance with Lissa. A true romance hero would start this dance off with an impressive one-liner. All Jonathan could think of was, “You look lovely tonight.”
“Thanks,” she murmured, then added, “I’m not sure I can keep up with you.”
“I bet you can,” he said with a smile. “I’m betting you know the nightclub two-step.”
“That I can do.”
And she did it beautifully. She matched him step for step, keeping up with every clever move he threw at her. It was as if they’d been dancing together for years.
They had, in his dreams.
The song was half-over; he needed to make the most of it. He drew her against him so they were chest to chest, heart to heart. Close up her face was perfect, her skin like cream. Look how long her lashes were. She smelled like a flower garden in bloom. Best of all, she felt like he’d always imagined she would—soft, womanly, a perfect fit for him, as if they’d been made to go together.
He folded her hand in his. “You know, this is the first time I’ve ever gotten to dance with you.” And he was going to remember it all his life.
She smiled, showing off the dimples in her cheeks. “You make it sound like that’s something special.”
“It is.”
“Aw, Jonathan, you’re so sweet.”
He didn’t want to be sweet. He wanted to be sexy. He wanted to be someone she wanted, not just her old childhood pal or her favorite math tutor or computer nerd.
He was about to say that when the music ended, and there was Rand, sweeping her off. “Come on, Li
ss, you’ve already wasted one slow dance. Don’t cheat me out of any more.”
She made a face at him and shook her head, but she let him take her away. How could she not? Rand was like a steamroller, twice as forceful as Jonathan.
Frowning, he went back for his beer. He found Kyle at the bar, getting drinks.
“You were lookin’ good out there,” Kyle said. “Until you let that ape take your girl.”
“She’s not my girl,” Jonathan said grumpily. He picked up the beer and chugged it down.
“Yeah, and she won’t be at the rate you’re going.” Kyle gave him a friendly nudge. “Come on, man. You’re the dancing king here tonight. Lissa’d be glad to go another round with you. Heck, every woman on the floor has her eye on you. Even Mindy wants to know if you’ll dance with her.” They both spotted Daphne coming toward them, a determined look on her face. “If you’re not gonna dance with Lissa, you’d better go hide before Daphne traps you.”
“Tell her I went to the john. She can’t get me in there.”
“I wouldn’t put it past her.”
Damn it all, he didn’t want to hide out in the john all night. Instead, he’d melt into the crowd. He’d done that all his life.
He moved to another side of the hall, but Daphne followed him like a heat-seeking missile. After dodging her for two songs, he resorted to making his escape to the men’s room and shut himself in a stall so he could think. He had to figure out how to stay a free agent so he could get Lissa away from Rand. That jerk didn’t deserve her. Never had.
And you do?
Okay, truth be told, he didn’t, either. She could do much better than him. But she could do a ton better than Rand.
But maybe she wanted to be with Rand. Maybe she wanted to rekindle the old flame. If she did, who was Jonathan to tell her she couldn’t? He leaned his head against the stall door, a defeated man. Why the hell hadn’t Rand stayed married and in California? Jonathan swore and gave the stall door a whack.
Romance on Mountain View Road Page 27
