by Lee McKenzie
“Is there anything I need to know about being a chaperone?” She tried to speak loud enough to be heard without having to shout.
“A few things. Make sure no one sneaks in or out the side doors. Check the girls’ washroom every ten minutes or so and make sure there are no shenanigans going on in there.”
She laughed at that. “Shenanigans?” Now there was an interesting euphemism for the trouble kids could get themselves into. “What do I do if I catch someone?”
“Let me or one of the other teachers know. We’ll deal with it.”
That was a relief. She was happy to keep an eye on the comings and goings, but she didn’t want to confront a group of kids who were involved in any kind of “shenanigans.”
“I’d better go make the rounds. Talk to you later?”
She nodded her agreement, and she would look forward to it.
He gave her hand a light touch. “You really do look great tonight.”
She couldn’t take her eyes off him as she watched him walk away, and she was grateful the room was too dark for anyone to see the heat that rose up and warmed her face. She was coming very close to falling for this man, falling hard, and if she was right about the signals he was sending her way, the feeling was mutual. And to her surprise, these feelings weren’t completely terrifying.
* * *
CASEY HAD BEEN freaking out about this dance, but it wasn’t as weird as she’d expected it to be. Helping with the decorations had been a blast, and getting ready with Kate had been fun, too. She wouldn’t have looked nearly this good if she’d had to figure out what to wear on her own, and she could tell from the way Dexter kept looking at her that he liked what he saw.
She’d worried that having her mom here as a chaperone would be, well, weird, but Kate had reminded her that having their parents spend time together was a good thing. Thanks to her mom, Kate’s dad had already started to lighten up on his high expectations. Now she needed to get her mom on board with keeping Petey because the shelter was supposed to reopen by the middle of next week. Still, seeing her mom talking to Kate’s dad and remembering seeing them kiss was kind of weird, too. And just now he had touched her hand for a few seconds and it got even weirder. But now they were on opposite sides of the gym, keeping an eye on everything that was going on, and Casey started to relax.
“Come on, you guys,” Kate said. “If we hope to win any of those prizes, we need to get on the dance floor.” She herded the group into the middle of the gym and picked up the rhythm of the music.
The six of them formed a loose circle and she found herself between Dexter and Henry. Alycia was an amazing dancer, thanks to years of ballet classes, and Kate was awesome, too, so Casey did her best to match her moves to theirs. A group dance was way less nerve-racking than if they’d been paired up, though, and she was glad Kate had started it. She would’ve wanted to die if she’d had to dance with just Dexter, and she definitely would’ve wanted to die if Brody asked Alycia and Henry asked Kate but Dexter didn’t ask her.
So this was good.
Really good.
And when Dexter’s shoulder bumped hers—maybe by accident, maybe not—it was the best.
The music stopped abruptly and Casey found herself and Dexter sharing the beam from a spotlight.
“Congratulations to our first winners!” the DJ crooned into the mike. “Come on up here, you two.”
“Cool.” Dex was grinning at her, and then he flung an arm across her shoulders and walked her out of the circle of light and across the floor to the DJ station.
The guy jabbed the mike toward Dex. “And who do we have here?”
“I’m Dexter.”
“And what’s your name, gorgeous?”
“Casey.”
“Dexter and Casey, folks. Aren’t they a cute couple?” He handed an envelope to Dex. “And for their next date, we’re giving them a coupon for one extra-large pizza at Paolo’s pizzeria. Let’s hear it for them!”
Their next date? Oh. No. This was a total freaking disaster. Now everybody would think she was...that Dexter was...that they were...
Oh. No.
And then it got worse. Way worse.
No, no, no, no, no.
Her mom was here. Now her mom would think...
Oh no.
Dex didn’t seem to mind, though. His arm was still slung across her shoulders, and he smelled like leather and another scent she could only identify as something that made her light-headed. Had she told him her mom was here? She couldn’t remember. What was the matter with her? Why wasn’t her brain working?
“You guys are so lucky,” Alycia said when they rejoined the group.
Casey ducked out of Dex’s embrace.
“Free pizza, man.” Brody slapped him on the shoulder. “Nothing tastes as good as free pizza.”
Henry gave them two thumbs up.
Then Kate chimed in. “Hey, I have an idea. After the dance, why don’t we see if our parents will let us go to Paolo’s? I bet my dad will drive us, or maybe Casey’s mom. We can all chip in for sodas and a couple more pizzas.”
“Sure,” Dex said. “What do you think, Casey?”
She’d come to the dance with Kate, which meant being here with Dex wasn’t a date, it was just hanging out. But if he asked her to go for pizza and she went, would that be a date? Was he asking her on a date?
Casey stole a quick look around the gym and caught sight of her mom. She was standing by the ticket table just inside the entrance and when their gazes met, her mom blew her a two-handed kiss. She should have known her mother would be cool.
“I’ll ask my mom,” Casey said. “She’s one of the chaperones.”
The music started again and Dexter took her hand and pulled her out of the group so they were dancing together, just the two of them. This night couldn’t get any better, she decided, especially if her mom let her go for pizza with her friends. That would be totally great, but she wasn’t ready to ask yet. What if her mom said no? If she was going to be disappointed, she’d rather wait till the dance was over.
* * *
AS THE EVENING drew to a close, Jon was wishing he’d brought earplugs. It wasn’t the music he minded; most of it was easy enough to listen to and certainly danceable if the gyrating mass on the dance floor was anything to go by, but the decibel level was a little over the top.
When did you get so old? he asked himself. Kate would probably tell him he’d been born old.
He hadn’t seen her in a while but he knew she was somewhere in the crowd and dancing up a storm with the boy who lived across the street. Sarah had known the kid most of his life and assured him that Henry was a nice boy and a serious student. That was somewhat reassuring, given the behavior of several other students tonight.
Two boys had sneaked outside and were caught smoking in the parking lot. One young couple had been found exchanging saliva in the hallway by their lockers. The worst, though, had been the young girl Sarah had found throwing up in the girls’ washroom. She was obviously inebriated—the evidence had been found in a flask in her handbag—and she had been discreetly escorted outside after her parents were called to pick her up. He hoped she’d learned her lesson and there wouldn’t be a repeat of that incident. The other option was too horrible to even consider. Either way, though, she’d be seeing the school counselor first thing Monday morning, followed by a trip to the vice principal’s office to find out what her punishment would be. He suspected tomorrow’s hangover might suffice, and he hoped the counselor would follow up with the parents, too, and have a little chat about keeping the liquor cabinet under lock and key.
Given all that, he counted his lucky stars that Kate and her friends were having the time of their lives without needing to get into trouble.
He spotted Sarah by the concession table and after she w
aved at him, he walked over to meet her. She looked really stunning tonight. Sometime between taking care of the cleanup after dinner and driving herself and the girls here for the dance, she had transformed herself into a woman who looked way too young and far too hip to be the mother of a fourteen-year-old. Her slim black slacks were tucked into high tan-colored boots, and her hip-length lime-green top was cinched at the waist with a wide leather belt that matched the boots. Long green-and-gold enamel earrings swung from her ears and as always her hair shone like polished bronze.
She was a smart woman and a caring mother, and he especially appreciated everything she had done for him and Kate. Who knows where they’d be right now if he hadn’t been the beneficiary of Sarah’s insight and sage advice? But the bottom line was that he enjoyed spending time with her and hoped to spend more.
“Quite a night,” she shouted once he was within hearing range.
“Tell me about it. Now you know why we need so many chaperones.”
She gestured at the crowded dance floor. “Compared to all these kids who are behaving themselves and having fun, a handful of troublemakers isn’t a big deal.”
Trust her to take all of this in stride. “I don’t suppose you’d like to have a heart-to-heart with the girl you found in the bathroom.”
“No, I’ll pass on that. Either she’s learned her lesson or she’s going to need more help than I’m qualified to give.”
He wasn’t so sure about that.
The song ended and the DJ’s voice pierced the air. “All right, freshmen. This is it. One more song and that’s all she wrote.”
The announcement was met with groans and jeering.
This is it, he told himself. Now or never.
“Would you like to dance?” He drew a breath, waiting.
“Yes, very much.”
He motioned toward the dance floor. “After you.”
Given the upbeat playlist the DJ had been playing all night, he hadn’t expected this to be a slow dance, so he offered silent thanks to the man when Sarah moved into his arms, one hand in his, the other on his shoulder.
He was far from being a great dancer, but he knew the basics and she easily followed his lead. While kissing her had instantly jolted him to the core, dancing with her felt more intimate, his awareness of her more intense. The warmth of her hand, the lightness of her touch, the hint of floral wafting from her hair—perfection.
Their audience? Not so much. If there was ever a need to keep it PG-13, this was it. Unfortunately several of the young couples around them hadn’t seen the memo. Sarah must have noticed them, too, because she smiled up at him and gave a light laugh.
“At least our kids are behaving appropriately,” she said.
His self-consciousness dissipated as he scanned the crowd and spotted Kate and Henry, then Casey and Dexter. Both girls had looped their arms around the boys’ necks and the boys had wrapped theirs around the girls’ waists. Relieved to see some space between those young bodies, he also realized the locked gazes meant that neither girl had any interest in what her parent was doing.
“Do you think they’d still be ‘appropriate’ if we weren’t here to keep an eye on them?” he asked.
“I believe they would. They have a lot of common sense and self-confidence, and those are the tools they need to make good decisions.”
She was right. She always was. “So you never worry about Casey?”
“Are you kidding? I never stop worrying, but I’ve done and continue to do everything I can to prepare her for the world. I have to believe that’s enough.”
He was sure she had, just as he was sure he had a lot of catching up to do. She looked up at him then and smiled, and for the rest of the dance he wasn’t a parent or a teacher or a role model, he was just a man falling in love with a very beautiful woman.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ENERGIZED, THAT’S WHAT she felt, Sarah decided. Revived, aware that she was more than a mom and a businesswoman. She was a woman, experiencing the jumble of emotions and physical sensations that went with being in a man’s arms. Years ago she had shut herself down, and she had done it intentionally, but now she felt as though a switch had been flipped back on. These new feelings were beyond her control, and they both excited and terrified her.
Then the overhead lights snapped on and the school gym lost its otherworldliness. Out of the commotion of students leaving, the cleanup committee whisking away the decorations and the DJ packing up, Casey emerged from the crowd with Kate and Alycia on either side and the three boys trailing close behind.
“Did you have fun?” Sarah asked.
The light in her daughter’s eyes said it all. “Tons! We won a free pizza,” she said. “So did Kate and Henry. So we were thinking...wondering if we can go for pizza before we go home.”
Jonathan joined them in time to hear the request.
“With Alycia and Brody. The six of us,” Kate said, in case there was any doubt about them not wanting their parents tagging along. “It’s only nine-thirty.”
Sarah looked to Jonathan to get his reaction.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“Have all of you talked to your parents?” she asked.
Shaking heads indicated they had not.
“Then you’ll need to call them,” Jonathan said. “And we’ll want to talk to them, to make sure we have their permission.”
“And you can tell them we’ll drive you there and then we’ll pick you up and take you home,” Sarah said.
“Everyone stays at the restaurant till we get back,” Jonathan added. “Are we clear on that?”
Casey launched herself at Sarah, hugging her and making her laugh. “Thanks, Mom.”
“You’re welcome, sweetie. I already know Kate and Henry and Alycia, but are you going to introduce me to the rest of your friends?”
“Sure. This is Alycia’s boyfriend, Brody.” The reference to someone else’s boyfriend rolled off her tongue with ease, then she was suddenly awkward. “And this is my friend Dexter,” she said shyly. “His family moved to Serenity Bay last year.”
“Hi, Dexter. Nice to meet you.” She watched him closely, not altogether sure she cared for the outward display of cockiness.
“You, too, Mrs. Stewart.” He extended his hand and Sarah accepted the tentative handshake, noticing how his gaze darted away an instant after they made eye contact.
Nice manners, a little unsure of himself in spite of what he’d like others to believe, and possibly even a little afraid of her. All good.
Following a flurry of phone calls, during which either Sarah or Jonathan spoke to the other four parents, everyone piled into the two cars for the drive downtown to the pizza shop. Sarah pulled in next to Jonathan and rolled down her window in time to hear him remind the group that they’d be back to pick them up and drive them home in an hour.
“One hour,” he repeated.
All six kids disappeared inside, swept along in a stream of laughter and easygoing banter, leaving Sarah sitting in a puddle of mixed feelings. She had wanted this for her daughter, the friendships, the fun, even the flirtations. Now that it was happening, she wouldn’t mind turning back the clock, just a little.
Jonathan’s passenger window rolled down. “We could go back to my place for coffee.”
“Let’s make it my place. I need to let the dog out for a while.” Petey was becoming a bigger part of their lives every day. She and Casey hadn’t talked about the situation, aside from discussing the fact that the work at the animal shelter was still ongoing, but the writing was on the wall. Casey and the dog had a serious case of mutual infatuation, and Sarah was starting to believe it was contagious. Plus she still didn’t know where this thing with her and Jonathan was going, but if they started spending more time together, it might be good for Casey to have the
companionship of a four-legged friend.
Jonathan waited until she had pulled out of the parking lot and then followed her home. As she drove, she kept checking the rearview, noting the headlights at a safe distance behind, thinking ahead to how they might spend the next hour. Coffee would be the appropriate thing, no question. She wasn’t even close to being ready for anything more serious, even though they had already kissed, twice. They’d also shared details about their personal lives and talked about their kids, and they danced well together. What they hadn’t done was simply be in each other’s company, unencumbered by all that other stuff.
That’s what she needed. Coffee and calm. She glanced again at the lights in the mirror. She hoped that would be enough for Jonathan, too. At least for now.
* * *
KATE SLID INTO the U-shaped booth, squeezed between Henry and Brody. Brody put his arm around Alycia right away and she leaned against him. Across the table, Dex’s arm stretched along the back of the seat behind Casey. Henry kept his arms to himself, folded on the table in front of him. He was shyer than the other two boys, but she still hoped that making the first move wouldn’t be up to her.
“Will two pizzas be enough?” Kate asked.
“No way,” Brody said. “Better get three. I can eat one all by myself.”
“Seriously?” Casey’s laugh was laced with disbelief. “You can eat an entire extra-large pizza?”
“Trust me,” Alycia said. “He can.”
“Don’t forget Kate’s a vegetarian.”
She was grateful to Casey for reminding everyone.
Dex and Brody groaned, but Henry smiled down at her. “I’m good with that,” he said. “Bring on the veggies.”
It wasn’t the same as having his arm around her, but it was a start.
The server came and took their order and returned a few moments later with a round of soft drinks.
“So...” Alycia said with dramatic emphasis on the first word. “Did anyone else see Casey’s mom have the last dance with Kate’s dad tonight? That’s got to be weird.”
