Dance Like Nobody's Watching (Summer Lake 3)

by McCoy, SJ

  Missy took a seat at the huge island in the kitchen. Was this really her life now? Would she and Dan get married, like Emma predicted? She hugged herself as she sat on the stool—she sure hoped so! She loved seeing how happy and in love Emma and Jack were. She was starting to believe that she and Dan could have that too. Right now, while she was making dinner, Dan and Scot were upstairs, supposedly coding, but from the occasional bang and yell, she guessed they were probably playing a video game instead. She'd always battled with Scotty about homework being done before games. Dan had explained to her that when he was a kid, he'd needed to give his mind a break from boring school stuff and play or code for a while before going back to it for homework. She hadn't been sure at first, but the two of them had played a video game while she'd made dinner on Monday night. After they'd eaten, Scotty had brought his books to the table and buckled down without being asked. It seemed that was becoming their routine. She liked it.

  Her cell phone rang and she scooped it up, thrilled to see Chance's name on the display.

  “Hey, big bruv!” She answered,. “What's going on?”

  “That's what I was going to ask you!”

  Missy's heart sank. She'd told her dad she and Scot were going to stay with Dan for a couple of weeks. He'd met Dan a few times now, and seemed to like him. Her dad never gave much away, but he'd teased Dan about being so smart. He'd ever tease someone if he didn't like them. She'd known she'd have to tell Chance too, but she'd wanted him to meet Dan first, so he'd understand.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Don't give me that shit, Miss!”

  She gulped, he sounded mad!

  “Who is he?”

  “Chance, he's the guy I've been telling you about for months. The one who's been helping Scotty.” She couldn't believe Chance would be too hard on a man who was helping Scot out.

  “I thought that was some geek who was working with my nephew—not working on my little sister!”

  She laughed. “Your little sister is a grown woman, Chance. A grown woman who is capable of choosing a good man.”

  “Hmph!”

  “Oh, stop playing the badass! This is me you're talking to, remember.” She was glad to hear him laugh. He rarely did these days. “I know it's all happening a bit fast, but he's a good man. He's good to Scot and he's good to me.”

  “We'll see.”

  “Yes, you will. I want you to meet him. Can you still come for my birthday?”

  “I said I'd come, didn't I?”

  “You did, but I know things can change.” She loved her brother dearly, but she'd learned better than to expect him to come back to Summer Lake. It was too painful for him. She understood that.

  “Well, they have changed.”

  Missy bit back the disappointment. She'd so wanted him to be there for her birthday, to meet Dan, spend time with Scot. She let out a sigh. “Maybe you can come sometime soon then?”

  “I can. This change means I want to come this weekend...and stay for your birthday...and maybe a while longer.”

  “Really?” she squealed.

  His deep laugh rumbled down the phone. “Really. I've got some stuff of my own going on, Miss. Before I can move forward in life, I think it's time I come back. Make peace with the past.”

  Missy didn't know what to say, Chance rarely mentioned the past. “Are you okay?”

  “I'm fine, honey. And I think I'm starting to get better too.”

  “Oh, Chancey, I hope so. You can come stay here if you want?” She couldn't imagine him staying with their dad. He'd have to be a long way over the past before that happened.

  “Thanks, but no thanks. How about you let me rent your place from you since you're staying with the geek-boy?”

  “He's a man, not a boy!”

  Chance laughed. “We'll see. And you're not arguing about the geek part?”

  She pursed her lips. “Do you really think this is the best way to ask me a favor?”

  It was good to hear him laugh so much. “I'm trying to do you a favor. Pay you some rent on your house.”

  “Yeah, right Chance. Whatever you say. Of course you can stay at my place and no you cannot pay me rent. How long do you think you might be here?”

  There was a long silence before he answered. “We'll see.”

  That was his standard answer. He wasn't big on committing to anything. “At least tell me when you're coming?”

  “This weekend. I'll be there when I get there. I've still got a key.”

  “Good, but Chancey, please let me know when you're arriving? I can't wait to see you. I can't wait for you to meet Dan. Promise me you'll go easy on him?”

  “You know I don't do promises, Miss.”

  Damn! That had been a stupid thing to say. “Sorry. I'm just excited. Are you really going to stay ’til my birthday?”

  “Sure am, honey.”

  “Thanks. You have no idea....”

  “I've gotta go. Tell Shorty I'll see him next week, and tell geek-boy he'd better be good to you both. Love ya.”

  “I love you, Chancey, bye.”

  He'd already hung up. She couldn't imagine what was going on with him, that he was coming a week early for her birthday. She'd known he'd want to meet Dan—and scare him off if he could. But it sounded like it was about so much more than that. She slid down from the stool and went to check on the grill.

  The house was so well laid out. A door from the kitchen opened out to a little deck where the grill stood. From there a path led down to an herb garden, then on to the vegetable garden. She could happily get used to living like this. Once the grill was hot enough, she went back to the kitchen to fetch the burgers. She looked at her phone sitting on the counter. She sure hoped, for Chance's sake, that he was ready to make peace with his past. She also hoped, for her own sake, that he would like Dan, the man who was starting to look like her and Scot's future.

  ***

  Dan pushed his plate away. “That was wonderful. Thanks, Miss. I'm not going to tell Jack, but you make those fries better than he does.”

  Missy smiled, pleased that so far Dan had loved everything she'd cooked.

  “Yeah, Mom. That was awesome, thanks.” Scot wiped the ketchup off his face with his sleeve. She didn't have the heart to pull him up over it. He looked so happy.

  Dan gave her a little smile that said he knew that her instinct had been to do just that and he was proud of her for holding back. To think she'd been a mom for almost half of her life, and he'd never had or wanted kids, yet Dan was teaching her a lot about what worked best with Scotty. Probably because he remembered all too well what it felt like to be in Scot's shoes.

  “Come on, champ. Help me with the dishes so your mom can put her feet up?”

  “Okay. Then who's up for a movie?”

  “What about homework?”

  “All done!” They both said at the same time. Dan held his hand up and Scot high-fived him with a grin.

  “So. Movie?”

  “Actually,” said Dan. “I was wondering if you'd come for a walk into town with me?”

  Scot looked at him. “Walk? Why?”

  Dan laughed. “Because you've got to walk before you can run and I'm going to have you out running with me before Christmas.”

  Missy smiled to herself. She'd been surprised that Dan had managed to fit in his run every morning. He'd been walking with Scot to the bus stop, then running for an hour. She'd been leaving for work by the time he came back. She wasn't sure he'd ever be able to get Scotty to join him though.

  “And I can't ask your mom to come with me because it's about a surprise for her.” Dan's eyes twinkled and she wondered what he might have in store now. Yesterday morning he'd returned from his run with chocolate croissants from the bakery. Apparently when he'd learned that she loved them, he'd talked to Ben who had added them to the menu. The twinkle faded though, as he said, “And besides, it doesn't seem fair to ask your mom to walk anywhere since she works so hard all day.”

  She f
rowned. He'd been trying to persuade her to at least cut back on her cleaning schedule. He may be right that she worked too hard, but she didn't know how to do anything else. “I'm not too tired. I'll come for a walk with you.”

  “Sorry, but I do have a surprise in store for you, so you can't.”

  He looked so pleased with himself, she couldn't even feel upset. And she was still tired, though nowhere near as bad as last week. “Okay. Maybe I can figure out how to set up the movie for when you get back.”

  Dan and Scot exchanged a look.

  “Don't worry about it, Mom,” said Scot with a laugh.

  “Err, yeah.” Dan smiled. “Maybe you should have a go at the computer in your office instead?”

  He'd tried to convince her that they did need six bedrooms, by setting them each up with an office. His own was the biggest, and looked to her like something out of a SciFi movie with huge monitors and server racks sitting around. Scot's was almost as bad, and apparently was going to get even more so over the weekend when they got rid of all the bedroom furniture and brought in more desks and equipment. Her own 'office' was beautiful. It looked out over the lake and had its own fireplace and little balcony. The computer in there was a big, scary thing though. She had yet to get the hang of it. Dan wanted her to cut back on the cleaning, not just to get some rest, but also so that she could start taking classes online and working towards her degree. It'd take a while though, before she trusted that all this was real, that it would last, before she would loosen her grip on her only source of income.

  “Maybe I will take a shot at it.” She could go and sit and stare out at the lake while the computer went through its drawn out boot up. Hopefully they'd be back before she needed to attempt to log on to it.

  “Go on,” said Dan. He seemed to know what she was thinking. “Enjoy the sunset up there. We'll see to the dishes and set up the movie.”

  She got up from the table. He curled an arm around her waist and pulled her to him for a kiss.

  “Hey, where's mine?” asked Scot when Dan let her go. He hugged her waist and pecked her cheek. “Love you, Mom.”

  Missy grinned. “Love you, son.” Not only was he hugging on Dan every chance he got, he was showing her much more affection too. “Give me a shout when you get back,” she said and headed upstairs.

  ***

  “What's the big surprise?” asked Scot as they set out on the short walk to the resort.

  Dan smiled at him. “We're taking your mom to Vegas, to see a show!”

  Scot pulled a face. “We? As in, including me?”

  “Yeah. Is that a problem?”

  Scot's face was a picture of disgust. “Have you ever been to the kind of shows she likes? I have. They're dumb. People singing and dancing and they go on forever. It's soooo boring!”

  Dan had to laugh. He understood how Scot felt and his face was so expressive it was quite comical. “I know what you mean, champ, but this one is awesome. It's more like the circus, with people flying around and doing acrobatics and such. You'll love it.”

  Scot did not look convinced.

  “We get to fly up there too.”

  That sparked a tiny flicker of interest, though it faded quickly. “When is it?”

  “Tomorrow night. We'll pick you up from school and head out.”

  “Oh. Do I have to go?”

  Dan thought about it. He'd wanted the three of them to go together, but he didn't want to force the kid if he hated the idea. “Why, what are you thinking?”

  Scot grinned. “I'm teaching Ethan how to use Linux. I'll bet his dad would let me stay there again.”

  “Maybe. We probably need to ask your mom first though.”

  “But that'll ruin your surprise!” Scot looked crestfallen. “I don't want to do that.”

  “It won't. All she needs to know is that you're staying at Ethan's. Not that it's so you don't have to go to Vegas.”

  Scot brightened. “Oh, yeah. Cool.”

  Dan took out his phone. “I'll text Michael and check with him.”

  When they got back to the house, Scot grinned at Dan. “I'll set up the movie while you go hide the dress.”

  “Thanks, champ.”

  “No problem. You got me out of seeing one of Mom's shows and got me a night at Ethan's. I owe you one.”

  Dan laughed to himself as he ran up the stairs to hang the dress Holly had given him in his closet. It was a beautiful blue color. He knew Missy would look stunning in it. Holly had told him that Missy had loved it when she'd seen it in the store. He'd been stunned when she'd told him how much it cost. Pete had grinned at him, “I did warn you that expensive dresses are Holly's specialty.”

  Holly had seemed worried. “Is that okay?” she'd asked.

  Dan had smiled and nodded while Pete had reassured her. “Don't worry about it, sweetheart. Dan's not only a tech genius, he's a financial one too. He could buy and sell the rest of us without ever touching his savings.”

  That had felt uncomfortable—because it was true. Yet even with all his money that was supposed to make such a big difference, the woman he loved was still going out scrubbing other people's toilets every day. He needed to find a way to make her see sense.

  He knocked on the door to her office before he went in. She smiled at him, looking a little guilty from her spot in the armchair looking out at the lake. Her computer blinked at the login screen, just as he'd expected.

  “You don't need to knock.”

  “I like to.”

  He pulled her up from her chair and slid in underneath her. She nestled in his lap and he closed his hand around the back of her neck and kissed her deeply. She did go limp when he did that.

  When his lips left hers she smiled. “You know you can do whatever you want with me any time you get me by the scruff of the neck like that.”

  He laughed. “Not this time, I can't. Scot's waiting for us to go watch the movie. What I want to do with you will have to wait ’til he's gone to bed.”

  She put her hands on his shoulders and rubbed her nose against his. “I hope it's a short movie.”

  Dan did too.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Missy looked at Scot across the breakfast table. She was still amazed at the way he'd gotten up every morning this week without her having to call him. She looked at Dan sitting next to him, the two of them working their way through the bacon and eggs she'd made. She'd been concerned at first that she might be spending her nights sleeping alone in that big bed, while Dan worked on his computer. So far though they'd gone to bed together every night. She smiled at the memories. They'd woken up together too. Though she thought of Dan as a night owl, one part of him was definitely a morning person! She hoped that this was the pattern they were setting, not just a honeymoon period that would slip away.

  “Scot, honey. I’m thinking maybe you should come home after school and get your homework done. Uncle Chance is coming this weekend and we both know you won't get anything done while he's here. We can take you over to Ethan's once you're done.”

  Instead of the argument she'd feared, Scot grinned at her, then looked at Dan. She saw Dan wink at him.

  “Okay, what's going on?” she asked.

  “What do you think, champ? Should we tell her now?”

  Scot nodded eagerly. “Go on, tell her. I want to see her face.”

  Missy laughed. “Hello? I'm sitting right here! Will someone tell me something?”

  Dan smiled his beautiful smile and she knew that, like Scot, she would have no argument to offer.

  “Scotty can't come home after school, cos we won't be here.”

  “Why? Where will we be?”

  “Vegas!” said Scot. “He's taking you to see one of your shows and I don't have to go!”

  Missy looked from Scot to Dan. “Vegas? How can we do that?”

  Dan reached across the table and took her hand. “We're flying up this afternoon.” There was concern in his eyes as he squeezed her hand. “If you want to? I got us tickets for
Cirque du Soleil.”

  “Really? I've always wanted to see that!”

  He looked relieved. “So you want to?”

  Her heart sank. “Only if you got us the cheap seats, I don't have anything I could wear otherwise.”

  Scot jumped up, grinning at Dan. “Can I go get it?”

  Dan grinned back at him. “Please, champ.”

  As Scot shot upstairs, Missy looked at Dan. She was a little concerned. “We could have taken him you know. I've taken him to see shows before.”

  Dan smiled. “Don't think I'd leave him out. That was my original plan, but apparently he'd rather have a tooth pulled than see another one. He asked me to help him get out of it. Do you mind? We don't have to go if you don't want to, but he was so keen to get another night at Ethan's that I thought this might be okay.”

  He looked so uncertain. The poor man was trying to do something nice, both for her and for Scotty. She squeezed his hand back. “Oh, Danny. I do want to. I'm just surprised. And Scotty will be fine. It's a treat for him not to have to go, I'm sure.”

  “It is. A real treat,” said Scot as he reappeared carrying a dress. “I wish I'd get to see you in this though, Mom. You're gonna look so good. You haven't worn a pretty dress since Auntie Em's wedding.”

  He held up a beautiful midnight blue colored evening dress. Missy caught her breath. It was the one she'd seen in Holly's store last weekend. It was gorgeous. And she knew it cost more than she made in a month! She looked at Dan.

  “I hope it's alright?” he asked.

  “Alright? It's fabulous! But Dan, it....”

  He held up a hand with a stern look. “I know what you're going to say, but please, Miss, leave it?”

  He spoke with such finality that she said nothing.

  He looked at her, eyebrows raised. “Please? How about you go try it on so Scotty can see you in it?”

  “Yeah,” said Scot. “Go put it on, Mom.”

  She took the dress into the guest bathroom. It fit perfectly. It was absolutely beautiful. She hurried back to the kitchen and saw two jaws drop open.