If I Saw You Dancing (Love in Madelia Book 2)

by Jessa Chase

  Daniel shook his head. “Can’t help it, but I’ll give it a try.”

  “You do that, sweetie.” Mrs. Shuster smiled and it took ten years off her face. “How have you been?”

  Daniel looked down at her tiny hands, cradled in his own. He had forgotten how tiny a woman she really was, considering she’d always felt so much larger than life when he’d been younger. She’d been a force of nature in this town, and from what he heard from Logan, she still very much was. She’d taken on Daisy and her son, much the same way she’d taken on Logan and Daniel many years before.

  “It hasn’t been easy, not going to lie to you. I was a little afraid to come here, see you, when I wasn’t doing so good.”

  “I take that to mean you’re doing better now? You look...well you look happy. Are you happy?”

  “I’m getting there, I think,” he replied. “Claire. You know Claire?”

  “I do. Sweet girl.”

  Daniel nodded. “She is. She’s helped me through a lot of my anger, a lot of the stuff that was holding me back.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, Daniel. I always said you and Logan deserved women who understood you, women who could help you be better men.”

  “She does that, in spades. I’m mostly just trying to figure out how to keep her around at the moment.”

  Mrs. Shuster scoffed. “That girl will stay around if you give her a good reason. She’s just the right amount of stubborn that I think would be perfect for you. But she won’t put up with much crap.”

  Daniel laughed so hard he coughed. “Astute as always, Mrs. Shuster.”

  “Eleanor.”

  “Eleanor. You’re right. Claire’s never been one to take much crap from anyone. I’d rather not test her limits too much.”

  “Good. I had a chance to see Logan married off, and now expecting a little one. What do you think are my chances of seeing the same with you?”

  “I can definitely see that in my future, Mrs...Eleanor. I don’t think I could see it, even a month ago. My life fell to shit really hard there. But I’m on my way back up. And yeah, I can see some fat little babies sin my future, maybe.”

  Mrs. Shuster smiled. “Good. You do that. I’m not getting any younger, you know.”

  “Now, I don’t want to hear that. You’re going to outlive all of us and you know it.”

  Mrs. Shuster gave Daniel a withering look. “I’m not a young woman. I’ve done my fair share of good in this world, and I’m happy for what I’ve been able to do. I’m happy to see you and Logan all grown up and living your lives. I am happy every day I get to see Daisy and her little boy growing and thriving too. But I’m too old to pretend that I’ll be around forever. So you get down on one knee and you make Claire an honest woman soon. Even if I’m not around to kiss you and send you off on your wedding day.”

  The thought of Mrs. Shuster not being around in the future put a sour feeling in his stomach. Even when he’d lived a world away from her, a lot of her wisdom had stuck with him and helped him through difficult situations.

  “I love you, Mrs. Shuster.” He said, laughing when she tried to correct him. “I told you I’d try with the first name. No guarantee I’ll get it right every time. You’ve been Mrs. Shuster my whole life. You’re a big reason I’m even around to say anything of this to you. I’ll never be able to thank you enough to mean anything, but I hope you’ll let me try.”

  A tear fell down Mrs. Shuster’s cheek, landing with a plop on the laminate countertop.

  “Oh, you McAllister boys and your words. You’re just so sweet.”

  Daisy approached at that point with Daniel’s coffee and a smile.

  “Can I get you some tea, Mrs. Shuster? Or maybe one of those muffins?”

  Mrs. Shuster waved her off. “No, dear, don’t you worry about me. I’m just having a cry at Daniel over here like an old lady.”

  “Old lady, my butt,” Daisy said with a laugh. “Daniel, did you tell her she’s gonna outlive all of us?”

  “I did, in fact. She disagrees.”

  Daisy put her hands on her hips and stared the older woman down.

  “Don’t be saying things like that, Mrs. Shuster. The world needs women like you in it to keep us all on our toes. What would the diner be without you, anyway?”

  Mrs. Shuster clucked her tongue. “The diner would be fine without me, Daisy, because you are here and you love it. And when you’re an old woman like me, little Mason will be around to run it.”

  Daniel and Daisy looked to each other. There really was no arguing with the woman, and they both knew it.

  Daniel raised his coffee to his lips, enjoyed the smell a moment before taking a sip.

  “I know when I’m beat, Mrs. Shuster. You win. But just know that Daisy and I are going to do our best to keep your around for a good long time yet.”

  “Can’t argue with that, sweet boy.”

  *

  “Shit.” Daniel sat at the computer desk in Logan’s downstairs office, tapping at the keyboard. He’d been sitting there for nearly an hour now, searching for date ideas nearby that didn’t cost an arm and a leg.

  He’d made up his mind about what to do when it came to Claire. He loved where they were going, but he wanted to show her that he remembered where they’d been as well. To him, their past was just as important as their future together. To that end, he wanted to take her somewhere special, do something fancier than eating dinner at the diner.

  He didn’t have unlimited funds, but he wanted whatever he chose to be so enticing that she couldn’t help but say yes. It limited his options, frankly, and the lack of inspiration was frustrating him.

  He clicked a link and followed it, then followed another, and before he knew it he’d clicked on the main website for the Puyallup Fair. He grinned when he thought about the time that he and Claire had gone to the fair, many years before.

  It had been dark by the time they’d gotten there, but neither of them had cared. For love-struck teenagers, the fair was twice as much fun in the evening.

  The bright lights on the Ferris wheel gave the place a surreal glow, and he swore her cheeks had never been rosier.

  The evening had ended with the two of them wrapped in each other’s arms, and he still looked back on the memory of that night as being one of his favorites.

  That settled it, he thought to himself. He’d ask Claire to go to the Puyallup Fair with him and let fate take the wheel.

  Daniel smiled and printed out the information sheet about the Fair.

  CLAIRE

  Daniel was hard at work already when Claire entered the barn. She smiled to herself when she noticed herself watching his movements as he worked. It had not escaped her that over the past few weeks, he had seemed to adjust to his missing limb and looked more comfortable with how he moved.

  He was kneeling next to the float, with a padded cushion below his left knee, and his right leg crooked at an angle to keep him steady while he worked. It didn’t look very comfortable to Claire, but it seemed to be working for him.

  “Hey,” she said as she knelt beside him.

  Daniel grinned when he glanced her way. “Hey yourself. Would you mind holding this part up? I’m having a hell of a time keeping it even.”

  Claire pressed her hand in the spot he showed her, holding the wood still and keeping it even with the rest of the float.

  “It’s really coming together,” she said with a smile. “I actually can’t believe how good it looks.”

  “That should show you, don’t ever doubt a McAllister with a hammer in his hand.”

  “Except Logan,” she quipped.

  Daniel chuckled. “Except Logan. Just don’t go doubting me with a hammer in my hand, I guess.”

  “No reason to doubt the littlest McAllister yet either.” She countered. “Have they decided to find out if their having a boy or a girl yet?”

  “Nope, they are buying into the whole magical mystery of it all still.” Daniel grunted. “If it was me, I’d want to know. Life h
as enough surprises in it already.”

  “And you can’t buy adorable frilly dresses with pink bows on them if you don’t know you’re having a girl.”

  “They are definitely having a boy.”

  Claire smiled. “And you know this how?”

  Daniel counted off on his fingers. “My dad was one of three boys. His brothers both had boys of their own. Counting Logan and I into the mix and the McAllister family is chock full of ‘em.”

  “Kate’s a McAllister now too,” Claire replied. “Don’t her genes get a say in it?”

  “Not according to most of the stuff I remember from high school sex ed. Nope, that kiddo in there is pure McAllister boy. I guarantee it.”

  Claire laughed. “Well, as long as you guarantee it.”

  Daniel moved his hands along the width of the wood, biting his lip as he concentrated on the proper position. Claire could imagine the wheels turning in his head as he considered the next three steps involved in the project.

  “If you need an extra hand, just tell me where to go.”

  “Here. Come here.”

  “Okay, like this?” She pressed her hands to the side of the float just under where his hands were. “I can hold it if you need to move.”

  “No, I want to kiss you and I can’t shift my weight or I’ll fall on my ass and nobody needs to see that.”

  Claire shifted her weight toward him and pressed her lips to his. She could feel him smiling and she couldn’t help but smile herself.

  “Anything else?”

  “If I say no, do I get to keep kissing you?”

  “Absolutely.”

  He leaned back and considered her for a moment. Claire felt shy under his gaze.

  “I actually wanted to ask you something.”

  “Ask away.”

  Daniel glanced away for a moment and Claire felt her heart tripping over itself. Was it anxiety she was feeling? Or a niggling self-doubt that always seemed to rear its head when Daniel was concerned?

  “I wanted to see if you’d go with me to the Puyallup Fair. It’s going right now, for another week. I was thinking maybe this next weekend?”

  Claire’s eyes lit up.

  “I would love to, Daniel!” She kissed him again, grinning like she hadn’t since she was a teenager. “What made you think of that? It’s been so many years.”

  “It’s one of my favorite memories, to be honest. You and that Ferris wheel got me through some tough times overseas.”

  “That sounds incredibly dirty.”

  “Oh, it was.” Daniel raised an eyebrow at her. “In my imagination, there was a lot more going on at the top of that Ferris wheel than kissing and some light petting.”

  Claire laughed at that. “Well, play your cards right and maybe we can make a new memory to beat that one.”

  Chapter 8

  CLAIRE

  The weekend came faster than expected, and before she knew it, Claire was in the driver’s seat of Daniel’s truck, the wind whipping in from her window and tousling her hair.

  She smiled over at Daniel, who sat next to her. The truck was on the smaller end of vehicles, with an equally small cab, but for the two of them it was absolutely perfect.

  “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Claire said with a grin that Daniel matched.

  “It really is a perfect day for a little road trip.”

  He was right. It was the perfect spring day, and as she drove along the two lane highway that led to Puyallup, she could see wild tufts of daisies springing up along the side of the road.

  Although it was still a little chilly when they’d left, the sun was shining high above them and promised warmer days ahead.

  “Last time we did this, it was nighttime.”

  “I remember,” Daniel said. “There was definitely something forbidden and sexy about going at night. Back then, anyway.”

  “It might not be forbidden this time around, doesn’t mean it can’t be a little sexy.”

  Daniel coughed with surprise. He wasn’t quite used to having his old Claire back, flirting with him and saying things that made him want to drag her to the nearest bedroom.

  “Are you excited to get out and use your walker more?”

  Daniel nodded. “I am. I can’t promise I’ll be all that fast today, but I’m pretty damn sure I’m ready for more of a challenge than Logan’s yard is providing me.”

  “Well, I’m pretty excited to see you out there for myself. Logan said you’ve been logging some miles in his yard.”

  Daniel raised an interested eyebrow at her. “Oh, ‘Logan said’, huh.”

  “He’s ben helping me with a renovation project. I...well, actually I was going to wait until it was done to say anything but it’s kind of been killing me not to tell you.”

  “Well now you have to tell me,” Daniel quipped.

  Claire grinned. “I have this extra room at the studio, hasn’t ever been used for anything except storage because I didn’t have a good idea for what it should be.”

  Claire sighed to herself as a large semi overtook them on the shoulder of the road before speeding past.

  “The last few weeks, thoughts I’ve had in my head have solidified into something more. First off, I decided I really do want to go back to school.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. When I was dancing, I always had an interest in the study of how people move. Kinesiology. I’d love to take that and maybe help people who are struggling through injuries.”

  “I think going back to school is a fantastic idea, Claire. You’ve always been the smartest one in Madelia.”

  Claire laughed out loud. “Now come on, you can’t pretend you were some dummy in high school.”

  Daniel placed his hand on Claire’s thigh and she felt sparks travel down into her toes and up through her chest. It was a hell of a thing, and she noticed it happened every time he touched her.

  “You were telling me about the empty space in your studio?”

  “Right. Funny, you were always good at distracting me.”

  “I aim to please.”

  “So, I was thinking about going back to school, thinking about a degree in Kinesiology, or even physical therapy. Not sure. But one day I’m looking at this big empty space in my studio and it hits me. I could open it up, get some therapeutic options in there, like exercise balls, range-of-motion machines, strength stations. I have two extra Barres just taking up space that could be refitted for physical therapy, and I’ve looked at prices for recumbent steppers and these things called UBE’s.”

  “UBE’s?”

  “Upper Body Exercisers. They are for people that need to get their upper body moving, like long after a shoulder injury when their range of motion is shot to hell.”

  “You are amazing, Claire.”

  “Oh, well, um.” Claire blushed. “Thank you. I’m not going to play dumb and pretend you weren’t part of the inspiration behind all this. But I don’t want you thinking it’s all about you. I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

  Daniel squeezed her thigh appreciatively. “I know better than that. And I don’t feel pressured. I feel honored to have had a hand in you deciding to do any of this.”

  Claire smiled. “None of it is guaranteed. I’m pretty sure the only reason your brother is helping me take the first step without a down payment is because he really wants me to be his sister-in-law someday. I can research the best prices for PT equipment until I’m blue in the face, but when it comes down to actually buying anything, I have to ask permission from my parents to use the funds. I want so much to be independent but two years in and my studio isn’t quite to the point of making a profit.”

  “Maybe this new venture will be the answer for you finding your independence.”

  Claire sighed. “Oh, I hope so. I just don’t know. I want it to be the answer. But I don’t know.”

  Her face fell as the mountain of problems that lay ahead of her reared up. She knew how her parents felt about Daniel and his family. She a
lso knew that while so far she’d been careful not to mention that he was back in town, the old biddies of Madelia were not going to be able to resist spilling that particular news much longer.

  Frankly, she was surprised they hadn’t heard yet. She knew exactly what they would say when they knew, not only was he back in town, but that she had been spending so much time in his company.

  She worried about her studio, she worried what her parents might do if she stood up to them and told them they could shove their classist ideas where the sun didn’t shine.

  Deep in thought, Claire almost missed the sign for the Puyallup exit. She jerked the wheel to the right and slowed from highway speeds back down to regular road speeds.

  “Well, we’re here,” she said, trying to smile again and get back to the fun, flirty mood she was in before.

  “Let’s go have fun, okay? I owe you, like, fifty corndogs I’m pretty sure. But first? I want you on that Ferris wheel.”

  DANIEL

  The Ferris wheel was smaller than he remembered it. When they were younger, he swore it stretched halfway to the sky. Riding one of those bucket seats, with Claire by his side, had been one of the great highlights of his young life.

  He had loved her then, oh he had loved her as strongly as any teenaged boy could love a girl. But the way he’d felt then was nothing compared to the way he felt, sitting next to her now.

  The Ferris wheel began to move and Claire grabbed his hand. She’d never been fond of heights, but like him, she loved the thrill of trying things that scared her, just a little bit.

  Daniel felt his heart pick up speed in his chest as they rose higher. He looked over at Claire and knew it wasn’t the heights that made his heart speed up. It was the woman sitting next to him. She had definitely been a beautiful girl in high school, but she was all grown up now and in the best possible way. Her legs were still lean and long, but they had a strength to them now, built from years of professional ballet. She still held herself like a dancer, and her body made him just as crazy today as it did all those years ago. But it was much more than her body, as even his teenaged self knew.

  He’d loved her mind, her spunk, and the fire in her heart that she’d held close to herself so as not to alarm her blue blooded parents. Her fire hadn’t been dimmed at all in the ensuing years. If anything, she’d grown more mature and determined, and damned if he didn’t adore those qualities in her.