“Jenna, you like? Fred and I tackled the roaring Twenties.” Janice twirls near the faux streetlight. Way to capture the jazz feel in your flapper dress, Mrs. Beebe.
“Ahem, Miss Anderson.” Dora’s nasal interruption is difficult to ignore. “Thank you for selecting me as lead decorator for the Thirties. I believe I captured the era well.”
A velvet black curtain with a shining spotlight highlights the background’s fuzz. “Did you have this in your home, Dora?”
“But of course. I keep everything, right down to the big band silhouette. Used it for a fundraiser in the Sixties.” She winks.
Thankfully the USO Forties, sock-hop Fifties, tie-dye Sixties and shimmery disco ball Seventies areas feature new decorations and excited volunteers. Shirley bounces over with her forest-green poodle skirt and matching scarf. “Jenna, this is breathtaking. All our hard work paid off.” She points at the food tables. “Look. Wendy not only made all this great food, she has Ken and their boys ready to wait on us.”
Wendy adjusts the cold cuts. The disco light rotates above us.
“They are just one example of what I want to see tonight. This is hosted by the senior center.” I shift my gaze to the threshold near the entrance. “I hope people of all ages from Speculator Falls, Lake Pleasant, and Piseco will dance here.”
Shirley gives me a quick hug. “Well, you better get dressed. You know the seniors will be here any second. We old folks want the best parking.” Shirley laughs and pushes me toward the ladies’ room.
Half an hour later, I emerge in Sara’s dress, taupe heels, and my hair slicked back on the sides with jeweled barrettes for accents, to a packed gymnasium. With my nod for a cue, Pastor Craig walks on the stage. “Welcome everyone. As the emcee, I’m thrilled to have our friends at the senior center hosting this wonderful evening. Let’s get started by introducing Speculator Falls’ newest resident. Give a warm welcome to the senior center director, Jenna Anderson.”
Cat calls and whistles escort me to the platform. “Thank you.” My yell isn’t loud enough, so Pastor Craig hands me the microphone. “You’re all too kind, really. Tonight was a team effort, and I’m so thankful for the center participants. We want you to have a wonderful evening, so let’s get started with the Hamilton County Community Band.”
Of course, it’s Sara who rushes the dance floor for “Mac the Knife.” I retreat to the back, leaning against the wall for a quick break.
Although lights are dimmed, I know who’s coming my way. “You create amazing work, Miss Anderson.” Kyle’s in a tux, most likely one of many in his closet.
I bow. “Thank you. Make sure you get your picture taken. Trish left behind a camera. Noah is our official photographer tonight.”
Kyle gives a low chuckle. “Trish left a lot behind. You know I dated her, right?”
I stand straighter. “No, I knew Ben did. For a long time.”
“True. They took a break and…well, anyway, she had big dreams. I’d like to think I showed her a life outside of Speculator Falls. I must have, because she dropped Ben for the Big Apple.”
His arrogance makes me want to gag. “Kyle, did you want something?”
He switches his expression to a smile.
Too late, buddy. I’ve got your number.
“Yes, I do. Could I have the honor of dancing with you sometime tonight?”
My turn for a fake grin. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m on duty. But thank you for asking.”
Kyle fiddles with his left cufflink for a moment then drops his hands to his side. “But of course. Enjoy your evening, Jenna.”
“Thank you. I intend to.”
“Hound Dog” bounces off the speakers as I return to the dance floor. The Beebes look like teenagers. They wave for me to join them, but Carla gets to me first.
“Did you know Shirley’s trying to get everyone to list you as prom queen?” Our good sheriff looks unrecognizable in her tie-dye dress, full of rainbow colors.
I suppress a laugh. "It won’t happen. I’m sure another couple will take the king and queen honors.”
Carla raises her eyebrows. “Fred and Janice? Pastor and Brooke?”
The giggle escapes. “You and Will.”
On cue, Will waltzes toward us with his powder blue tux.
Did Dora lend that to him?
Will grins. “Wendy asked me to tell you guys to have a seat in the Forties café. She has food for us.”
The three of us tackle pineapple wedges, hot dog appetizers and punch when I notice Ben’s at the threshold. He has a classic black tux on. Be still my heart. Fruit juice dribbles down my chin.
“Um, Jenna? You’re drooling,” Carla teases, nudging Will to look at the entry. The two share a laugh before Will hands me a napkin.
Ben sees us, waves, and strolls over while I wipe my chin. He pulls out the chair to my immediate left and sits. “Hey, Will, Carla. Jenna. You know how to throw a shindig.” He grins.
The bowtie looks so debonair. The spiky hair complements his attire. “Well, you know, um, it’s, like, a group effort. But, thank you.” My words fly out like hiccups.
“Oh, so you’re representing the Eighties tonight? Funny, you aren’t dressed like a valley girl.” Ben leans back and eyes my outfit.
Heat spreads from my cheeks down my neck. Across the table Carla and Will bite their lips, most likely trying to hide their laughter.
I return my attention to Ben. “No, I’m not. Nerves, I guess. It’s such a big night, you know?”
He extends his hand toward mine and gives it a quick squeeze. “Doesn’t look like you have any reason to worry. Everything appears perfect.”
As I work on a reply, Pastor Craig saunters over to the band and waits for the music to fade to take the microphone.
“We can’t have a prom without a king and queen. Ready to learn who wears the crown and tiara tonight?” He points the microphone toward the audience. Hollers and whistles volley back. “Before I announce our royal couple, I must thank Swarthmore Enterprises, Kyle specifically, for his hundred dollar gift certificate for each winner, to any Speculator Falls business.”
Kyle throws his hand high in the hair and waves. A polite clap keeps him the center of attention for another thirty seconds before he drops his hand to his side. The spotlight returns to Pastor Craig.
“Let’s start with the runners-up. Drum roll, please.” After a good snare drum, he smiles. “Fred and Janice Beebe!”
This applause generates more of a response than Kyle’s. The couple wave off the attention, but our good preacher gestures them to join him. Once they’re standing next to the horn section, the emcee continues.
“Our queen for the first annual prom is…Jenna Anderson!”
Every single person is on their feet, clapping. Will chants my name, and in seconds, everyone repeats him.
“Go on up there and get your tiara, girl!” Carla jerks her head toward the front.
I stand and give a shaky half-wave. The crowd erupts, shouting my name even louder. The walk to my pastor seems endless, but once there, the spotlight multiplies the heat I’ve been battling since Ben walked in.
Shirley joins Pastor Craig up front, always the assistant. She bends down and picks up a dozen roses, juggling the microphone. She straightens and thrusts the flowers in my trembling hands. Even with the noise, Pastor keeps talking. “Every queen needs a king. Without further ado, our king is none other than Ben Regan.”
My knees start to buckle. He jogs to us and the catcalls escalate.
“Ben, right behind you is your crown. Put it on, and then please do the honor and place the tiara on our queen.” Shirley winks.
I’m going to faint. Would Shirley have the gall to fix the vote?
“With pleasure.” Ben’s voice sounds as velvety as Dora’s curtain. He places the tiara on my head. “Wait. There’s something else for the queen.” He pivots and reaches for something then turns back to me and produces a sash. “For you, Jenna.”
The dusty pink ribbon d
isplays Spectacular Falls Queen. Great, they spelled the village name wrong. “Thank you everyone. This is too much.” I clutch the sash and start to walk.
Shirley grabs the fancy belt and uses it to propel me back to Ben’s side. “Not so fast. After Ben places the sash on you, it’s time for your royal dance.”
If she weren’t a volunteer, she’d be so fired.
The band strikes up Nat King Cole’s “When I Fall in Love.” Ben helps with the pink misspelled banner and takes my hand, leading me to the dance floor. “We can do this. Just follow my lead.” Ben rests his hand on the small of my back. The sensation between us is like water and lightning. “You’re doing great.”
My knees, like Elvis, have left the building.
“This song is endless.” My throat is so dry I can barely eke out the words.
“Funny. I thought it was too fast.” He winks, spinning me into a spontaneous dip to coincide with the end of the song. When he lifts me back to an upright position, he kisses my hand. “Your Majesty, it was a pleasure.”
“My lord, the honor was mine.” I curtsy, sending the crowd into applause frenzy once again. I start to walk back to the table when Ben stops and leans in close for a whisper.
“Perhaps tonight is the night we can finish that kiss we keep missing.”
If I don’t pass out first.
The band picks up the pace with “Rock Around the Clock.” Ben heads to Sara, and I return to Carla and Will, still at the table.
She springs up and grabs my shoulders. “I can’t believe it.” Her eyes bore into mine.
Hands on my hips, the silky sash moves. “What?”
Carla leans in so no one else but me hears her. “You’re in love with Ben Regan.”
It’s nearly midnight before the music stops and guests start to depart. I have a team ready for takedown and cleanup, so I say good-bye to Carla and Noah, who are heading home and get back to business.
“Howard, is your truck ready to haul away the scenery Will tears down?”
He nods, his face marked by deep bags under his eyes. “I’ll back the truck to the door now.”
Sara blocks Howard. “Do you mind giving me a lift to the center once you’re done? Dora drove me here, and she went home early, forgetting me.”
“You can’t load the truck. Deal?” Howard grins.
Sara rolls her eyes, but smiles. “Very funny. Go get your vehicle.”
It doesn’t take long before Will, Sara, and Howard leave for the senior center, truck full. While I wait for the men to return, I change clothes and don a pair of work gloves so I can join Pastor Craig, Brooke and Ben. The pastor’s tearing scenery up so fast it looks like kindling.
“Need help?” I offer, handing him Dora’s big band silhouette.
“As long as you have your work gloves on.” He cracks a piece of scenery over his knee, wood splinters dropping to the ground. “I have to warn you though, I have orders of my own.”
I look up at him, but he continues to work.
Brooke steps forward. “Oh, Jenna. Craig’s teasing. I just mentioned how regal you and Ben looked together.”
Taking a cue from Pastor, I load the wood into a wheelbarrow, hoping the conversation ends.
Brooke piles her husband’s handiwork into the moving dumpster, standing next to me. “A blind person could have seen the sparks between you and Ben.” Her tone seems sincere.
Minutes pass by before I respond. “Our friendship is going extremely well. The way he held me, I felt something. I guess sparks is a good word. But, I fear he thinks of me as Trish 2.0. He’s overcoming fear, but I still represent things that broke his heart not so long ago.”
Brooke squeezes my hand. “I’ll be praying for you, sweetie. God will show you both.”
Pastor Craig moves us to the Forties set, the last one, which gives closure to my conversation. Ben, Wendy, and her family finish the food cleanup and join us. In less than an hour, the beautiful prom ambience evolves back to a gym.
“This reminds me of a wedding.” Pastor Craig tosses the last of his woodwork into the back of his vehicle. “Everyone puts so much work into the event and just like that, it’s over.” His cell phone rings. He digs it out of his pocket and looks at the number. “Excuse me.”
Brooke glances up, but I can’t tell if they share a non-verbal code between them regarding the nature of the call. She picks his work up and is ready to throw it in the truck when he returns.
“Brooke, Jenna, Ben, we have to go.” His face is ashen. “Now.”
His wife touches his arm. “Honey, what is it?”
“That was Carla. She got called into work.” He runs his free hand through his hair. “There’s been an accident.”
Chapter Twenty
Ben navigates Route 30 as if he’s qualifying for NASCAR.
“Please, God, let Howard, Sara, and Will be okay. Please.” I keep my eyes closed and focus on prayer. Pastor Craig didn’t have details beyond the truck hit a pine tree.
“Howard had to drive pretty far off the shoulder to hit a tree.” Ben’s words hang in the dark.
“It’s going to be okay.” My voice cracks as he comes upon the scene. Emergency flares. Volunteer fire trucks. An ambulance. Carla’s squad car.
Ben throws the vehicle in park and cuts the ignition. With a slam he’s off toward the wreckage.
I slide out of the truck, dazed by all the bright lights. After a few blinks, I see Howard’s pick-up. On the wrong side of the road resting in the middle of a majestic Adirondack tree that doesn’t budge for anything.
“Howard? Sara? Will?” I don’t recognize my own voice. My feet feel weighted with cement blocks.
After walking past the fire truck, I see Carla near the ambulance, talking to what looks like a paramedic. I try to run Ben’s speed to reach her.
“Zeke, how are they?” Carla’s question comes across clipped and professional.
The paramedic glances inside the ambulance, and back. “Will’s fine, a cut on his chin. He’s fighting going to emergency care.”
Carla blinks so fast it looks like Morse code.
I’m now close enough to graze her elbow. “Sorry.” I maneuver so I’m facing my friend and the paramedic. “Where’s Howard and Sara? They just came from my event.”
Another paramedic, standing behind Zeke, leans in, his white nametag standing out. Wayne. Carla turns her back on the medic and climbs inside the ambulance to join Will before the second emergency medic speaks. “They’re okay. Mrs. Bivins seems to think that Mr. Wheaton had some sort of seizure and then blacked out.” Wayne consults his chart. “Howard has a bad gash on his head. We’re taking him in for evaluation. Sara doesn’t have a mark on her. She sprang into action and was the one who called 9-1-1. She’s a dynamo.”
I take a couple steps back and lean inside the ambulance toward Carla. “I need to see them.” My relief that no one seems seriously hurt comes out in a sob.
She nods and climbs out but turns her attention one more time to Will. “Get checked out. This is a direct order from the sheriff.” She gives a final tip of the hat to Zeke but marches off without saying a word to Wayne. I have trouble keeping up.
I gasp for air. “Carla. You okay? You’re more than the sheriff in this.”
“It’s more complicated than you think, but there isn’t time to chat. This is my job. I can fall apart, like you, later.” She jogs to Sara, who is twenty feet past the smashed vehicle.
Ben’s arms drape across her shoulders in a protective stance, and she’s cocooned inside a blanket.
I lurch forward and give her an awkward hug. “Sara, thank God. What happened?” I step back.
Carla nods to Sara and juggles the notepad in her hand.
“We were driving along, not far from the center. Howard started shaking violently, and then his head dropped to the steering wheel. It’s a blur after that, so chaotic. Do you think it was a heart attack?” Sara utters each word with her usual strong voice.
I shake my head
. “I don’t know, but I need to be with him.”
Sara moves her hand from the blanket to squeeze mine. “Of course you do, dear.”
Ben takes a deep breath. “Howard’s ambulance already left for the hospital in Gloversville.”
I don’t even know where Gloversville is.
He touches the small of my back. “C’mon. We’ll all go. That’s where they are taking Will, and maybe on the way we can convince a certain someone to get checked out, too.”
Sara allows the blanket to drop. “I don’t need a hospital. I’m fine.”
Ben reaches for the falling cover. “Grandma, I love you. But so help me, if you don’t get in the truck, I’ll have Carla arrest you.”
Ben doesn’t hit any flowerboxes, but he wastes no time getting us to the hospital. He drives under the emergency awning. “Go, Jenna. I’ll see how Will is doing and work on Grandma. Find Howard.”
Tears rim the edges of my eyes. “Thanks. I’ll find you when I learn more.”
The registration desk is on my right. “Excuse me, ma’am? Can you tell me which room Howard Wheaton is in?”
The nurse looks at her computer screen and punches in a couple words on her keyboard. “He’s down the hall on the left. In the second curtained ER room.”
My shoes squeak as I race down the hall. I push back the curtain. Howard is hooked up to an IV, alone in the small area.
I knock softly on the wall. “Howard? You awake?”
His face seems whiter than the pure sheets they have on his makeshift bed. The corners of his mouth lift. It appears to take all his effort. “Are Sara and Will—”
I strain to hear his voice and reach for his free hand. “Yes. They’re okay. We’re worried sick about you.”
“Don’t bother. I’m fine.” His pleasant smile disappears. He narrows his eyes.
“I’m not leaving.” I wink. “And you can’t make me.”
He opens his mouth to respond, but there’s another knock. I turn toward the entry. A nurse walks toward Howard and stands on the opposite side of the bed.
“Mr. Wheaton? Is this your daughter? We need to get your medical information and insurance before neurology comes in.”
Entrusted (Adirondack Surrender Series Book 1) Page 12