“I’m going to sit this one out,” she said. “But you go ahead.”
She nodded towards the group of women standing near the musicians. Several of them had been watching the dance floor, clearly hoping someone would ask them to dance.
“No, I’ll stay with you.”
“I don’t mind, really. I’d like to watch and see how it’s done. And any of those women would love a dance with you.”
“If you’re sure?”
She nodded and then felt suddenly alone as she watched him walk away.
Chapter 3
As Frank approached the group of women waiting to dance, a young redhead in a black and white dress rustled her skirt, but he walked past her to an older woman standing near the back. Her face lit up after Frank spoke to her, and he led her onto the dance floor.
Aimee watched as they moved down the line of couples. Josiah and Charlene were still dancing. Josiah was leading the way between two lines, men on one side and women on the other, and Charlene was matching his energetic pace. In fact, her friend was dancing surprisingly well, and Aimee applauded as she and Josiah reached the end of the line and took their places while the next couple began their progression.
After two dances, Frank returned the older woman to the group. She collapsed onto a hay bale, laughing, and Frank made his way back to Aimee.
“If you’re not ready to dance again, how about some refreshments?” he suggested.
The woman who’d welcomed everyone, along with two helpers, was setting out food on a trestle table outside the barn. She smiled when she saw Frank, and he stopped beside her.
“Mrs. Holmes, I’d like you to meet my date, Aimee Woods. Aimee, this is Josiah’s mother.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
Mrs. Holmes was a trim, fortyish woman with hair pulled back in a neat bun. Her smile was friendly, but before she could speak, one of her helpers interrupted with a question about where to place the platter of watermelon wedges she held.
“Please excuse me,” Mrs. Homes said. “I hope you two have an enjoyable evening.”
Aimee nodded. She and Frank filled their plates with ham, potato salad, pickles, homemade bread and jelly, and sliced tomatoes. Frank’s plate was piled so high, Aimee didn’t see how he could possibly eat it all. Blankets were spread on the grass beyond the tables. Frank claimed one near a lantern hanging from a stake in the ground and set his and Aimee’s plates down.
Frank shoveled the food in his mouth as if he hadn’t eaten in days and was finished before Aimee had done more than nibble at her potato salad and bread. He bounded back to the table and returned with his plate piled almost as high as before, this time topped with a huge slice of coconut cake. By the time Aimee finished eating, he’d cleared his second plate. He set their dirty plates in a barrel filled with sudsy water and asked Aimee if she’d like to take a walk.
“Sure.”
They hadn’t talked during the meal, and Frank didn’t speak now as they walked behind the barn and across a field to a low bench beside a small garden. He sat down, and Aimee joined him.
“Did you like the dancing?” he asked.
“Yes, it was fun. But I’m not very good at it,” Aimee answered.
“It takes practice.”
The silence was slightly awkward. Was Frank regretting the date? Hoping it was almost over? Aimee didn’t have a watch, but she would guess it wasn’t close to midnight yet. She tried to think of something to say and happened to glance up at the sky, where an impossible number of stars shone in the clear night air.
“I’ve never seen so many stars!” she said.
“Amazing, isn’t it? Sometimes I like to lie in the hayfield and just stare at the sky.”
“I could watch a sky this beautiful for hours.”
The stars in the Big Dipper seemed larger and brighter than usual, as if they’d somehow come closer to the earth, or as if the lights of St. Louis that normally interfered with stargazing had completely disappeared. Frank pointed out the North Star, and they took turns naming all the constellations they could think of. Once they ran out of names, they both watched the sky, until Aimee suddenly realized she was leaning against Frank and moved away from him.
He glanced at her. “I’m supposed to tell you my views on marriage,” he said after a minute.
It was too dark to see, but Aimee was sure his ears had turned red again.
“The Bible says a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, but I don’t think of myself as a king. To me, being married means the husband and wife always have someone to help them out. There are lots of things I’m not good at doing, like writing letters or sewing seams or doing sums. It would be nice to have someone who could help me with things like that. And I could chop wood, repair the wagon, and feed the animals. All the things I’m good at doing. And anything we’re both bad at doing, well, I figure we’d still do a better job together than alone. Like when you have two horses pull a wagon. If one falters, the other keeps going.”
“So you want a wife to do your math and help you pull a wagon?” Aimee asked.
“No, of course not! We wouldn’t actually pull—Oh, you’re teasing me,” he realized.
“A little. Actually, it sounds nice to think of having someone who’s around to help you.”
Tom hadn’t always been. He’d expected Aimee to show up for him, but he’d missed her college graduation. He hadn’t picked her up from her recent dental surgery. She’d had to call Tish to drive her home. He hadn’t visited the hospital when her mother had an ulcer removed or gone with her to the funeral of her favorite great-aunt, and he’d often disappeared at cleanup time while they were running their catering business. In fact, she was beginning to recognize that he’d been somewhat self-absorbed throughout their relationship, but she had never called him on it. She didn’t want to think about what that said about her.
“Did I say something wrong?” Frank asked, and Aimee realized she was frowning.
“No, not at all. I was just thinking about someone I used to date. My ex-fiancé, actually.”
“Fiancé? You were engaged before?”
“Yes. But that’s not really a first date topic.”
They sat in silence for a minute until Frank asked, “Are you ready to go back to the dance? We can just watch if you’re still tired.”
“I think I might give square dancing another try,” Aimee said. “As long as you don’t mind the occasional stumble or wrong turn.”
“I’ll be there to help,” he promised.
He offered her his arm, and she tucked her hand through it as they walked back to the barn. The darkness of the night still amazed her, and she made a note to talk to Charlene about how A Time for Love had achieved it. Maybe they were in some enormous warehouse space, and the whole night sky was a carefully created illusion. Then they were joining the new dance that was forming up, and she was too busy to think.
The crowd on the dance floor was thinner, since many of the couples, including Josiah and Charlene, had moved to the refreshment table. Aimee felt less self-conscious with fewer eyes on her, and she managed a couple of half-decent rounds before the caller announced that the next song would be the evening’s final dance. Couples drifted back inside, and the floor was once again full when the caller sang, “Bow to your partner! Bow to your corner! Now promenade!”
All the moves seemed to click with the melody, and this time Aimee felt like she really was dancing instead of moving in hopeless confusion. Her skirt swirled around her as she moved. Frank swung her left, she ducked under his arm and grasped Josiah’s hand just as Charlene reached for Frank. Once the dance was over, everyone applauded, and the musicians took bows.
“That was some mighty fine dancing,” Frank complimented her. “No one would know you’d just learned tonight.”
“Thanks!”
Aimee’s cheeks felt flushed, and she was suddenly warm. She fanned herself with one hand, and Frank took the hint.
“I’ll go see if the
re’s any lemonade left.”
Charlene joined Aimee and stretched her arms. “That was quite the workout! I can skip Pilates tomorrow.”
“What’s Pilates?” Josiah said from just behind Charlene. She tried to explain, but the chatter in the barn was too loud. They made their way outside, while Aimee found a hay bale to use as a seat while she waited for Frank.
“He won’t marry you, you know,” a voice said in her ear.
Aimee looked up. “Excuse me?”
It was the redhead who’d clearly wanted Frank to ask her to dance. “I don’t know who you are or why you’re here, but you should know, you’re wasting your time. Frank Elkins isn’t the marrying kind.”
The bite in the redhead’s voice startled her. Aimee tried to form a question, but Frank reappeared holding two glasses of lemonade.
“Evening, Priscilla.”
“Frank,” she nodded and, head high, stalked out of the barn door.
“Don’t pay any attention to anything Priscilla says,” Frank said as he sat down beside her. “She’s a terrible gossip.”
“I think she likes you.”
“She may have, once. We went out for sodas a couple of times, sat together at a church picnic, when she was seventeen. She wanted to start courting, but I wasn’t ready. She’s had a bee in her bonnet ever since.”
“Ever since? If you don’t mind my asking, how old are you?”
“Twenty-four. Almost twenty-five. Two years older than Priscilla.”
He was too polite to ask her own age, so Aimee told him, “I’m twenty-seven.”
She’d never felt like that was old until after she broke up with Tom and thought about all the years she’d wasted. She’d always pictured herself married with at least one baby by now.
“You don’t look it.”
“Thanks.”
The crowd was leaving the barn, and several friends called out goodbyes to Frank. He’d introduced her to a few of the couples during the evening, but she couldn’t remember any of their names. She just smiled and waved, and soon they had the barn to themselves.
“Thank you for being my date tonight,” Frank told her.
“When do you leave for the Army?” Aimee asked.
“I’ve got my physical in two weeks.”
“Good luck. Stay safe.”
Aimee felt a pang of genuine anxiety until she remembered this whole date was a setup by A Time for Love. An excellent, very authentic setup, but it wasn’t like Frank was actually going to fight a war. But she could pretend as well as he could.
“Thanks.”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
They chatted about their families in the flickering light from the lanterns that were beginning to go out. When Frank pulled out his pocket watch, he saw it was almost midnight.
“Mrs. Darby will be here soon,” Frank said. “Thank you for spending the evening with me.”
“My pleasure,” Aimee said and meant it. Frank’s good manners and unaffected attitude had made the date easier than she had expected. Impulsively, she leaned over to hug him. He stiffened at first but then returned the hug. “I truly enjoyed it.”
“Me too.”
Aimee didn’t have anything else to say, so they sat quietly, shoulders brushing each other’s, watching the lantern flicker, until Edwina appeared. She wished the men good night, escorted the girls back to the conference room, and reminded them that they were supposed to organize the next date.
“Do you want to do another double date?” Aimee asked Charlene as they exited A Time for Love’s parking lot.
“Is that what you want?”
“If it’s okay with you.”
“Sure.” Charlene shrugged. “I’ll call you tomorrow, and we’ll plan everything, okay?”
A Time for Love’s rules specified the date they planned could only involve the two couples, which Aimee thought was a bit unfair, considering the barn dance had involved a small crowd. But she would play by the rules. She worked on the menu for the meal she planned to cook, while Charlene agreed to plan the entertainment. They decided the date would be at Charlene’s, since Aimee’s apartment was still half-filled with boxes, and her temporary roommate Mandy might return anytime. But Aimee had the better-stocked kitchen, so she’d need to prepare the food at home and then reheat and add the finishing touches at Charlene’s.
Aimee knew she was oversensitive about her background. Tom had spent a semester in France his junior year of college, and he’d done a summer cooking class in Italy, followed by a summer spent touring Europe. He’d often reminded Aimee how provincial she was, how she just didn’t have his experience in fine cuisine. Was she paranoid to think Edwina had set up a barn dance for her first date because she thought Aimee was too unsophisticated for anything more upscale? Aimee didn’t know, but she intended to use this date to show Frank she wouldn’t embarrass him in a fine restaurant.
For the men, she would’ve chosen steak or lasagna, comfort food. But since she knew Charlene was very health-conscious, she decided to start with a spring salad with raspberry vinaigrette that was her own personal recipe, grilled chicken brushed with herb butter, and homemade pasta primavera. She’d serve berries and crème fraîche for dessert, with mint iced tea and Italian bottled water to drink.
“I’ll buy the groceries,” Charlene offered.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Aimee said. “I can get them.”
“Do you know how much it would cost to have the meal catered? You’re providing the labor and the expertise. I’ll provide the ingredients.”
Aimee wanted to refuse. She realized Charlene was just trying to help, since she knew Aimee’s finances were tight without Tom to pay half the bills, but knowing her friend thought she needed help stung her pride. But she had to be realistic, so she nodded. “Thank you. What’s our entertainment? I’m planning to dress up a bit.”
“Dress up all you like,” Charlene said. “The barn dance didn’t exactly allow for much conversation, so I’m planning some get-acquainted games and music if we run out of things to talk about.”
It sounded like the perfect opportunity to show Frank how sophisticated she could be. “That sounds perfect. It’s going to be a great night!”
Edwina had asked them not to discuss the men until after the second date, so Aimee didn’t ask, but she suspected Charlene was going to request another match. She’d seemed friendly enough with Josiah, but Aimee hadn’t seen any evidence of a romantic spark between them. Although maybe this second date would change their feelings.
Aimee was keeping an open mind about her and Frank, but she was hoping things would go well. She’d found him attractive, and she thought he liked her, at least a little. How great would it be if her first match turned out to be the perfect guy? And she was hardly even thinking of Tom at all.
She splurged on a new haircut and dress and spent ages on her makeup once she’d finished the dinner preparations. Her final check in the mirror showed that the burgundy red dress provided a dramatic contrast with her pale skin and black hair. She applied eyeliner and a lipstick that matched her dress and then slipped on the metallic sandals she had borrowed from Tish.
When Charlene answered the door, her eyes widened. “Wow, you went all out, Ames.”
Aimee froze with the cooler handle in one hand and a box full of dinner ingredients in the other. Charlene was wearing a simple black skirt with a print silk wrap top. “Do you think it’s too much?”
“Not at all. I’m just not used to seeing you so dressed up.”
“There’s no point, really, when I’m working in the kitchen, and with Tom…” Aimee’s voice trailed off. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t think or talk about him tonight. “Anyway, I’ve got the food.”
“Come on in.”
Charlene lived in a townhouse that had been built in the 1980s and recently renovated in the latest eco-friendly urban style. Aimee spread out her ingredients beside the top-of-the-line gas stove. The appliances and gra
nite countertop were much nicer than her own kitchen, but the sparsely stocked cabinets and drawers showed Charlene’s lack of interest in cooking.
If I had a kitchen like this, I could start my own catering business again, Aimee thought with a brief pang of envy.
“Let me know if you need anything,” Charlene called from the living room.
“I will.”
She worked quickly and efficiently and had everything in place when Charlene called out, “They’ll be here in five minutes!”
Aimee washed her hands and double-checked her reflection in the powder room beside the living room. She arranged herself on the leather sofa near the entrance way, and when the bell rang, she waited for Charlene to open the door before she joined her in welcoming their guests.
“Good evening, Charlene, Aimee,” Edwina smiled warmly. “These two gentlemen have been anxious to see you. Enjoy your evening. I’ll return at eleven sharp.”
As soon as she vanished, Josiah offered Charlene a bouquet of daisies and carnations. “For you.” He sniffed the air. “Something smells delicious. When do we eat?”
Frank elbowed him. “Use some manners. Thank you for inviting us into your home, Charlene. It’s beautiful. When do we eat?”
Charlene laughed. “Right away. Come on, Josiah. I’ll put these flowers in water, and you can help me start serving.”
They vanished into the kitchen, and Aimee was left with Frank. He was dressed in black trousers and a gray and white striped shirt with a blue silk tie, and he held a box of candy that he didn’t offer to her. Instead, he was staring, from her chic updo to the tips of her silver stiletto heels. He didn’t say anything, and Aimee waited, enjoying the feeling of being appreciated.
Finally he spoke. “You look different.”
“Thank you.” His reaction was even stronger than Aimee had expected, worth every penny she’d spent at the pricy salon. She took his arm. “Follow me.”
Aimee (A Time for Love Book 3) Page 3