Let's Dance (The Winters Family Series: Book Four 4)

by Terra Kelly

  She glanced around and noticed the rain falling hard now. She reached up and wiped a few stray tears away, hiccupped, and confessed, “I don’t really…want you…to leave.” She just couldn’t stop crying—her body seemed to be fighting against her. She stepped closer to him, starting to get a little wet. Shawna let out a heavy sigh. “Please don’t leave, Danny,” she begged. “I have always had a problem with not thinking before talking.”

  He chuckled lightly and reached out his hand. “And I have a problem with running away when things get tough.”

  They both looked at each other as the rain started to pick up. Shawna smiled. “I have always wanted to dance in the rain.”

  “You have, huh?” Danny moved closer to her, reached up both hands, and moved her now soaked hair away from her face. “A few years ago I dated a woman who danced at a topless nightclub. I didn’t find that out right away; she didn’t tell me until we had been dating for a few months. It shouldn’t mean anything, but for that situation, she had lied. So much so, she made up stories about where she would be jetting off to each day.” He shook his head. “Needless to say, I felt like an idiot. Like, how did I not see the signs?” He placed his hands on her hips. “I let my past get in the way of our relationship. I should’ve known better, especially because you are nothing like that woman.”

  Shawna bent her head and fidgeted with a button on his shirt. Looking back up into his eyes, she confessed, “I guess we both have an issue with letting our pasts get in the way.” She lifted up on her tip toes. “Danny?”

  He seemed nervous when he answered, “Yeah?”

  “Dance with me.” She stepped back, lifted her arm for him to take. The rain felt warm and soothing. She shook her head back, trying to get the rain out of her eyes, an obviously fruitless endeavor.

  Finally, Danny put himself in standing position and grabbed onto her hand. He smiled. “I will dance with you until the end of time. You have my heart and soul, red.”

  She almost faltered in her position at his words but stayed strong. “Prove it to me.”

  Chapter 27

  He had planned to leave, knowing the rain would be coming any second, but his legs were fighting against the thought. Daisy had seemed agitated by the storm, which concerned him, too. When he’d started pounding on the door, he really thought she would ignore his attempts to talk. So when the door had flown open, he found himself speechless for a moment.

  It had felt good to put it all out on the table—Shawna deserved his honesty. For so long, it seemed easier to just run away from any problem; no one complained when he disappeared in the past. As a matter of fact, he could remember a time when he left for two weeks without any note for where he would be, and he enjoyed all fourteen days alone.

  She touched his cheek and whispered, “Where did your mind wander off to?”

  He inhaled deeply and continued to move back and forth with Shawna. “Oh, you know, the past.” He smiled. “I’m sorry I worried you.”

  “Yeah, you did, and don’t do it again, mister,” she teased.

  He stopped suddenly and put his right hand up to give a three-finger salute. “Scout’s honor. I promise I will always come talk to you first.”

  She giggled. “You were a boy scout?”

  “No. Just seemed like the right thing to do,” he admitted and shrugged his shoulders. Danny rested his forehead on hers, and they both burst out laughing. He held his hand up, put all fingers down except his index finger and pinky finger. “Would you rather I gave the rock and roll hand signal?” He shook his hand back and forth.

  Shawna reached up and grabbed his hand. “Yeah, no, stick to scout’s honor, sweetie.”

  He quickly placed his hand on her hips and started to tickle her sides. “Oh, yeah?” he said jokingly. She started to protest in between fits of giggles.

  Danny stopped and just stared at her for a moment. She had on this simple yellow dress that was soaked, and he caught a glimpse of her pink bra bleeding through the fabric. Damn, the woman made everything right in his world. He watched how the rain drops hit her eyelashes and fell to her cheeks. He bent her back over his knee, she let one arm fall to the side, and the other held on to his neck. He glanced toward her face and then she let her hand fall back away from his neck. Danny reached a hand up and moved it down her chest and in between her breasts. Then he bent his head and started to place kisses on her heated flesh. Shawna moaned, so he lifted her back up to standing position. “Where will you be in five years?” he asked.

  She scowled. “Um, is this a trick question?”

  He chuckled. “Not even a little. You had goals of dancing at Juilliard so long ago. We know that plan changed, and you walked down a new path. So I’m curious, what would your new life goals be now?”

  She nodded. “True, I never did make new ones.” She started to sway from side to side and asked, “Can my future include you?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I really hope it does.”

  “I know,” she said, with a twinkle in her eye. “Let’s try to open our own dance studio?”

  Danny had never thought about that before, but the idea of running a studio with Shawna sounded intriguing. He nodded. “A dance studio? Huh. Would it be like Anya and Gabriel’s place?”

  “No, we could have kids that want to dance, or Isabel’s kids someday may want to learn ballet. Maybe it would be for all types of dancing, and we could have several different instructors employed?” She finally stopped to take a breath.

  Danny lifted her up in his arms and twirled her around in a circle. Shawna’s hands were spread out with her head back as the rain just fell around them both. “I like your five-year goal,” he whispered. “Thank you for finally giving me a chance, Shawna.”

  She brought her hands forward and wrapped them around his neck. She smiled. “Thank you for never giving up on me.” She looked at his mouth and then up at his eyes. Reaching her hand up, she brushed hair away from his face. “Take me inside, Danny,” she begged. “I want to show you how thankful I am you’re in my life.”

  He didn’t have to be told twice.

  He thought about the day he met her just over two years ago. This shy woman (or so he thought), who at first glance looked like a child, because she was about a foot shorter than Danny. Now here they were finally together. Suddenly he stopped, unable to move.

  “Danny? What’s wrong?” Shawna sounded concerned.

  He struggled to find the words. Opening his mouth to speak, he only felt speechless again. After a few failed attempts at getting his thoughts out, his voice finally cracked. “I had this vision of calling my parents and telling them about you.”

  She jumped down from his arms, pulled him inside the house, and had him sit on the couch. Danny sat there, almost feeling numb. That thought had never entered his mind in the past. What changed today?

  Shawna came back with a towel and knelt beside him on a cushion. She started to dry him off without saying a word. Finally, she whispered. “Danny, I’ll help you. We can find them together.”

  He turned his head to face her and sighed. “I don’t know. They have never tried to make things right with me, so odds are they couldn’t care less about me.”

  “But you don’t know, do you?” she asked and started to towel dry her own hair.

  He shook his head. “No, I don’t,” he admitted. Danny stood up and walked to the kitchen to grab a drink. Turning back toward Shawna, he asked, “Bourbon or beer kind of night?”

  “Bourbon of course,” she teased and then headed his way to help him find everything. She handed him a glass. “Neat or up?”

  Danny loved his “up.” He smiled. “Just two pieces of ice to chill it, please.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Maybe Connie will know where to start looking for them.”

  Shawna placed the glass in front of him. “When was the last time you talked to them?”

  He blew out a puff of air and thought about that question for a moment. Danny finally confessed, “The day I turn
ed eighteen. Yeah, I basically said goodbye and just left. My parents lived in this area, but I think I made it clear the day I bailed it would be the last they ever saw of me. I said something like, ‘you never cared when I lived at home, don’t start trying to care now.’ Then I left.” He swirled the bourbon around in his glass and lightly laughed. “Actually, I’m a bit surprised they never made any attempt to talk to me over the years.”

  Shawna gasped. “Oh my God, what if they never left? If they keep an eye on you from afar?” She crinkled her nose at that thought. “Okay, that’s creepy.”

  “Or not,” he said and placed his hand over hers. “Let’s see if they’re here. Just you and I. No one else has to know what we’re up to.”

  Shawna fanned her face and said, “Okay, crying moment emerging again.” She walked over and climbed onto his lap. “Just imagine, we both get to reunite with our parents. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

  Danny felt confused at the moment. A part of him felt scared; but the other part of him felt excited at the possibility of letting go of the past.

  Chapter 28

  A month later and just days before the competition…

  “Someone has spaghetti arms over there,” Isabel yelled and grabbed another chip from her noisy bag.

  Anya looked at Shawna and asked, “Does she have to eat while you both are practicing?”

  Shawna rolled her eyes and nodded. “I’ll make her ditch the chips.” She squeezed Danny’s hand. “Stand by, babe.”

  As Shawna made her way over to Isabel, she gave her friend an exasperated look. Izzy shrugged her shoulders. “What?” Then she started to lick her cheesy fingertips.

  “This isn’t a lunch break, love. We are on crunch time with only days away from our competition. Can you maybe eat those later?” Shawna said as she sat down beside her friend.

  “Seriously?” Izzy asked and stood to go throw the bag away. Raising her hands up, she declared, “Gone. Happy?”

  “Very,” Shawna answered and blew Izzy a kiss. “Plus, I thought you had to work? Aren’t you going to be late?” She stood to start heading back to Danny.

  Isabel laughed. “Nope, I took the week off. I was too excited about the competition, and didn’t want to miss a single minute.”

  “Oh, lucky us,” Shawna said under her breath.

  “What’s that, sweetie?” Izzy asked as she sat back down in the little plastic chair.

  Shawna raised her eyebrows and smiled. “Oh, I just said, fluffy bus. It’s my new clean curse word.” She shrugged her shoulders and headed toward Danny.

  He looked puzzled and asked, “Fluffy bus?” They put their foreheads together and burst out laughing.

  “Gotta admit, it is fun to say.” She continued to giggle and then put herself into position. Danny grabbed her hand, and they moved back and forth twice. Then he had to hold her hand up and spin her in place. Right in mid-spin, she tripped over her own foot. “Shit.” Shawna almost tumbled to the floor, but Danny scooped her up in his arms.

  “You okay?” Danny asked and kissed her temple.

  “Darling, darling, you need to rest,” Gabriel said, placing his hand on Shawna’s shoulder. “You both have been practicing nonstop for four days now. Why don’t you both take twenty-four hours away from the studio? You must have something you need to do, or maybe work that is lagging behind?”

  Shawna shook her head. “No, not for me. I took two weeks off from the club. I didn’t want those dance routines to mess me up.”

  Danny shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, same here. I took some time off, too.”

  Anya sighed. “Okay, well, I’m going to kick you out. Maybe take your friend to eat. She seems hungry.”

  Isabel yelled out, “I am. Hungry, that is.” Everyone looked toward Izzy. Her eyes went wide. “What?”

  Anya giggled. “Gotta admit, she is adorable. She may want to check and see if she’s pregnant with how hungry she is all the time. Same thing happened to me when I found out I was pregnant.” The room went silent. Anya looked around. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Shawna smiled. “No, you said everything right.” She leaned up and kissed Anya on the cheek. She excitedly said, “We need to make a stop before dinner. Thank you both. See you tomorrow.”

  As Shawna walked up to Isabel, she could see her friend’s color had left her face. Izzy shook her head. “I couldn’t be. Well, I could, but I mean, well, oh my God.”

  Danny chuckled. “Should we call Drew?”

  “No, not yet,” Isabel begged. “Let’s find out first.”

  Suddenly, both women started to squeal and then grabbed each other’s hands to jump up and down. Shawna and Isabel said at the same time, “Oh my God, we’re having a baby!”

  Danny whispered. “Maybe.”

  “Oh hush, party pooper,” Isabel demanded and playfully punched his arm.

  “Sweetie, we’ve opened five boxes already. I think you have the confirmation you needed,” Shawna said and placed another positive test strip on the counter.

  “I just want to be sure,” Izzy whined and took the few steps toward Shawna. Suddenly she was being put in a gigantic bear hug by her friend. “I wanted this but didn’t think it could be possible. I mean, you just never know.”

  Shawna jumped at a loud banging on the bathroom door. She smiled. “Okay, okay, keep your pants on, Drew.”

  She went to open the door, but Izzy jumped in front of her and threw it open. She yelled out, “We’re having a baby.” Drew immediately swooped her up in his arms and twirled her around.

  Shawna had still been trying to process the baby news. Her best friend would be having a baby! She glanced over toward Danny who happened to be sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. They both just stared at each other for several minutes.

  A part of her had wanted a husband, kids, and that classic white picket fence. The other part of her had never had the opportunity to relish in the idea of a family, especially since her own family had been the very definition of dysfunctional with a capital “D.”

  Watching Izzy test out each strip and then anxiously wait to see if the plus sign popped up had been the highlight of her day. She would have this somber expression and then slowly it would change to elation. Shawna continued to stare at Danny and realized at that moment she wanted that, too. With him. She slowly made her way over to where he sat comfortably and reached out her hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Izzy laughed. “What, you need to go makes some babies of your own?”

  Shawna rolled her eyes. “Maybe.” The room went quiet. Shawna wanted to burst out laughing. Instead she just stayed cool and shrugged her shoulders. “What?”

  Danny looked around and then back toward her. “Can I get a say in this decision?”

  She just shoved at his arm and teased, “Babe, we’re just going home. I need to call my parents about the competition.” When he visibly sighed, she pointed at him and said, “But the baby thing…”

  He started to push her toward the door. “Yeah, yeah.” Then she walked behind him, leaped up onto his back, and wrapped her body around his.

  Later, Shawna had a half-pint of ice cream on her chest and the spoon in her mouth. On the TV screen, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey were dancing their hearts out in Dirty Dancing. Every time the movie came on, she found herself sucked through a vortex, unable to move.

  When her phone rang, she jumped about a foot off the couch. The ice cream container went tumbling off her chest, and she almost choked on the spoon in her mouth.

  Shawna reached for the phone, sounding a little frazzled. “Hello.” She never had a chance to look at the screen to see who was calling.

  “Is this Shawna Daniels?” the woman on the other line asked politely.

  “Uh, yeah. Can I ask who’s calling?” she said, confused.

  The woman cleared her throat. “Charlene Hawkins. Danny’s mom.”

  Shawna and Danny had talked to Connie a few days ago and mentioned how Danny wanted to fi
nd his parents. Mrs. Winters gave some shocking information and exciting, too. She had been in communication with Danny’s parents for several years now.

  At first, Danny didn’t know how to process what Connie had shared with them both. Then he softened at her words and proceeded to ask a lot of questions. Connie told them Danny’s parents had left town after he turned eighteen. When Danny had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with them and moved out immediately. Connie shared that his parents were upset at first, and then over time they both started to see the errors of their ways and quickly began to regret all they had done…or not done with Danny.

  Apparently, Danny’s parents called the Winters and asked that the communication stay between them only. They would call and check on their son and ask simple every day questions. Connie made it clear that she never shared really personal information; she just let them know how he had been in relation to work or health. That revelation took Danny by surprise. He told her later that he never thought his parents cared.

  She sucked in a breath and quickly said, “Mrs. Hawkins, you should be calling Danny, not me.”

  “I know,” Charlene confessed. “I felt a little nervous calling him, so thought I would try your phone first.”

  Shawna smiled. “Yeah, I get that feeling. I think you will be happy to know he’s looking forward to talking to you both soon. He’s at work right now, but you can try to call him.” Danny had dropped her off earlier to run to work for a few hours. He had promised to be back before she even knew he was gone. Now, two movies and one whole pint of ice cream later, she was wishing he would walk through the door any second.

  She visualized a movie scene, where the girl wished for the man to do something heroic, and seconds later it happened. Shawna sighed and Mrs. Hawkins asked, “Are you okay, Shawna?”

  Her eyes went wide. She had let her mind wander, and she totally forgot about the phone call. She cleared her throat. “Oh, yeah, sorry. Listen, I really think you need to call him and not me. He deserves that much.”