When the time came to drive to the courthouse, they went in silence. Spenser took Duon and the kids, and Tomás drove his parents, doing them proud by not crying, by being as strong as he possibly could. In the courtroom, they sat together on a long bench, all eight of them, holding hands. Behind them sat Laurie and Ed, Ed’s parents, Vicky, Oliver, his husband. Their friends and neighbors filled the room. They sat together, chests tight and souls aching, waiting to see which way the winds of fate would send them. When Alisa arrived, they brought her over too, and all of them joined hands in their seats.
The judge began to speak. Tomás held his breath, not sure what words he should be listening for. Not sure what the judge was saying.
Not until he heard temporary green cards, until he heard Laurie and Spenser’s intake of breath, Oliver’s guttural yes murmured behind him. Not until his mother and father began to cry, to hug each other, and him.
They were staying.
They were allowed to stay.
His family wasn’t going away, and no one could threaten them with that anymore. Not ever again.
The bailiff ushered them into the hall as they became too loud, and they were only into the first round of slobbery, joyful hugs when Laurie yelped. Everyone turned to him, where he stood staring at his phone, his hand over his mouth. He looked up, his face full of shock—and wonder.
“The Supreme Court decided Windsor.” He turned his phone around, hand shaking so hard he nearly dropped it. “They struck it down. 5-4. They struck it down. DOMA is dead.”
There was a single heartbeat of the world where they all looked at one another, eyes wide, hearts falling open. Disbelief, wonder, emotion too much for any of them to contain.
They had won. Not one thing, not two.
They had won everything.
Their joy was a force now, a tide carrying them out of the courthouse and into the street, where they hugged and laughed and cried and danced each other and even a few total strangers around, moving to music more powerful than any song. The music of their hearts. Of hope. The sound of a perfect moment, where despite the darkness, despite weariness, despair, and death, hope didn’t simply survive.
On that day, it thrived.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
June 26, 2015
St. Paul, Minnesota, Union Park District
It was a bright, beautiful day when the US Supreme Court decided in favor of full marriage equality.
Spenser was making breakfast with Renata and the girls, and Tomás was in the backyard with Duon, José, and Ashton, when the verdict came over the radio. Running from the house into the fresh-cut grass, Spenser and Renata shouted at the boys in the garage, but they’d had the radio on too and came to meet them. After crying and hugging each other for several minutes, they ran down the street to Annette and Dick, where they hugged and cried again.
By five o’clock that evening, Spenser and Tomás’s house was teeming with friends and family and smelling like barbecue, tamales, and the best refried beans in the state of Minnesota, and probably the nation, Spenser was sure of it. Tomás and Spenser took turns giving tours of the house, proudly showing off the remodeling the family had done themselves. “Once we refinished the floors and fixed the walls, everything was easy,” Spenser told his teaching partner and her husband, both who had come over with their two kids to celebrate the good news. “We finished the attic last week, and as soon as Tomás and I can move our stuff up there, we have a bedroom free for another host home guest.”
“Hopefully the extra space will mean Duon stops acting like we’re going to kick him out of the house just because he’s graduated,” Tomás volunteered from the doorway of the bedroom Spenser had stopped in. “Honey, Oliver wants to make a toast in the backyard, as soon as you’re finished.”
They cut the tour short, Spenser promising to finish later. But before Spenser and Tomás could get outside, the doorbell rang. “It’s probably my mom and sisters.” Spenser squeezed Tomás’s hand. “I hope.”
“Your mom told you they were coming, and she won’t let them change their minds now.” Tomás bussed his cheek. “It’ll be fine. Don’t be nervous.”
“It’s just that I haven’t seen Gina in so long.” Spenser sighed and squared his shoulders. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
But when they opened the front door, it wasn’t Spenser’s mother who stood there, or any of his sisters. It was Dorothy Graves.
She was taller than Spenser remembered. Tall and broad and stately, her bearing as regal and severe as she’d been in the courtroom years ago. She wore a coral-pink floral dress, and she held a saran-wrapped plate in her hands.
“Mrs. Graves.” Spenser stood straighter, letting go of Tomás to extend his hand to her. “It’s a pleasure to see you. Won’t you come in?”
She didn’t accept his hand, and she peered through the open doorway to the chaos of the backyard with sharp eyes. “I see I’ve come at a poor time. I apologize. But I wanted to thank you for the letter you sent me, and I wanted to give Duon this.” She held out the tray to Tomás, giving him a stern look that said you will take this. “They’re molasses crinkles, Duon’s favorite cookie from when he was little.”
Tomás accepted the tray. “Thank you so much. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to have these. But please, won’t you come in? This is a family gathering, and we’d be happy to have you.”
Spenser knew she would refuse before she shook her head. It was too much too fast. After all, the social worker had waited nearly two years to send the letter it had taken him four months to write. “Perhaps you can come over some other time. Or perhaps we can arrange for Duon to visit. I could fetch him now, if you like.”
“I can’t leave the children alone too long. They get into trouble. But if he wants to come by and visit sometime, tell him he’s welcome.” She lifted her chin and looked Spenser hard in the eye. “You take care of him, do you hear me?”
“I will, Mrs. Graves.” Spenser inclined his head in what became a small bow. “I will.”
When Dorothy left, Tomás and Spenser went into the backyard hand in hand. Oliver stood in the center of their circle of family, smiling, visibly moved. When the crowd settled in and took up their glasses, Oliver raised his own glass and began to speak.
“This day has been decades in the making. From the riots at the Stonewall Inn to the fall of DOMA two years ago on this same date. From the dark days when discrimination and censure were so common nearly no one would lift a finger to help a queer man or woman when they were down. When we didn’t even know words like non-binary gender identity. When we were beaten and discarded without so much as a ripple of interest from society. When we didn’t dare to dream of marriage. To be sure, there is much work yet to be done. Without question there will be backlash and attempts to tear our victory from our hands.”
His eyes glistened and his voice broke. “But right now, on this day, we will celebrate. Because today we are seen. Today we are validated. Today, with a rap of a gavel, many of the people in this gathering are legally united not only in the eyes of Minnesota and an increasingly wide number of states, but by the entire United States of America. Today the fight of ages, the dream I was laughed at for dreaming only twenty years ago, is reality. Celebrate that. Celebrate this moment. This life.” He lifted his glass high, his voice bright and strong now. “To us.”
“To us,” the gathering echoed, and clinked their glasses to their neighbors, drinking down their victory.
Duon hopped up on the picnic table, holding his soda bottle high. “All right now. Everybody dance.”
Music played, belting at a level that would have upset the neighbors had they not already been in Spenser and Tomás’s yard. Spenser put his hands up, laughing as he moved his body, uncaring how good or bad he was or who saw him. Not today. Not ever again.
His husband put his arm around him, turning him around and into his arms with a beaming grin. “Dance with me, sweetheart?”
Spenser put his arms around his
husband’s neck, his husband in all fifty of the United States of America. “Always.”
Author’s Note
When I revisited Dance With Me to release the second edition, I was stunned to see how much the world had changed in the three years since it was first published. Particularly in regards to marriage equality, the story I wrote had become a historical, a novel written for another time. As I realized how much would have changed for the characters in that novel as well, I had the urge to write the space between then and now, because it would have been nothing short of a wild ride.
As stories are wont to do, telling that tale drew the focus of other narrative threads until they became the novel you have just finished reading. In the same way the story’s arc of marriage equality is real, so is the struggle for undocumented immigrants and for teens in foster care, particularly queer teens. I assure you not only are all the trials related in Enjoy the Dance real issues, they sadly rarely have the happy ending I was able to author for them here.
Happily you, dear reader, are in a position to help change that.
To start, by purchasing this book you’ve made a donation to Avenues for Homeless Youth, an organization mentioned in this book (and in many others) which also happens to exist in real life, and Youth Standing Strong, a similar organization in my hometown. I make a monthly contribution to both these organizations, and your purchase means I can make my donation that much larger. You will also be contributing directly to a real-life Duon, whose savings account will increase with every royalty check I receive from this book.
But you can do so much more. Precious few of us are Oliver Thompson, but we still have a great deal of power. One simple but resonant action you can take is to vote. This book is being published in a US Presidential election year, but no matter where you are in the world, no matter what year it is, you can remember that the characters in this novel are all representations of real-life people all around you, and you can use your vote to help them. In local, state, and national elections, in your province or village, in whatever jurisdiction you reside. Learn the positions the candidates have on LGBT rights, on immigration, on the support for youth in foster care—then vote for the people you believe will effect change.
You can also help in direct ways. You can donate to Avenues for Homeless Youth or YSS or whatever similar organization exists near you. You can volunteer for these organizations too, and if it’s right for you and your family, you can be a host home or you can apply to be a foster family and say you want your priority to be LGBT teens, particularly teens of color. You can rally for undocumented immigrants, particularly children. You can seek out local resources for that population and give them the help they need, or if no such support exists, you can create it.
I keep a list of organizations needing your help on my website. If you know of some I haven’t listed, send the information to [email protected]. Additionally, if you want to learn more about LGBT homeless youth and how you can help, please check out Ryan Berg’s No House to Call My Home, available everywhere books are sold.
About the Author
Heidi Cullinan has always enjoyed a good love story, provided it has a happy ending. Proud to be from the first Midwestern state with full marriage equality, Heidi is a vocal advocate for LGBT rights. She writes positive-outcome romances for LGBT characters struggling against insurmountable odds because she believes there’s no such thing as too much happy ever after. When Heidi isn’t writing, she enjoys cooking, reading, playing with her cats, and watching television with her family. Find out more about Heidi at heidicullinan.com.
Want to make sure you never miss any books by Heidi Cullinan? Sign up for the release-announcement-only newsletter.
Did you know several of the characters in this book exist in other books?
Ed and Laurie appear in Book 1 of the Dancing series, Dance With Me. They also cameo in Lonely Hearts and Short Stay in the Love Lessons series.
Were you worried about poor Marcus and his broken heart? Read Let It Snow, book one of the Minnesota Christmas series, to find out how another Twin Cities resident leads him into love.
THE DANCING SERIES
Dance With Me (also available in French)
Enjoy the Dance
Burn the Floor (coming soon)
Sometimes life requires a partner.
Ed Maurer has bounced back, more or less, from the neck injury that permanently benched his semipro football career. He hates his soul-killing office job, but he loves volunteering at a local community center. The only fly in his ointment is the dance instructor, Laurie Parker, who can’t seem to stay out of his way.
Laurie was once one of the most celebrated ballet dancers in the world, but now he volunteers at Halcyon Center to avoid his society mother’s machinations. It would be a perfect escape, except for the oaf of a football player cutting him glares from across the room.
When Laurie has a ballroom dancing emergency and Ed stands in as his partner, their perceptions of each other turn upside down. Dancing leads to friendship, being friends leads to becoming lovers, but most important of all, their partnership shows them how to heal the pain of their pasts. Because with every turn across the floor, Ed and Laurie realize the only escape from their personal demons is to keep dancing—together.
Other Books by Heidi Cullinan
LOVE LESSONS SERIES
Love Lessons (also available in German)
Fever Pitch (also available in German)
Lonely Hearts (also available in German)
Short Stay
Rebel Heart (coming 2017)
THE ROOSEVELT SERIES
Carry the Ocean
Shelter the Sea (coming 2017)
Unleash the Earth (coming soon)
CLOCKWORK LOVE SERIES
Clockwork Heart
Clockwork Pirate (coming soon)
Clockwork Princess (coming soon)
SPECIAL DELIVERY SERIES
Special Delivery (also available in German)
Double Blind (also available in German)
Tough Love
MINNESOTA CHRISTMAS SERIES
Let It Snow
Sleigh Ride
Winter Wonderland
TUCKER SPRINGS SERIES
Second Hand (written with Marie Sexton) (available in French)
Dirty Laundry (available in French)
(more titles in this series by other authors)
SINGLE TITLES
Nowhere Ranch (available in Italian)
The Devil Will Do
Hero
Miles and the Magic Flute
Family Man (written with Marie Sexton)
A Private Gentleman
NONFICTION
Your A Game: Winning Promo for Genre Fiction (written with Damon Suede)
Enjoy the Dance Page 24