by S. E. Babin
“Hey!” Dan laughed as he tried to defend himself. “I'm just reciting facts.”
“So, it's a fact that I have a smokin' hot bod?”
“Uh, yeah. Duh.”
Tanya shrugged. “When you're right, you're right. Be right back.” She hopped out of the car.
Dan watched her walk over to the trash can and throw out the empty cup. When she got back to the car, she slid into the passenger seat, leaned into him, and kissed him.
Maybe it was supposed to have been a quick kiss. Or a friendly kiss just to say hey, thanks for driving me to the airport. But Dan kissed her back. And it wasn't quick or in any way motivated by carpool favors. He just really wanted to kiss her.
As he pulled her closer, Tanya wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders. One of his hands slid up into her long, dark hair as she all but straddled him in the front seat of the car.
She nipped at his ear. “I've been wanting to do this since I first saw you this morning.”
“Way to drag your feet.”
She kissed him again, and they fell against the driver's side door.
“I wish you didn't have to go yet,” he murmured into her hair.
Tanya looked at the time on the dash. “Me, too. But I can't miss this plane.” She sighed, then levered herself off him and sat back in her seat.
“Okay,” he said, deciding to smile as he put the car in gear. “But just to be clear, you're the one who jumped me, Cinderella.”
Tanya giggled. “I know. I just made out in a car with a guy who bought me a shake.”
Dan considered this. “Well, a lot of people do say that hanging out with me is like watching a John Hughes movie.”
Tanya started laughing again as they stopped at a red light.
“Laugh it up, fuzzball.” And he reached across the seat, grabbed her by the front of her shirt, and pulled her in for another kiss.
The light turned green and he let her go.
Tanya tried to catch her breath. “That … that was Star Wars.”
“Empire, actually. But I'm multi-layered like that.”
He pulled up to her terminal and stopped the car at the curb. “Good luck with your cheerleader. Vivecka?”
She nodded. “Vivecka Jones. Thanks. I was figuring I'd think about her during the flight, decide how to handle everything.” She looked right at him. “But now I bet I'll be thinking about you the whole flight.”
And just like that, they were on each other again, kissing like two teenagers in the last few seconds before curfew.
He finally pushed her away. “Safe flight,” he said.
“Thanks, Preacher Dan.”
He groaned. “At least call me Thelonious Dan if you have to give me a nickname.”
“Thelonious? That's some jazz guy, right?”
“You could say that.”
“Well, where I come from, the jazz is Dixieland.” Tanya got out of the car and slung her bag over her shoulder. She peered back in through the window. “See you on the flip side, Dixieland Dan.”
The next afternoon, his phone buzzed with a text.
Hey Dixieland Dan, you Worship on Sundays?
And so the texting began.
* * *
Christmas Eve
* * *
Diaz: Swing night tonight? Or is your mommy too busy to babysit you at the club this fine evening?
DixielandDan: No, we're on. Close thing tho. Mom had to rush out to get a new clarinet. Busted the old one bopping bratty cheer coaches over the head.
Diaz: I'm hard-headed all right. But my body …
DixielandDan: Don't. Go. There.
Diaz: Oh, I'm going there, all right. But as usual, flying solo. Peace out.
DixielandDan: Peace?!
* * *
Dan tossed his phone onto the pile of invoices on the bar and buried his head in his hands. Tanya Diaz.
Tanya Diaz and the night that never happened.
But God, those kisses in the car.
And they'd been flirting by text ever since. But was it just flirting? They'd gotten to know each other in an odd way over their phones in the past three months. But did that mean there was something more there? Maybe not. It felt like it, but ... if every scrap of communication between them was fueled by that original carnal desire, wasn't it all just foreplay?
But foreplay to what?
He and Tanya had never been together, and chances were, they never would be.
And then Dan knew by the achy, echoey drop in his gut that whatever he felt for Tanya, it was about more than just sex. Because the thought that they would never be together—not just for a night, but ever—made him feel like he did when he listened to Miles Davis playing “It Never Entered My Mind.”
He reached out and took back his phone, tapping out of the texting app.
“How's Tanya?”
Dan looked to see that his Mom had just come into the deserted club, her green eyes honing in on him.
“Huh?” He snatched at the nearest invoice and studied it intently.
“You always get that look on your face when you've been texting Tanya.” She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before setting her clarinet case on the bar.
He tried his best to channel extreme cluelessness. “What look?”
Pam raised her brows and smiled. “You look like you did when you were a kid and had to decide between Nintendo and leaving the TV long enough to go get pizza.”
Dan shook his head, laughing. “That makes no sense.”
“Sure it does. You've been texting her for months. If you do something about it, take some kind of action, you might be missing out on something else.” She twirled a faded strand of her auburn hair around her finger. “Maybe the texting is better than the pizza.”
Dan furrowed his brow, as if considering what she said. “You … are a loon,” he decided. “Here's the playlist for tonight.”
Dan started gathering up the papers scattered all across the bar. Take action? Like he could. Like Tanya could. They were both zip-tied to their jobs, their cities, their lives. And what if … what if it was all just playful teasing for her? What if it didn't go any deeper? What if it didn't really matter?
“Looks good,” Pam said, picking up her case.
“Hey.” Dan tugged at the sleeve of her frayed denim shirt. “This what you're wearing tonight?”
“No worries,” she said, heading to the stage. “I've got a sexy tee underneath.”
“The black one?”
“Green.” Pam tossed back her hair as she adjusted the height of her microphone. “It is Christmas Eve, you know.”
A young man with messy dark hair came in from the back and took a seat at the drums.
“Hey, Adam,” Dan greeted. “How was New York?”
“Cold. The orchestra, the soundtrack, all that was good. But it was so damn cold.”
Dan laughed. “A white Christmas comes with a price.”
“I was there for the gig. Period. When it comes to Christmas, I'm in Heat Miser's camp, all the way.”
“Well, I'm glad you made it back on time.”
“So, what's on deck for tonight?” Adam tapped at his mic, twirled a drumstick in his hand. “Christmas swing?”
Dan looked up from where he was collecting the invoices. He pasted on a smile. “'Tis the season.”
* * *
“Hey, Miss Diaz. Merry Christmas Eve.” Andre slipped into the folding chair next to her.
Tanya smiled at him. Andre Smith. Captain of the football team. Her faithful sidekick. Always around. Always dependable. And Tanya liked that she could be there for him, too. Andre didn't really have anyone at home. Or at that crack den that served as home whenever he had to give some kind of address.
“Merry Christmas.” She nudged him gently with her elbow in way of greeting. “What was that you were playing with the kids?” She looked across the big rec room of The Dorm to where the little kids giggled and chased each other.
Andre looked awa
y, hiding a smile. “Oh, nothing. Just some game. The Minister's Cat. I saw it in a movie once.”
“Well, you guys were all having a lot of fun.”
“Yeah … well ….” Andre's eyes lit up suddenly as he looked toward the door. “Look who's back.”
Tanya followed his gaze to the front doors, where Vivecka Jones had just walked in. As usual, the disgraced cheerleader wore a hint of defiance like a second skin.
And Tanya didn't blame her. Vivecka's folks had a little more money than everyone else in the school district. Not enough to get out, but enough to make almost everyone see Vivecka as someone to pull down off some sort of pedestal. And they'd damn near done it in September.
“Merry Christmas,” Andre greeted, not at all fazed by the gargantuan chip on Vivecka's shoulder. “So your folks let you have the car back?”
She kept her hands in the pockets of her cheer letter jacket as she shrugged. “Not grounded anymore. They'd have to stick around if they wanted to enforce it, right?”
Tanya furrowed her brow. “Your parents aren't around?” On Christmas?
Vivecka shrugged again. “My mom always wanted to spend Christmas in Branson.”
“Branson?!” Andre's whole face screwed up. “Seriously?”
She rolled her eyes. “They say it's more than just country music and white folks. Anyhow, they ungrounded me when they left yesterday.”
“Branson ….” Andre was shaking his head. “Where's Dominique?”
“Around. He's supposed to be in charge. Right. Like he's more responsible than me.” She looked off and snorted. “He's with his girlfriend 24/7. And not the same girlfriend he sees at Ole Miss.”
“Man,” Andre said. “That's not right.”
“No shit.” And Vivecka didn't shrug this time.
“Well,” Tanya said, deciding to inject some snap into her voice and get her two favorite students into a party mood. “You listen to me, young lady. You may be out of the doghouse with your parents. But not with me. Now, you go over there and pile yourself a plate full of food. Get some punch, then you get back over here and keep me company so we can dish about that hideous dress Miz Williams was wearing to the school Christmas party. You understand?”
And Vivecka actually smiled. “Yes, Miss Diaz. Right back, Miss Diaz.” She headed toward the table overflowing with treats and meats and breads and drinks, and without any prodding, Andre got up and followed her.
Tanya looked down to her phone, found the last text from Dan, and sighed. She loved her job, no joke. When Colin Scott had asked her to take over The Dorm, Tanya had jumped at the chance to really fight for something that mattered.
So why did it have to happen? Why had she looked up into Dan Allport's chocolate brown eyes on that rainy fall morning?
Why couldn't she have looked up into the eyes of some businessman from Dow, who travelled to Louisiana all the time? Or she could have met an arena football player on the Voodoo who'd been in Los Angeles that day to play the Kiss. Yeah, it would have been better if she'd fallen for a New Orleans local when she'd flown to The City of Angels a few months ago. That would have been odd, sure. And coincidental as all get-out. But it could have happened. Right?
Man! He didn't even have to be a local guy or someone who visited The Big Easy regularly. Any guy who didn't run his own club and take care of the homeless in the off hours would do. Someone who wasn't handcuffed to his life.
Just like she was.
Sure, she'd escaped long enough to make that one quick trip for Colin in the fall, but it had cost her.
Maybe Vivecka would have made the same choices if Tanya had been in New Orleans that weekend. Maybe Vivecka still would have gotten arrested and kicked off the squad if Tanya had been watching over The Dorm that day. But probably not. The peer pressure had been too much and Vivecka hadn't had anyone to turn to. Because Tanya hadn't been there.
Would there ever be a time, ever again, ever, when Tanya would feel comfortable leaving? Ever ever? When she was the last bastion between these kids and their bad choices? Unlikely.
And between running his club and helping the homeless, Dan had about enough time left over to eat once a day and sleep for two and a half hours. A visit to New Orleans was not in the cards. At least, not in his cards.
Or maybe he just wasn't motivated enough to make their relationship anything but texting.
Or maybe she wasn't.
Tanya bit her lip. Maybe what she and Dan had wasn't real at all. After all, she ran The Dorm like a badass because she knew how to assess a situation and Make. It. Work.
So far, she'd been able to transform every debacle that The Dorm had thrown at her. When the contractors started showing up with decided irregularity, she'd fired their asses with the speed of a Nolan Ryan fastball and hired out-of-work locals. When the wrong color acrylic showed up and the paint company told her to kiss off … well, no one knows who painted the two newest trucks in the company's fleet with that hideous shade of brown. But Tanya was gratified to have the correct color show up at The Dorm the very next day.
Yes, Tanya Diaz was able to make everything work. Everything.
Except her own damn non-relationship with Dan.
And that said something, didn't it? Didn't it?
“Merry Christmas, Miss Diaz.”
Tanya looked up, in something of a haze. And she couldn't believe who she was seeing. “Colin!”
In a split second, she was out of her chair, around the table, and hugging Colin Scott for all she was worth.
* * *
Andre looked up when he heard Miss Diaz scream.
What?
Coach Colin! Right across the room! He and Coach texted sometimes, but Andre hadn't seen him since he'd turned The Dorm over to Miss Diaz and went off to Hollywood to marry Wendy Hunter.
But now he was hugging Miss Diaz, like they hadn't seen one another in a thousand years.
And as Andre watched them hug, really hug, he felt kind of lonely. Especially with Vivecka standing so close by. Vivecka, who he never hugged. Except that one time, after she got arrested and everyone was being so mean to her. But after that one hug, he'd stepped away and kept away. You couldn't just go getting all affectionate with the girl of your secret dreams when she was kicked and down. You just couldn't.
But what was Coach Colin doing here? And where was Miss Hunter?
Man, how long were they gonna hug?
* * *
Tanya pulled back, beaming. “Colin! I can't believe it.”
He looked around The Dorm, then back to Tanya. “I had to come back. I couldn't stand not being here with the kids. Not at Christmas.”
“But you're banned.”
Colin shook his head. “Wendy's the one banned from The Dorm. She's in Memphis with the kids at St. Jude's.”
“But Colin,” Tanya whispered. “Your first Christmas with Wendy.”
He smiled. “We're good.” His voice got softer. “She knew how much I wanted to be here. We fly back to L.A. together on the twenty-seventh.”
And suddenly, Tanya could feel herself shaking. Colin Scott would be at The Dorm for the next two days. Colin Scott, the man who'd founded The Dorm in the first place. The one other person who could be trusted with the fate of The Dorm.
This was her chance.
And she wanted it. She knew she wanted it. She wanted her relationship with Dan to be real. She wanted to make it real. And this was her chance.
“Colin, can you do me a favor?”
* * *
At five o'clock on Christmas morning, Tanya pulled into the Louis Armstrong airport. She was about to give Dan Allport the most amazing surprise ever. She was going to rock his Christmas socks right off. The flight she'd booked last night had only had one seat left, but she'd gotten it. And in a few minutes, she would be on her way to Los Angeles.
And it had to be a surprise. Tanya couldn't text Dan and tell him, not when she could hardly believe it herself. But she was doing this.
Starting
to feel downright jittery with anticipation, Tanya pulled into the garage and parked her Fiat. She popped the Dramamine pill she would need to survive the flight, grabbed her bag, and dashed into the terminal just as the first fat drops of rain started to fall.
But Tanya was so focused on getting to Los Angeles and surprising the bejesus out of Dan that she didn't even notice the clouds that kept the Christmas sky dark as it struggled to turn into day.
After going through security, she found a bank of monitors to check her gate.
Delayed.
Tanya blinked. Was she reading that right? She looked at the entire monitor. At all the monitors. At all the flights.
Delayed.
Delayed.
Delayed.
Delayed.
Delayed.
Cancelled.
Cancelled.
Cancelled.
No!
Tanya rushed to the information desk, where she listened in as a woman from the airline explained things to an entire flight of people huddled around the kiosk.
“... storms coming up from the Gulf. Planes are grounded until further notice.”
“Grounded?” a passenger shouted. “For how long? Is it just a single cell?”
“Looks like a multicell cluster. And depending on the damage, we might be here a while. Maybe all day.”
Tanya felt herself lock into troubleshoot mode.
She had to get out of the coming storm. She could not just sit and WAIT. Possibly all day. And the flights would be so backed up! She had to do something.
She could … drive out. Yes! She could drive to … Houston. Yes! And catch a plane from there.
Thank God she hadn't texted Dan to tell him she was coming. She couldn't bear to disappoint him or make him wait. Or fail. God, it would be awful if he knew she'd tried but failed.
But she wouldn't fail. Tanya sat down and started tapping at her phone. The storms had missed Houston. Barely. Sweet! Within five minutes, she had herself on a 4:05 flight from Houston to Los Angeles. It was later than she wanted, but at least she'd secured herself a ticket. She'd be eating beans and rice until June and she wouldn't be able to get another manicure until her granddaughter's quinceañera, but that was okay. She was going to see Dan and something like a hurricane from the Gulf was not about to stop her.