The country swing involved a lot of arm movement. I had to be careful to duck my head in case an elbow came speeding too close. First Nate showed me how to step in and out and then raise our arms to fit over our heads. It felt like a tangled web, but it always worked out if we turned back the right way. I held tight to his hands as he led me through different moves, and we stepped and spun so fast I couldn’t watch the other couples dancing.
Toward the end of one song, my elbow smacked into Nate’s chin. I started laughing hysterically—I couldn’t help it—and tears sprang to my eyes. I laughed until my belly ached.
Nate rubbed his chin. “It’s not funny. That hurt!” He smiled his crooked grin.
“I’m sorry.” I bit my lower lip to keep from giggling, and then lifted my hand to his chin to assess the damage.
Nate grasped my fingers and gazed quietly at me. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw Abby watching us.
“You need to dance with her,” I blurted out.
Frowning, he kept hold of my hand. “Abby?”
“She likes you,” I replied.
He glanced over to where she stood.
I put both my hands on his cheeks and yanked his face back to mine. “Blessed day, don’t look.”
He reached up to touch my hands that were holding his face. I quickly dropped them.
“I want to dance with you,” he said softly.
“You can’t—not anymore. Abby is my friend.”
Since I didn’t need an escort to leave the dance floor, I simply walked away.
“Dani,” Nate called, but I ignored him.
As I headed for Abby, another boy asked me to dance. I got asked to dance every song after that and soon got the hang of the country swing. A couple of my partners did a trick where they lifted me completely off the floor, and others dipped me so low over their knee that both my feet came up high. I also got to dance the two-step, which I loved.
More than once I spied Nate watching me. His expression got more and more somber over the next hour. He only danced a few times, but I never saw him dance with Abby. I wondered why, since he now knew she liked him.
Brian asked me to dance again. This time he was polite, and I decided to give him one more try.
“You look happy,” he remarked.
“I am.”
“You’re beautiful when you smile.” He wasn’t holding me tight like last time, and his compliment seemed sincere.
“Thank you.”
I peeked over the crowd and saw Nate dancing with Abby. Yay! But she didn’t look blissful like I’d expected. Her head hung down, and Nate frowned as he talked to her. What is he saying?
“Are you going to the rodeo tonight?” Brian asked me.
I forced my attention back to him. “Yes, I think so.”
“Will you go with me?”
“That’s nice of you to ask, Brian, but I’m going with Abby.”
“Can I at least join you?” His arm wrapped a little tighter around my waist.
Clearly I was wrong to think he might not be so bad. I tried to push him away, but his hand moved farther up my back.
I put my palms on his chest and shoved hard. He dropped his arms and glared at me. “Thanks for the dance,” I said. The song hadn’t ended, but I walked away.
By the time Abby finished her dance with Nate and joined me, I felt calm again. “How was it?” I asked her.
She smiled but her eyes couldn’t hide the sadness. “He likes someone else.”
“I’m so sorry.” I reached out and grabbed her hand. “Please don’t tell me it’s that awful girl from French class.”
Before Abby could respond, a voice came from behind me. “I haven’t met your friend yet, Abby.”
I turned around and saw the infamous girl we’d just been talking about. Speak of the devil.
“Hi, I’m Jamie.” She stuck out a hand in greeting.
“I’m Dani.” I put my hand in hers.
She gave it a feeble shake. “Everyone’s talking about the new girl, so I had to see for myself what all the fuss was about.” Jamie sneered and looked me up and down. “For one thing, I can tell the new girl needs a wardrobe change.”
Embarrassed, I folded my arms across my chest.
“And could she not think of anything else to do with her hair?” Jamie mocked.
Why is she talking about me in the third person?
She flipped her own hair, which had a little braid pinned perfectly to the side. “From what I can tell, I still have no competition.” She moved close so her face was inches from mine. “Stay away from Nate. He’s my boyfriend.” She flipped her hair again and stomped off.
I reached up and felt my hair. Does it really look that bad?
“I hate that girl,” Abby grumbled. “Do me a favor, Dani, and make Nate fall in love with you.”
I dropped my hand and whirled to stare at her. “What are you talking about?”
“Nate likes you,” she sighed. “He’s never looked at me the way he looks at you.”
I blushed. “Abby, you should make him fall in love with you.”
“When he danced with me, he thanked me for being a good friend.” She tilted her head in question. “Do you think he would have said that if he liked me?”
“Well, I, uh . . .” I stammered. “Maybe he was being shy.”
“Remember I can tell how you feel. I know you like him.”
I shook my head. “I might’ve liked him before I found out he was the oldest, but now I realize you like him. I’ve only known him for two days—you’ve probably liked him forever.”
Abby turned to look me straight in the eye. “Listen, Dani. I appreciate you caring about my feelings, but you can’t let Jamie win. Nate likes you, not her. Forget about me.”
I scowled. “I can’t forget about you.”
“Then I’ll make it easy for you,” she said. “I’m going to ignore him for the rest of the night and flirt with his brother, Troy.”
I huffed in frustration. “Abby, don’t do this.”
“Oh, listen!” she said, ignoring my plea. “The band is playing another line dance.”
Remembering what Jamie said, I reached for my hair again. “Does it look that bad?
“Seriously, Dani. Jamie is a horrible person. Your hair is fine. She was only trying to make you feel bad.”
I twisted a small piece of hair by my ear. “If you say so.”
“Here.” Abby reached in her pocket and removed what looked like a circle of blue string. “If it’ll make you feel better, put your hair in this.” She huffed and said under her breath, “I cannot stand that girl. She only wishes Nate was her boyfriend.”
Ignoring the comment about Jamie, I took the blue string and pulled at it with my other finger. Stretchy. “What’s this?”
“It’s a hair elastic. Let me help you.” Abby took it and moved to stand behind me. She pulled up my hair and put the elastic around it so that my hair hung in one neat piece from the back of my head. “There. You’ve got a ponytail,” she said.
I’d never heard it called that, but I liked how my hair was out of my face—I was really hot from all the dancing. “Thanks, Abby.”
The band was playing an upbeat rhythm. “Are you ready?” she asked.
“You know I am.” I winked.
“Good, because Nate’s watching. It’s time to make him fall for you.”
I swatted her arm. “He’ll be watching you.”
“Just wait and see who he asks to dance next. Then you’ll know I’m telling you the truth.”
The music was in full swing and a lot of people were doing the line dance. Abby and I went to the front and joined in. This dance was a little more complicated than the last, with a few more turns and shuffles, but once I learned the basic steps I added a few of my own to make it more exciting. Abby copied my steps, and before long a small group was doing my added movements.
Soon, I felt higher than a cloud. I spun around with my hands in the air and kicked up my
cowgirl boots each time. I was grateful for the training I’d received at the castle, but tonight’s dancing was so much fun and very liberating.
When the song was just about over, a strong arm suddenly wrapped around my waist. I struggled for a few seconds until I realized it was Nate.
“What are you doing?” I asked, even though I was thrilled to be near him.
“I need to get you off this dance floor,” he breathed next to my ear.
“Why?”
“Because every guy looks like he wants to devour you.”
“What?”
“You don’t understand how beautiful you look when you dance, Dani.”
I smiled at the compliment, but then panicked when I noticed men staring at me. “Why are they looking at me like that?”
“They want to dance with you.”
“Oh,” I said quietly.
He pulled me away from the line dance. “I had to fight five guys off to get to you.”
I clutched Nate’s arm when I saw a bearded man eyeing me. “I’m sorry,” I said.
“Don’t be sorry, Princess.”
I was beginning to love how he playfully called me princess. I used to think he was saying it to mock me, but it had become a cute nickname. He had no idea there was truth to his teasing.
We had moved to another spot on the dance floor. Nate had both hands around my waist, and my hands were tucked up against his chest. “The only reason I stopped watching you,” he said, “was because I didn’t want anyone else to dance with you.”
I felt a blush crawling up my neck and into my cheeks. But before I could shy away, I peeked over Nate’s shoulder and noticed the guy with the beard was approaching. “Nate?” I squeaked.
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said.
Great idea!
He grabbed my hand and we started to leave, but Brian blocked our way and said, “Dani promised me another dance.”
“She is leaving,” Nate replied.
“Not without me,” Brian said angrily. “She promised me a dance and then she’s going to the rodeo with me.”
I gasped.“Ididn’t promise you anything!” I gripped Nate’s hand tighter.
“Dani is leaving with me,” Nate said calmly. “Maybe she’ll catch up with you later.”
Clearly trying to control his anger, Brian said to me, “I thought we had a connection. Don’t you want to stay with me?”
I stood up straight and said, “No, and I’m leaving with Nate.”
Seething, Brian pointed his finger at Nate and said, “This isn’t over, cowboy.” Then Brian sauntered off.
“You know the only way you’re going to be safe is if you stick with me tonight,” Nate told me. “What do you say? Will you be my girl tonight?”
“You don’t have to stay with me to protect me. I’ll be fine.”
“What about me?”
“What do you mean?”
He gave a half grin. “What if I need you to keep me safe?”
“How would I ever do that?”
“You’re killing me, Dani.” He threw back his head and blew out a long breath. “I’m going to lay it on the line. I’m not a guy of many words, so I’ll make this short. I never believed in love at first sight until I met you. All it took was just one look.” He paused and reached out to hold my face in his hands. “Dani, I’ll even get down on my knees to ask you one more time. Will you be my girl?”
I gulped. This is so romantic!
When he backed away and acted like he was going to actually get down on his knees, I grabbed his arm to stop him. “Yes, I’ll be your girl.”
He laughed. “Oh, good. Now come on, let’s get out of here.” He grabbed my hand again and we started to leave.
I looked back at Abby. She was staring at me, smiling. She motioned for me to go, then pointed to her heart and mouthed, “Make him love you.”
“Thank you,” I mouthed back.
Besides Jack, Abby had turned out to be my most true friend. I’d have to find a way to show her my gratitude. It’s not every day a princess gets to spend the afternoon with the cowboy of her dreams.
Chapter 11
Dornroschen (Little Briar Rose)
by the Brothers Grimm
Germany, 1812
The king, who wanted to do everything possible to guard his dear child from misfortune, sent out an order that every spindle in the entire kingdom was to be burned to ashes.
As for the girl, all the wishes made by the wise women came true, for she was so beautiful, kind, charming, and sensible that everyone who set eyes on her grew to love her.
A Date with a Cowboy
If I thought the county fair during the daytime would make a good song, at night it must’ve been an entire symphony. From the sound of the band playing their music, to the chimes of the machines, melody swirled around everything and surrounded my heart.
Most of the time, the music in me was tied to an emotion. For example, as I walked beside Nate with my hand in his, I heard a song of rapture. The notes in my mind jumped excitedly to the rhythm. The way he intertwined our fingers made me feel like our hearts were entwined.
“I’m sorry about the way I treated you the other night,” he said after we had walked for a few minutes. His fingers squeezed my hand, making my heart flutter.
“I was pretty awful to you too,” I admitted. “You must have been surprised to see me at the old house.”
“About that, I still can’t figure out why you were there and dressed so funny.”
I looked down at my boots. “I got lost,” I said finally. It wasn’t a lie.
“From a costume party?” he asked with a smile.
“Yes.” A royal ball is technically a costume party, right?
Nate tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “I know there’s more to the story, but I’ll wait for you to tell me. Tonight, I’ll just enjoy having you as my girl.”
I blushed from head to toe.
“Now let’s talk about your hair,” he said.
“What about it?” Oh no, he’s going to mock me too.
“Why did you put it in a ponytail? I liked how you had it.”
“I don’t know,” I replied.
“What did Jamie say when I saw her talking to you?”
I lifted my shoulders in answer.
“Do me a favor, Dani. Always be true to yourself. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not. And never listen to girls like Jamie, who will try to cut you down so they can feel better.” Nate reached out and grabbed my hand that was playing with my hair. “Don’t be afraid to be yourself.”
He didn’t realize I couldn’t be myself right now, because I really didn’t know who I was. My life had been overshadowed by the wizard’s curse that had kept me stuck at the castle under the protection of my parents, and the guards, and the staff. Although living in Idaho had helped a little, I needed more time to discover who I was.
“Can I put your hair down?” Nate asked. I nodded, so he turned me around and gently removed the elastic. My hair fell down around my shoulders. Just as with every other time he had touched me, a happy spark ran through me.
“Thank you,” I said, then turned to see him gazing at me.
“You’re beautiful,” he muttered.
I tried to look anywhere but in his probing eyes.
“Dani” —he turned my chin with his hand— “you’re beautiful just the way you are.”
Embarrassed, I thanked him again, and he asked if I wanted to want to go on one of the rides. I assumed he meant the colorful vehicles around us with people riding in them. But these vehicles did not stay firmly on the ground—instead they flew around at all angles, or spun, or moved in any number of odd ways. And the people in them were screaming in fear.
“I don’t think I’m ready for something that flies in the air,” I said. “Abby’s car scares me enough as it is.” As soon as her name came out of my mouth, guilt washed over me. It should be her here with Nate, not me. “I feel terrible
about leaving her.”
“Abby is a great friend,” Nate replied, “but she’s like a sister to me.”
“She’s my friend, too. That’s why I feel so bad.”
“She told me to make you fall in love with me.”
“She did?” I exclaimed.
Nate laughed at my shock. “I danced with her to ask permission to take you out on a date tonight, but instead she surprised me by her own request.”
Abby is an angel, I thought. I wish I could find someone for her to love.
“I want to show you something,” Nate said and led me to the brightly colored game stands in the opposite direction of the rides. “Have you ever played bank a ball, where you bank a ball into a duck pond?”
Either they had a very bizarre way of playing games here, or his strange words simply meant throwing a ball into a duck pond.
The latter proved to be true, because kids were throwing balls into a small pond—with fake birds, mind you. The kids were giggling, which made me laugh.
“Do you want to try?” Nate asked me.
“Can I?” I bounced a little on my feet.
He brought me closer and asked a man if we could have some balls for the game. The man was in desperate need of a shave and his shirt needed washing, but when he smiled at me I saw kindness in his eyes. Nate gave the man some money, and in exchange he handed Nate a handful of small balls.
Hate turned to me. “Are you ready?”
Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. “Yes.” I smiled.
“Calm down, girl.” He chuckled. “You’ll throw the ball too far with that much excitement.”
I took a deep breath. “All right, teach me what to do.”
“For the record, I’ve already taught you how to dance. This will be the second thing I teach you. You’re in for a load of lessons tonight.” He bent and kissed my cheek.
My blush was almost instant, and I had to force myself not to sigh from happiness.
Nate said something but I wasn’t listening. I was still in fantasy land from his kiss. I shook my head to focus my thoughts. “What did you say?” I had to ask.
Nate smiled. “You’ll want to arc your throw a little so the ball doesn’t bounce out of the cups.”
I looked at the cups in the spinning water. “I’m ready.” I grabbed one of the white balls and threw it at the pond. It hit one of the cups and bounced into the rippling water.
Finding Sleeping Beauty Page 7