Page 21 of Honeymoon for Seven

“Ginnie?” Her mother appeared perplexed.

“What is it?” Mina leaned closer to the phone. “What did she say?”

“Sam is so skinny?”

“What?”

“Something about muskrats? I can’t tell. The music is too loud.”

“Music?” Now both sisters were on their feet.

Reaching over her mother’s shoulder, Mina punched the button for speakerphone and she realized what Jo had meant about clamoring. There was the sound of chatter and clinking glasses in the background, overshadowed by music and singing.

Her mother was right about one thing, the song was “Muskrat Love,” an old hit by Captain and Tennille. “Is that Ginnie singing?”

“You’re kidding?” Jo leaned in closer, squinting as if that would help her hear better.

“That’s my baby’s voice. So pretty. Though she never believes me.” Mama smiled, listening to her daughter.

Mina, on the other hand, had a lot of questions. Starting with why in the world would Ginnie call them with no explanation to share her singing, and more importantly, who the heck was the guy singing? What a voice. And what ludicrous lyrics. She knew the seventies was a crazy time of disco balls and platform shoes, but how the heck a song about two muskrats dancing could become a billboard hit was beyond Mina’s comprehension. So why the heck had her sister called her?

“Good grief,” Jo exclaimed.

“What?” Mina forgot about the phone and stared up at her kid sister. “What’s wrong?”

Only the shaking of Jo’s shoulders with laughter put Mina at ease. “Don’t you see?”

“See what?” Mama asked.

“Our practical and careful sister has just butt dialed us.”

Chapter Nine

Who knew? Almost stumbling off the stage with laughter, it was a miracle that Ginnie managed to keep her composure on the stage. When Nick started wrinkling his nose and pursing his lips to make chirpy noises, she almost lost it. What she’d thought was the dumbest idea she’d ever heard of had turned into sheer fun.

Even the audience got a kick out of it—and to her surprise, she could actually hear people singing along as they swayed and smiled in their seats. But the real audience approval came when the lyrics sang of two muskrats whirling and twirling, and Nick took hold of her hand and spun her around in place. For a split second, she thought he was going to dip her, but then they would have missed the next line of the song. Apparently so did the audience as folks began whistling and cheering. Sure enough, at the last note, Nick did just that. He twirled her into the fold of his arms and dipped her, then quickly pulled her upright and began making the squeaky noises again.

The audience loved it, and she had to admit, she did too. When the heck was the last time any man had her laughing so hard? Especially when she was totally out of her comfort zone.

“That was great. You have a lovely voice.”

“How could you tell? The audience was singing louder than we were.”

“I know. The song seemed to bring back memories for lots of people.”

“It must have been way more popular in its day than I would have guessed.” Plopping in their seats, she tipped her head at him. “Even you seemed to know all the lyrics without reading the monitor.”

He shrugged. “Growing up, when Captain and Tennille came on the radio, my mom always raised the volume. I’m afraid I know every word to ‘Love Will Keep Us Together’ and ‘Shop Around’ too.”

She shook her head. “No.”

“No, what?” His brows buckled at her.

“We are not doing a Captain and Tennille encore.”

“No worries.” Nick chuckled, patting his chest, and glanced at his watch. “I have to get the kids anyhow. That movie is almost over.”

Forcing a smile, she bobbed her head. She’d actually forgotten about the children, which just made her feel worse about wishing that the evening didn’t have to stop. Even if it had meant getting up there and singing another song. “Of course. I guess I lost track of time.”

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