Page 89 of Tell Me Again
Too soon the music ended, and it took them a moment longer than the rest of the dancers to break apart. By the time he realized what song was coming next, Grace had rushed back onto the dance floor and taken his hand.
“Oh, no,” he told her and tried to move away.
Sam grabbed his other hand. “Come on, big guy,” she said with a wicked smile. “You can’tchickenout now.”
He groaned and narrowed his eyes. “Anything but this,” he said as the opening accordion melody of the perennial wedding reception favorite, the “Chicken Dance,” started.
“Careful,” Sam warned, “or I’ll request the ‘Macarena.’”
For some reason, his daughter thought that was hilarious. Grace giggled as both she and Sam let go of him so they could shape their fingers into chicken beaks.
Trevor glanced around for an excuse to get off the dance floor but saw Ty, Ben, and even billionaire Owen Dalton in the crush of people crowding the floor, flapping their elbows and wiggling their hips.
He put aside his pride and wiggled right along with everyone. To Trevor’s surprise, the dance was kind of like walking around with pink, sparkly toenails years ago. The fact that it made Grace laugh with him, and not at him, made the public humiliation worth it.
Ben met his gaze and twirled his finger next to one temple, showing that he thought the dance was crazy, but the hot-tempered celebrity chef was clapping as loud as anyone on the dance floor.
In a moment of clarity Trevor was aware that this was a memory he and Sam and Grace would share. The way families could recall funny bits from vacations or holidays, always able to re-create the luminous glow of happiness. And when Grace got married someday, they’d playthe “Chicken Dance”at her reception. Trevor and Sam might complain about creaky knees, but they’d swing each other round and round just the same.
Whoa.
He stopped mid-swing and Sam frowned. “What’s wrong?” She was gasping for breath.
“Nothing,” he said and started opening and closing his fingers once again.
Nothing except that he planned for Sam to be at his daughter’s wedding. He wanted her there and at every other important milestone in Grace’s life. In his life.
It was a revelation but not a surprise. He felt as though he’d finally washed off the dust and grime that had dirtied his perception and judgment and could finally see his life in clear, colorful light. She’d been forever standing on the other side of his walls; they only needed to be obliterated for him to find her waiting.
Now that he realized what she meant to him, he’d never let her go again.
