Page 36 of Tumbleweed Temptation
“Ah. Well. Next time we’ll put up the lights and y’all can put away the food and wash everything up,” Ginny said.
“We thought, since you ladies are all dressed up, we could go dancing in Kimmel tonight,” Javi said, stepping forward.
“In Kimmel? All the way out there?”
“Well, sure. I mean, you don't want to go to The Wheel House dressed like that, do you?”
“We could change,” Ginny said.
“Naw, let’s go somewhere dressed up.”
“I wouldn't call Texas Forever necessarily a dress-up place,” Poppy said.
“No, but it’s the best we’ve got that’s not all the way in San Angelo,” Javi said. “Come on, let’s go.”
The girls looked at each other, and Sofia shrugged. “It’s been a long time.”
It had been. The girls used to go there to meet guys from the Air Force base. Ginny had met Josh there, and hooked Lacey up with Jesse. But tonight she wouldn’t be looking for a hook-up.
“Let’s go,” Ginny said in agreement.
“We can drop your cars off in town and then go in my Jeep,” Austin said. “That way only one of us has to be the DD.”
That made sense, but... “I want to take my car,” Ginny said. In case she wanted to leave earlier than the others, she’d have more independence.
Austin’s mouth settled into a frown. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, in case someone wants to come back early, it’s better to have two cars anyway, don't you think? I don't think I’ll be drinking that much anyway.”
He looked at her a moment longer, then nodded. “All right. We’ll meet you there.”
To be honest, Ginny might have changed her mind if she hadn’t had Sofia and Poppy with her. The day had been long and tiring. But she had said she wanted to drive, and her friends had come with her, so here they were, parked beside Austin’s Jeep in the gravel lot.
Texas Forever was really more of a honky tonk, only a step up from Hailey’s, and they were overdressed. Sofia and Poppy didn't seem to care as they made their way to the bar.
The place was crazy busy, lots of servicemen mixed in with the Kimmel locals. The band sounded miles better than the singers Hailey usually got, and the dance floor was already crowded. Ginny scanned the crowd to see Javi and Austin waving at them from a tall table with no chairs. The two already had bottles of beer in front of them. How fast had they been driving?
Ginny edged through the crowd to join them.
“Busier than I thought it would be,” Austin said over the music.
Right—he’d never been here, had moved away before he was of age. She stood between Javi and him and turned her attention to the place, through his eyes. The dance floor had been expanded since the last time she’d been here, in front of a stage that comfortably accommodated the six-piece band. Most of the interior was rough unpolished cedar, decorated with neon and metal signs advertising beer. Really a typical honky tonk, complete with the giant Texas flag hung behind the stage.
“Let’s dance,” Javi said, grabbing her hand when a popular line dance formed.
Ginny couldn't remember the last time she’d danced, but she didn't say no, just looked at Austin who waved them off.
“I’ll hold the table.”
Javi guided them into a line in the front—she didn't know the moves well enough to be in the front—but her self-consciousness fell away as she watched Javi thoroughly enjoy himself. The Javi she’d known in high school would have never drawn attention to himself, but this Javi was confident and loved to have fun. She was glad he’d found himself.
They finished the line dance, and only as Javi looped his arm around her neck and headed back to the table with her, did Ginny see that Sofia and Poppy had joined the line.
The five of them crowded around the table Austin had held, but Poppy wasn't there for long before one of the servicemen—not in uniform, but identifiable by his close-cropped haircut—came to ask her to dance. Ginny was satisfied with watching the dancers for now, though she was pretty good at the two-step since she and her friends spent a lot of time here once they turned twenty-one, before Hailey had come to town and offered options.
“You want something from the bar? A soda or something?” Austin asked Ginny, backing away.
“Yeah, that’d be good. Thanks.” She reached for her wallet but he waved her away. “I’ve got it.”
