“I’m sure. I promise.” Besides for anything to happen between me and Rex that would entail actually seeing him. And since TRC started, we hadn’t spent much time together. Other than the group-date flag football game, and of course, the fundraiser party where we hung out for like two minutes.
Mom let it drop and ladled soup into a bowl for Dad. She walked to the cupboard and took out his favorite oyster type crackers. When she gave him his lunch, he caught her hand and kissed it then drew her into a hug.
“Thanks, honey.”
Normally watching them together made me want to spew. But for some reason, today it didn’t bother me. My chest tightened when I realized how in love they were, even after all these years. My parents talked all the time, went on dates, cooked for one another, and went out of their way to do small things for each other. Sometimes, Mom would even leave love notes in Dad’s lunch box. I hoped it was like this for me someday.
With a smile, I woofed down my salad. Right when I finished, the doorbell rang. My two o’clock dance lesson with C.C. was about to begin.
“I’ll get it,” I said. When I opened the door, I found C.C. standing on the porch, holding a boom-box, CDs and wearing a ridiculous looking dance outfit. Spandex running pants, a bulky T-shirt, and a headband. “Uh—come on in.”
“Thanks for letting me set an appointment on such short notice. I didn’t realize when I got this part I’d have to dance.”
“It’s fine. Let’s go down into the family room.” We tromped down the stairs, and I flipped on the overhead light. “Why don’t we move the couch and end tables out of the way so we have more room?”
C.C. set his stuff down and grabbed one end of the sofa while I got the other. “Ah, this is heavy. I know I look built, but it’s deceiving, I have no upper body strength.”
I snorted. “Trust me, the only muscle in your body that might be big is your mouth.”
“I’ll have you know, I’ve got biceps.” He held up his arm and flexed.
“Are they invisible?” I squinted.
“Funny.”
Once we got everything moved aside, C.C. set his ginormous radio on one of the tables, then took out a CD. “Okay, this is the disc the drama teacher gave me with the music on it.”
“Did she say what kind of dancing you needed to know?”
“Here, she wrote down the steps. I think it’s a waltz or something.” He sat on the floor and started to stretch his legs out. “Gotta make sure I don’t pull my groin, I might need that pretty soon.” He winked.
“And if you keep talking about your groin, I might kick you in it then you won’t need to worry about using it.”
“Touché. You must be on your period today. My mom said women get moody when their monthly cycle comes up.”
“I am not on my period. I just don’t want to talk about your groin. For shit sake. Do you want to learn to waltz or not?”
He grinned. “One more stretch.”
I rubbed my forehead. Why in the hell did I agree to help him? With a groan, I grabbed his CD from the table and slid it into the player. Classical music came on, with his teacher’s voice in the background, counting out steps. One, two, three—one, two, three. Yeah, this was gonna get annoying real quick.
At last, he stood and I started the disk over. “First thing you need to do, is put your left hand on my waist.”
He set it on my hip and it slid down. “Right here?”
My eyes narrowed. “Move that hand any further down and I’m gonna tear it off and shove it in your mouth.”
His fingers slid back up to my waist. “Geez, you’re no fun.”
“Do you want to learn how to do this or not?”
“I do. Sorry.”
“Now, put your right hand in my hand. That’s it. We’re going to start by simply moving in box formation. You step forward with your right foot, I’ll step back. Then we’ll move to the left, then you’ll step back, then right. Does that make sense?”
“Um—not really.” C.C. chewed his bottom lip. “I’ve got to get the hang of this or I’ll look like a dill-hole in front of Liza and the audience.”
“You’ll be fine. How about I’ll lead and you can follow until you get the hang of it. Ready?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll count it out. One. Two. Three.” I stepped back, pulling him with me, then went to my right, and forward, then left. He tripped along after me. “Relax. See what direction we went in?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay, so let’s do it again.” I went through the same movements again. “How’s that?”
“I think I get what you’re saying now. Can we try a few more times?”
“Of course.” So we continued this pattern for several more tries until C.C. was able to take over and lead me. After we mastered that one, I glanced at his instruction sheet and taught him a few more. Each time, he stumbled along, but eventually got the hang of it.
Two hours later, C.C. turned off the music. “All right, I think I might be able to blunder through this tomorrow without making a total ass out of myself. Oh, and before I forget, here’s an extra twenty-five for helping me today. I appreciate it.”
He slid the money into my hand. “C.C. you don’t have to give me this. You already paid fifty this week.”
