Chapter 4: Second Thoughts

The wedding service went off without a hitch. After the ceremony, attention turned to the ballroom. Among the many influences on the planning, Broadway star Francine Martel was among the most important. She had provided stage and set experts, all the bridesmaid’s dresses, and several performers. The most profound of these was Dr. Michael Foxworth. Dressed like John Phillip Sousa, he conducted the band that played for the wedding ceremony and the orchestra that played for the ball. The period was circa 1910. That meant ragtime.

As part of her education, Elspeth had years of dance training. Yet, ragtime was not part of it. No matter. With a head gesture, Dr. Richards instructed Elspeth to assist Miss Martel. Joined by Jasper, they spent six hours learning and demonstrating a list of ragtime dances, as well as more familiar tangoes and waltzes. Almost a dozen of the dances made their way to YouTube. It was one of the most rewarding evenings of Elspeth’s life.

However, Elspeth watched the highlight of the evening from the sidelines. Dr. Richards broke the period theme with a portable CD player. Miss Martel and the bride, Sheila Schwartz-Richards, took places on the floor. Despite their ballroom dance attire, the CD was from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker. Almost immediately, Elspeth recognized the dance of the Prince and the Sugarplum Fairy.

It was impossible. The dance is almost the definition of traditional ballet complete with toe slippers and tutus. The Sugarplum Fairy is mostly done en pointe. The Prince does leaps and lifts. Francine Martel managed to give the impression of toe-stands with her salsa heels. Mrs. Schwartz-Richards proved capable of the physicality required of the Prince while being even more fluid than her partner. When the music stopped, Elspeth realized she had stopped breathing. Fortunately, Dr. Richards had the floor.

The bouquet was tossed, followed by a garter. Elspeth had the impression that the bride was not wearing a garter for that purpose. She must have been wearing garters to hold up her stockings. Elspeth was also fairly sure the bride was not wearing panties. That did interesting things to her libido as she followed the crowd down to see the couple off. Trailing the vintage Rolls Bentley was a pair of mismatched Army boots, which made Elspeth l augh.

After the Bentley drove off, most of the guests went back to the ballroom. Dr. Richards lagged behind with several members of the house staff. As the car disappeared around a turn, Gerald turned to Dr. Richards. A hush fell as he spoke, “You did well.” To Elspeth, this seemed appropriate enough, but mouths fell open among the rest. She would find that Gerald’s lengthy and acerbic critiques were legendary among the staff.

Dr. Richards and her escort went back up to the house. Behind them, easily unnoticed, was Christine. As Elspeth began to follow, Christine turned to look at her. While not as confrontational as one of Dr. Richards inspections, this was nearly as scary. Christine was the Maid-of-Honor and generally the bride’s constant shadow. However, Elspeth had seen how smoothly Dr. Richards and Christine could work together. Now, Christine seemed to be on loan during the honeymoon.

The rest of the day confirmed some of Elspeth’s worst fears. Christine stuck to Dr. Richards like a second skin. While the girl—Christine could be no older than twenty, if that—had no education, she was not stupid. Indeed, there had to be a reason why she was the Maid-of-Honor and Francine Martel was only a bridesmaid. For that matter, Dr. Richards had stood beside her brother, not by the bride.

The more Elspeth watched, the more frustrated she became. Christine was attentive to the point of obsequious, yet she could vanish in plain sight. It was a skill Elspeth often wished she possessed. Christine’s interest in Dr. Richards also included the physical. Though they were not intimate, Elspeth was sure that Dr. Richards was at least bisexual. Indeed, bi only because of the tall German man who was hanging around. However, duty called.

Elspeth returned to the dance floor. That was deja vu. Wednesday night, Dr. Richards had come to the motel with music. The group had a quick lesson in ballroom dance. Elspeth was the most experienced, so she was one of the demonstrators. The lesson finished with Elspeth dancing with Dr. Richards. Though she was much the better dancer, Elspeth let Dr. Richards lead, which she did. Firmly. At the end of the dance, Dr. Richards leaned forward and kissed Elspeth. Pulse pounding in her ears, Elspeth kissed her back.

Elspeth chewed on her feelings. She was unquestionably jealous. That was also deja vu. Thursday, Francine Martel had brought in a twenty-something California girl, Roxanna. She and Elspeth had bristled on contact but it passed. Though Roxanna had shown interest in Dr. Richards, she was more interested in Jason Porter. Jason had a surfer-dude vibe that had half the women swooning. Oddly, his glance always seemed to be toward Christine.