Chapter 34

I rang the bell and Tricia’s father answered the door. He saw the car over my shoulder and grunted. “Overdoing it, just a little, aren’t you?” he asked in a growl.

“I wanted tonight to be perfect,” I told him. “Having one of our older friends ferry us around wouldn’t have made tonight as special for Tricia as this.”

“As special as what?” she asked, coming down the stairs. She took my breath away and I gasped. She was wearing a red dress that looked like it was made for her.

“Tricia, if that dress wasn’t made just for you, it’s a shame. Whoever designed it should have gotten to see you in it. You look magnificent!” I told her. Her hair and make-up were perfect, her dress was elegant, her smile was radiant. I lost myself in her eyes until her father cleared his throat loudly and we both turned to him, blinking slightly.

“Curfew is two,” he reminded us. “I think the dance ends around that time though, so I can give you about fifteen minutes leeway.”

“Thank you,” I said to him. “If something happens, we’ll call to let you know and I’ll have her home here before 2:15.”

“You expect something to happen?” he asked with an arched eyebrow.

“No, but the car could break down or there could be something happen at the school or there could be an accident that delays us. I’m just promising to keep you informed if something goes off-plan.”

He nodded. “Fair enough. If a plane crash blocks your way home, we’ll call it 2:20.”

I smiled and nodded. Tricia kissed her father on the cheek. “Thank you for playing nice, Dad,” she said with a gentle smile and went to the fridge to get something. She came back and slipped a rose with baby’s breath into my buttonhole and handed me her corsage box. I pinned it carefully to her dress and we posed for a picture before we were off to the car.

Her eyes bugged out when she saw it. “A limo?!!? Really?” she gushed.

I laughed and Darnell grinned at us winningly. “I couldn’t exactly start asking people to give us rides everywhere tonight,” I pointed out. “This way we’ve got a ride covered.”

“That’s right,” Darnell supplied helpfully. “I’m at your service all night long.”

When we were settled, she was enchanted with the limo and took a hundred pictures of the back and of me. Darnell knew where we were heading next. When he let us out at LaSalle’s, he handed me a card. “Just call me when you’re done here and, uh, don’t mind the smell of fries from the front seat. I’m just popping over to BK for take out. I’ll be back here before you’re done.”

“Sounds good. You’ll be fine to eat there if you want. LaSalle’s make things to order. We’ll be well over an hour,” I told him.

We were seated right away even though it was fairly busy. “Mr. Russell,” our server said lightly. “Good to see you again,” she handed us our menus and let us have some time to look them over. I ordered something different every time I was here and nothing had ever been bad.

“You come here enough that they know you?” Tricia asked, surprised.

“I tip well enough that the same server makes sure she gets me,” I said with a grin.

“There’s no prices on anything. What can I get?”

“Anything you want,” I assured her.

“What if it’s too much?” she said, worried.

“It’s not,” I told her. “You order what sounds delicious to you and let me worry about it.”

She crinkled her nose at me and studied the menu. I let her at it for a little while and then we both finally folded our menus and we were joined by our server a moment later as if by magic. We ordered and I requested a half-glass of wine for each of us to be served with the meal.

She nodded and Tricia was scandalized. When she left she was frantic. “We’re under-age!” she hissed. “We’ll get in trouble!”

I smiled and shook my head. “We’re in an Italian restaurant, about to eat authentic Italian cuisine at the start of a perfect evening. There are some occasions that call for a taste. If I’d tried to order more than that, it would have been crossing the line, but I’m sure you’ve had a sip or two at holidays even growing up. I know I did and it never hurt me.”

“Yeah, but you’re perfect,” she scoffed. “Me, not so much.”

“You seem perfect to me,” I said, enchanted with her.

“That’s sweet of you to say, but you’ll have four degrees before we leave high school or more. I still don’t know really what I want to do with my career.”

“Well, concentrate on what you love to do,” I suggested. “If we can figure out how you can make money doing that, then you’re set for life.”

“You’ll think it’s silly,” she said, shaking her head slightly and blushing.

“Sillier than dressing up like a superhero for Halloween?” I asked dryly.

She giggled at that. “I guess not. I love to bake. I don’t like to cook so much, but baking is like making pure joy.”

I smiled. “Then you need to spend more time with me. Lana and Beck’s mother is a red seal chef. I bet she knows baking tips that would blow your mind. I’m sure if we asked her, she’d help you find your way.”

“You think?” she asked hopefully.

“At worst, she’d be able to help you find the right school to make your dream into a career,” I told her. “I’m sure she’d be happy to help you bake to your heart’s content too.”

“I’d like that,” she said with an infectious grin.

We were still chatting comfortably with our fingers laced across the table when our meals arrived. We were served and our wine was brought out by our server along with water glasses and a pitcher of ice-water.

She admitted that the amount of wine we were served wasn’t enough to get anyone drunk or even tipsy and we alternated between the wine and the water during the meal as we continued to make conversation. When we were done, I called Darnell and I told him we’d be ready in a few minutes. He told us he’d be out front and I asked for our bill. I glanced at the amount and slipped a pair of $100 bills into the folder and passed it back to the server. I smiled at her and told her I’d see her tomorrow.

“You’re coming back tomorrow?” Tricia asked, curious.

“I promised Gina I’d take her out to dinner for helping me with all my errands yesterday even though most of them didn’t work out for me.”

I offered her my arm and she took it daintily as we walked back outside and got in the limo. I thanked Darnell and then we were off again. It was just about the time that most people were arriving at the dance so we’d show up in the thick of it.

Tricia wanted to know about the errands I had to run and I told her about wanting to get her corsage for tonight and about trying to get something for the girls at the school to protect themselves in an emergency. She sympathized about that and told me it had taken most of the summer to get her a permit. Then I told her about paying for the limo and about the trip to the gym to pay for that.

“Sounds busy,” she said lightly. “You do too much,” she said with her nose crinkled at me in the cute frown I’d come to adore.

“I do what I can,” I told her. “Sometimes, I’m lucky enough to get a night to myself to just enjoy the company of a beautiful woman while other people handle details.”

“Oh?” she asked with a smirk. “Who’s handling details tonight?” she asked.

“Hanna and Emma are the boots on the ground tonight,” I said and I finally had to break the news about Zoe.

“She got a new boyfriend?” she asked, surprised. “She never mentioned that to me!”

“She didn’t mention it to anyone until she went out with him instead of coming to the house. In any case, they’re trying to figure out what happened while we’re enjoying our first solo date.”

“We should go help talk it out,” she said certainly. “Let’s go.”

“No,” I said gently. “I promise that we’ll talk it out, but tonight is for you and you alone. Remember what I said. Any girl that wants my attention tonight has to go through you. We need to trust Hanna and Emma to be our voice tonight. You just need to dance with me and decide when someone else can have a turn.”

She frowned. “You’re not telling me everything, are you?” she accused me with her frown in place.

“Not everything. She wasn’t very nice about how she broke the news to me and then she did something even worse today.”

“Tell me,” she demanded and her tone brooked no argument.

“She sent a letter with Emma instead of breaking up face to face or even on Skype. It was kind of a dirty way to leave things.”

“Yeah. It was,” she said in surprise. “That doesn’t sound like her.”

“Well, Emma’s pretty disgusted with her. She’s decided to move in with me to get away from the situation. When Hanna and Emma went to get some of her stuff today, the boyfriend was there and followed them back to the house even after they told him that he wasn’t welcome there and that it was a bad idea.”

“He showed up?!!?” she blinked, obviously worried about what had happened.

“I ... talked to him and he left, but she still didn’t stop him from stalking the girls back to the house.”

“When you say you talked to him, do you mean like you talked to the Waterman brothers?” she asked with a smirk.

“Not EXACTLY. I didn’t give him nearly the warnings they got and I told him I’d end him if he came back, but he won’t need medical attention.”

She patted my cheek. “Good for you,” she said, surprising me.

“You approve?” I asked, surprised.

“Yup. You’re too nice to a lot of people that don’t deserve it. You’re going to forgive Zoe for this before Monday morning and if her new ex boyfriend doesn’t come back, he’ll never have to worry about you, but you laid him out and you didn’t spend half the day trying to talk him out of it.”

I laughed. “Okay. I’m glad you approve. I’m generally worried that I’m going to overreact when I’m in those situations.”

“Killing Mr. And Mrs. Waterman for what their sons did would be overreacting,” she said dismissively. “Slapping around someone who stalked Hanna and Emma to your house and letting him think he’s gonna just disappear some day if he comes back? Not so bad.”

A few minutes later, we pulled up in front of the school and people were still arriving in groups and couples. Darnell opened the door and I got out and turned to offer her my hand while blocking anyone from getting a peek up her dress as she let me help her out. I thanked him and told him we probably wouldn’t need him until after 1:30, but I’d call if that changed.

“It’s cool. Take your time. I’m yours all night. Just gimme a call and I’ll be here.”

I shook his hand and Tricia and I both thanked him again before turning toward the school. I offered her my arm again and she took it gratefully. “I’m not so steady in heels,” she admitted sheepishly.

“I’ll stick close,” I assured her, patting her hand on my arm as I escorted her inside. A lot of people were watching us, having seen us get out of the limo. I was proud to be seen with her, but not as proud as she was apparently.

“They’re staring at you,” she said. “You look gorgeous in that suit. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that earlier. I was just a little overwhelmed.”

“Nah, they’re looking at you. Anyone glancing at me is checking to see what lucky bastard gets to dance with you all night,” I assured her and smiled. “And I don’t look NEARLY as good as you do. You’re perfect. I told you.”

When we were inside, I guided her straight out to the dance floor and took her in my arms, dancing with her as if we were the only two people in the world. For all I knew, we were. I lost myself in her eyes and she seemed just as enchanted with me for some reason I couldn’t quite figure out.

After several songs, she told me her ankles were starting to get sore and I guided her off the floor to a table, going to get us something to drink. Usually the punch at these events sees a couple of pints of vodka, but this early, I chanced it and picked us up a couple of cups of gentrified Kool-Aid and brought them back. Sitting out a couple of dances with her.

Soon enough, girls started showing up, asking for a dance here and there and she was only too willing to let them have a dance. I danced with most of the cheerleaders and a few of the other victims of the Watermans before I could coax Tricia back onto the dance floor. I kept that up most of the night, sitting out with her unless she had company to talk to while I was loaned out.

Lana had me out on the dance floor later in the night when I asked if the girls had solved anything with Zoe.

She shrugged. “They were still talking when I left. Beck’s keeping an eye out for the creep. I showed her the Mustang. Mom and Dad are keeping an eye out too.”

“I appreciate that,” I said. “He’s probably still putting ice on his balls, but just in case, it never hurts to have a spare pair of eyes looking out. How come Beck stayed home?” I asked.

Lana shrugged. “She’s not really interested in dancing so much,” she said.

I knew her too well for that. “She doesn’t want to go to a dance unless she can be the girl on my arm,” I corrected.

“Yeah,” she admitted. “Me too, but I’m just happy to have a dance or two. You both look amazing tonight. I’m jealous of both of you.”

“You look amazing too Lana,” I said and part of me really wanted to kiss her and tell her none of what happened mattered to me, but that part wasn’t strong enough yet. It was still bleeding. Fortunately the bleeding was under control now. I smiled at her instead and when we parted, I gave her a soft peck on the cheek before returning to Tricia’s side dutifully.

I pulled her feet into my lap and pulled off her shoes careful not to hike up her dress as I massaged her feet and ankles, making her coo softly. A lot of the other girls looked jealous of that treatment and commented that they wished they had someone willing to do that.

Tricia beamed under the attention and soon enough I kissed the tops of her feet and put her shoes back on before lifting them out of my lap and putting them down.

“That feels SO much better!” she gushed and rewarded me by dancing three songs in a row with me. We kissed deeply several times and I could feel her sigh dreamily against my chest as we danced.

It bears mentioning that I was the only guy at the dance not reduced to the high school shuffle which is the poorest excuse for a dance ever invented. It involves the guy putting his hands around his dance partner’s waist and her putting hers around his neck and then the two of them shuffling sideways in a tight circle like they’re being pushed to the back of a crowded bus. I was no pro, but I wasn’t in danger of running out of people interested in dancing with me as a result of the classes I’d been taking.

When we sat down, I worked on her feet some more, danced a few times and we paced ourselves, talking as much as we could over the music and dancing when she could manage it.

Shortly before midnight, I told Tricia I’d be right back and ducked out to call home to see if everything was okay. Emma told me that the three of them were talking still, but that she thought they had the problem traced down.