Page 87 of Resisting the Fall

By the end, I could hardly pull in a breath from the exertion, but I was beaming as the crowd applauded. Ben stood where I’d left him, clapping louder than anyone. That same look of pride I’d felt for him earlier radiated back at me in his expression.

“Let’s hear it for Maven!” Norma gestured to me with both hands. “I think we might need an encore. Who agrees?”

Hoots and hollers erupted from the crowd.

“The people have spoken.” She threw me an apologetic smile. “What do you say?”

I gave a little shrug. “I know Sweet Home Alabama.”

Norma’s smile grew. “Let’s do it.”

The fiddle part wasn’t nearly as difficult on this one, so I took advantage of my slightly elevated vantage point, noting the couples who were dancing. My heart nearly spasmed when I realized one of those couples was Ben and a brunette woman. It wasn’t Lush Lips, but she was just as pretty. Prettier, even, with her sweet smile. Not that I could see her well in this lighting and from this distance, but she seemed to be having a swell old time as Ben twirled her across the floor like he was some sort of country dancing Casanova. Maybe she was one of his Lakeview partners. She clearly knew what she was doing. I forced my gaze away.

The loud applause after the song ended was a little less satisfying with my thoughts fixed on Ben, but when I went to hand the fiddle to Doug, he wasn’t there. I looked at Norma.

“I think Doug went to refill a few of our waters. Do you have one more in you?”

Without permission, my gaze shifted to Ben, who was no longer with the pretty brunette but stood there with that stupid grin on his face like he knew exactly what he was doing—which was annoying me. “As long as you’re okay with Where the Green Grass Grows?”

Before Norma had even started singing, Ben had another partner. This time, it was Liv Rawlins. Tate stood at the edge of the dance floor with his arms crossed and his mouth fixed in a straight line. He hadn’t inherited the Walker brother trait to pass out smiles willy-nilly like the other three, but even taking that into account, Tate looked exceptionally bugged. Which, knowing how the brothers loved to tease each other, was likely what Ben was going for. Two birds with one twirling, cavorting stone.

Thankfully, Doug was back by the end of that song, and I gladly handed his fiddle back to him. Compliments about my playing followed me to where Penny and my mom waited.

Penny threw her arms around me as I approached. “You were amazing! I want to learn to play like you!”

I smiled, almost forgetting my irritation at the troublesome two. “You want to learn to play the violin?”

She nodded. “And the fiddle. Will you teach me?”

I squeezed her again. “I would love that!”

“I still have Maven’s first violin in the office closet,” Mom said to Penny. “She was your age when she got it, so it should be the perfect size.”

“And one day”—I sent Mom a pointed look—“you’ll be able to play in front of the whole town without having practiced the songs in ages.”

Mom took hold of my hand. “You did wonderfully. But just so you know, I wasn’t the little bird.” Mom’s gaze flicked to Penny. “When they took a quick water break between songs, she was so excited to tell Doug you played the fiddle.”

How could I possibly be mad at that?

Penny nodded. “I didn’t know they’d ask you to play, but I’m glad they did.”

“I am too.” Ben’s familiar voice was right behind me.

“I bet you were,” I said, glancing at him. “Who was that first girl you danced with? The brunette? She was darling.”

He grinned. “Reese Berkeley.”

That’s who that was—Liv’s best friend. What was it about the water in Autumn Ridge? It seemed statistically impossible to have so many young, attractive people come from one small town. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

He raised his brows at my sarcastic tone, but before he could say anything, I turned to Penny and reached out a hand. “Want to go get a drink with me?”

Ben took hold of it first. “If you think you’re getting out of dancing with me, you’re going to be disappointed.” He pointed at Penny. “Though I’ll be coming back for you soon. Okay?”

She smiled and nodded her head.

Ben led me to the dance floor and took both of my hands in his. Before I could even ask him if we were doing the two-step, the tension in his hands guided me forward, then away. And suddenly, I was turning and dancing and laughing as he spun me across the dance floor like I knew what I was doing. His hand would press against me with a gentle firmness, and the pull and push of his touch seemed like a language I’d never spoken but that my body inherently knew.

When the song ended, my chest was burning, and I felt like my cheeks were going to cramp from all my smiling and ridiculous giggling. “All those nights out dancing paid off,” I said, grasping to keep the last walls protecting me from crumbling. It was impossible not to think about the countless women Ben had partnered with over the years. That they could be there when he hadn’t given me the opportunity.