Page 18 of Raging Fires

Next up in the reception line were Justin Kowalski and his girlfriend, a short curvy woman with a wild mane of black curls and sleeves of colorful tattoos on both arms.

“Gramps!” Jake bumped fists with Justin and then the large offensive lineman turned to hug Kelli. The curly-haired girl he was with mumbled something and stood there, looking pouty. Kelli had the feeling that another one of Justin’s legendary break-ups was just around the corner.

There was a steady stream of people after them, a mixed bag of bikers, football players, and Jake’s relatives. It would have been difficult to say which group was the loudest. Naomi had opened the bar, and the crowd of well-wishers trickled away, seduced by the siren call of alcohol.

“I need a beer,” Jake said. He looked at the crowded bar, then said, “Come on.” Taking her hand, he bypassed the crowd and headed into the kitchen.

“You’re a sneaky guy,” Kelli teased. Her usual annoyance with Jake was gone—it was hard to take him seriously in that shirt, much less stay mad.

“Well, I know the owner.” He winked at her and opened the cooler to pull out two beers. He uncapped one and handed it to her before taking the top off his own bottle.

He took a long pull from the bottle and let out a sigh. “This is almost over, right?”

“I think so.” Kelli nodded toward the door. “Come on, we better get back out there, or they’ll start making crude remarks about us.”

“They’ll make crude remarks anyway,” Jake pointed out. As they left the kitchen, Jake glanced across the room. “Uh-oh. Look.”

He pointed with his bottle toward the stage, where Gran and the meddling blonde were huddled over a phone.

“I’m guessing we’re going to hear some Motown tonight.” Kelli laughed.

Jake sighed and shook his head, muttering, “Please, God, just don’t let Gran do the Locomotion.”

Reach Out I’ll Be There blasted out from the speakers. Over in her corner, Aunt Lucy jerked her head up, blinking and looking around. She sat for a moment, then grabbed her came and shuffled toward Gran, calling, “Did you put on some Elvis Presley, too, Nina? The Everly Brothers?”

“We’re going to have the greatest hits of the Fifties and Sixties all evening, aren’t we?” Jake grumped.

“Not entirely; there’s your cousin Elizabeth over there, too, so we’ll get Tainted Love for sure.” Kelli giggled and took another swig of beer. She wasn’t sure if it was the drink or relief, but she was beginning to feel almost happy. “Possibly some Duran Duran.”

“Okay, I’m shutting my mouth before someone puts on Everybody Dance Now.”

Gran was guiding Aunt Lucy back to her seat when the Four Tops’ song ended and the opening strains of Locomotion came on. Jake groaned as Gran gave a whoop and swung around, heading for the open space in front of the stage.

“I can’t watch,” Jake said. “Is she doing her intro train thing?”

“Oh, yeah.” Kelli watched Gran chug forward, moving her bent arms back and forward like the wheels of an old-fashioned train. The singing started and Gran went into the dance, going forward and back, then stepping to the side. “You know, she’s really agile for somebody her age.”

Suddenly Pete Cherneski jumped in beside Gran, trying to copy her. Then, of course, Claire joined them. Neither of them could do it exactly right, but they seemed to be having a great time.

“Hey, guys!” Pete yelled. “This is kinda like grapevines! Come on!”

Asa came up beside them, watching the show, and said, “You know, it really kinda is.” He looked at Jake. “I could do that. Not you, cause you’re a big old clumsy quarterback, but now, me... I am light on my feet.”

“Yeah?” Jake rolled his eyes. “Maybe you ought to go join them.”

Asa gazed thoughtfully at the group on the floor, which was actually growing by the moment, then said, “Nah, I don’t think I’ve had enough alcohol yet for that.”

Another beer later, after several more songs most of the crowd had never heard of, the first strains of Arctic Monkeys I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor came across the Blue’s sound system.

“Finally! They got to my playlist.” Jake looked at Kelli with a little half-smile that sent her straight back to college. “You always loved this song.”

“You always said I was pretentious for loving old British bands.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Yeah, well. You played it so much I got to where I liked it too.” Jake held out one big, rough hand. “What do you say? For old times’ sake?”

“It is our wedding.” Kelli slipped her hand into his and the warmth ran through her like lightning. He whisked her out onto the floor, and everybody cheered and cat-called. The lights in the bar dimmed as they stepped on to the dance floor—or was that just her imagination?

Soon they were jumping around, throwing their hands in the air and singing along at the top of their lungs with the rest of the crowd. Kelli pushed the memories to the back of her mind and just let herself enjoy the abandon of dancing to a really good song.