With dinner behind us, the band took their places. As they began to play ‘It’s Raining Men’, about two dozen men dressed in tuxedos filed out of the hanger and approached the gazebos filled with cheering women.
“What good is having a band if there’s no one to dance with?” Cory mused.
I shook my head. “I have to hand it to you, this is better than anything I could have imagined. You thought of everything.”
“This is only the appetizer.”
“Appetizer?”
Cory laughed. “You know, the appetizer... the prelude... the opening act... the teaser...”
“There’s more? What have you... you know what? I’m not even going to ask. This has been great... really.” I tipped my head back to finish another drink. After several seconds, I began to speak again, this time more seriously. “Thanks to you guys, Brian will quickly become a shoebox memory. My future is looking bright, I have my family, friends and work... it’s all good.”
As Charlotte rejoined us, she added, “With a push in the right direction, good gets better.”
Cory let out a deep breath and said, “I’m going for best or bust on this one.”
I gave her a quizzical glance, but turned my attention to Charlotte. “Where did you run off to?”
Charlotte avoided looking directly at me. “Oh, I had to run over to the bar for a minute... I had to... well, I had to talk to Kevin.”
The effect of several screwdrivers, it took longer than usual to process her words. “Kevin’s here?”
“Uh... Yeah. He’s bartending.”
Cory was being evasive and Charlotte was acting guilty—familiar signs of a scheme and the promise of a night I would never forget. I decided not to ask questions they probably wouldn’t answer anyway. Instead, I linked an arm through Gram’s and strolled with her to the pavement where the dancing had already begun.
Fourteen
...My silent singing had become vocal humming. I closed my eyes and inhaled a deep breath of his scent, now praying for another verse to the song...
“Those friends of yours sure do know how to throw a party, don’t they?” Gram’s drink sloshed over the side of her glass and onto her hand, which caused her to look away for a moment. Turning back to me, she added, “I think you should go over to that fine young fellow you keep looking at and ask him to dance.”
“Gram...” I didn’t want to get into a conversation about the waiter from Sal’s, especially with her, but I knew she wouldn’t stop talking about him until I did. “Gram, I don’t even know the guy. What am I supposed to do, walk up to him, slap him on the back and say, ‘Hey you, let’s dance.’”
“Well, that’s direct. There’d be no mistaking your intentions that way.”
I searched the crowd for a suitable dance partner for my teetering grandmother, as I tried to end her line of questioning.
“I just got out of a relationship with Brian; I don’t think I’m ready to jump into another one. Besides, he’s gorgeous, you know what that means.”
She let out a shrewd laugh. “I certainly do. It means you wouldn’t have to imagine someone else’s head on that body when...”
“Gram! What I meant is that men who look like that are usually empty on the inside. In this generation, gorgeous is synonymous with egotistical.”
Her attention on one of the male dancers, Gram smiled coyly at him and offered a slight wave before turning back toward me. “I didn’t raise you up to be judgmental.” Her look became frighteningly serious, and she continued. “Meg, I didn’t always drink this much you know. And your grandfather, well, he’s a wonderful man but not everyone would agree and my little girl, only God above understands her.” She bowed her head for a moment before continuing. “Lord only knows what people would think of our family based solely on gossip or outward appearance.”
I felt the sting of my last screwdriver race through my head.
“Point well taken, Gram.” Motioning in the direction of the man Gram had waved at, I said, “I think that gentleman wants to dance with you.” Taking the empty glass from her, I led her toward him, and said, “Go ahead; I’ll get you a refill.”
“You think about what I said.”
I answered, “I promise, I’ll think of nothing else.” She had no way of knowing that underneath my sarcastic retort, I had thought of little else since seeing him arrive.
Carrying Gram’s empty glass, I slowly pushed my way through the crowd of dancers and mingling guests. I reprimanded myself silently when I realized that my eyes were darting back and forth in search of the man whose presence I desperately tried to forget.