As they neared the barge, the people stopped dancing and came to watch them and cheer them on as they drew closer. There were many hands to help them on board and tie the rented boat on the back of the barge.
“The lady wanted to dance. What could I do?” Hank explained, making everyone laugh.
They were the hit of the evening, and Hank was right—Amanda had no difficulty learning the dance steps. By the end of the evening she was dancing the waltz, the polka, the schottische, and square dances as well as the tango. Amanda knew she’d never had so much fun in her life. For once she wasn’t a freak; she was no different from anyone else. The men liked her because she was pretty and energetic, and the women liked her because she laughed.
They ate oysters and drank champagne and danced until the barge came back to home base and the band packed up and went home. By that time everyone knew everyone else’s name and they waved and called goodnight to each other.
Hank helped Amanda over the side of the barge and into the rowboat, then, slowly, in the moonlight, he rowed her back to the rental place.
“Tired?” he asked.
Her hand was trailing in the water. “I feel wonderful. I had no idea this is what other people did.”
“Instead of calculus tests on Sunday morning?”
“I wonder how many languages those women speak.”
“Touché,” Hank said, laughing. “Am I proving to be a good teacher? You wanted to know something about the world.”
She looked at him in the moonlight. He seemed to get better-looking every hour. What a heavenly night it had been. “You’re the best teacher in the world,” she answered softly.
He drove her back to the ranch slowly, as if he didn’t want to part with her, then stopped the car at the end of the long drive. No two people ever walked more slowly as they made their way back to the house.
“I guess I better go in,” Amanda said. She wasn’t touching him but she wanted him to take her in his arms. “If we were engaged, perhaps a goodnight—” she began.
“I touch you, Amanda, and in thirty seconds our clothes would be off and we’d be rolling around on your mother’s lawn. You go inside and I’ll go to my hotel room. I’ll see you at headquarters, and tomorrow I’ll take you to the carnival.”
She stepped toward him. “Hank,” she whispered.
He nearly jumped away from her. “Go on, Amanda, get out of here.”
Reluctantly, she turned and went into the dark, silent house. Once inside, she got into her nightgown, snuggled in her empty bed and wished he were with her. When she went to sleep she didn’t realize that it had been hours since she’d thought of Taylor.
Now, awake, she wanted to stay in bed and think about every moment of last night.
But it wasn’t to be. After a brief knock, Mrs. Gunston barged into Amanda’s room. Her face showed her anger, but this morning Amanda felt too good to care.
“Two A.M.,” Mrs. Gunston said. “You were out until two o’clock in the morning, and I don’t imagine I’m the only one who heard you come in. It’s disgraceful. I doubt that Master Taylor will want you after this.”
“You think not?” Amanda said languidly.
“Look at you, you’re a sight to behold. Lazing about in bed half the day, your hair down like that. I know what’s going on. I’m not blind. It’s that Dr. Montgomery. You’re like all the women in this town, chasing after a pretty face. Everyone in town knows he’s been seeing one of those Eiler girls. To men like him girls are just conquests to be made. And what has he got from you, missy? Anything he wants? Did he buy you that dress? Did you give him what he wants for the price of a dress? You—”
“You are fired, Mrs. Gunston,” Amanda said, not even raising her voice.
“You can’t fire me. I work for Mr. Driscoll.”
“Who works for my father and therefore, in essence, works for me. I repeat, you are fired. I will instruct Taylor to give you two weeks’ severance pay, but you are to be gone by this evening.”
“But you can’t—” Mrs. Gunston said, but her voice had lost its power. She turned on her heel and left the room.
“Bravo!”
Amanda looked up to see her mother standing in the doorway and grinning broadly. “Aren’t you going to be late for work, dear?” Grace said as she shut her daughter’s bedroom door, and Amanda could hear her whistling in the hall.
Amanda got out of bed and hurriedly rushed through dressing. She didn’t want to miss one minute of work. She supposed she should feel awful about firing Mrs. Gunston, and perhaps she should worry about repercussions from her father and Taylor, but all she felt was pleased that she’d gotten rid of the tyrannical old witch.
She hurried down the stairs and rushed into the dining room. All that dancing last night had made her ravenous. She stopped abruptly when she saw Taylor sitting at the table, a newspaper in front of him. It seemed like years since she’d seen him, but the moment she did see him she became Amanda-the-student again. Her back seemed to remember that steel brace he’d made her wear and she held herself rigid.