Once in Every Life

Tess picked her way across the yard and kneeled in the cold, damp grass in front of Savannah. "What's the matter?"

"Oh, Mama, that dress ain't?isn't?gonna help me. I'm gonna make a fool of myself at the dance tomorrow night."

"You don't know how to dance?"

She shook her head.

Tess pushed to her feet. "Well, that's nothing to worry about. I'll have you dancing in no time. You go run on into the barn. I'll get... a few things and meet you there."

"Really?" Savannah whispered. "You'll teach me?"

Tess forced a smile. "Sure. Now, run along. I'll be right there."

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Savannah was up like a shot. "Thanks, Mama," she called out, already skipping along the dirt road toward the barn.

Tess crossed her arms, the false smile on her face turning downward. She had no idea how to dance, of course. It was not something she'd done a great deal of in her life, for though she had always been able to feel the beat of the music, she'd felt too self-conscious to actually get out on a dance floor.

Then again, she had learned the steps to a dance back in the seventies, during college. She grinned at the thought of teaching the hustle to Savannah.

Remembering to hike her skirts like a good little pioneer gal, she walked back into the house. There was only one thing to do. And it was a damn good plan, if she did say so herself.

Jack stared at her in horror. "I can't teach Savannah to dance."

Tess frowned. "Don't you know how?"

He shoved a hand through his hair. "Of course I know how. We were raised in the South, for Christ's sake. Dancing's like breathing."

"Then what's the problem? You know how, she doesn't. Seems like a perfect fit to me."

He looked away. Tess moved toward him, placed a hand on his arm. "Jack? What is it?"

Slowly he looked down at her. "What if she won't let me?"

The quiet question wrenched her heart. Tess smoothed the unruly hair from his face. "Jack, she's been waiting for you all her life. She won't turn you away."

"Okay," he murmured. "I'll give it a try."

"No, Jack. Don't try. Do"

282

He almost smiled. "You're an authoritative wench, you

know that?"

She pressed onto her tiptoes and kissed him. "So I've

been told. Now, hurry up."

He curled an arm possessively around her waist and drew her up for a longer, more intimate kiss. Then he opened the door and stepped out into the night.

He stood on the porch, staring down at the blackness of the Straits. A thick gray cloud let go its anchor and scudded past the half moon. Pale, blue-white light immediately slithered across the water in undulating waves. Stars poked their faces through the velvet sky.

He felt a small foot on his butt. "Go, Jack."