Dancing Away With My Heart (Wishful 12)

Zach opened his mouth to answer, then stopped, trying to remember. She’d asked him in passing in January—part of a casual conversation about prom. He’d said yes in the same off-hand manner, assuming she was just kidding around. Months later, the week of prom, she’d brought it up again, saying they should sort out transportation and dinner plans, and he’d felt his stomach bottom out in panic because he’d asked someone else. “I thought you were joking! I’m going with Isabelle Carpenter.”

She’d grinned that Lexi grin at him and punched him in the shoulder, “Of course I was joking. You know how much I hate dances. But oh my God, the look on your face. Priceless.” And she’d laughed.

So had he. And that had been the end of it.

He’d gone to prom and she hadn’t, and he’d never given it another thought.

But thinking back to that split second before she’d grinned, there’d been something else in her expression. He’d been so incredibly relieved when she’d said she was joking, he hadn’t thought too much about it. But what if the laughter had been a lie to cover up her real feelings on the matter? What if she’d asked him to prom for real? And not as a friend, but as an actual date?

For half a second his heart leapt. Maybe she did feel the same. Maybe she did want more. Then his blood iced. “Oh God. Y’all, what if I was wrong?”

Leo sipped more margarita. “Well, I think that’d go a long way to explaining why she kinda dropped off the face of the earth after graduation. Because if she wasn’t kidding, then whether you meant it or not, that was pretty cold.”

Zach felt sick. “…friends or something else?” He thought about how she’d backed away from him in the studio rather than facing his question. That had felt like a punch in the gut, but this… Was it possible he’d screwed up that bad? Could she have been trying to change things between them back then and he’d laughed? Oh hell, he hoped not. Because he didn’t know how he could face the idea that his cluelessness had hurt his best friend in the whole world.

Digging out his wallet, he threw a few bills on the table and rose. “I’ve gotta go. I need to talk to Lexi.”

Chapter 7

“I never get tired of this movie,” Leandra sighed.

From her position curled up at the end of the sofa, Lexi managed a smile. “You never get tired of Richard Gere.”

“I like his tight butt.”

“Mama!”

“Well I do!” she exclaimed, in a dead-on mimic of the heroine’s grandmother.

It was an old refrain, one they echoed every time they watched Runaway Bride.

Her mom hit the stop button as the credits rolled. “You didn’t eat much pizza.”

“I wasn’t that hungry.” She’d nibbled her way through a slice and a half, barely able to focus on the movie.

“You seem a little down, mija. What’s going on? Did something happen with Zach?”

Not Did you have a fight with Zach, but Did something happen?

How much did her mother know or suspect about how things had gone down all those years ago? Did Lexi really want to peel the scab off that wound to tell her all of it? That sounded about as appealing as being poked in the eye with a stick.

“Nothing I want to talk about.”

Leandra sighed. “Things are not so simple between you anymore, are they?”

Lexi laid her cheek against her up-drawn knees. “I don’t know if things with Zach were ever really simple.”

Her mother was silent for a long moment. “Come on.” She reached for her crutches and shoved up from the sofa. “I want to show you something.”

Relieved she wasn’t going to force the issue, Lexi uncurled from the sofa and followed her down the hall, surprised when they turned into her room. At the door, Leandra paused and flipped on the light, then moved on inside so Lexi could enter.

The dress hung on the back of her closet door, out of the protective plastic, the beadwork glittering and gorgeous in the light. The sight of it squeezed her heart. In so many ways, this dress encapsulated her failed hopes. A part of her wanted to get rid of it. Donate it somewhere or send it up to Brides and Belles for them to sell so that someone was able to wear and enjoy it. But that seemed a betrayal. It was still gorgeous, and her mother had poured her heart and soul into making it. For her.

“I let it out for you.”

Lexi blinked. “What?”

“I didn’t think you were ready to give up on it. Or him.”