Page 46 of More Than Meets the Eye

17

Jack

By the time I danced my way over to the porch and took Tess’s hand, the Chicken Dance had turned into a waltz. I pulled her into my arms and looked down into her beautiful eyes while we performed a dance perfectly that I hadn’t the slightest idea how to do.

All around us, what looked like the entire town of Dead End waltzed along, including Mr. and Mrs. Frost, smiling at each other now, Nancy the floozy forgotten. Mike and Ruby danced nearby, Uncle Mike’s white eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline when he looked over at me. Shelley and her friend Zane, at ten far too young to even know what a waltz was, danced on the porch.

The Petersons.

Angela Lovesberry.

Rooster Jenkins, dancing with Lauren from the deli.

Deputy Andy and our new vet, Charithra Kumari.

Lorraine and even surly Beau.

Lots and lots of McKees.

Joe Bob and Donna.

All the swamp commandos, dancing with the toddlers from Sally DeSario’s daycare.

The Gardner goblin family and Prism.

Mrs. Hamilton and Rick Peabody from the school, with several other teachers.

My uncle Jed, dancing with Granny Josephine.

Connor Murphy from the pub and his new waitress.

Otis, dancing with his greyhound, Beauty.

And so very many more.

The parking lot was as beautiful as a ballroom to me, because I had the woman I loved in my arms and all our friends and family around us. We danced and danced and danced, Tess laughing and smiling up at me.

I was the luckiest man in the world, and I finally knew it.

No more doubts.

No more hesitation.

Life was too short.

When the music switched to a tango, everyone else slowly moved away from me and Tess, until we were dancing alone in the middle of that huge crowd. I glanced over at the Fox brothers and gave them the signal, and they turned off the disco ball.

Tess, breathless with laughter, kissed me right there in front of everybody. “Whatisthis, Jack?”

Everybody had said to do it right, so I pulled the small box out of my pocket and got down on one knee, right there in the parking lot. Tess gasped, her hands flying to her face.

“Tess Callahan,” I began, and then realized my voice was on a loudspeaker.

The Fox brothers grinned at me and held up sound equipment.

I just shook my head and started over. “Tess, you have brought love and light and joy to a heart I thought was long dead and crumbled into dust, and you gave hope to a war-hardened soldier who’d found very little of that. You’re the center of my life and the warmth inside my soul. You are compassionate, warm, funny, and brilliant. I can’t imagine living a single day of the rest of my life without you in it. You taught me how to laugh and how to be part of a family. You and all of Dead End taught me how to be part of a community, no matter how hard I tried to fight it.”

A swell of laughter rose.

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