Page 97 of Promise Me Sunshine

He looks up from his beer.

“Any interest in dancing cheek to cheek?” I ask him.

That gets a laugh. He turns to watch all the couples holding one another. Some loosely, friendly, chatting with other couples as they twirl past. Some have hands in each other’s hair, their eyes locked. Some look like this is the one time of year they put their arms around each other, at someone else’s wedding. Some look shy, elated, tentative. Like finally there’s an excuse to feel body heat through a dress shirt.

He hasn’t said no yet.

“I’m a good dance partner, Miles,” I prod. He doesn’t turn back to me, so I knock my knuckles against his. He looks at our hands lying next to each other on the tablecloth. Then he knocks my knuckles back, only this time it’s more of a brush.

“I know you are, Lenny.”

I cock my head. “How would you know that?”

And now I’ve got his whole attention. His gaze starts at my eyes and then it draws a slow, sinuous line down my nose, my earring against my cheek, the gloss on my lips.

By the time his eyes make it back to mine, my heart has started beating very fast. He hasn’t answered my question and I don’t think he’s going to.

—

We still haven’tmade it across the barn to where Tasha and Cody are eating ribs with giant rubber bibs on. There have been too many people to either greet or avoid. Right now, Miles is patiently enduring a headlock from a man who’s braying like Ray Liotta inGoodfellas.I’m five feet awayand enjoying the spectacle but decide to take the moment to use the bathroom.

As I’m washing up I notice that this bathroom is accessible through a door to the outside as well. And that door is flapping open in the wind. I go to secure it when I glance through the crack and see a person crouching out there.

Kira is gloomily scrolling sports highlights and sighing. It strikes me that being the town sweetheart might be a real drag. Like a performance you’re never allowed to retire from. She springs to a stand when she sees me.

“Oh, hi,” I say. “Sorry to interrupt.”

I’m about to head back inside when she takes a quick step toward me.

“Wait?” she requests. She’s got her hands behind her back again and her eyes on the ground. Either she’s mastered demure or she could really use a confidence boost.

“What’s up?” I step out into the night. The wind has started to pick up a little, and she and I both reflexively grab the bottom hems of our skirts.

“It’s not my business,” she says.

And whatever she’s referring to, no, it isn’t, but I’m curious, so I give her a nod.

“But Miles is a really great guy and he’s been through so much…I swore to myself that no matter who he ended up with…I’d make sure she knew…”

Her eyes are glossy with tears.

“He doesn’t know he’s doing it—he doesn’t mean to—but he hides.” She taps her chest. “In here.”

I blink at her. This doesn’t quite compute.

“And it might be hard to deal with at times. But…he needs a really gentle touch. He seems like a tough guy, but he needs someone really gentle.”

Gentle? Miles?

They dated for five years, so I’ve been assuming that Kira knew Miles inside and out but—

Somebody comes around the corner behind Kira.

“Baby?” he calls.

“Hi.” She turns to smile at the man who, I assume, is the infamous Sean Vogel. All her artifice drops. Her hands come out from behind her back, her lip suddenly unbitten. She’s reaching out for him, grabbing on to what clearly lives in her heart.

He’s happy to see her, one arm around her neck and his nose against her temple. Then he spots me and stiffens. “Oh. Hey.”

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