Page 105 of Finding Home

“Tobey’s at the bar.” He cocked his head toward the bar along the far-left wall, surrounded by people getting drinks. “Mom’s at the DJ booth and I haven’t seen Second Dad yet.”

“Attention!” The DJ’s deep voice boomed in the mic, as the music trailed off to a quiet hum. “Everyone gird your loins; the man of the hour is here. Gather around the dance floor and welcome the man who ages like fine wine or stinky cheese…Pete Coates!”

The room erupted in clapping hoots, hollers, and whistles as “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer played. Pete hustled onto the dance floor in a white disco suita laJohn Travolta inSaturday Night Fever.

“Is he doing the lawnmower?” Viet gaped, as Pete pumped his arms up and down as if pulling the cord for an engine and then pushing it around the dance floor.

“Yup.” Clayton and Jerome laughed in unison.

As Pete wiggled around the dance floor, he stopped and bellowed, “Looking for the Olivia Newton John to my John Travolta.”

That was Aunt Janet’s cue to saunter over to him with a sexy sashay of her hips. The two of them mirrored each other’s dance moves. They rocked their hips, tapped their feet, and raised their arms to the cheers of everyone. Pete held his hand out and his wife placed hers in his, letting him spin her around the room.

“Your family really likes a choreographed dance number, don’t they?” Clayton teased, threading his arms around Elle’s waist, tucking her into his chest.

“Yup.” Elle grinned.

As they stood watching, her gaze caught a pair of sad blue eyes across the room, looking past Pete and Janet and directly to her.

Mom.The historical dread and hurt of seeing her mother that normally crumbled Elle in its oppressive grip was absent. In its place was sadness, disappointment…and indifference. The power her mom held on her had slipped away after their encounter Wednesday morning.

Elle had told her mom that they were “done,” and they were. At least, she was done.

“Wanna get a drink?” Clayton asked, the soothing glide of his hands over her midsection told Elle he hadn’t missed her mom’s stare.

Her face tipped up to him, their gazes mingling. “Are you finally going to buy me that free drink?”

“Sure am.” He pressed grinning lips to hers.

The bar was still lively but had thinned since Pete and Janet had called folks to join them on the dance floor. Tobey leaned on the bar, sipping a Yellowjacket beer and talking to Noah. Elle and Tobey commiserated in mortification at the dance stylings of his mother and father… mostly his father. The moment Pete dropped it like it was hot had Tobey considering changing his name to Evans and fully dropping Coates all together. Elle nursed a Doc Owens beer alongside her actual Doc Owens and her cousin before joining Willa, Viet, and Jerome on the dance floor. Carmen and Mathew appeared shortly after, as if manifested with a single wish. Almost all of her people were in one place.

There was no rhyme or reason to the songs bumping through the banquet hall turned nightclub. When Elle hit the dance floor, ABBA played, then it flowed into New Kids on the Block, next DMX, followed by Taylor Swift. When the DJ spun the Spice Girls, Elle and Viet laughed through their made-up dance routine.

Willa and Elle dragged Noah and Clayton onto the floor to join them. By the last lines of the song, Elle was encircled with all her people; Clayton on her right, Pete on her left, and everyone else just a gaze away. On the edge of the dance floor stood Summer, bobbing her head with the music, smiling as she watched the swaying party goers. Elle raced over and pulled Summer to join them. The sensation of completion surged in her chest.

As the party bumped along, full of swinging hips, sipping lips, hugging arms, and laughing hearts, Elle snuck off the dance floor to help Aunt Janet check on the refreshment table.

“I think it’s dessert time.” Janet declared, as they surveyed the mostly empty snack trays.

Elle picked up two trays. “We should move these into the kitchen to consolidate onto one tray and put it back out with the cupcakes.”

Janet picked up a couple trays and followed Elle to the kitchen.

Elle consolidated the remaining appetizers onto one tray as Aunt Janet recruited volunteers to bring other items into the kitchen and take the cupcakes out. Virginia and Summer’s dad, who was Janet’s cousin, along with some random man with black hair streaked with wisps of silver rotated in and out of the kitchen as Janet pulled out multiple cupcake trays filled with a kaleidoscope of colored frosting and flavors. The regular size fridge was like a clown car of cupcakes, they just kept multiplying.

“Elle, you almost done?” Janet asked, twisting to look over her shoulder as she stood holding the door as Virginia carried out the last of the cupcakes.

“Just about done.” Elle bit her bottom lip in concentration as she organized the assortment of snack trays into one super one.

“Alright.” Janet followed Virginia out of the kitchen.

As the door shut, the room quieted, a gentle hum and light vibration slinked in from the music in the other room.

“No more cupcakes?” A low masculine voice asked, a twinge of relieved astonishment lacing the words.

“Virginia and Janet just took the last tray of them out.” Elle looked up from the tray she’d been working on.

It was the random man that had been helping them. Happy crinkles hugged the edges of his eyes. A sliver of green swam in his brown eyes like moss drifting atop a muddy pond. Despite the silver in his black hair, he had a youthful glow in his handsome face.

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