Page 42 of Take Me to the Wedding

“I’ve never square-danced before.”

“Neither have I.” She looked around at the band—two fiddlers, a guitarist, a banjoist, and a guy on a mandolin, all poised to play. “But I’m getting excited.”

She looked excited, not reluctant, ready for a new challenge. The caller, a man with a gray beard and a gray-and-white checked shirt, tapped his foot and spoke into a microphone, telling everyone to break into groups of eight.

Someone grabbed my elbow. Brax. He’d rounded everyone up, and they were all standing nearby. “We’ve got our group, right?” Gabe and Jason joined an adjoining group, so ours would consist of Ani and Tyler, Mia and Brax, Lilly and me, Sam and… Quinn.Dammit. There he was, in blue jeans and a blue denim shirt, already sidling up next to Sam. Mia stood next to Sam in what I’d call a protective stance, but even she had to eventually join Brax as all of us couples started to line up opposite each other in a square. I had to hold myself back from intervening. I’d even start with “Hey, buddy, didn’t anyone ever tell you not to wear denim-on-denim?” But in the end, what could I do? Nothing but watch it play out.

“Where’s Lilly?” Brax asked, looking around the crowd.

Just then Lilly ran into the barn, a little breathless. Or maybe I should say sashayed, because she skipped in a lively way and waved and nodded to people on the way in like she was going down a red carpet instead of entering a barn. She wore a black skirt that swirled around her knees, red boots, a cute plaid shirt, and bright red lipstick to match. My instincts told me from experience that she was late because it had taken her a looong time to get ready.

The caller taught us all the basic moves—do-si-do, swing, promenade, allemande. Through the lessons, Tyler’s eyes were puffy and his nose was running, a consequence of the forgotten allergy medicine, no doubt. But he kept sneezing and blowing his nose, and absolutely no one wanted to stand by him and therefore have to hold his hand. Finally, Ani disappeared and came back with a giant bottle of hand sanitizer and made him use it.

And that’s how the night began. I should’ve known it would be downhill from the Purell.

Lilly agreed to be my partner, except the first thing she said was, “Chambray button-down and jeans? Not very original.” Maybe not, but I thought I’d cleaned up pretty nicely.

I don’t usually get nervous, but I wasn’t a great dancer. I figured I’d be okay as long as I could learn the moves, but during the first promenade, where I had to hold her hand behind her back and another one in the front, I tripped up a little.

“Cay, you’re so clumsy,” she said loud enough that Sam turned her head. “It’s yourrightfoot first.”

By the time we ran through the Texas Star a few times, I started to feel a lot better. When we all finally got it, we cheered.

A little while later, we got a break, so we all sat down at a round table and ordered some drinks.

“I’m so happy we’re all together,” Ani said, raising her beer. “I can’t tell you what you all being here means to me. Even if a farm weekend is out of your comfort zones.”

“Nothing’s out of our comfort zone with you, babe,” Gabe said. “We’re thrilled to be here.”

Tyler looked like he had to pass gas.

“Thanks for letting me crash,” Jason said to Ani.

“Love you, Jase,” she said.

“Love you too.” Jason lifted his glass. “To the happy couple.”

“To being together.” Mia raised her glass, and we all followed suit.

Marin and her son walked in, Tater holding the little yellow lab in his arms. On seeing all the people, the pup wiggled out of his grasp and bounded straight over to our table. To be fair, we were right by the door, so that explained that. Unfortunately, the dog chose Tyler as the first recipient of its love and youthful dog energy, leaping up on him in the middle of our toast.

He immediately used his arm to keep the dog away, splashing some of his vodka tonic down his shirt. “Down, animal,” he said nonchalantly—and frankly, a little coldly. “Anyway, as Ani said, we appreciate you all being here.”

Sitting a few chairs away from Tyler, Sam stiffened. I got it. Tyler could come across like that, unlike Ani, who had warmth and love enough to fill this barn forty times over. “Tyler, it’s a puppy, dude,” I said as the dog bounded over to me. I reached down and playfully scratched behind its ears. “You just need some time to learn your manners, don’t you, girl?” Maybe Tyler did too, but I didn’t say that.

Ani immediately called the puppy over and petted it, cooing to it as it placed its paws on her legs. “How do you know it’s a girl?” she asked me.

“If he has to explain that to you, then you might have to repeat med school,” Tyler said. Then he sneezed.

“Give her a break, Tyler,” Sam said, calling him out. “She didn’t do a physical. Marin said it’s a girl. But she doesn’t have a name yet besides Pup.” At the sound of Sam’s voice, the puppy turned and bolted over to her.

Sam stiffened, immediately putting her hands up on the table, as if to protect herself. But the dog jumped up on her, placing its paws on her leg and wagging its tail at high speed.

I half got out of my seat, unsure of exactly how frightened she was of dogs, half ready to swoop the dog up and away from her if she showed any signs of distress.

“Well, hello,” she said, cautiously looking down. The dog looked up and wagged its tail in that puppy way.

Sam gave a nervous laugh. She was so still that I could have tipped her straight over with one flick.

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