Page 56 of Dance with Me on New Year's Eve

“You know, I actually do have some candy. Let me go get some, OK?”

“It’s really not necessary—” Jeff started.

“Yay, you’re the best, Roxy!” Lila shouted as I turned around to find the candy.

With a few different mini-candy bars in hand, I turned back toward the door, only to find them standing inside on my rug.

“Oh, you’re … inside. Dripping everywhere.”

“Sorry,” Jeff said, and his wincing actually suggested he meant it.

Guilt crept through the edge of my consciousness. I should’veaskedthem to come in and shelter from the rain.

“Here,” I said to Lila as I dropped the candy into her bucket.

She immediately dug them out though to inspect and turned to her father. “Dad, can I have one?”

“You had five already,” he said sharply. Then his tone softened. “What’s one more? Go ahead, sweetie.”

Lila proceeded to sit on the floor, hence expanding the amount of rainwater she dripped on my floor.

I bit my tongue lightly and looked back up at Jeff.

He was leaning closer, his hand reaching toward my face, and then we both froze.

His hand went back into his pocket. “You have something on your … lips.”

“My—” I started as my hands flew to my mouth. “Oh, chocolate. I might’ve had a little candy before you so rudely interrupted me.”

His trademark frown returned. “Sorry to bother you.”

I shrugged. “Sorry, that was unnecessary for me to say. You just …” I couldn’t finish that sentence:you just bring out the worst in me. I wasn’t that cold. Actually, I wasn’t usually cold at all; I wasn’t myself with him though. “It’s fine you guys stopped by.”

“I didn’t know you lived here, Roxanne,” Jeff said. “And youdidleave your outside light on.”

“I figured as much. Else you wouldn’t have come,” I said with a wry smile until I saw his frown transform into something entirely unreadable. Fidgeting with the hair band around my wrist, I looked down at Lila, who was digging through the candy in the bucket.

“Finally, I found it!” she declared to no one in particular. “Mmm, my favorite.”

“So, you decided to skip Hazel’s party?” he asked.

“Oh, well … yes,” I said. Should I tell him about the social anxiety meetup I had actually put on my calendar as a marker of my commitment to self-improvement?

Are you insane? You can’t tell him that. He’ll look at you with such disdain, or he’ll laugh. Just like anyone would.

I raised my chin. I didn’t need to explain myself. “So did you, apparently.”

He pointed to Lila on the floor. “Hazel said it was an adults-only party, so it was out for me.”

Oh, right, because he had a daughter. This discovery was still hard to grasp.

Next thing I knew, Lila was hopping up and shaking off some more raindrops, much to my dismay. “We should probably go. I want to take some more pictures for Aunt Abby.”

“Oh, your mother’s family? Do they live out of town?” I asked politely.

Why was it usually so hard for me to ask normal questions in conversations, yet this girl made it easy somehow?

“Oh, no. Mom’s family doesn’t live around here. We don’t see them much. Aunt Abby is Daddy’s sister.”

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