Page 8 of There I Find Happiness

Peter was glad thathe agreed to go as he looked around at the sparkling lights that stretched the whole way from the boardwalk to the water.

Lake Michigan didn’t have major tides like the ocean, but there was a little bit of play involved in where the water hit the sand, and the poles for the lights were currently being lapped by the waves.

It was beautiful. Whoever had planned it had a vision that Peter could only dream about.

Normally he didn’t take off work much. The farm kept him busy, but he supposed he could be lured out for certain things. One of those things was Sally.

She sat over beside the punch table, sipping from a plastic cup and talking to Miss Lana. He didn’t want to go over and interrupt their conversation but had been standing along the edge, waiting for Miss Lana to walk away.

He’d been waiting for twenty minutes.

Thankfully, he could still see Norma Jean sitting on the bandstand, holding her trombone. She’d only hit one person with it that evening as far as he could tell, and Peter was pretty sure that was an accident.

Sally, on the other hand, had been talking to a group of girls when he arrived and had instructed them on how to dance, even though she mostly had to hop around on one foot. He appreciated her cheerful spirits and loved that she was good with children too.

Not for the first time, he wondered what someone like her was doing with Norma Jean.

Regardless, Lana walked away, and Peter took a deep breath. This was his opportunity. If he didn’t ask her soon, he would miss his opportunity. He didn’t want to stand around and end up dancing with a bunch of people he wasn’t interested in. Plus, he had to get up early in the morning to take care of his animals and didn’t want to be out too late.

He strode across the floor, keeping his eye on Sally, who continued to sit on the folding chair by the table, sipping her drink, her eyes roving over the crowd as though she were checking to make sure that everyone had a dancing partner.

She was so serious, so considerate, and he was such a goofball. He couldn’t imagine that she would be interested in someone like him, but he wouldn’t know unless he tried. So, he forced himself to finish walking over.

When he was about three feet away, Sally’s eyes swept the crowd again, and she saw him coming.

Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened. She didn’t get anything out before he closed the distance between them and spoke.

“It’s a nice evening. Your lights work just fine. They’re pretty.”

“Thanks, I’m glad we took the time to do it.” She frowned and looked around like she was looking for an escape. When she didn’t find one, she looked back at him. “You don’t usually come to these things.”

“I thought this was the first beach bash to celebrate the end of summer in Strawberry Sands,” he said, giving it its full title and description, although he didn’t know why. Maybe just to get more words in or to get his mouth warmed up. He wasn’t sure. Normally he didn’t have to do that. Conversations came easily to him, and he was considered quite funny.

“It is, but I meant I don’t usually see you around town at any events we have. Like the Strawberry Sands Festival or the Strawberry Valentine’s Day extravaganza.”

“I think on Valentine’s Day, I was busy thawing the water that had frozen on Valentine’s Day eve.”

“Oh. I guess it’s important that your animals have water to drink.”

“Yeah. I thought that was a little more important than showing up for the party in town, although I heard there was a lot of chocolate here, and I was kind of sad I missed it.”

“I’m sorry. Franklin should have made sure you got some of the leftovers. There was plenty.”

“I’ll have to put a bug in his ear for next year. Unless... Unless I make it.” He wanted to say unless he had a woman who could do that for him, but woman didn’t sound right, and girl sounded not right either, and he didn’t want to say girlfriend, because he really preferred wife, although the idea of being married less than six months from that day was a little bit...scary, but at the same time, he didn’t mind it. Really. Especially as he stood and looked at Sally, with her no-nonsense haircut and her sweet smile.

“I was kind of hoping you might want to dance.” There. He said it.

But to his surprise, her cheeks started to get red. He didn’t understand it and tried to figure out what in the world was going on.

“Well, I suppose that’s the reason I’m sitting down.”

“Because I was going to come over and ask you to dance?”

“No. Because you were right earlier today when Norma Jean fell off the ladder. I twisted my foot, and while I don’t think it’s a serious injury, it hurts.”

“I knew it. Why weren’t you honest about it? You told me it didn’t hurt.”

Sally bit her lip, and again her gaze slid sideways, toward the band. Maybe she was looking at Norma Jean. Finally, she lowered her voice so that he had to lean forward to hear her. “I didn’t want to take any attention away from Norma Jean.”

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