Page 120 of Heartbeat

“Here it comes,” he said.

Amalie was still chewing her bite and looked up. “Here comes what?” she asked, and then the heavens unloaded so fast it made her jump.

Sean pointed at the torrent. “Here comes that.”

“Good lord,” she muttered.

“Welcome to weather on the mountain. The higher we go, the harder it falls.”

“Because we’re closer to God,” Shirley finished, and then smiled. “That’s what my mother always said.”

Amalie was a little apprehensive about the windshield wipers’ ability to keep up, but Sean was driving. She’d already trusted him with her life, and tonight didn’t feel any different. She took another bite of cookie, and by the time she’d finished hers, they were driving into the church parking lot.

Sean pulled up as close as he could get to the covered entrance and honked.

Three men came running. He popped the trunk and shouted, “Everything in here goes in there.”

The men grabbed the pans and bowls, while another one helped Shirley and Amalie out and ushered them inside. It was left to Sean to find a parking place and then make a dash for the door.

He came in dripping and laughing, wiped his boots in the foyer, hung his coat on a hook beside dozens of other dripping coats, grabbed a couple of paper towels from the hall table, and wiped his face and then his boots before heading inside.

One of the Morgan boys was strumming an acoustic guitar, a cousin from the other side of the mountain was playing fiddle, and Ray Raines was playing his banjo. The music was mountain music, more bluegrass than country. It had a kick and a beat beneath the fiddler’s mournful wail. The kind of music you could two-step, clog, or waltz to. The kind that spoke to their souls.

It didn’t take long to find Amalie within the crowd. The women had her cornered, admiring her engagement ring and welcoming her into the fold.

He had a moment of déjà vu, remembering when Aaron first introduced Dani the same way.The wheels of time do roll on,he thought, then saw that faraway look on Amalie’s face and went to save her from herself.

“Hey, ya’ll. Don’t chew her ear off before I’ve got her fed,” Sean said, then winked at a couple of girl cousins as he swooped her out of the crowd. They were laughing as he led her away.

As soon as they were alone, he slid an arm around her shoulders.

“Amalie?”

She looked up. “Rain or no rain, I feel like I’m at my first prom, hoping my dress is okay, and when the music starts, someone asks me to dance. Thank you forbringing me to the party. Thank you for bringing me into your world.”

He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. “It’s my selfish pleasure to have you, and we just got started,” he said and swung her into his arms. “Can you two-step?”

“Go slow and teach me. I’m a fast learner.”

So he did, and by their second turn around the room, she’d proved herself right. She was a natural!

The music shifted to a jig, and Sean paused and shook his head. “This one’s beyond me,” he said. “Let’s go see who all’s here and find something cold to drink.”

The rain slowly passed, and by the time they were roasting marshmallows, the moon was visible behind passing clouds. Shirley was making s’mores as fast as they brought her the roasted marshmallows. Her fingers were sticky. There was a smear of melted chocolate on her chin.

Amalie saw her then, but not as Sean’s mother. Not as the woman who’d been kind to her as a child, but as Shirley Pope, the girl who’d grown up here, and now the woman who’d returned to grow old here. Shirley was showing her what mattered most in this life, without even knowing it.

Then the band struck up a song Amalie had never heard, and Sean was suddenly at her elbow.

“Last song of the night,” he said, and walked her back onto the dance floor.

“What is it called?” she asked.

“‘Goodnight, Irene.’ It’s an old song from the thirties. It was written as a lullaby and then became popular asthe way to end a dance sometime during the forties and fifties. At least, that’s what I’ve been told.”

“I love it,” she said.

“Then put your head on my shoulder, darlin’, and close your eyes. I’ve got you.”

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