all red in the face and even stammered. And it was almost pitiful the look she gave Bill when the minister suggested that she ought to take Dash up on his offer.
And that’s how Dash ended up dancing with Jenny. And how Hettie ended up dancing with Bill. And how Savannah ended up not dancing at all, which was a damn shame because she could outdance all of them put together.
CHAPTER 15
Savannah arrived at The Kismet at half past seven on the Monday after Easter. She was grumpy for reasons that she didn’t wish to examine too carefully. For some reason, Dash had changed his schedule, and she didn’t bump into him at the bathroom. And he didn’t come down to share a morning cup of coffee with her.
In fact, from the moment she walked away from him at the street dance, Dash had been avoiding her. Conspicuously.
Which was probably just as well. After all, their two dances, coupled with her refusal of Bill’s proposal, had unleashed a firestorm of gossip. The old church ladies, led by Lillian Bray, were saying that she was wayward and stubborn, just like she’d been as a little girl. They pointed to her slow dance with Dash as proof positive.
None of them was ready to admit that she wasn’t Bill’s soulmate. They just thought she was playing hard to get, and using Dash to do it. Apparently they believed this because of the shenanigans that Dash and Rocky had perpetrated on them last summer.
Oh, if they only knew the way she’d tossed and turned trying to find sleep on Saturday and Sunday nights. Those dances with Dash haunted her.
And it was kind of strange how the church ladies were missing the most obvious thing—that Bill and Hettie had looked like they were having way more fun than anyone else, even though Bill was a miserable dancer. Why was everyone so blind?
She went to unlock the theater’s doors, only to find that they were already unlocked. She could hear voices inside.
She pulled open the door to find Dash and Zeph standing in the lobby discussing the candy counter’s woodwork.
Her reaction to this scene was complicated. She was happy to see Zeph there. From what she’d heard, he was the finest carpenter in all of Allenberg County.
But she was suddenly annoyed at Dash, while at the same time being more happy to see him than she wanted to be.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“Talking to Zeph.”
“Howdy, ma’am.” Zeph nodded and gave her a big smile filled with incredibly white teeth.
“You know, Dash, I’m perfectly capable of talking to Zeph about the woodwork.”
“Ma’am, don’t you be blaming Dash, now. He drove by this morning heading to the stables, and he saw me waiting on you. I got here real early. And he offered to open the door for me.”
Just then Maverick sauntered down the stairs meowing loudly. He picked his way over the dirty floor and proceeded to wrap himself around Savannah’s legs.
Zeph laughed. “Yessir, that cat sure does belong to you.”
Savannah picked up the cat and stroked him, memories of Granddaddy’s cat suddenly washing through her mind. Maverick settled into her arms, his motor running loudly.
It was suddenly hard to stay angry. “All right, so tell me what you’ve decided about the woodwork. I’ll need to tell the contractor when he arrives.”
“Contractor?” Dash asked.
“Yes, I’ve hired a contractor. You didn’t expect me to rebuild the place with my own hammer and nails.”
“I thought you were going to hire an architect.”
“I talked to several, but their fees were astronomical. I thought the grant was a lot of money until I started talking to those people. Honestly, they all wanted six-figure consulting fees. I can’t afford it. So I talked to some contractors instead.”
He frowned. “Who did you hire? I didn’t know you were interviewing contractors.”
“Well, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think I needed to check in with you. I hired JBR Construction.” She checked her watch. “Mr. Rodgers should be here in a few minutes.”
The look on both Dash and Zeph’s faces gave her no comfort.
“What?”
Zeph smiled and nodded. “Well, ma’am, I need to be getting along. There are some chores I need to do for Mr. Dash.” And with that Zeph turned and strolled out of the theater.
“Bad move, princess.”
“They were the lowest bidder.”
“Of course they were, but did you need to take the lowest bid? You should have plenty of money.”
“Well, I do, but things cost so much more than I thought they would.