The Dream - Whitney Dineen Page 0,44

more than worth it.” She looks up as her fiancé Zach arrives at our table. He looks enough like the movie actor, Armie Hammer, that they could be twins.

Zach gives Emmie a slow wink and teases, “I don’t even remember what dress you were wearing that night.” Then he turns to me and says, “I’m Zach. It sounds like Emmie and Gracie are sharing their shopping secrets.”

Gracie blurts out, “Four hundred dollars and he doesn’t even remember what the dress looked like. That, ladies,” she glances from her daughter to me, “is what I call a smart investment.”

“How so?” I want to know.

“Because he was so enamored by it he couldn’t wait to get it off her. Being that they got Faye out of the deal, I think it was a total bargain. That baby is the joy of my life.”

“I thought I was the joy of your life,” Emmie responds.

“Oh, honey, you were for sure.” She qualifies, “At least until sixth grade when your hormones came in. Those were some dicey times.”

“Mama!” Emmie gasps through giggles. “What kind of thing is that to say?”

“The same kind of thing you’re going to be saying in a few years.”

Jedd and Jesse arrive at the table looking dapper in their spring suits holding bar glasses with amber-colored liquid in them.

Jesse smiles at Gracie like she’s the only one in the room. “What do you say, sugar, you ready to show them how it’s done?”

She throws back her remaining champagne and stands up before taking his arm. “I think I’m properly warmed up.”

Zach reaches for Emmie’s hand and leads her out onto the dance floor as well, leaving me alone with Davis’s dad. Jedd says, “I’d ask you to cut a rug, but I haven’t a clue what moves to bust out to Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face.’”

I giggle at the image and point to Buck who’s performing a mixture of the robot and voguing. “You could always follow Alexander’s lead.”

Jedd grabs his heart like he’s pantomiming a serious cardiac event. “Lee would never forgive me.” Then he says, “I understand that you and Alexander came together.”

“We’ve been friends for a long time,” I tell him.

“Are you more than friends?” he wants to know.

“No, sir.”

“Good.” Then he leans in and confides, “Lord knows I’m not trying to be pushy like Lee and Gracie, but I was kind of hoping that maybe something might transpire between you and Davis.”

I look across the room at his son who’s dancing with Jessica, and rather forlornly reply, “I think your son’s affections have already been claimed by somebody else.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” he answers.

I don’t know what to make of that comment, but still and all the same, a warmth of possibility engulfs me, and I cling to his words like a barnacle on the bow of a fishing boat. Now to get through the rest of this night without any alarming run-ins.

Chapter Twenty-Four

June 16, 2008

Dear Molly,

Tomorrow is high school graduation. I’m torn between intoxicating relief and cataclysmic sadness. I’d happily go the rest of my life without seeing the likes of Chad and Jessica again—and with any luck, that’ll be the case—but that also means not seeing Davis.

I ran into him at Shake n’ Burger this afternoon. He was behind me in line. He didn’t say much, but did mention that he was looking forward to seeing me this summer. I’m not sure where he thinks that’s going to happen as we have exactly zero friends in common. The bottom line is, even if he was just being nice, it gave me hope.

When the DJ plays the golden oldie, “I Only Have Eyes for You,” Jedd stands up and offers me his hand. “I know how to move to this one. What do you say?”

Before I can answer, Davis is at my side. “I think this one’s mine.”

Jedd bows to his son and offers me a conspiratorial smile. “I’m glad to hear it.”

Even though Davis’s interest in partnering with me probably isn’t anything more than friendly—he is here with his high-school girlfriend, after all—my pulse suddenly picks up like a flamenco dancer’s castanets.

I let him lead me out onto the floor where he immediately pulls me close. I can smell the deliciously spicy scent of his aftershave, and I’m suddenly hard-pressed not to run the tip of my nose along the length of his neck. Yum.

One of his hands presses against my lower back and the other entwines with my fingers at shoulder level. We’re so