The Dream - Whitney Dineen Page 0,61
to stay in Creek Water. You’re not bound here anymore.” He means that now that my mom’s dead and I’m all alone.
“I guess.”
“I’m getting kind of sick of the same thing day after day myself,” he says. I’d never considered that Buck was feeling the same angsty need for something else.
“Just because I got out of here,” he continues, “doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate certain aspects of being here. Creek Water was my home for a lot of years. But it’s different coming back now that my grandmother is gone.”
“I’m still here,” I tell him.
“And thank God for that. As long as you’re here, I’ll always feel connected to my past.”
“So, you don’t want me to leave?” He’s spent a lot of time telling me that I can go anywhere I want. Is he taking that back?
He doesn’t answer right away, but when he does, he says, “I guess the only way I’d be comfortable with you leaving is if you came to London. You’re the only family I have left, Ash.” Is he suggesting I move so that we can be more than friends? If so, I wish he’d just come right out and say it.
Either way, I suddenly realize I’m the not only one going through something big right now. I’ve always viewed Buck as the guy who’d made a raging success out of his life. I figured he’d already made a break with his past, but he’s struggling, too. It’s weirdly comforting not to be the only one at odds. It’s also disconcerting because I’m used to thinking that he’s the one with his act together.
Chapter Thirty-Four
June 12, 2012
Dear Molly,
It’s been a hard couple of years. Mom’s cancer is back and has metastasized to her liver. The doctor told us that even though research is being done, there’s currently no treatment. He recommended we sign her up for hospice so she can get heavy-duty drugs to keep her out of pain. Hospice is the end of the road. I’m so sad I can barely move, so full of emotion I feel like I’m going to explode. Once she’s gone, it’s just me.
After breakfast, Mom told me how excited she was that Buck was coming home this summer before he starts his internship in London. She said she’s going to sit out front on the glider and watch us dance for hours on end, so we better be prepared to entertain her. I’ll do it for her, but my heart will not be in it.
Buck and I have to walk through a lobby full of chattering women to get to the ballroom. There are signs everywhere announcing the Ladies Relief Luncheon. I’m not sure what that is, but we don’t linger to find out.
The dance instructor looks like she’s aged thirty years since we last saw her. Her name is Miss Maybelle, and by all appearances she still has the same wardrobe.
She says she’s thrilled to be teaching a couple who already know the basic concepts of dance, and she promises to feature us in her fall showcase if we sign up for regular classes. I want to laugh, but she’s so serious I don’t want to hurt her feelings.
After pleasantries are exchanged, she orders, “Tell me why you’re here.”
“Ashley can’t waltz,” Buck bluntly tells her.
“But on the telephone you said you’d been dancing together for years.” Then she glares at me like I’m guilty of war crimes. “The waltz is the mother of all modern dance. It’s the backbone of the ballroom,” she declares passionately.
“She does a mean Charleston,” Buck says, trying to redeem me in her eyes.
“Charleston, Shmarleston. The waltz is where it’s at.” She presses a button on the remote control in her hand, and the strains of a classic melody begin. Pocketing the device, she holds her hands up to partner with Buck. He immediately complies.
As they start to move, she yells over the music to me. “It’s a basic box step. Back, side, close. Forward, side, close. One, two, three, One, two, three … Lift on the one, lower on two …”
In my head I’m thinking, “You put your right foot in; you take your right foot out; you put your right foot in, and you shake it all about …”
Miss Maybelle praises Buck, “You’re a divine dancer, Alexander!” They continue to spin around the room until the end of the song, when she announces, “Now, it’s your turn, Ashley. Come over here and take your partner’s hands.”
Buck smiles at me mischievously, knowing