he miss her once she went to England? If things returned to normal, he could leave Clear Creek with no regrets and fulfill his dream. But just the thought of her leaving made his chest tight and his gut twist. He didn’t like it and didn’t know what to do about it.
After lunch, he made sure Pa didn’t need his help with anything, then saddled Butterscotch to ride out to Benedict’s place and ask him if he’d play for the musicale. He should’ve gone yesterday, but ended up spending most of the afternoon with Adele. They’d visited with the Dunnigans’, spoken to Baxter and Lula Adams – and ran into the culprits responsible for his current predicament. Leona Riley and Betsy Quinn. They’d been blissfully absent most of the week, spending much of their time with Preacher Jo and Annie.
Who knew what the four of them were cooking up? At this point, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He had enough to think about without worrying about some new play or talent show they’d come up with. His mind was on Adele Cooke and he couldn’t get it off her.
“All right, whose bright idea was this?” Merritt stood, hands on hips, looking as sour as Mrs. Dunnigan.
“Now don’t fret, dear,” Leona consoled. “Folks around Nowhere practice before our dances all the time.”
“At least the Weavers do,” Betsy muttered.
Adele surveyed the room. The other participants didn’t look much happier than Merritt, and she understood why. They’d been told they were attending a meeting about the dance, not that they would be asked to dance. But someone had moved the hotel dining room’s tables and chairs against the walls to create a dance floor. Most of the people on the various committees were in attendance, plus some that weren’t like Benedict and Matt Comfort.
“Now if you’ll all gather around, we can get started.” Leona motioned everyone toward her.
Adele eyed the upright piano against the wall, and Benedict staring at it. Had Liam asked him about the musicale? Did he know he’d be playing alongside Merritt?
“There, that’s it,” Leona said as everyone formed a circle around her. “A little practice never hurt anyone. Besides, it gives us a chance to learn a few new dances and you can teach others in town.”
Groans tolled through the crowd. Adele noticed that most of the people there were her age or younger.
One exception, Liam, stepped into the room and took off his hat. “Sorry I’m late, Mrs. Riley.” He went to stand next to the Comfort brothers. Adele caught his eye and smiled at him. He waved back before focusing on Leona.
“Do any of you know the quadrille?”
No one raised a hand.
“Oh, dear me,” Leona muttered. “Well, what about folk dances?”
Everyone glanced at each other and shrugged.
“I guess we’ll have to teach them after all,” Betsy said.
“Oh, hush, Betsy. We’ll take care of it.” Leona cleared her throat and smiled at Benedict. “Mr. Comfort, I understand you’re quite a piano player.”
Benedict pulled at his collar. “I’ve played …”
“Would you do us the honor?” Betsy grinned. “I notice you and your brother didn’t respond to Leona’s question. Do you know the quadrille?”
Matt glanced at Benedict and swallowed hard. “Yes, ma’am. We’re familiar with a few dances.”
Betsy clapped. “Did you hear that, Leona? They know how to dance.”
“Is that so?” Leona went up to them. “Folk dances?”
“Many,” Benedict confessed, as if confessing before a judge.
Matt stood next to him and cringed. “Having been in polite society, ma’am, we’ve attended our share of…” He glanced at his brother and back. “… social functions.”
“But that was ages ago,” Benedict added.
“Come now, it can’t be more than nine or years since you came to Clear Creek.” Aunt Sadie turned to Uncle Harrison. “How long has their sister been married to Deputy Turner?”
Harrison was about to answer, but Leona interrupted. “Never mind that. These gentlemen know how to dance and they can teach the rest of us.” She looked at Matt. “Well, this one can while his brother plays the piano.”
Benedict sighed and trudged to the piano. Merritt smirked at him, obviously enjoying his discomfort. Adele saw them glare at each other. Liam must have shanghaied Benedict into the musicale. One less thing to worry about – or maybe one more.
As soon as Benedict was seated, Betsy started whispering to him. He nodded now and then, and Betsy smiled a lot.
“This ought to be good,” Merritt hissed next to her.
Adele glanced at her friend. “I’m curious to see how good he