“Sometimes a morning is all you need. I like you Corinne. And I like your son. He’s not a problem for me.”
As they reached her car, she turned to him. “You’re one in a million, Tucker McGee.”
“Does that mean I’m getting a shot?”
“I suppose it does, if only to satisfy my curiosity about what on Earth you see in me.”
He opened her car door to keep from pulling her in again. “I’ll take great pleasure in showing you.”
She shook her head at him, as if he was a complete puzzle to her, then climbed into the car.
“See you at rehearsal, Ginger,” he told her.
That teased out the smile he’d been looking for. “Until rehearsal, Fred.”
~*~
“Watched you and Tucker on the live feed Friday night. My word, it was incredible!”
Corinne couldn’t stop the smile on her face as Mamie Landon beamed about the performance. “Thank you, Mrs. Landon. We worked really hard on it.”
“Well, and it showed. I can’t believe that back flip. I was telling Loretta how impressed I was and how we should get tickets for all the future shows. What are y’all doing this week?”
“The Charleston. I’m meeting Tucker in a little while to go over choreography.”
“You can bet I’m gonna be there Friday night.”
“We appreciate the support. Can I top off that tea for you?”
As she went through the routine of taking orders and serving, Corinne found she held her head higher, actually looked customers in the eye. People were enthusiastic about the competition and impressed with what they’d seen. Even some of her former classmates, who’d given her the cold shoulder since her return, had admitted to watching and enjoying the performance. She wasn’t under any delusion that all was forgiven and she was suddenly accepted, but maybe it was a step in the right direction.
Maybe Tucker was right. Maybe it just takes time.
Or maybe they’d started to accept her because he did.
She couldn’t account for it, but she’d somehow snared the interest of a smart, interesting, funny, kind, and—she had to admit—sexy man. And that made her feel good. When was the last time she’d felt truly good about herself? She couldn’t remember. And that was probably pretty damned sad. Corinne didn’t want to be sad. Not anymore. She knew this couldn’t go anywhere, but right now, she wanted to enjoy Tucker, enjoy his interest, and ride out this flirtation as long as it lasted. So when she left at the end of her shift, she was loaded with takeout containers of all his diner favorites.
The murmur of voices greeted her as she swung through the doors and into the fellowship hall that had become their designated practice
space.
“I brought dinner!” she called.
The babble stopped in an instant. Corinne’s smile slipped a few notches as she noticed Piper perched on a table beside Tucker. If the hurried silence hadn’t been a big enough clue, the side eye Piper shot her made it absolutely certain they’d been talking about her.
Corinne hesitated.
Tucker broke away, all smiles. “Do I smell onion rings?”
“And a bacon, mushroom, and Swiss burger.”
“Somebody’s been paying attention.” He lifted the bag from her hand and opened it for a good sniff and a groan.
“It’s all you ever order for lunch, so it wasn’t hard. You’d mentioned you had a long day in court, so I thought you might want something before we got into the routine.” Corinne shot a look at Piper, who hadn’t moved. “I’m sorry, I didn’t bring anything for you. I didn’t realize you’d be here.” It had been a stupid impulse to bring dinner. Stupid to act like this was anything more than what it was: rehearsal.
Piper waved that off. “I’ve already eaten. The only thing this baby’s tolerating right now is breakfast. I swear, it’s going to come out clucking like a chicken and oinking like a pig for all the bacon and eggs I’m eating.”
“At least it’s staying down now,” Tucker pointed out.