as good, and something was going on with her eyes. It felt like
there was dust filling up the room, a big storm of it, and she’d
foolishly turned her face right into it.
“Something else I’ve always wanted to do, but never
have…” Emily pushed her chair back from the table and
offered her hand. Dani stared at it incredulously.
“Uh, what’s that?”
“Dance!” Emily announced. “I found all the music channels
on the TV. There’s a lot of selection on there. You know. If
you ever turn the volume on.”
Dani knew it was crazy. She most certainly was not going to
dance with Emily in her kitchen. It would be weird. Silly. Way
too sappy romantic. Cheesier than that chicken and cheese
casserole.
But even as she thought of all the reasons why she
wouldn’t, Dani found herself setting down her fork and
scraping back her chair. She found herself slowly standing up,
despite her internal lecture as to why dancing was such a bad
idea, and not just because it would be utterly humiliating
because she probably hadn’t danced to anything, anywhere,
with another person in her entire life. No, she most certainly
would not dance. She would not get any closer to Emily. She
would not break any more of her own hard and fast rules. She
wouldn’t cast out any more strings, for once hoping for the
connection she’d never had before.
She wouldn’t.
But she found herself slipping her palm into Emily’s warm,
soft one. She felt her fingers wrap around and twine with
Emily’s.
Dani couldn’t pretend this wasn’t magic. That Emily wasn’t