“Well, if it ain’t Jessie Rhodes. You back for good now, sweetheart?”
When I turned around, Michael McDowell was standing there with a shit-eating grin on his face.
Oh Lord. This boy chased me all through high school. “Hey, Mike. How’s it going? Been a long time. ”
“I heard you’re a vet now, fixin’ to work at the local vet clinic here. Is that right?”
“Here’s your beer, honey,” Jimmy said.
I turned around, and he handed it to me. I glanced back out to the dance floor. Scott was laughing and twirling the bitch around. I practically slammed the beer in one drink.
I looked at Jimmy and raised my eyebrows. “I’m gonna need another one. ”
Mike smiled. “I’ll take one also, Jimmy. ”
I glanced back at Mike. “I busted my ass to try and finish up school a couple years early, but I still have a few classes I’m taking. ”
When Easton Corbin’s “A Little More Country Than That” started playing, Mike grabbed my hand. “Dance with me, Jessie. ”
With one look on the dance floor, I saw that Scott was still dancing.
I turned and smiled at Mike. “Sure. Why not?”
We walked out, and as soon as we hit the dance floor, Mike spun me around, and we took off two-stepping.
I let out a laugh as he twirled me around again. “Shit, Mike. I forgot how well you know your way around the dance
floor!”
He looked down at me and smiled. I was having so much fun dancing with him. For a few brief minutes, I forgot all about Scott and the bleach-blonde.
By the time we got back to the bar, I was laughing so hard that my side was hurting. Mike and I talked for a few minutes, and then I saw a girl walking up. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. I smiled as I noticed the way he was staring at her.
I want that. I want to feel loved and cherished.
Mike leaned down and whispered something into her ear that caused her to blush. I turned away and asked Jimmy for another beer.
When I turned back, she was looking at me.
She held out her hand. “Hey, I’m Mary Lou, Mike’s wife. ”
I shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for letting him spin me around on the floor. ”
She giggled and hit his arm. “He loves to dance. ”
“It shows. ”
After a few minutes, they said their good-byes, and I was left sitting there, alone. When I looked down the bar, I noticed Scott wasn’t there. I glanced out onto the dance floor, but I didn’t see him there either. He must have left. I frantically searched for the blonde. What if he left with her? Shit! I closed my eyes and fought to keep the tears from building. No. I won’t do this again. I can’t do this again.
When Blake Shelton’s “Do You Remember” started to play, I decided that I needed to find Dewey and leave. I can’t do this. I got up, and when I turned around, Scott was standing there.
He gave me a weak smile as he held out his hand toward me. “Dance with me?”
My heart started to pound, and I felt sick. As much as my head was telling me to say no, my heart answered for me instead. “Okay. ”
He walked me out onto the dance floor, and he pulled me in close to him. He didn’t say a word as we started to dance. I kept thinking back to him on the beach, begging me to believe him about Chelsea. I did believe him. But then, she had called, and it hit me. She was still a huge part of his life.
Is he looking for someone to make him forget? Or is he looking for someone to love?