Free Dancing With Velvet by Judy Nickles Page B

like that.”
    “He wasn’t a boy, Sister. He was a man.”
    “Is that what you liked about him?”
    “I think so. It was like the dress…different, you know?”
    “And you were really attracted to him, the way a woman is attracted to a man. Do we need to have a talk?”
    “You had a talk with me when I was twelve, remember?”
    “Well, yes, but I only went so far. Maybe it’s time for another one.”
    Celeste giggled. “I know about the birds and the bees, Sister.”
    “It’s a lot more than that, sweetie. Marriage is a whole lot more than just wanting to be physically close to somebody.”
    “You and Ben are really happy, aren’t you?”
    “I love him more than I did when we got married ten years ago, if you can believe that. We were just kids, for heaven’s sake. Seventeen and eighteen.”
    “And even then you knew you wanted to spend the rest of your life with him.”
    “Sure, I did. Young as we were, we meant for it to last forever, and it’s going to. But we both had a lot of growing up to do even after we married. Living here with Pearl and Big Ben helped. We saw the kind of give and take relationship they had and learned from it. Still, it’s a good thing we didn’t have Barbara right off the bat. We weren’t ready to be parents.”
    “You and Ben are good parents.”
    “We try. She’s the only chance we’ll get.”
    “I’m sorry about what happened when she was born.”
    “Well, I am, too, Cece, but we both came out all right, and maybe one child is enough, with the way things are going in the world.”
    “The Sunday we walked around town, Kent said there’s going to be another war.”
    “I think he’s right. Big Ben says things are sure heading that way.”
    “Would Ben have to go?”
    “Probably not. Ranching is what they call a war-necessary business , and since it’s just his dad and him, well, he’d probably get exempted.”
    “I hope so.”
    “But there’ll be a lot of others who have to go.”
    “Like Kent.”
    “Your Kent would be a prime candidate at his age with no dependents.”
    “He’s not my Kent.”
    “But you still kind of think of him that way, don’t you?”
    “I need to stop thinking about him at all.”
    “Yes, you do. Get out and have some fun, Cece. Big sister says so.”
    ****
    Spring was late, and when summer came, it was hotter than Celeste could remember. Mr. Thomas brought up an extra fan from the stockroom and kept the windows wide open, but nothing helped very much. By noon, Celeste felt like a hothouse plant someone had overwatered by mistake.
    She made a conscious effort to put Kent out of her mind, chiding herself for expending so much effort and emotion on someone she’d seen twice. She didn’t even know his last name, just Kent from Brownwood. They’d kept it impersonal for a reason, and now she was acting like a silly schoolgirl.
    Still, every time she went to the window to find some fresh air, she couldn’t help watching the sidewalk below, hoping against reason to catch a glimpse of him. Once she thought she did, but when the man took off his hat to wipe his forehead with a handkerchief, she felt foolish and drew back inside so quickly she bumped her head hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.
    She caught a summer cold and had to stay home for two days. Her father—though she’d tried without success to stop thinking of him that way—didn’t ask how she was feeling and complained that dinner wasn’t ready when he got home. Feverish and miserable, Celeste told him he could afford to eat downtown. He slammed out of the house mumbling something about not paying for her keep.
    Maybe it was the fever that made her dream, but she woke one night calling Kent’s name. He’d been so real, so close, and now he was gone. She wept with frustration, closed her eyes, and tried to call him back.
    She did her Christmas shopping in July so she could put things on layaway. One Friday, the saleslady who had talked her into the blue velvet