CHAPTER 3
I had seen handsome boys in my life. I wasn’t quite as sheltered as Annie would like to think, but this boy was like no one I’d ever seen. The boys I knew always wore boring old white shirts with suspenders and silly Gatsby caps, but this guy… this guy was a sight to behold.
My eyes took a slow walk from the spats of his finely polished shoes and followed the white pinstripe of his black suit all the way up to his boyish, but rugged, face. The look was masterfully topped off with a black fedora, the white band around it a perfect compliment to the handkerchief in his pocket.
But it wasn’t the way he was all put together that had me so flustered, it was that moment when he looked over at me. There was an intensity to him that made me know beyond any comprehension that this was the person I was supposed to be with. It felt like I was the only one in the room who could not only see his intelligence and power, but also that tiny glimmer of sadness, hidden deep within those eyes.
“What?” Annie said from beside me, her eyes drifting to the direction I was gawking.
She let out a low whistle like a man would do. “Now there is a tall drink of water.”
Normally I would scold her for being so vulgar, but I was too busy not being able to tear my focus away from him.
“You might want to close you mouth Sadie,” she said, snickering.
Horrified at how ridiculous I was being, I did as I was told and tried to slink back in my chair, my gaze dropping. But when I couldn’t resist looking up for one more second, he was still looking my way. As he walked off in the opposite direction, he tilted his head slightly giving just a hint of a nod in my direction.
My stomach was suddenly throbbing with intense heat, which probably should have been alarming, but was actually quite a lovely sensation.
“Ooh, I think someone is smitten,” Annie said, smirking.
I straightened my dress, tugging down the much-too-short skirt a bit. “I am not.”
“Oh I wasn’t talking about you, I was talking about him,” she said nodding in the direction he’d disappeared. “He couldn’t take his eyes off you.”
As much as I wanted to believe what she was saying, there was no way I could possibly compete with all the beautiful, sophisticated—not to mention about a hundred times more confident—women in this place.
I let out a sad little snort. And it was rather unladylike too. It sent Annie into uncontrollable giggles. I should have been more upset, but something in the way she was giggling sent me into giggles that I couldn’t stop either. What has gotten into us? Finally, we composed ourselves a little and Annie called the serving girl over to order more of the delicious pink nectar.
“You girls all giggly about that fella over there?” she asked, pointing her head in the direction of the guy. She blatantly gawked at him and licked her lips, as women enveloped him from all directions. The girl sighed. “Just don’t get your hopes up on that one. In all the times I’ve seen him in here, he’s never once taken interest in any of the girls.”
She walked away and it was just as she turned her back that the man looked up, determined, as if he knew exactly what he wanted to see, and he stared. The air left the room and the music faded deep into the background as those eyes seared into me. I tried to look away, almost afraid—of what, I wasn’t sure—but I couldn’t. The back of my neck burned and I was thankful that the place was dark, intimate.
And then he blinked. Our moment was over. He turned his attention back to the gaggle of girls surrounding him, though he didn’t look all that thrilled to be the center of their attention. Honestly, he looked a little bored.
I glanced at Annie to see if she saw what had happened but she was busy making eyes at some sap across the other side of the room and hadn’t noticed a thing. A few minutes later, I wondered if it had ever happened at all.
After a couple more drinks and lots of people watching, the temperature in the room seemed like it had gone up about ten degrees. I couldn’t help but drink at a pace that was much too quick for a lady, though I noticed no one else seemed to pay much attention to manners while enjoying their evening either.
“May I borrow the lipstick again?” I asked Annie.
She sighed. “At this rate you’re going to owe me a whole tube,” she said, handing it over.
“What do you expect? I swear half this tube is decorating all the glasses we’ve gone through.” I got up from my seat, surprised at how the room seemed to tilt under me. Luckily, I was able to catch myself with the table just in time.
Annie smiled. “You know, you don’t have to go rushing off to the John every time you want to put lipstick on. There are plenty of ladies putting it on right out here.”
I’d seen it too, but I just couldn’t bring myself to join them. After all, wasn’t it a woman’s job to keep up at least an inkling of being put together naturally? Of course, no man would be daft enough to believe I was born with lips so ruby red a cherry would be jealous, but applying the lipstick in public would only remind everyone how excruciatingly human I was.
I tried to navigate the crowd, remembering the way to the lady’s room very well by now, scolding myself for wondering just where that gorgeous man with the intense eyes had gotten to, and of course sucking in my stomach in case he might be watching from some dark corner of the room. Suddenly, the room shifted as if everything was in slow motion, a very tilting, uneasy sort of slow motion that would not relent. I noticed that my breathing was heavier than usual too, as if the task of simply walking across the room was a chore. Something was definitely more than a little wrong.
I glanced around, wondering if everyone in the room could tell that I was having some sort of episode but I couldn’t quite bring myself to focus. Finally, in my haze, it hit me and I’d never felt so stupid. The drinks. They did have alcohol. Why else would I be feeling so numb around the face?
I wondered if I should be horrified, but the idea that I’d been drinking alcohol all night and not even knowing it struck me as absurd instead. All I could think was that that stupid cow my mother hung around was a no-good liar, which was deliciously funny since she was the reverend’s wife. I could barely contain my giggles until I finally reached the lady’s room and howled like a hyena. The other girls in the room just laughed along with me like it was the most normal thing in the world. Eventually, we all settled down and I was left alone to reapply my lipstick, a task that proved to be approximately forty times more difficult than it had been an hour ago. I was forced to lean on the vanity just to keep my balance.
I finally managed the task and stood straight, checking and re-checking that I had done a decent job. The strangest thoughts were going through my head--that I might be found out to be unladylike, but at the same time I didn’t really care. I straightened my dress once more and shook my head a little, hoping to clear the fog from my thoughts, and from my vision for that matter.
But when I walked out of the powder room, my vision instantly became very clear. Unfortunately, too late, I discovered I was barreling at a pace that was far too quick to stop before I ran smack dab into the back of a very handsome looking three-piece black suit with white pinstripes.
Heaven help me. I could only close my eyes and hope it wasn’t the man… uh, suit I had been admiring earlier. But as he slowly turned, my heart plummeted.
“Hello,” he simply said, smiling a little.
The people around him weren’t quite so kind though, practically sneering at me. Well, actually it wasn’t really people, there were only women around him, and I got the distinct feeling that was how it often was wherever he went. I couldn’t believe what a fool I’d been, believing he’d been looking at me when he first walked in. These other girls, these women, were far more sophisticated than I could ever hope to be in a million years.
“Um, sorry,” I said in the most unflattering squeak of a voice.
One of the ladies let out a snicker. “Looks like somebody’s had a bit too much of the giggle water.” The rest
of the ladies tittered along with her.
Much to my surprise though, he didn’t join in, and actually looked a bit perturbed with them.
“Are you okay?” he asked, reaching out for my elbow, helping to steady me.
But the moment he touched me the world spun harder, the shock of his hand on my skin almost too much to bear. His touch sent waves of tingles through me, and if he hadn’t been holding on, I probably would have fallen right over.
“Yes, yes I think so. I think my friend may have been giving me liquor without my knowing.”
“Ah, yes,” he said, “the good ol’ sneaky drunk. I’ve seen it a million times. And I bet you’re right. That ol’ boy Sam, don’t serve anything without at least a little booze hidden inside.”
The ladies behind him really started giggling now.
I nodded dumbly, feeling like the daftest girl on this side of the Rockies. I mean, what else could I do? I had just completely admitted what a naïve idiot I was.
“My name’s Frankie by the way,” he said letting go of my elbow to shake my hand.
“Oh, uh, Sadie,” I said, taking his hand.
It was too bad his strong hands did nothing to help me feel any less like a six-year-old. The fact that I couldn’t tear my gaze away from his haunting eyes must have made me look like even more of a wreck.
But he was kind enough to just smile, not letting on that he knew how ridiculous I was. “Do you think you’re up for a dance?”
I sure could have used that hand on my elbow right then since my knees got all wobbly at the thought of dancing with a man like him. Frankie. The name suited him too. I stood there thinking about all that, blinking, trying to clear my vision. I had no idea how much time had gone by, too much obviously, since the women were giggling again, and even Frankie was smirking. Oh, and what a smirk it was. I’d never seen lips on a man that looked so soft before. The smirk widened.
“Sorry,” was all I could say, as I turned to run off. I needed to get out of there and hide in the bathroom until approximately the end of time. But I didn’t get far. That strong hand grabbed my elbow again and pulled me gently back around.
“Really, I insist,” he said, just loud enough for the ladies behind him to hear.
A quick glance behind Frankie confirmed that they were not at all happy about it. I’d never been on the receiving end of another girl’s glare before and while it was startling, the most startling thing about it was that it almost felt like icing on top of the cake. Not only did I get to dance with the man that everyone wanted to dance with, but they were jealous too, like I’d taken something away from them.
It was a terrible, unkind thought, but I could hardly make myself feel bad about it, what with the way they had been going on, making fun of me.
“Um, okay,” I said, managing a smile and taking his hand again.
Frankie led me out to the dance floor where, thankfully, the music had mellowed into a slower beat. I’m not sure I would have been able to dance to something fast, with nothing to help steady me. The bonus was that I got to be hand in hand with Frankie.
I don’t know if it was the liquor or the proximity to him, but my head was spinning something fierce, and my stomach was certainly letting me know exactly where it was, churning its protests along to the music. The combination was rather uncomfortable and was making me incredibly dizzy. But Frankie was nothing if not gentle as he led me slowly around the dance floor, asking every now and again if I was doing okay.
Much too soon—well, not for my stomach—the song was over and Frankie was letting go. What a tragedy it was that I hadn’t been clear-headed for what was sure to be one of the most important events of my life. I made a vow to let Annie know just how I felt about her funny little trick the second I saw her again.
But I didn’t have much time to stew over it, since Frankie was looking at me again with those penetrating eyes of his. He was opening his mouth, presumably to say something, but he didn’t say anything, or rather, I couldn’t hear what it was.
Because that’s when the gunshots started.