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“Here you two are.” My sister-in-law Jess was smiling broadly at us and holding a glass of white wine. “That was such a lovely ceremony, don’t you think?”
“It was,” I agreed, smiling back at her.
“And that dress!” Jess waved dramatically with her free hand. “Gorgeous! You know, I heard she went toNew Yorkfor it.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? Why?” There were plenty of dress boutiques in Chicago, weren’t there?
Jess shrugged and took a sip from her glass. “Who knows?” she asked. “Maybe it’s just a rumor.”
“Sounds like the kind of thing a jealous friend might make up and spread around behind her back,” Reggie mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
I playfully elbowed him in the ribs, but I was laughing. “How wouldyouknow that?”
Jess watched us with amusement. “You make such an adorable couple. Any chance you two will be next?”
Reggie’s hand froze where it rested at the small of my back.
Oh, god.
Fortunately, my brother Adam appeared a moment later. “Jess,” he chastised. “Leave them alone.”
“I was just teasing,” she insisted. She said more words to that effect, but I wasn’t listening anymore. I’d been expecting this kind of nonsense fromsomebodytonight, but I hadn’t prepared Reggie enough for the actual reality of it happening.
When Jess and Adam left to go find my parents a few moments later, I turned to him to apologize on behalf of my sister-in-law. He regarded me with an anxious expression I’d never seen him wear before.
“Reggie, I’m so sorry.” And then, in a quieter voice, I added, “This is exactly the sort of bullshit my family does. I should have warned you.”
“Dance with me?” he asked abruptly. His voice was strained.
Of course he wanted to leave where most of the guests were still mingling and get away from my family. I didn’t blame him. “Sure,” I said.
And then, a moment later, the Chicken Dance polka started playing.
Groans and laughter filled the ballroom. People of all ages began tugging reluctant dance partners onto the dance floor. My parents were among them, Mom laughing and trying to fend Dad off as he pulled her from her chair.
“On second thought, let’s sit this one out,” I said.
Reggie looked like I’d just proposed chopping off his arm. “You must be joking,” he said, horrified. He was already making his way to where dancers were assembling, hand around my wrist as he attempted to bring me with him. “I never miss a good Chicken Dance.”
“Are you serious?”
“As the bubonic plague.” I tried to protest, but Reggie was towing me behind him with the kind of excitement I hadn’t seen in another person since we’d taken my nieces to Disney World.
We stopped when we got to the far end of the dance floor, a fair distance away from most of the other dancers. Ifdancerswas even the right word to describe my flailing relatives. Reggie’s eyes were bright with joy.
“Dance with me?” he asked again, hopeful.
I swallowed. “I don’t know how.”
“You don’t know how to do the Chicken Dance?” He stared at me. “Really?”
I shook my head. “I’ve never learned.”
“But it’s easy,” he said. “You just flap your arms and spin around.”
Behind us, my parents, Aunt Sue and Uncle Bill, and many of Gretchen’s friends were already flapping their arms, spinning each other in circles, and laughing uproariously. “It does look easy,” I admitted. “This probably won’t surprise you, but I usually steer clear of dancing at weddings. But…” I trailed off and moved closer to Reggie. I looped my arms around his neck, pulling him close. “It seems like the sort of dance you could teach me.”
“Oh, it is,” he agreed.
