Life After Wife (Three Magic Words Trilogy, #3)(42)

“Starving. Let’s eat first and then mingle,” she suggested.

He put his hand on the small of her back and guided her toward the table. From past experience she knew that there wouldn’t be a red mark on her back where he touched her, but it sure felt extra warm. They fixed plates and carried them to the table where their friends had saved two chairs.

The dance floor was full, the band playing one country song after another, from Conway Twitty to the Zac Brown Band and everything in between. Fancy and Theron were on the dance floor executing such a smooth two-step that it was fluid beauty.

“They should go on that dance thing on television,” Sophie said.

“Who?” Elijah asked.

“Fancy and Theron. Watch them. They are really good together.”

“Eat up, darlin’, and we’ll beat them all to pieces,” Elijah said.

“You dance? You’re kidding me,” she said.

“No, ma’am. Jones boys have rhythm. Look at Tanner out there with that tall blonde. And he’s the clumsy one in the family,” Elijah said.

She located Tanner and his partner on the floor, and they were indeed every bit as graceful as Fancy and Theron. Her hands went sweaty at the prospect of dancing with Elijah. She hadn’t been on the dance floor since the sale the year before and then it was only to dance a couple of times with men who continually stepped on her toes. Her husband had hated to dance, had absolutely no rhythm for dancing or singing. He couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket with the lid welded tight, and had three left feet on the dance floor. The only time he’d ever waltzed her around the floor was the day they got married, and that was only for the first minute of the song and just to satisfy his obligation. Charisma poured from his pores when he talked, and he could preach a sermon that would bring a die-hard sinner to his knees. But he couldn’t dance, and Sophie loved to dance.

When they finished their meal, Elijah pushed back his chair and said, “Miz Sophie, may I have this dance?”

She let him lead her to the dance floor and noticed when he nodded at the singer. “What is going on?” she whispered.

The lead singer finished his song and then leaned close to the microphone. “I’ve been told that this has been a good day for the ranch. The sale was beyond expectations and now the owners, Elijah Jones and Sophie McSwain, are going to dance to ‘Cowboys and Angels,’ an old Garth Brooks tune.”

Elijah drew Sophie into his arms. She put one hand in his and an arm around his neck. From his first step, she was lost in the song and in the flawless execution of the finest two-steppin’ she’d ever known. Elijah sang with Garth, his breath and the words of the song sending multicolored sparks floating around them like Independence Day fireworks.

Elijah and Garth sang about a cowboy who was stubborn and proud, reckless and loud, and how God noticed he’d never make it on his own. So God took thunder and passion, patience and wonder, and sent down the best thing that He’d ever made.

“That’s me,” Elijah whispered. “I’ve been proud and reckless and stubborn and loud, Sophie.”

“Well, I’m low on patience, but I am also full of thunder and passion,” she answered.

Elijah chuckled and went on to sing about cowboys and lace and about how salt of the earth met heavenly grace. “You are a sight to behold tonight in that lace. I’d believe you were an angel if it weren’t for that Irish temper.”

She smiled. “Darlin’, you are a cowboy, but I do not have wings, and if I had a halo, it would be bent all to the devil and twisted up into a pretzel. I’m not an angel.”

The song ended, and the whole barn erupted into applause. Elijah held Sophie’s hand, and they took a deep bow. Then with a twinkle in her light gray eyes, Sophie turned around and said something to the singer. He nodded and leaned into the microphone.

“Seems Miz Sophie has a request. Let’s see if the cowboy Garth was singing about can keep up with the angel in lace with this song. Give us a little bit of ‘Country Girl’ by Mr. Jason Aldean, boys.”

The steel guitar and the drums started and Elijah’s face lit up. Sophie played the part, shaking her finger out across the dance floor at everyone when the singer started off by asking if the boys had ever met a real country girl.

The music was loud and fast. Elijah grabbed her hand and followed her lead as she started something between an Irish reel and a fast line dance. He grinned when the singer said the girl was country from her “cowboy boots to her down home roots” and talked about her thick southern drawl, her sexy swing and walk. Neither of them missed a single beat, and when the song ended they were both panting.

“Great Scott, or maybe I should say Irish, I’ve never seen her dance like that,” Fancy said.

“It’s Elijah. He’s her life after wife. She just don’t know it yet,” Kate said.

“And now I’m going to put our hosts through one more song before I let them leave the floor. Y’all give it up for the best dancers I’ve seen. Wow! These two could bring down the house at that dancing show on television. Hey, that’s not giving it up. Y’all can do better than that,” the singer said.

The night had been slow up until then, but now everyone was getting fired up and ready to dance, and a band liked a lively audience.

Applause echoed in the barn until Sophie thought the roof would lift.