A Daddy for Jacoby(46)
“I’m not going anywhere.” He pulled open the door and stepped back. “After you, Miss Steele.”
Gina walked into the school’s brightly lit lobby, the faint sounds of a classic Elvis tune filling the air. A table stood off to one side. Two women around her mother’s age sat behind it. One stood when they approached.
“May we help you?” the lady asked.
“Yes, I’m one of the chaperones for tonight’s dance. My apologies for arriving late.”
The woman, reading glasses perched on the end of her nose, dipped her head. Looking at Gina over the thin black rims, her lips pressed tightly together. “Your name?”
Gina tried not to take the woman’s disapproval personally. She lifted her chin and offered a smile. “Gina Steele.”
The other woman rose and the two of them looked from her to Justin. The turn of their heads, slight frowns on their faces, and the arching of their eyebrows occurred in perfect unison.
Their silent judgment hung in the air like a dark cloud. Gina recognized the second woman as a member of the town’s betterment committee and a close friend of the group’s leader, a woman who tried to use the committee to cause trouble for Racy just a few months ago.
“If you could tell me where we can find the senior class sponsor,” Gina said, hoping Justin didn’t recognize the woman who’d tried to hurt his sister. “We’d appreciate it.”
“Mrs. Powers should be in the gymnasium.” The same woman spoke while the other reached for a pen and made a notation on a nearby sheet of paper. “It’s straight down this hallway, past the cafeteria.”
“Do you need to add the name of my escort to your list?”
The second woman jerked up her head. “Ah, yes, of course.”
“Dillon. Justin Dillon,” he spoke before she could open her mouth, “but you already know who I am, Mrs. Lyons.”
Gina looked at him, but he’d turned away. She hurried to join him and they walked down the hall, side by side, but not touching. Gina peeked at him, but Justin stared straight ahead, his jaw clamped tight.
“Boy, schools sure look different at night, don’t they?” Her voice came out a hushed whisper. “Is this the first time you’ve been back here since you graduated?”
“I never graduated from here. I dropped out the start of my junior year.”
Before she could think of a response, they turned a corner, the music louder now, and soon they arrived at the gym. Young people in varying degrees of formal wear, most of the girls dressed like her sister and herself in vintage dresses, stood in small groups in the wide hallway. Curious glances from the teenagers greeted them, but it was the outright stares from the adults that caused Gina to freeze.
Two older gentlemen, one of whom was the football coach, stood at the other end of the hall, directing a line of teenage couples waiting to get their pictures taken. The men were soon joined by two women, probably teachers, as well, and all four spoke in hushed voices. From their furtive glances it was obvious Gina and Justin were the topic of a heated discussion.
“Let’s go inside, okay?” Gina clutched her handbag.
Justin waved her ahead of him. It was warm inside the gym, with a faint whiff of sweaty socks in the air. A mirrored ball hung from the ceiling, sprinkling dots of light over crepe-paper swirls in the school colors of blue and white. A stage at the far end held a pair of disc jockeys and an empty set of thrones waiting for the crowning of the king and queen. Teenagers filled the center of the gym as well as the round tables set up alongside the stacked bleachers.
Gina’s age discrepancy from her classmates and her own shyness had kept her from ever attending a dance while at her private high school. She’d tried to go to the freshman mixer her first year at college but had only made it as far as the front steps before chickening out and heading back to her dorm room.
She could now see the magic she missed out on, but recapturing a stolen moment wasn’t going to happen tonight.
“I think your sister is headed this way.” Thanks to the loud music, Justin had to speak right into her ear. The warmth of his breath caused those proverbial tummy quivers to spread to her entire body.
“It’s about time you got here.” Giselle joined them, dragging along her date by the hand. “Where’s your— Ah, hi.”
“Ric’s home sick with the flu,” Gina explained, placing a hand on Justin’s arm. His muscles tensed beneath the smooth fabric of his suit and she tightened her grip. To reassure him or herself?