Dovetail: A Novel(80)

“I cannot believe my father gave you permission to accompany me this evening,” she said. “He is so protective of all of us and rarely lets us out of his sight.”

John said, “We had a long talk one day at the mill between customers. He had guessed we are in love, Alice.”

She looked up at him, shocked. “No.”

John laughed, his eyes twinkling. “Yes. And he did not run me out of town, as you had feared. We discussed my life and my future at length. I told him about my father. He already knew he was in prison for murder, if you can imagine that, and he still hired me for the summer. He said he would judge me based only on my actions and deeds, not by those who came before me. Your father is an uncommon man, Alice.”

Out of the corner of Alice’s eye, she spotted Mrs. Donohue looking their way, so they hurriedly resumed dancing. She fought the urge to pull him close and rest her head on his shoulder. Doing so would be paradise, but the few moments of joy were not worth the cost. For now, she would take what she could get.

They danced six songs in a row before taking a break for refreshments. Walking off the dance floor, Alice became suddenly aware of her surroundings. She’d been so wrapped up in enjoying John’s company that she barely noticed that the barn had filled to capacity, the crowd growing while the music played. She ignored the room’s mugginess and the ache of her heels from rubbing against the backs of her shoes. In the morning, her feet might be blistered and bleeding, but tonight she was dancing on air.

They found an empty table and were sipping their punch when the music stopped. They noticed Edna, up on the stage, talking to the bandleader. “The fiddle player is Edna’s cousin, so she knows all the men in the band,” Alice explained. No doubt Edna was requesting a favorite song or letting the band know they should announce a birthday or anniversary of someone in the crowd. She was always thinking of others.

The middle-aged bandleader helped Edna step off the stage, then had the drummer tap several times in succession to get the crowd’s attention. “Good evening, everyone,” he called out. “Welcome to Pullman’s annual Barn Dance. I am Chester Larson, and this is my band.” A smattering of applause rose up from the crowd. “Miss Edna Clark has just informed me that we have a songbird in our midst, and that if we hear her sing, we will know heaven here on earth. I am talking about Miss Alice Bennett. Are you out there, Alice?” He shielded his eyes with the flat of his hand.

“Oh no,” Alice whispered, her heart sinking. She and Edna sang the night away when they were together doing kitchen chores at Edna’s house, but the idea of singing in front of other people was unthinkable.

“Alice, would you come up and grace us with a song? Please?”

Voices rang out:

“Come on, Alice.”

“Sing for us, Alice!”

And then Pearl’s voice, above all the others. “She won’t do it. Alice is a scaredy-cat.”

John leaned toward her. “If you don’t want to . . .”

“No, I will,” she said, suddenly pushing back her chair and walking defiantly up to the stage. The sound of clapping spurred her on.

Chester helped her onto the stage and asked, “What would you like to sing, Miss Bennett?”

“I don’t know.” She wrung her hands and glanced out at the crowd. In the softness of the kerosene glow, the mass of people looked less intimidating, their faces encouraging and friendly. Members of the audience yelled out suggestions:

“Alexander’s Ragtime Band!”

“By the Light of the Silvery Moon!”

“Alice, sing ‘Steamboat Bill’!”

“I don’t know the words to any of those songs,” she told Chester apologetically. “I only know church music and little ditties that I sing to my baby sister.”

“Church music.” He looked thoughtful. “How about ‘In the Sweet By-and-By’?”

She nodded. With only the violin to accompany her, she began to sing. To her surprise, she settled easily into the song, singing loudly enough to be heard throughout the barn. She kept her gaze on John, who stood at her feet, staring up with admiration in his eyes.

It helped that it was such a beautiful song and one that she’d sung since she was a little girl. She especially loved the refrain:

In the sweet by-and-by,

We shall meet on that beautiful shore

And when she got to the end, she sang the words right to John.

For the glorious gift of His love

And the blessings that hallow our days.

When the song was over, the inside of the barn filled with the roar of applause. Sheepishly, Alice gave the crowd a wave of thanks before John helped her down. When the band started up again, her time was over, and dancers streamed back onto the floor.

“Are you having a good time?” John asked when they’d resumed dancing.

“I am having the loveliest evening.” Alice looked up at him, eyes sparkling. “I can’t remember ever having such a good time.”

“And this is only the beginning. Just wait.”

She gave him an inquiring look, but when she asked him to explain, he only repeated himself. “Just wait.” And then he added, “You’ll see.”



John didn’t mean to let the cat out of the bag by telling Alice there was more to come. He just couldn’t help himself. He’d already kept the secret for more than a week and was bursting with the knowledge. Without intending to, he hinted at it when he told Alice that he’d had a long talk with her father at the mill. He’d said, “We discussed my life and my future at length,” but there was so much more to it than that.