Dovetail(82)

“Lorraine Whitt? But she’s Helen’s age,” Alice said, shocked. “Barely thirteen!”

Pearl’s eyes widened. “I know. Isn’t it outrageous? Kissing a boy she hardly knows. Right out in public too!”

“Poor Lorraine,” Alice said, watching as people left the dance floor to go witness the scene unfolding. Lorraine was still wailing as if she’d broken a leg; others were now chiming in to offer their opinions.

“Poor Lorraine?” Pearl spoke incredulously. “I don’t feel one bit sorry for her. She brought it upon herself.” She craned her neck to get a better look. “I can’t see much of anything from here. I’m going back.” Hastily, she turned and headed toward the turmoil.

Alice switched her attention to John, and a sudden look came across her face. “I’ve just had a thought,” she said, setting her punch glass down on the table. “Come with me.”

Without a word, he set his glass down as well and kept her in his sights as she worked her way toward the door. Because the ticket taker had left her station to see what the racket was all about, they were able to slip outside unnoticed.

The cooler air was a welcome relief after being in the stuffy barn for so long. “What are we doing out here?” John asked.

Smiling, Alice took his hand and led him down a path around the barn, away from where the wagons were parked. “I got tired of talking over the noise,” she said to him, calling back over her shoulder. “I wanted to have time with you before our evening is over.”

Once his eyes adapted to the dark, John realized she was leading him toward the lakefront. When they got closer to the water, a cloud moved, revealing a nearly full moon above the lake. Half a dozen rowboats tied up to the pier shimmied and bumped while silvery moonlight glistened on the surface of the water.

“Let’s go for a boat ride,” she said, turning with a grin. Behind her the boats bobbed, tantalizingly empty.

“You want to go for a ride in someone else’s boat and leave the dance? Aren’t you afraid of getting into trouble?”

“Perhaps a little afraid,” she admitted. “But my thinking is that with all the commotion with Lorraine Whitt, we have at least an hour before anyone notices we’re gone. And if they do, I can say I felt ill, so you took me outside to catch my breath.”

“But that would be a lie,” John said. “And I don’t believe you are someone who lies, Alice Bennett.”

“Normally that is true, but I am willing to make a onetime exception so I can spend time with you.”

Under different circumstances, Alice’s reputation risked being ruined, but John had to believe that coming back an engaged woman would smooth out any rumors that might arise from their absence. Oh, he couldn’t wait to ask her to be his wife. He had not felt this joyful since he was a child. Back then, when he hadn’t known so much, the world was a simpler, kinder place. With Alice by his side, he was starting to think it could be again.

He helped her into the boat and then climbed in, taking the seat opposite her before untying the rope that anchored them to the pier. “We are lucky that whoever owns these boats left the oars behind,” he said.

“It was not luck. Chances are, the boat belongs to someone who lives on the lake, and they are now at the dance.”

She sounded cheerfully self-assured. This was a side of Alice he’d only glimpsed before, but he liked it. He asked, “And what if they come out and find their boat gone? What then?”

“We’ll be back soon enough. I want to show you the island. It’s only a few minutes from here.” She moved forward so their knees touched, and John felt his breath catch in his throat at the intimacy. They were alone now, really alone, floating along on a sparkling lake. In the distance, he heard the band playing and the bleat of an automobile horn, but the noises were far away, as if in a dream.

Alice pointed. “It’s right over there. See it?” He turned his head and saw a simple patch of ground thick with trees rising above the water in the middle of the lake. The island was not much larger in area than the barn they’d just come from. It would be the perfect place for him to propose to Alice, creating a memory only the two of them would share.

He dipped the oars into the water and pulled with ease, creating a rhythm. Ahead of them came a little splash, startling him. She laughed and said, “Don’t be so jumpy. It’s just a fish.” Leaning back, he swung the oars as far as possible, then pulled deep, making the boat skim quickly across the water. “Show-off,” she said, teasing. Her hand trailed into the water, her fingertips skimming the surface.

John gave her a smile. “You know, you really do look exceptionally beautiful tonight, Alice,” he said, not taking his eyes off her.

“Oh, John,” she said, her eyes cast downward. “I don’t know what to say.”

“When someone pays you a compliment, a simple ‘thank you’ will usually suffice.”

She laughed. “I’m sorry. I know you have paid me many compliments in your letters, but I am not used to hearing it said aloud. Truly, I almost never hear such kind words about my looks. Pearl is the pretty one. I am the one who gets praised for cooking or running an orderly household.”

“There is something wrong with the men in Pullman, Wisconsin, if they cannot see you the way I do.” John leaned back to pull on the oars, and the boat moved smoothly through the water. “I am glad, of course, that they are such dolts since they don’t deserve you, but I do find it puzzling. I noticed how lovely you are the minute I met you, and if I could look at your beautiful face every day for the rest of my life, I’d be a happy man indeed.”