Mel's Arc

Chapter 5 of 36

Mel stood at the edge of the floor and watched the heir bend toward the girl in the pale gown. The fiddle slowed. Couples drifted toward the wide doors. Outside, wagons creaked and horses stamped. The night was ending, and she had no reason left to cross the room. Ted had ridden off. Rose had done her part hours ago. If Mel let the last song play out, she would go home with nothing but a borrowed dress. Then she heard boots behind her. She turned. Ted stood in the doorway, hat in hand, dust on his sleeve. He had not ridden the trail after all, or he had turned back partway. "Remy threw a shoe," he said. "Half a mile out. I walked him home and came back." He looked at the thinning crowd, then at her. "You still standing here." "I am." Mel's face burned. She had told him no an hour ago, and here he was. "The heir's talking to someone else now." "I saw." Ted turned the brim in a slow circle. He did not gloat. "You want to fix it, you got till the last song. After that everybody's in their wagons." Mel looked at him. "Why are you helping me?" "I'm not helping." A dry grin. "I'm telling you what's true. There's a difference." He paused. "Band takes requests. Fella with the fiddle owes me a favor." Mel understood. One more song. One more reason for people to stay on the floor, and one more chance to reach the heir before the doors closed. "Do it," she said. Ted crossed to the band and spoke low to the fiddler. The man nodded. A moment later the fiddle rose again, loud and bright. The couples who had turned to go stopped and came back. The heir straightened. The girl in the pale gown laughed and pulled him toward the floor. Mel moved fast now. She cut through the crowd while the music covered her. She reached the heir just as he raised his hand to take the other girl's. "You promised me the last dance," Mel said. It was a lie, and the heir knew it, and she watched him decide whether to be kind about it. He smiled that easy smile. "Did I." "You did." She held her ground. The girl in the pale gown looked between them. Then she stepped back, the way Rose had stepped back once. The heir took Mel's hand and led her out. Mel had her dance. But over his shoulder she saw Ted by the band, watching her go with the heir, his hat still in his hands. He had turned the song for her, and she had spent it on another man. The debt she thought she'd paid had just come back, heavier than before.