Page 43 of Save the Last Dance (Take the Backroads #1)
Chapter Seventeen
B y Saturday evening , all of Heartache agreed the Harvest Festival had been a huge success so far.
Mack received pats on the back. Praise from the committee, from Scott, and even his mother who’d put in an appearance about an hour ago on the arm of Erin, Mack’s oldest sister.
Erin had been in Louisville for the past few months with her new artist boyfriend, but she’d made the trip to show family support.
Knowing their mother’s tendency to be overwhelmed by a crowd, Erin had found Nina’s grandmother, Daisy Spencer, in a corner of the outdoor picnic area near a few rented space heaters, and together they listened to the cover band that Mack had brought down from Nashville.
The imported band had agreed to a few warm-up songs outdoors while the interior of the dining hall was transformed for the Harvest Dance.
In past years, the crowd would be thin right now, with the food vendors shutting down and the exhibitors talking to a few last potential customers.
But the weather had been clear and mild and the festival had been bigger than ever.
Even now, kids ran around with pumpkins from Harlan Brady’s booth, the nearby tables full of markers, stickers and paints for decorating.
Other kids bobbed for apples in the tin buckets scattered around the lawn nearby.
Some painted dipped gourds in glitter paint and snacked on the last of the caramel fried apples that Nina’s helpers had made all day for two days straight. The things were addictive.
Nina had been embraced by the town as one of their own.
The hurts and rumors of eight years ago were gone and everyone from the owner of Lucky’s to the hairdressers at the salon where Ally worked were begging Nina to open a bakery.
Or a restaurant. Even a coffee shop would do, they all agreed.
Nina had spent some time speaking privately to his mother, as well, a conversation he’d noticed had ended with a quick embrace.
Mack should be happy for her as she accepted yet another effusive compliment…
this one from his sister Erin, as Nina rejoined their little group.
And he was, damn it. He just felt her slipping away from him a little more each time someone told her she belonged here.
That her roots were in Heartache, Tennessee.
She picked up paper napkins and leftover cups from the kids’ tables even though she’d already changed clothes for the dance.
Wearing a full pink skirt with red ballet flats and a red belt, she looked so beautiful his heart hurt.
She had on her jean jacket while she worked outside and he couldn’t help but remember how she’d slid it off two nights before in the back of the hay wagon.
“Thank you so much,” she said to Erin, pitching the napkins in a nearby trash bin and admiring a child’s decorated gourd. “I’ve been creatively renewed since coming back here.” Mack sat on a nearby bench and she slid onto the seat beside him. Close but not touching.
Because she didn’t want to declare a formal relationship between them yet? Or because she was already distancing herself from him? Tension strung him tight as a bow. He needed to head home tomorrow after two weeks away from the bar and he still didn’t know where he stood with Nina.
“I’m glad to hear that, Nina.” Mack’s mother straightened in her seat, sitting forward in one of the cushioned chairs Mack had dragged outside for her and Mrs. Spencer.
“I wanted to apologize for missing you when you and Daisy came by. I have up days and down days, you know. But the peach pie was a dose of the best kind of old-fashioned medicine.”
Mack hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until his mother finished speaking and he was able to relax.
She seemed level tonight. In fact, now that Mack was paying better attention and not letting old biases sway his view of his mother, he noticed the changes in her.
Or, at least, she seemed to have an increased sense of control over the challenges she faced.
“Gram’s baking inspired my whole career.” Nina winked at her grandmother before turning back to Mack’s mom. “And I’m glad you were feeling well enough to come today. It must be nice for you to enjoy what your whole family has worked so hard to build.”
Mack’s mother nodded. Smiled. “This was one of Mr. Finley’s better ideas.”
“And even Ally played a part this year!” Mrs. Spencer added, clapping her hands lightly in time to the music still playing nearby. “Her maze looks like a fortress. I’m sure I never would have found my way out if I’d gone in.”
Nina’s grandmother wore a painted macaroni necklace that one of the kids must have made her.
It occurred to him that she’d passed on her love of children to Nina, even though it had somehow skipped a generation with Nina’s dad.
He’d checked out on family life just a decade after having his only child.
Proving you could be a crap father even if life handed you every tool you needed. Also proving genetics weren’t everything. Logically, Mack understood that. But it didn’t make him any more comfortable taking those risks with a child who had no say in their DNA baggage.
“You have a lot to be proud of, Mack,” Nina observed quietly while Harlan Brady joined the women and regaled them with a story about a little girl intent on choosing a pumpkin the same size as her at his farm booth earlier. “The festival has been a huge success.”
“I’d trade the success to heal Scott and Bethany’s marriage.
” His brother was sitting off to one side with some guys who worked on the construction side of the Finley business.
Nursing a beer, he didn’t look like he had much to say and he sure as hell didn’t seem to be having fun.
“I can’t believe he’s going to just let it all fall apart. ”
Bethany, on the other hand, had been visible all day, helping out with the food prep and collecting money at the concession counters.
Even now, she flitted among the tables assuring people the dining hall was almost decorated and the Harvest Dance would start soon.
Ally and Ethan were nearby, hanging a lighted swag of fall leaves around the doors to the dining hall.
Ally looked pretty in a long yellow skirt with what appeared to be one of Ethan’s flannel shirts around her shoulders while they worked outside.
“I think happily-ever-afters are a lot more work than some people realize.” Nina straightened one of the table decorations, a corn husk scarecrow seated on the edge of a planter of mums. Then she slid off the bench to stand.
“I’d better get inside and make sure we’ve got the dance refreshments all set.
The band is amazing, by the way, Mack. You’re bar is going to get a reputation for being a real gateway for up-and-coming acts. ”
“They’ve got a lot of talent,” he agreed.
He’d been angling for that kind of reputation in Nashville ever since opening Finley’s.
He ought to be happy that Nina recognized it right away.
Except that goal felt a little hollow now as the bigger prize was slipping through his fingers. “Do you need any help?”
“I should be fine, but thanks.” She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze that turned him inside out. All the more because he knew it was no more than she’d give to any other friend. “I’m looking forward to our dance.”
For a moment, he could see the sadness in her gray eyes. And the hurt that he’d put there.
She knew as well as he did they weren’t going to be able to overcome the last barrier that separated them.
His unwillingness to compromise on having kids had already cost him his first wife.
Now, he was breaking Nina’s heart, too, when she’d warned him that she couldn’t afford that kind of pain again.
He wanted to say something—anything—to put off the inevitable. Or change her mind. Or…
Hell, he didn’t even know anymore.
But before he could say anything she walked away to admire Ally and Ethan’s decorating before entering the dining hall. Leaving him with the weight of failure on his shoulders once again and a need deep in his gut to figure out a solution.
“Want some help , Nina ?” A feminine voice asked from behind her as Nina strode toward through the dining hall toward the kitchen.
While volunteers dragged tables into a new configuration and decorated the corners with hay bales and mums, Nina’s heart was in pieces.
Absolute, tiny pieces. All she wanted to do was find a quiet place to cry for an hour or two before making an appearance at this dance that the rest of Heartache was so excited about.
But she couldn’t ignore the kindness in the voice behind her.
The voice of Mack’s niece.
“Thanks, Ally.” She couldn’t hold back the smallest sniffle as she blinked a few times. Waiting for Ally to catch up, she laid an arm on the girl’s shoulders. “Have I mentioned how much I appreciate you bringing Gram to the salon with you on her hair appointment days?”
“Oh, sure.” Ally waved away the thanks. “Totally no trouble. Mrs. Spencer is everyone’s favorite customer. She keeps us laughing all day when she’s there.”
Nina guided her past some workers stringing yellow and orange lights overhead until the roof was a canopy of bright harvest colors. Retreating into a corner near a refreshment table, she gestured toward a folded tablecloth.
“If you want to put on the linens, I’ll check how the mulled cider is coming along.” Nina had been inspired by the spiced brew Mack had brought her that night they’d watched the color guard team practice on the football field. The hot drink would be perfect for the dance.
“Sure.” Ally shook out the white cotton cloth while Nina opened the top of the electric carafe on a serving tray nearby. “Can I ask you something, like, personal? ”