Making Magic (15 page)

Thea reached into the greenery at the edge of the flowered centerpiece to retrieve a lovely handmade jar with a honey dipper attached with teal ribbon, bearing a card that said
L’Amore è Dolce
—Love is Sweet—the couple’s names and the date. There were delighted exclamations and scattered applause.

“And now the bride and groom will have their first dance,” Jake announced, taking the microphone back.

Daniel got down off the platform onto the dance floor, lifted Mel down to join him and the band started playing “Dream a Little Dream of Me”.

“How perfect!” Trish said, a bit teary-eyed.

As Grace nodded and smiled, Thea was reminded, once more, of all the little things she had missed over the years.

Jamie and Beth were fully engaged in ridding the world of
bongo
, one at a time and Thea joined them. She agreed with Jamie that it was about the best thing she had ever tasted.

There was a great deal of laughter as the song ended and Daniel picked Mel up off her feet and kissed her as they twirled.

“And now, the bride would like to dance with her dad!” Jake announced.

Craig buttoned his jacket and walked onto the dance floor where Mel waited in Daniel’s embrace. The look on Craig’s face as he held out his hand and Mel took it made Thea’s throat tighten. Daniel bowed and Mel stepped into her father’s arms as Jake’s band began a slow rendition of the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun”.

Trish let out a little sob. Grace patted her arm.

“He used to sing that to her when she was a baby,” Trish said, sniffing.

Thea listened as the fiddle picked up the part she would have played on her flute and her fingers tingled. She tried not to look at the stage.

At the end of the song, Mel went on her tiptoes to kiss her father’s nose. He hugged her and led her back to Daniel.

“Now the groom would like a dance with both of his lovely sisters!”

“What?” Thea yelped.

Grace grinned as she pushed herself out of her chair. “You didn’t think I would do this by myself did you? I’ll look like a dancing hippo out there. Come on, little sis.”

“Terrific.” Thea took Grace’s hand as they walked to where Daniel waited. Jake was probably grinning at her discomfort, but she wouldn’t look to him to confirm it.

“How on earth are we going to do this, brother of mine?” Thea asked.

“Yes, Danny, how do you plan to pull this off?”

“Gracefully, of course!” Daniel said. “Hold hands for now, I’ll handle the rest.”

Mel stepped back as Daniel took Grace and Thea’s hands.

“This was one of the Woodsman’s favorite songs,” Jake said to the audience. “It’s about two bands of fairies and their two hills—one big, one small—and a war between them. One that will never end until they unite against a common foe. Sounds like one of his stories, doesn’t it?” With that, he launched into “Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór”.

Thea couldn’t stop the tears and neither could Grace or Daniel. They circled to the slow and thoughtful tune, first one way until Daniel changed directions to go the other. He stopped to twirl Grace, with one arm—with great care—and to twirl Thea with the other. Then they circled again, no longer holding hands. It was pretty clear to Thea that Grace and Daniel hadn’t practiced anything in particular. So each of them turned within the circle doing their own thing, dipping and swirling around each other until they were all laughing again.

“If this doesn’t make Lily move on out,” Grace panted. “I don’t know what will.”

A fluffy white blur trailing a leash ran out to join them. Bailey circled at Thea’s ankles until she scooped her up and included her in the dance. It was an absolutely perfect moment. Thea smiled up at Jake without thinking as she danced past the stage.

But Jake seemed to be focused on something in the distance, even as he played. When Thea followed his gaze, she saw what it was.

Marilyn Moser stood at the edge of the drive, stiff and white-faced with anger.

Jake kept one eye on his mother as he followed the set list for the next dance. “And now the groom would like a dance with Ms. Jamie Lynn Campbell.”

There was a squeak and Jake watched the flower girl run toward the dance floor then slow to a sedate walk. There was laughter and applause as Daniel took her hands and Jake led the band into “Swinging on a Gate.” Daniel and Jamie began a lively dance of circles and spins and turns that would get faster and faster as the music sped up. At Mel’s prompting, people left their seats and crowded around the edges of the dance floor, clapping along with the music.

But Jake watched his mom, who scanned the crowd, probably looking for Grace and Thea. Hopefully, she wouldn’t storm onto the dance floor.

He knew now that she needed professional help before something disastrous happened, if it wasn’t already happening. He could head her off, but the bride’s song list required him to play the next few pieces. So he kept an eye on her, trying not to frown as he played, hoping his mother didn’t do something foolish.

Then he saw Thea.

She looked stunning in her dress. It draped off one shoulder and clung to every curve all the way past her hips before flaring to the ground. The color made her skin look like warm ivory and kindled her hair with copper. He’d been aware of her all evening—his body responding to her every move and gesture. Now he followed her as she worked her way through the crowd heading straight for his mother like an avenging goddess.

This was not good. But as he ended the song, he relaxed a bit when he saw Nick tailing her. He had to get back to the festivities.

“And now the bride and groom would like to do a special dance they’ve spent a lot of time practicing—and so have we!” He tried to sound cheerful as he watched Thea stop in front of his mom and his mom recoil a step. Dammit. He could have called for a short set break. He could have, but he hadn’t.

“Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff.” Jake waved at the dance floor. “First, they will dance in honor of their family and friends, then I’ll invite all of you to join in. Meanwhile, please form a circle around the dance floor and help them along by clapping.”

Mel ran out onto the dance floor shaking a tambourine decorated with sunflowers and ribbons. The crowd erupted in applause, laughter and cheers. Her parents were right up in front, her father beaming with surprise and delight. With that, Jake began to play the “Tarantella Napoletana”.

He had seen Daniel and Mel perform the complex dance before, so he kept his eyes fixed on Thea as she talked to his mom, with Bailey sitting at her feet and Nick lurking nearby. When the crowd broke into wild applause, he missed a few notes. He refocused on the dance floor—they had applauded Daniel going down on one knee as Mel danced around him. Quite a few others bounced in place, impatient to join in. Mel’s dad cried openly as his daughter performed to honor his heritage and hers.

“All right, now everyone join hands and circle to the left,” Jake said into the mike.

The group joined in and Jake looked back to where Thea stood with his mom, shocked to see her touch his mom’s shoulder, then walk with her to one of the tables. He had to lean back to see more as Thea seemed to introduce his mom to the people at the table, then point at the stage. She headed for the buffet as Nick strolled by the table and greeted everyone there.

“Okay folks, now circle to the right!” Jake said, watching as Daniel and Mel went through the steps again in the center of a tightening circle. The crowd was clearly enjoying this as many began copying the steps.

Thea returned to his mom with a plate of food and a steaming mug. She touched his mom’s shoulder, smiled at the others at the table, picked up Bailey and headed back to her own table. She looked a bit pale, but none the worse for wear. It seemed that his mom wasn’t going to ruin the celebration after all.

“Now head toward our bridal pair and lift your arms in the air,” he called out, and the circling crowd obeyed.

What on earth had she said to his mom with that had calmed her down so completely?

“Now back you go and make a bow, circle to the left after you kowtow,” he said loudly. The crowd was getting into the action. “I know this ain’t a square dance folks, but this here’s an Italian
mountain
wedding!” Daniel and Mel dissolved into laughter as they whirled around.

Thea stepped into the circle that surrounded her brother and sister-in-law and joined in the celebration, but he knew her well enough to know that smile was a little bit forced. The kind that hid some serious stress. Nick had returned to the family table and, from what Jake could tell, was engaged in a lively conversation with Grace. He would have given his eye teeth to hear what was being said.

“Now one more time to the middle again. Then grab your partner and join right in!” They finished the tarantella with a long flourish as the dancers formed into pairs around the bridal couple, dancing gaily. Jake led the band into the slightly slower rhythm of “Lord Inchiquin” and watched as Daniel waltzed his new wife right off the dance floor. Until Mel threw the bouquet and Daniel threw the garter, the bridal couple was off the hook for the evening. Jake was in control.

Great. He would have to keep one eye on his mom and the other on everything else. This was especially difficult considering that he kept looking at Thea, who had been whisked onto the floor by her brother.

Watching her laugh at something Daniel said, Jake stared at where Daniel’s hand rested on her back. He remembered his own fingers splayed against her, feeling the heat of her flesh against his hand, the slide of her mouth, the smear of lipstick she had left on his cheek. She wore glistening color on her lips again. It must be all the flute-playing, but what she had done with that mouth—

The Woodsman’s granddaughter.

That made her practically a cousin.

“
A kissing cousin, from what I can see.
”

Becca’s best friend.

But she wasn’t a teenager any more, and neither was he.

He pulled his gaze away from Thea and found his mom again, sitting at that table full of strangers, to her anyway, eating and…laughing? Was she laughing?

What had Thea said to his mom? He looked back at the dance floor. With the lights gleaming off her copper hair, she was easy to find.

A long time ago he had thought of her as a skinny, frizzy-haired pest of the worst sort. But in that dress it was clear she wasn’t a matchstick any longer. He remembered another dance, long ago, when he had been tempted to whirl her onto the dance floor, but held back because—

“Jake?” his guitar player prompted.

Damn. The song had ended and he was just standing there staring at Thea.

“We’ll keep this pace for a bit to let you folks catch your breath,” he said quickly, “but don’t be fooled. Things are going to speed up later.”

They launched into another waltz. Now Daniel was dancing with someone Jake didn’t recognize and Thea was watching the other dancers. Her turn around the floor seemed to have undone any damage her encounter with his mother had caused. In the glimmer of the lanterns and tiny fairy lights, her face was glowing. In fact, with that sexy dress setting off her skin and her hair so perfectly,
she
was glowing.

Damn, he wished he could juggle the playlist. He wouldn’t let her stand there looking like that. He imagined what it would feel like to pull her into his arms and onto the dance floor, her hand in his, his hand pressed against that slender back.

He watched her close her eyes and smile as she swayed with the music. The entire hollow seemed to pulse with magic tonight. He could feel it coursing through him, energizing his music.

Thea lifted her hands into the air and swayed in place, as if she could feel it too—as if she were dancing with an invisible partner. He could almost feel her warm skin beneath his fingers, her hand in his, her heart beating in time with the music.

Jake wanted to smell her hair again—the scent had tormented him all night after they had kissed. He had dreamed about that hair, only it had been much longer in his dream—copper silk twining around his fingers, twining around him.

A breeze played with Thea’s short strands as she danced on the edge of the dance floor. He could feel her against him now—her arms around his neck as they glided around the floor, her breasts pressed against him, her lips only inches away as her face turned up to his, her hair caressing his face. As he watched her dance alone, her hair floating in the air, he thought he had never seen anything—anyone—so breathtaking in his life.

And then he realized her feet weren’t on the ground.

Shit.

Thea looked down in surprise.

For a second, she hung there, between the mountain and the stars. Only inches off the ground, but it was enough. Her eyes rose to his for the briefest moment, right before she fell.

Jake stopped playing, but the band kept going as he jumped off the stage, almost falling when his knees threatened to buckle. His muscles were protesting the effort expended lifting Thea into the air and he hadn’t even known he’d been doing it.

Some of those on the dance floor had seen her fall and gathered around her, but most, oblivious, kept dancing. He had to dodge his way through the crowd until the band decided not to continue without him and the tune squawked to a halt.