"I'd love to be Tristram's dance partner."Tristram smiled and took hold of my hand. We walked over to where theother couples were already standing, an... Tristram put his arm around mywaist. It felt very strange being touched by a boy this way.After the rest of the girls had been paired up, Mrs Wilsthorpe taught ushow to dance the waltz. I had to put my left hand on Tristram's rightshoulder, and he held my right hand in his left. Mrs Wilsthorpe got usall to stand in a big circle, and then showed. She was hoping for a little morning action from Via, but that clearly wasn’t going to happen.As she stumbled down the stairs, Annie realized that she was the only one home. Her parents would have already left for church, but Alex was also missing. “I wonder if that big chicken made a move on him,” she said out loud while making a cup of coffee.With dampness between her legs and no Via to play with, Annie decided to see what her boyfriend, Liam, was up to today.Hey, big, handsome love of mine,. Beside him, the elder boy was following his lead and whittling at a piece of wood. The second son showed some promise too, something she was grateful for, she felt that the first child was not destined to be a carpenter. She tried to repress the entirely sensible but seemingly selfish fear that when her husband died there might be no-one to take on the business and they would starve. Hopefully James would have learnt enough by then. “James, be careful with that knife”James laughed and pretended. He even said he would try to come back for the state playoffs, if our team made it downstate.I borrowed my mom's car, telling my family that we wanted to meet up with the gang down at Mike's Pizza. Kayla and I hopped in the front seat, but I knew Mike's wasn't my preferred destination, and I was hoping it wasn't Kayla's, either. When I turned onto the highway away from the pizza restaurant, she gave me a grin and sidled up close to me, her arms around mine.It was cold out, even for late.