Saturday July 11, 2015
Rodeo week was July 4-12. Rodeo performances were the 8-11th. Some of the Rodeo circuit riders were on to the next Rodeo but others stayed to party after the last day of performances. There were closing events scheduled between 8:00 and 5:00 the next day.
Henry had a banner he put up for every rodeo that read:
The Red Pony Bar
And Continual Soirée
Welcomes you and thanks you for celebrating the Rodeo with us!
We strictly observe a 2AM closing
LAST CALL: 1:30AM No Exceptions.
Henry and Cady had been, as Walt was prone to say, in cahoots. They had teamed up to set up Walt and Vic. Henry stacked the jukebox with specially selected songs that were mostly selected by Cady.
It was getting close to closing time, the last weekend of the Rodeo. Henry made an announcement at one-thirty, "Thank you again everyone. It has been a wonderful rodeo season here in Durant. I wanted to let you all know it is last call and we will be closing in exactly thirty minutes. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your time at the Red Pony." He nodded to his server who turned the jukebox back on.
Vic was on the far side of the room, she got up to dance with a bronc rider and Walt slipped off his stool and headed to the men's room. Henry followed him, but not before making eye contact with Cady and exchanging a pointed look.
He stepped in the men's room and found Walt washing his hands and splashing water on his face. "What are you doing, Walt?"
Walt looked at Henry questioningly, "Washing up?"
Henry just stared at him.
"What?!"
"I did not mean the washing. I meant the running away."
He was truly perplexed, "I'm not running from anything."
"Yes you are. Vic got up to dance for the first time all evening and you ran to the men's room to 'wash up'."
"I didn't run. I needed to wash my hands after eating the ribs."
"And your face?"
"I felt a little warm and thought splashing water on my face would help. What's wrong with you Henry?"
"There is nothing wrong with me except that I do not like it when you lie to me."
"Who's lying?"
"You are."
"About what?"
"About running away from Vic."
"What?! I'm not running from anything I told you…"
"Yes, I know what you told me about the ribs and being hot. That does not explain why you have hardly acknowledged Vic's presence all evening and the moment she finally gets up to dance you leave the room."
Walt gave him his best 'impatient' look, "Is there a question in there somewhere?"
"Yes. Why are you afraid of Vic?"
"I'm not afraid of Vic."
'I think you are."
"Well you're wrong." Walt turned to leave, but Henry did not move. "If you'll excuse me."
Henry narrowed his gaze on Walt, "Only if you promise to prove to me that you are not afraid of Vic."
"And how do you propose I do that?" Walt's patience was truly wearing thin. He was ready to agree to almost anything to get Henry off his back. It had been a long day, as the last full day of the Rodeo usually was, and it was quickly becoming a long evening to boot.
"Dance with her."
"What?! No!"
"That is because you are afraid of her."
"No. That's because I should not be dancing in a bar with my deputy."
"You are both off duty and out of uniform. What is the problem?"
"Nothing!"
"Then you will dance with her."
"No, I will not dance with her."
"Because you are afraid of her."
"Damnit Henry I am not affra…"
"Then dance one dance with Vic and prove you are not afraid."
"Fine!" Walt started to push past him but Henry leaned against the door, "You will wait until I signal you?"
"What the hell are you up to?"
Henry stared at him impassively, "You will wait?"
Walt heaved a heavy sigh, "Yes, Henry I will wait. Then I'll dance one dance with Vic, and then I. Am. Going. Home."
"That will be fine." Henry stepped aside and added graciously, "After you."
Walt gave him a look but hustled out the door before Henry could change his mind or put more conditions on him.
As they reached the bar Walt saw Vic and a bronc rider, he recognized from the rodeo events, in their last couple of steps. He watched them until the younger man walked her back to her table at the conclusion of the song. Henry exchanged another glance with Cady and she held up one finger, Henry nodded and continued to follow Walt.
The next song started as Walt returned to his bar stool, he turned to Henry, "Do I have time for another beer?"
Henry nodded, "If it is a quick one."
"Make it a shot."
Henry walked around the bar and poured Walt a shot of whiskey. Handing it to his friend he muttered, "False courage."
Walt took the shot glass, looked at it, up at Henry, and then he slowly and deliberately set the drink down on the bar between them.
Henry's mouth tightened into a thin lined smile.
Walt stared at him and said, "Shut up." This made Henry turn away from him to keep from laughing in his face.
Cady breezed passed and smiled, "Having a good time dad?"
Walt rolled his eyes toward her, "Yeah, just great." Then he leveled a accusing stared at Henry who had turned back to face him.
Walt's gaze fell to the bar top when he realized Cady hadn't paused to wait for an answer and it was just as well because to lie to her was one thing but having to back it up would have been torture. Walt was vaguely aware of the jukebox ending a song and an unusually long silence before the next song started. Henry cleared his throat, Walt looked up at him and Henry tilted his head toward Vic. Without a hesitation Walt got up and headed toward Vic's table; a man on a mission.
Half way to Vic's table he realized he knew the song that was playing and shot Henry a look over his shoulder. Henry shrugged an unconvincing 'I am innocent' type of shrug; an act that fueled Walt and propelled him toward Vic's table even faster. He reached her table just as the lyrics of Dr. Hook's Sharing the Night Together began. Walt slowly lowered his hand in front of her, silently inviting her to dance with him. Vic didn't jump to her feet but he didn't notice any hesitation on her part either.
The next thing Walt knew he had his arms around Vic's waist, her arms were around his neck and he was leading her in small circles onto the middle of the dance floor. Their bodies did not touch while they maneuvered to their spot on the dance floor. But once Walt had settled on an area he liked, Vic slowly began to close the distance between them and he let her. One dance then he would go home just like he told Henry. However having Vic in his arms, made him rethink killing Henry for pushing him into to dancing with her. It also made him rethink going home after only one dance with her.
The song came to an end and Walt felt Vic move away so he relaxed his hold on her; not completely letting go but allowing her to leave his embrace if she wanted to. He had enjoyed having her in his arms but was not going to insist on another dance.
Walt tried to prepare himself to walk Vic back to her table but the next song started and suddenly Vic was bopping and swinging around. Walt tried not to panic; it was worse than having to walk Vic back to her table and think of something to say that she wouldn't deem 'lame'. It was a fast song and Vic was dancing fast. All he could do was let her have the hand she had just grabbed hold of and stand there and watch her. She swung out and back, wound herself up in his arm and out again, shimmied around, spun away from him fully extending each of their joint arms, twisted low to the floor and back up; using the hand she held for leverage. Walt began to piece the moves together in his head and tried to anticipate where he could help Vic balance or stand up; although he wouldn't categorize any of his movements as dancing he did think he was catching on and getting the hang of learning to follow Vic's lead as she danced.
When Henry realized the song was the fast, up-tempo Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Michael Bublé he shot Cady a look very near panic. Cady smiled and shrugged at him in an 'Oops, sorry' sort of way. They had agreed on 'Love songs' or those with intimate special meaning; but Henry suddenly realized he had not specified that Cady select only slower songs. He knew all too well that Walt had a tendency to look like he was priming a water pump and hot stepping in an almost retreating fashion when he attempted to dance to anything beyond a slow dance. It was one of the reasons he had chosen Dr. Hook's Sharing the Night Together as the first song for Walt and Vic to dance to. The other reason was his intimate knowledge of Walt's teenaged belief that 'it was the most perfect song for winning a girl over'. How much actual success Walt had ever had with the song was unknown to Henry; however, he was very aware of all the times the song had come up in conversation between him and Walt, and how it always garnered some sort of a reaction from his friend. As far as Henry was concerned tonight was the night Walt needed to react.
The faster song came to an end; Vic wound herself up in Walt's arm once again and came to rest against his chest. Firefall's You are the Woman started almost immediately. He wrapped his other arm around Vic's waist as soon as he realized she wanted to continue dancing with him. Walt was more than willing to accommodate her wish. His mind drifted back and he thought about seeing his parents dance to this song; his mother always laughed about how playing this song was a sure fire way to get his father to dance with her. His dad had said that was because it said what he wanted to say to her every chance he got. Walt understood his dad's thinking all too clearly at the moment because the lyrics spoke directly to his feelings about Vic. He held her closer and swayed with her, his heart beating in his ears, her breath on his neck, his mind in the song, and his body savoring every sensation of her contact. Without realizing it he began to hum along with the lyric. He felt Vic's hand drift from around his neck to the side, down near his ear and he thought he heard her whisper, "That's nice." But he wasn't sure and as he started to think what she might be referring to he heard her say, "Don't stop."
He knew then she had spoken, "Don't stop what?"
She nuzzled his neck and murmured, "You were humming. It's nice. Please don't stop."
Walt realized he had indeed been humming, just like his dad used to do when he danced to this song with his mom. As a young man he thought it was a goofy thing to do; but right now he couldn't think of anything better. Walt lowered his face to the curve of Vic's neck and resumed humming along with the song, idly wondering if she had been listening to the lyrics.
When the song ended Walt continued to hum the melody until the next song began. He didn't recognize it, but figured Henry had obviously had a hand in selecting the songs so he listened to the lyric as he and Vic continued to move around the dance floor. They were wrapped in each other's arms, enveloped in each other's scent, and buried in each other's neck and hair.
The strains of Dance with Me by Johnny Reid filled the room and Walt was vaguely aware of their being less extraneous noise. He had the sensation that the world was fading away leaving him alone with Vic and the music.
Walt wondered who was leading this dance and after a moment he realized neither was leading they were simply in perfect sync with each other. They danced so slowly, their swaying almost imperceptible in the halting circle they made.
For a moment Walt thought Vic may have fallen asleep, until he felt her fingers moving in the hair at the base of his neck. Not wanting to break contact with her he shifted his head just enough that when he opened his eyes he would see the bar and not Vic's hair. As his eyes adjusted to the dimness Walt slid his gaze right and left a couple of times, there was no one in sight; the recognition of that fact caused him to jerk his head up and his back straightened out of habit and instinct. Vic stiffened slightly and looked up at him, his shocked expression put her on alert too, "What is it?"
Henry had quietly ushered everyone else out of the bar. He left a note and a key on the bar along with a note and a stack of quarters from Cady.
Songs are presented for reference only:
"Sharing The Night Together" – Dr. Hook
You're looking kinda lonely girl
Would you like someone new to talk to
Ah yeah, alright
I'm feeling kinda lonely too
If you don't mind can I sit down here beside you
Ah yeah, alright
If I seem to come on too strong
I hope that you will understand
I say these things 'cause I'd like to know
If you're as lonely as I am
And if you mind
Sharing the night together
Oh yeah, sharing the night together
Oh yeah, sharing the night
We could bring in the morning girl
If you want to go that far
And if tomorrow finds us together
Right here the way we are would you mind
Sharing the night together
Oh yeah, sharing the night together
Oh yeah, sharing the night
Would you like to dance with me and hold me
You know I wanna be holding you
Ah, yeah, alright
'Cause I like feeling like I do
And I see in your eyes that you're liking it, I'm liking it too
Ah yeah, alright
Like to get to know you better
Is there a place where we can go
Where we can be alone together
And turn the lights down low
And start...
Sharing the night together
Oh yeah, sharing the night together
Oh yeah, sharing the night together
Sharing the night together
Sharing the night together...
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" – Michael Bublé
This thing called love I just can't handle it
This thing called love I must get round to it
I ain't ready
Crazy little thing called love
This thing (this thing)
Called love (called love)
It cries (like a baby)
In a cradle all night
It swings (woo woo)
It jives (woo woo)
It shakes all over like a jelly fish
I kinda like it
Crazy little thing called love
There goes my baby
She knows how to rock 'n' roll
She drives me crazy
She gives me hot and cold fever
Then she leaves me in a cool cool sweat
I gotta be cool, relax, get hip
And get on my track's
Take a back seat, hitch-hike
And take a long ride on my motorbike
Until I'm ready
Crazy little thing called love
I gotta be cool, relax, get hip
And get on my track's
Take a back seat (ah hum), hitch-hike (ah hum)
And take a long ride on my motorbike
Until I'm ready (ready Freddie)
Crazy little thing called love
This thing called love I just can't handle it
This thing called love I must get round to it
I ain't ready
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
Crazy little thing called love
"You are the Woman" – Firefall
You are the woman that I've always dreamed of
I knew it from the start
I saw your face and that's the
Last I've seen of my heart
It's not so much the things you say to me
It's not the things you do
It's how I feel each time you're close to me
That keeps me close to you, whoa oh
It's not so much your pretty face I see
It's not the clothes you wear
It's more that special way you look at me
That always keeps me there, whoa oh whoa
It's not so much your pretty face I see
It's not the clothes you wear
It's more that special way you look at me
That always keeps me there, woh oh woh
It's hard to tell you all the love I'm feelin'
That's just not my style
You got a way of send my senses rellin'
Every time you smile, whoa
It's not so much your pretty face I see
It's not the clothes you wear
It's more that special way you look at me
That always keeps me there, woh oh woh
I saw your face and that's the
Last I've seen of my heart
Of my heart
Oh oh of my heart
"Dance with Me" – Johnny Reid
I can see it in your eyes you've had a long day
Let's lock the doors and pull down the shades
Turn some music on, pour a glass of sweet red wine
Let the candles burn, put your hand in mine
Dance with me
Don't say a word just dance with me
Let the world outside disappear
Baby, what we got here is all we need
Dance with me
I kiss you goodbye in the early morning light
Sometimes I don't get home 'til it's cold and dark outside
But baby, here we are, we're together all alone
We finally found a moment we can call our own
Dance with me
Don't say a word just dance with me
Let the world outside disappear
Baby, what we got here is all we need
Dance with me
Just close your eyes and dance with me
Hold on tight, let's take it slow
No, don't let go, dance with me