Gemma Monterrey blushed at the conviction of the Southerner's words and held her breath instinctively. Her eyes darted everywhere except to her interlocutor. She thought about the best way to excuse herself but no words or excuses came to her.
"Might I interest you in a glass of champagne, Mrs Monterrey?" the gambler asked before she could form a thought.
"Don't mind if I do," she accepted as if grasping for dear life.
"You did pay for it," Ezra added wryly as he stood up.
Gemma smiled and dared to look towards him. He was coming back with two glasses and a bottle that was concealed from prying eyes by the waves of Gemma's dress. He leant on the bannister too now and Gemma wondered if he knew why she herself wasn't sitting. Probably, she thought. There wasn't much that this Southern gentlemen didn't know about ladies and their habits.
"Mother took me to a soiree such as this when I was a young boy. She knew there was a girl I liked and spent an afternoon educating me on the socially appropriate ways of showing my affections. Miss Miller was a dashing spring flower whose presence always made me tongue-tied."
"You, Mr Standish!" Gemma couldn't imagine Ezra ever at a loss for words.
"Me, Mrs Monterrey," he confirmed gravely.
Gemma was keen on hearing the rest of the story, although every time he called her Mrs Monterrey she wasn't sure whether to feel complimented or insulted.
"So, I convinced Miss Miller to give me every dance in her book that she wasn't saving for her father or her brothers."
"However," Gemma sensed a twist.
The pair exchanged knowing glances. Gemma could have said his next words with him.
"Mother," Ezra confirmed.
"Miss Miller asked me for a short respite after the Viennese waltz and feigned to feel faint."
"She wanted to kiss you!" Gemma exclaimed eagerly.
"Indeed. But it took me many years before I learned that women sometimes attracted affection in that manner. At the time I thought of myself the bravest man this side of the frontier going boldly towards the unknown if you forgive my language."
"My heart was pounding in my throat and I'm sure I hadn't inhaled for minutes. My lips had just touched Miss Miller's," he paused. "When my mother called my name."
Gemma laughed heartily.
"She was passing by in a carriage and called for me to hop in. You see, while she entertained, she also took it upon herself to alleviate her dance epartners of their purses so a quick getaway was necessary."
"Unsurprising when your mother's involved."
"I learned that lesson quickly following the incident," he finished.
"To first kisses," Gemma raised her glass. The couple's eyes met over the rims and Gemma wondered is Ezra was thinking about their first kiss. She wasn't. She was thinking about the likelihood of their next kiss.
"What about you, Mrs Monterrey," he interrupted her thoughts on time. "I don't believe you've ever told me about your first kiss."
Gemma drank with pleasure and turned her eyes back at the dancers. The Southerner let her contemplate on her past. A familiar ease spread between them during his story and he was in no hurry to renew any hostility. The ex con man took in the whole scene and found some peace in the fact that Gemma Monterrey seemed to have finally placed herself in the good books with the hamlet that they both considered home.
He himself understood the insecurities that followed the process. It was a long time now that he had reached that point with the rest of the six lawmen. That odd, scary leap of faith that you are among friends and that they would not abandon you. A feeling he had never experienced with his mother although he was finally coming to terms with the fact that she would always come back to him and he found comfort in that.
Now he tried not to dwell on the hurt that Gemma's abrupt departure had caused him. It was too similar to all the childhood trauma that he'd been through. Everything running smoothly one minute only for his world to be turned upside down the next. Soothed by the layered intake of his flask stash and the party champagne, her renewed presence was more than enough.
Gemma spoke at last: "If I couldn't win a race or a game, I'd kiss boys on the cheek or neck to embarrass them," she started.
"You do learn young," Ezra teased.
"But I suppose my first real kiss… It would have to be..." she looked in Ezra's direction unsure whether to share the whole truth. Then she got a playful glint in her eye and Ezra knew she would share all.
"You mustn't repeat these words to a living soul," she said, eyes intense.
Ezra sat up giddy to be included in what promised to be juicy gossip. His mind calculated incessantly.
"Not..." he thought of Chris Larabee first, but that didn't fit. "Mr Wilmington," he whispered in awe.
"Shhhhh!" Gemma exaggerated and they both burst into raucous laughter.
Ezra offered his flask.
"Pray, go on. With courage."
Gemma drew a sip from a nearly empty container and the gambler drained it completely. They got closer to each other like spy collaborators and Gemma shared a memory she rarely accessed herself.
"Buck caught me alone with a boy that everyone knew I was caught up on. He tried to be helpful and teach me some responsibility."
"Mister Wilmington?"
"Yes, Mr Willmington."
"I'm not surprised it ended in failure. Mr Wilmington and responsibility hardly mix."
"Indeed," Gemma confirmed.
"Well, he'd threatened to tell Chris and Chris would have certainly told my sister. And she... She would have caned me for sure. As she rightly should have."
The conspirators nodded gravely before laughing.
"Like I said, I'd become an expert in shaming young men and decided to use my secret weapon on Buck."
"He can't have been so easily shamed."
"Right you are. But he could have been so easily manipulated. You see, I managed to let out a tear or two and explained to him how naive and inexperienced I was and as such an easy prey. I gave him a squeeze of the arm, a deep sigh..."
"And Mr Wilmington didn't stand a chance."
"Not by a long shot. And then I asked him to show me how to kiss. To know what to avoid, of course."
Ezra nearly choked on his drink when he laughed. All the buried affection that had once been shared between them was resurfacing like budding flowers in spring. It was treacherous ground, but he walked in without looking back.
He raised his glass of champagne.
"To your unmatched ingenuity."
Gemma shook her head like even she couldn't believe she'd pulled it off.
"Would you do me the honour?" Ezra asked after he stood up. He wore a red jacket but a richer fabric than was his usual. The cut was also different although they were similar in design. The darkness of the red gave him a more elegant look, if that was even possible with the dapper gambler.
"My dancing is no match to such mastery, but I'll do my best to honour it."
Gemma didn't need to be convinced. She readily placed her hand in his and followed her flame to the dancefloor. They had come on at the Virginia reel and danced two more group dances until the players slowed down the tempo for an English waltz.
Gemma couldn't tell for sure if Ezra had hesitated because he pulled her firmly eventually and led her in twists and circles like she was a feather. The gambler slowly led them to the edge of the floor where in the darkened spot he moved his face to the place where Gemma's hair met her neck ad grazed his cheek softly on her ear. Gemma missed a step instantly which the Southerner must have predicted as he balanced her back as if nothing had happened. Gemma was awfully dizzy. She turned her gaze at the gambler and in the moment their eyes met all was understood. They stopped moving. Gemma was about to speak, but an answer presented itself.
"Buck," a familiarly irritated town sheriff shouted over the proceedings.
"I was just trying to make sure you know what you're doing."
A guttural sound was all that the young man could produce before spotting that his date was running off in shame.
"Casey, wait!"
A murmur turned into a loud chatter and laughter as nearly everyone at the party watched the unravelling entertainment before them. All but two souls. The ex con man also saw his cue and let the warmth of the evening, the company and the memories mix with alcohol. He gave his arm and Gemma took it immediately.
