The Bob-Whites, home from college, were busily decorating the Wheelers' "party" room for their costume party later that evening. The boys had just finished draping the walls with deep purple cloth, and the girls were now hanging black feather boas from every conceivable location.
There were two tables set up. The one table for the food and punch was long, while the smaller table held Honey's stereo and an impressive collection of CD's to be played. Both were draped with black tablecloths, but in addition to the tablecloth, the music table had purple feather boas.
"I can't wait to see the look on your uncle's face when he figures out who his date is," Amber said, grinning.
Dan laughed out right. "Someone better have a camera ready to snap a picture of his expression."
"No worries, Dan!" Trixie called out, holding up her brand new digital camera. She silently thanked Jim one more time for getting her the beloved camera for Christmas.
Brian made a big fuss of rolling his eyes and shaking his head in dismay. He would have fooled everyone, if it hadn't been for the twinkle in his eyes. Mart laughed at Brian's feigned reaction as Jim playfully shoved him out of his way.
Diana laughed at the look on her boyfriend's face as he tried to get a little sympathy. The group of friends continued to carry on as they put the snacks and drinks out on the table until it was time to don their costumes.
The girls all scurried to Honey's room to change. Giggles accompanied them through the house and up the stairs. Honey closed her bedroom door and leaned against it with a sigh.
Di hurried to get into her flowing white dress, transforming her the image of Aphrodite. A gold headband, a gold armband, and gold sandals completed her costume.
As Honey put on her super short skirt and cleavage-revealing top, she shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe that you talked me into being a naughty nurse." The other girls laughed.
"Yes, you can, and you love it!" Amber teased as Honey slipped into her ridiculously tall stilettos with easy grace.
"I can't believe you'll be able to walk in those stilts without breaking your neck," Trixie commented enviously, as she watched her best friend walk around the room.
Trixie, all the while, was donning her old-time suit that she had found at a thrift store. She pulled a pipe and a magnifying glass out of her deerstalker's hat, placed the hat on her head and the pipe in her mouth, and she was ready to go.
Amber dressed in a long, black velvet dress, which had a slit to mid-thigh in the front. The sleeves were long and belled out at the ends; there was even a hood on the dress she could pull up over her head when she wanted to appear mysterious.
*****
Jim was about to follow the guys up stairs to his room to change into his costume when the doorbell rang. He glanced at the clock as he walked to the front door.
"I'm not too early, am I?" was the greeting he received from Adelle when he opened the door.
"You're just in time. The girls are upstairs changing. I'll show you to Honey's room so you can get your costume," Jim said, grinning. He quickly escorted her to Honey's room and continued on to his own room.
*****
Adelle took a moment to admire the girls' costumes. They all looked so nice, and somehow, she could tell that their costumes fit their personalities. She clapped her hands and rubbed them together.
"So, where's my costume?" Adelle wasn't sure if she liked the look in Honey's eyes as she pulled something out of her closet. She caught a quick glimpse of her costume and was pleased by all the bright colors.
Honey laid the costume on the bed and carefully sat down beside it to get the full effect of Adelle's reaction. The look on Adelle's face slowly changed from glee to confusion, to that of shock.
Adelle opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. She stood there playing "fish" for a couple seconds before she managed to make her mouth work with her brain.
"I can't wear that." She shook her head furiously. She loved the bright colors of the scarves that created the gypsy costume's skirt, but when she caught a look at the top, she wasn't so sure. It was nothing but a bra with silver sequins sewn onto it. It wasn't until then that she noticed the headpiece of scarf that would undoubtedly cover the lower half of her face and the belt-if you could call it that- of silver discs that would jangle when she walked.
"Of course you can wear that, and you will wear that," Amber said with confidence as Adelle looked at the costume, again, hesitantly.
"I don't know," Adelle said very quietly. She slowly looked around at the others in the room and came to the realization that there was no way she would get out of wearing that costume. "Fine." She changed into her 'barely there' costume as quickly as she could, just to get it over with.
"See, that's not so bad, is it?" Diana smiled.
"Easy for you to say," Adelle laughed. "All of you have the figure to make something like this work. Not me, man."
"It looks great, Adelle," Honey assured her as she handed her the sandals she was to wear.
"Thank you… I think." Again, Adelle laughed.
*****
By the time Jim got to his room to change with the rest of the guys, Dan was already dressed and had his shoulder propped up against the wall. Jim would never have thought of saying it aloud, but Dan played the role of the mobster really well.
Dan wore a black pin striped suit with a white shirt, a black vest, a fat black tie, and a red silk hanky in his front jacket pocket. A glint of light shone off the chain to the pocket watch that he wore. Dan had every single detail down; he even wore spats over his black shoes and a black fedora, tipped just so, over his eyes.
Brian was just finishing pulling his sneakers back on after changing into his scrubs and lab coat. His costume was complete with the addition of a stethoscope.
Mart's costume was equally simple. He was dressed in a white bed sheet fashioned into a toga. His words were, "So I can worship my goddess, Aphrodite."
Jim hurriedly changed into the old suit that he considered moth bait. He found his monocle on his dresser top and was ready. Well, he was mostly ready.
"Does anyone know how to tie a bow tie?" Jim laughed.
*****
Regan considered himself a very lucky man that he was able to find a decent costume after the mishap in that first costume shop.
He checked the mirror one last time to make sure that everything was right and headed for the door. His costume looked remarkably like that of the Dread Pirate Roberts in the movie Princess Bride. Actually, it looked just like it, but he decided that rather than going as a pirate, he would use this costume and call himself a rogue.
Regan met up with Tom and Celia on their way to the party as well. Regan recognized one of his costume-rejects on Tom. He was going as the Sheriff. Regan did a double take at Celia because she had decided to go as a very pregnant Lady Godiva. Of course, she had the long blond wig and the nude colored body suit, but it really looked the color of her flesh. They had arrived at the door by the time Regan finished blushing.
Once inside, Celia headed straight for the punch bowl, claiming she was parched.
Tom and Regan stood by the open French doors leading to the patio. They engaged in a pleasant conversation, the kind that friends and coworkers often have. Tom turned to watch the Bob-Whites come into the room, while Regan was still looking out at the gardens.
Tom, who had been in the middle of a sentence, suddenly fell quiet. Regan turned to see what made Tom stop and freeze. A woman was trying to walk through the door without being noticed. In her bright gypsy costume and bare midriff, she was hard to miss.
*****
Adelle tried to sneak her way into a corner where she could hide, or at least be less noticeable. She had decided to take the first opportunity to find Jim and tell him it had been fun but she was leaving.
"You're being ridiculous," Adelle chided herself under her breath. "It's not like anyone is staring at you."
Then she noticed Tom and Regan looking her way and talking. A deep blush burned its way from her face, all the way to the roots of her hair. She took a deep breath, thankful that at least she had the veil to cover half her face. Self-consciously she crossed her arms across her stomach.
*****
Tom nudged Regan lightly. Regan reluctantly looked over his shoulder at Tom.
"Go ask her to dance," Tom said nodding in the gypsy's direction. Regan looked at her, and glanced back at Tom. Regan resisted the urge to run his hand through his hair (though only because his hair was covered) and headed over to ask the mystery lady to dance.
On his way, Regan tried to think of something charming to say to her. He ran through different ways of asking her to dance, not quite finding the right words. He wasn't even close to finding what he wanted to say before he was at her side. He hesitated only a second.
"Would you like to dance?" he asked, holding out his arm.
"I, uh…" she was obviously taken off guard by his presence. "Yes, I would love to dance."
Regan escorted her through the Bob-Whites, coupled and dancing, to a private place on the dance floor. The song was slow and Regan pulled her into his arms and rested his cheek on the top of her head.
*****
Dan held Amber close to him and swayed to the music. He let out a happy sigh that was echoed by Amber. Dan whispered something in her ear. They both looked around and snuck out onto the patio.
Dan pulled her to sit on the swing beside him and continued to hold her hand. They sat in a comfortable silence while Dan thought about what he wanted to say.
Amber squeezed his hand and rested her head on his shoulder. Dan took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh.
"I know that we technically haven't been on a date," Dan smiled as he remembered all the late night study dates in the deserted library. "But I enjoy every second we spend together. I would be the happiest man on Earth if you would even consider going out with me exclusively."
Rather than answer, Amber threw her arms around Dan's neck and kissed him soundly on the mouth.
*****
Jim sidled up to Regan when he noticed that Adelle had escaped to freshen up. With a big grin, Jim gently elbowed Regan.
"Good to see that you and Adelle are getting along," Jim couldn't stop grinning.
Regan looked closely at Jim, a confused look on his face.
"Come again?" Regan asked.
"We invited Adelle to the party to be your date," Jim said with a casual shrug.
"Excuse me?" Regan couldn't decide if he needed to be furious, or just scold them. "You did what?"
Jim immediately realized he had said the wrong thing. He frantically tried to back peddle and explain himself.
"Well, I mean… Regan, we didn't want you to just stand around not having any fun. We all thought you would like to have someone to dance with." Jim stopped, realizing that he was just trying to put both feet in his mouth at once.
"Contrary to popular belief, I can get my own date," Regan stared Jim down. Rather than show his temper and ruin everyone else's good time, Regan spun on his heel and walked out the French doors.
Half way to the stables, Regan started to pace back and forth, trying to calm himself down.
*****
Adelle returned to the party room and couldn't find Regan at all. She walked over to Jim, who was looking rather sheepish, then over to where Regan had been standing.
"Jim, where did Regan go?"
"He, uh… He stormed out a couple minutes ago. I'm afraid I kind of riled him up. He's not too happy with the Bob-Whites right now," Jim blushed.
"Oh," Adelle sympathized with a grimace. "I guess I'll go find him. I should probably be going anyway. I had so much fun, Jim. Thank you for inviting me."
"I would say 'Anytime' but I think I'll leave the inviting up to Regan from now on," Jim grinned sheepishly. Adelle chuckled as she went in search of Regan.
*****
Regan was leaning on the side of the stables, gazing up at the stars, still trying to calm down. He had had such a good evening; he really didn't want it to end on a sour note. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his arm.
Adelle looked up into his green eyes and smiled slightly. She gave his arm a squeeze and let her hand drop to her side.
"It sure is pretty out here," she said softly, looking up at the black night sky studded with stars.
"Hmm, I was just thinking the same thing," Regan replied.
"Regan," Adelle put her hand on his arm again and looked into his eyes. "I had a really nice time tonight. I enjoyed dancing with you. I'm glad that Jim thought to invite me."
Regan scowled and started to say something in an annoyed voice, but he looked into Adelle's face-that was now uncovered-but couldn't, so he changed the direction of his thoughts.
"I'm glad you were here, too. I just wish they had left it up to me to invite you," Regan sighed.
"There's always next time," she said with a glint in her eye. Regan chuckled and Adelle quickly joined him. She gently nudged him with her elbow.
"I really ought to be going. Walk me to my truck?"
"It would be my pleasure," Regan smiled down at her and offered his arm. Adelle slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow as they walked to the drive. Regan moved his arm and put it around Adelle to keep the slight chill of the evening at bay.
They reached her truck all too soon, for neither wanted to end the evening. Not wanting to press his luck, Regan gently ran a knuckle down the bridge of Adelle's nose and softly tapped the tip before moving to help her into her truck.
Adelle stood on tiptoe to place a kiss on Regan's cheek. Seeing his opening, he leaned to return the kiss. Adelle chose then to turn to look as his face. Rather than kissing her cheek, his lips gently brushed hers. Regan slowly pulled back, a small grin on his lips. Adelle smiled then bit her lip.
"Thank you. Good night, Regan," she said so softly that he had to lean closer to her to hear. She climbed into her truck and started on her way, waving back at her Rogue.
Author's notes:
I would like to take this time to thank my wonderful editors, April W, Patte, Trish, Brendini, and Amber. I would also like to thank Amber for persuading me to get to work. She did a great job helping me right along! She doesn't threaten with guns, like many may say, she uses whips more often than not ;-)
Dread Pirate Roberts is one of my favorite characters from The Princess Bride, so I just had to add that in there.
Disclaimer These characters, with the exception of Uncle Andy and Adelle, are property of Random House Publishing. I am making no money from them, I only write because I love them.