Willow in the Woods: Guarding the Willow

Chapter 28

Willow

The next bar was going to give Drew and Willow the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Much like the list, it was going to progressively get worse as the night went on. Willow was confident she had not had enough to drink, yet, to make it all the way through.

There was a little less smoke in this bar and no sports game playing over a television hanging on a wall. Country music was streaming over the speakers with the twang of a guitar, and the atmosphere was a lot more to Willow's liking. There was laughter and a good energy without being over encumbering, as people sat at tables taking a break or were out on the big square wooden floor dancing away to a lighthearted tune.

Once again Drew put his gentle hand to her back to escort her to a table. Once they had found an empty spot Willow turned to Drew and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm good."

"Alright then. I'll go grab us a beer. Would you like one?" He asked her.

Willow nodded and took a seat as she watched intimidatedly at the complex steps the dancers were using out on the floor.

Willow had reluctantly learned how to dance a little, on the insistence of her mother before she turned 16 and began going to events with them. Most of those dances and been along the lines of a waltz, a slow dance, and even a little swing.

Willow actually enjoyed learning to swing dance. She wasn't a fan of the others, but swing dancing felt more freeing and exciting to her. She was actually getting pretty good too, until her mother had found out and decided that she had learned enough and there wasn't going to be much call for swing dancing at the Benefits they attended. It never stopped her around the Holidays, though. To Willow's great surprise, and as a gift on another lonely Christmas, Willow found that Max was an excellent swing dancer. As stiff as he was as a butler, Willow would never have guessed in a million years that that man could cut a rug. It happened to have been one of the best Christmases Willow had ever had. A little Frank Sinatra, some homemade coa-coa with whipped cream, and the most beautiful cashmere blanket and matching slippers Willow had ever seen.

Drew had come back while Willow's thoughts still lingered around white tinsel and twinkling lights.The dancing lights in her mind were much like the lights she was admiring, running in waves above their heads from one beam to the next. Everything was beautiful, heart warming, and festive for the upcoming Holiday. There was even a giant pine with twinkling white lights and a wooden rustic theme for the decorations, sitting over in the far corner next to a small stage where a small town band was playing.

An ice cold beer bottle tapped her arm. "Hey. You good?" Drew asked, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah. I love the decorin here. It's really impressive. I'm also feeling a little nervous. I've never danced quite like this before." She took a drink to help loosen her up before the inevitable. "It looks complicated. I don't know the steps."

Hank sat down on Drew's other side. "Don't you start worrying about it. I actually know the steps to most of these. I've never danced with anyone but I got real bored out on the barges. I didn't have a whole lot of space in my room especially with that big pole running straight down the center, but in the end I learned to use that too!" he laughed. "But I would take it one step at a time and dance away. It was one of the few joys I had left." He looked a bit embarrassed about it. "I always dreamed of doing the many dances I learned. You know... around other people. Though, with a pretty lady like you.... Well... I could never have imagined it."