Let's Make a Deal Pt. 19- Epilogue 03

After church, they went home. Brian and Lynda came, too. Martha had left things cooking, so preparation time was brief, with all of them pitching in, and they ate dinner at a relaxed pace. Hannah and Nancy got lots of attention, as the adults sat eating and talking.

Lynda said, "Scott can tell you that I mostly prefer rock, but what I heard last night was really, really good. I hated to go home, but we were both really tired, and I don't like to leave Brian alone with Nancy at this point." She looked at him. "In a year or two, I'm sure I won't feel that way so much."

Jim was making faces at the two girls, and playing peekaboo. Nancy just watched him intently, but Hannah was shrieking with laughter. Darla, Martha, and Lynda had been talking about how Martha's and Lynda's pregnancies had been, while occasionally dropping out into the men's conversation, which was less focused. Lynda's comment had been in response to something Jim had said. Brian said, "I've only been dancing a few times, but I'm sorry I missed being there to hear it, myself. My tastes run like Lynda's, but when we heard you on our honeymoon I found I really enjoyed the music. The, I don't know, two or three other times we went, it was always when Scott was playing, and I admit I went partly because of that. But I did enjoy dancing, too. I'd like it a lot more if I was any good at it, I think."

Hannah had been playing keep-away-from-Jim, but had come in reach of being grabbed and tickled. Scott wasn't sure whether that had been on purpose or not, but the noise level went high enough to preclude adult conversation for a minute or two before she was allowed to escape.

Darla told Brian, "Contras are easy enough that if you do it a little more you'll be good at it. You couldn't do your job without a good enough memory to dance, but it takes a little practice to get used to paying attention to the right things. You'll see." Scott privately thought Brian wasn't likely to be able to make the time to dance enough to get beyond beginner level. He was, as predicted, serving as an elder, which meant meetings and other commitments. Scott was very pleased to see that he insisted on scheduling time to be with Lynda—and now with Nancy too—and was quick to cancel outside commitments if urgent things came up at home. But still, the number of available hours was limited.

They sat for a good while just chatting, paying enough attention to Hannah that she didn't really get bored. But after a while Nancy started fussing. After she had been changed, Brian and Lynda excused themselves to take her home and feed her and get her settled for a nap. Jim and Darla also excused themselves, and began collecting their stuff. Martha had packed up lunch leftovers for them to take with them, enough for a meal when they got home. They had an SUV, which they really had to have with the big bass, and even with just a suitcase apiece it took a few minutes to get everything out and loaded. They thanked Scott and Martha at length. All four of them had enjoyed their time together, as well as the dance and all that went into it. They headed off, and Scott and Martha went in to try to calm Hannah down enough for a nap of her own.

A week or so later, Scott was surprised to be told that some highlights of the evening had been posted on line. Investigating, he found some from the last dance as well. On the one hand, he appreciated it as a compliment to him and the band and even the people who arranged for the whole event. On the other hand, he felt embarrassed, and also a little worried that this might mean he would have to keep coming up with more new things lest people be really aware he was repeating himself. He had to admit that they sounded amazingly good, though, better than he had thought. Presumably any bad moments had been edited out. Certainly a couple of points where he remembered fumbling a little weren't included.

A number of people he regularly played with had also been there to dance, not off playing somewhere else. He wondered a bit about that. But it seemed that they all had picked up ideas to liven up their own playing, and that was certainly a good thing, in his view. He was also a little more in demand to come and join in, a mixed blessing, but offers of a little more money accompanied urgent requests for him to play. He hoped that the bands were getting it from the sponsors of the dances, not out of their own shares.