Page 17 of Mail Order Midnight

“The men seem to have polished them off.”

“Do the men always eat first?”

“Yes, of course. Isn’t it that way back east?”

“Sometimes,” Constance said. It did seem odd to her that every man had eaten before a single woman got a bite. It didn’t matter to her much, but it was something to note.

“How do you feel about the strange hours Leonard works?” Betty asked. “I could never deal with those hours.”

“I love them,” Constance said. And it was true. She couldn’t be happier.

Chapter Six

After the meal, the band tuned up their instruments, and the men and women came together. For some reason, the meal was separated between men and women, though Constance didn’t really understand the reasoning.

As soon as Leonard joined Constance, he put his hand in the middle of her back, as if he was claiming her. When Constance looked around, she could see several of the men looked disappointed, which surprised her. No one had thought of her as any sort of prize back east, but here she was with several men interested. She said a quick prayer of thanks that she was already married and wouldn’t have to choose between men. That wouldn’t have been something she would have enjoyed.

When the first song’s opening notes filled the air, Leonard held his hand out to Constance, and she smiled, nodding. Never having danced before, it was astonishing how very right it felt to be held in Leonard’s arms and following his lead to the music.

“Are there dances like this often?” she asked.

He looked down into her glowing face and nodded. “At least once a month when the weather is good.”

“Oh, so nothing in the winter?”

“Ma and Pa invite everyone over on Saturday nights during the winter months. We play cards or we dance. There’s always something to do with a family as big as mine.”

“What do the children do?”

He shrugged. “They play card games amongst themselves, and they dance when there’s music. Ma has a few toys they play with, or they go upstairs to the bedrooms my brothers and I shared, and they play up there. There are so many of them they always have fun.”

“That sounds lovely.” Constance looked forward to winter nights with his family. It sounded like her life would be full of activities, and that pleased her. Once a week was enough to spend like that though. She preferred her quiet time with Leonard. The change of pace every week would be nice. “What about the other weeks during the summer?”

“My siblings will invite us over. It’s usually just two families getting together though. I turned down most of the invitations because I felt so alone, but now that we’re married, I’ll happily accept.”

“It’ll be nice to have your family over as well,” Constance said, thinking of the elaborate meals she could make.

The song was over, so they returned to Peter, Luke, and their wives. Betty grinned at Constance. “You looked like you were having so much fun!”

“I’ve never danced before,” Constance admitted. “I had no idea how much fun it was to be on the dancefloor, instead of watching as I leaned against the wall.”

Betty laughed. “I was a wallflower too.” She elbowed Peter. “He never could get up the courage to ask me to dance, so I stood there, waiting for what seemed like forever.”

“So how did you finally get together?”

“I asked him to dance. He refused but asked if he could take me for a walk the following evening.” Betty shook her head. “He was afraid to dance in public until I taught him how much fun it can be.”

Peter shook his head. “I’d had my eye on her for a long time. I guess I just wasn’t sure how she felt about me, so I didn’t ask.”

“What about you?” Constance asked Caroline. “Did Luke ask you to dance?”

Caroline shook her head. “Luke told me he was going to marry me when we were ten. I told him he’d have to ask properly, so when we finished school, he came to me, dropped to one knee, and asked me to marry him. There was no real courting. We just always planned to marry.”

“That’s sweet,” Constance said.

“I thought so.” Caroline looked up at Luke, and the look was so loving, Constance almost felt as if she was intruding on a private moment.

Leonard shook his head. “Nah, the way we did it is more romantic. We agreed to marry sight unseen.” He slipped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. “Our story is special to me in every way.”