“Um, yeah, good idea,” Madison said. “I’ll get right to it. Maybe she wants to dance with me.”

Lillian put her hands on her hips. “Very funny, grasshopper. You know exactly what I meant. Besides, shouldn’t you dance with Sherry instead?”

Sherry pulled Jake closer. “It’s fine. I have to keep an eye on him.”

“I can do that,” Danielle slurred, stumbling toward them.

“No, thanks,” Sherry said. She liked Danielle, but no way would she allow an obviously tipsy, probably even drunk person to look after her son.

“Danielle, are you drunk?” Lillian asked in a more concerned than disapproving tone.

“Just had a little too much on an emp…empty stomach, Mom.”

“We could all sit down,” Sherry offered. “If you’d like, I could bring you something to eat or a coffee.”

Danielle waved her off and almost hit her in the process. “Oh, sorry. Nah, it’s fine. Dance with Madison.” She almost fell when she leaned forward to whisper something in Madison’s ear.

Madison nodded at whatever Danielle told her.

“Have fun, you two.” Lillian tousled Jake’s head. “I’ll keep an eye on the little angel.”

Sherry shook her head. “That’s nice of you, but I’d rather—”

“Thanks, Lillian,” Madison said. “We really appreciate it.”

Sherry stared at her. “We want to dance?”

“We do.”

Why was Madison suddenly so interested in dancing? There has to be a reason. Hesitantly, she let go of Jake. “All right. Jake, is that okay with you?”

“How about we get ourselves a milkshake?” Lillian asked.

“Yeah!” Jake threw one fist in the air.

“We’ll be there if you need us.” Sherry pointed to the corner where the billiard table usually was.

Madison took her hand and pulled her toward the dance floor.

Her warm fingers wrapping around Sherry’s were kind of distracting, but she tried to ignore it. “Just one milkshake,” she called over her shoulder to Lillian. “He’s already had a hot chocolate.”

Sherry turned back to Madison. “Why are we dancing?”

Madison pulled her closer and wrapped one arm around her waist.

Even through the material of her dress, Madison’s warm hand caused tingles.

“We have to check out Danielle’s mechanic. Danielle told me she just saw her flirting with a man.”

“So her mechanic is not into women?”

“Let’s find out.” Madison smiled, and something in Sherry’s stomach dropped.

She cleared her throat. “Why do we have to dance for that? I can’t dance.”

“Her crush is standing next to the dance floor, and I wanted to take my time to check her out.”

“Why don’t we go over and—?”

“It’s a slow song. Just keep looking as beautiful as you do right now, and I’ll do the rest.”

Sherry tried to ignore the warm feeling Madison’s casual compliment had caused.

Madison pulled Sherry even closer, and their bodies touched all along their lengths.