They had traveled less than a block when someone in the back started singing “She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mountain,” and before the first line was finished, most everyone on the wagon had joined in, including Jessie. Soon, even Henry, who at first had been so self-conscious about even at being on the wagon, began getting in the spirit and was having trouble keeping himself from smiling broadly and nodding his head to the rhythm of the tune. When the song ended, everybody let out a loud cheer and clapped enthusiastically.

As a loud chorus of “Row Your Boat” started up, the wagon turned right off of Main Street, traveled a block to First Avenue, took a left on First, went two more blocks and took another left on Lincoln Avenue on its way back to Main. It was on Lincoln that the wagon rolled past Mona’s Bar, and as it did, a silhouetted figure of a man stepped to the window and watched as it went by. The figure could easily see Jessie and Henry sitting near the front of the wagon, Jessie smiling and singing and Henry sitting next to her holding her hand. Once the wagon reached the end of Lincoln and turned back onto Main, the figure slowly slunk back into the smoky shadows of the noisy barroom.

The dance that had started at eight that evening stopped for fifteen minutes at nine o’clock so the attendees could go outside and watch the annual town fireworks. It wasn’t really much of a show, with only one rocket going off every thirty seconds or so. The locals enjoyed it, and after the grand finale, which consisted of seven rockets going off within a three-second period of each other, everyone applauded and went back in to the dance. The band, a talented group of local musicians who played primarily contemporary country music, started up before everyone was back inside. After finishing two popular up-tempo songs, they eased into a soulful version of “The Tennessee Waltz,” and the dance floor quickly began to fill.

Henry, who had yet to ask Jessie to dance during the night, sat next to her at the table and watched as couple after couple, hand in hand, headed for the floor. Jessie looked around and seeing they were nearly the only ones not dancing, stood up and planted herself in front of Henry. Smiling down, she reached out her hand to him. “Would you like to dance?”

There was a brief hesitation as Henry glanced at her hand, then back up into her flashing blue eyes and kindly smiling face. He had been trying to work up the nerve to ask her to dance for a while, but feeling he’d embarrass both himself and her due to his rustiness, he kept stopping himself. It was clear to him now by the look on Jessie’s face that even if he was rusty, she wasn’t going to mind. “I’d be honored,” he said, taking her hand, lifting himself from his chair and walking with her to the dance floor.