Much to his surprise, it only took Henry a few steps before he was in rhythm with both the music and Jessie. They began to glide a small circle in amongst the crowd, with his leathery hand nearly enveloping hers, his right hand gently around her waist, and her left hand resting on his shoulder. “I thought you said you couldn’t dance.” She smiled, looking up at him.

“Oh,” Henry shrugged. “This ain’t really dancin’. It’s more like real slow walkin’.”

“You could have fooled me.”

They made a quarter of the way around the dance floor when Henry let out a deep breath and looked into her eyes. “I wanted to thank you again for takin’ me out and showin’ me them mustangs the other day.”

“Weren’t they wonderful?”

“I believe I know why you took me out there, though.”

“Oh?”

“Well,” Henry started. “I guess you figure I might be kinda like that boss horse in the herd, the one the others didn’t like much.” There was a long pause as Henry tried to find the words he wanted to use next. Jessie recognized that he was searching, and waited patiently for him to resume. “I guess that may be true. To be honest, there was a long time there where I didn’t really like myself much.” He paused again. “I went through a pretty rough patch there for a while, and I’m not real sure I’m all the way through it yet, but I’m workin’ on it.” He paused, this time a little longer. “You see, I got to bein’ pretty hard on myself, and them around me, a little like that boss horse, I guess. Took to drinking because of it. I drank a lot, for a real long time. I didn’t like bein’ that way, but I’d been doin’ it so long that I didn’t know any other way to be.”

The end of the song came, music stopped and the people on the dance floor broke into loud applause, mixed with an occasional shrill whistle. Jessie and Henry stood looking at one another as if they were the only two on the floor. The band struck up another slow song and some of the couples left the floor, but most of them stayed and slowly drifted into the rhythm of the new melody.

Jessie and Henry gradually glided in time with the others on the floor, which created another long pause. Jessie sensed there was more Henry wanted to say, but she also sensed the break in the music and the applause from the crowd had broken the momentum of his words. She wanted him to know that not only had she been listening to him, but that she cared very much about what he was saying and if he wanted to do so, that she wanted him to finish.

“Then?” Jessie finally asked, looking up at him and hoping the one word question would be enough to get him started again.

“Then I come here, and I saw you.” Henry smiled. “And you ain’t that way—you ain’t hard. You’re fair. You’re fair in your business, to the people and the horses on your place; you’re fair to that gray colt. Most of all, you been fair to me.” Jessie stopped dancing and looked tenderly into Henry’s eyes. “I been thinkin’,” he continued. “Maybe its time for me to try to be a little more fair to myself. If I can do that, then maybe I can get this thing in me turned around once and for all.” He forced a smile. “Like I said, I ain’t all the way through it yet, but I’m workin’ on it.”