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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


Gabriel and Robin walked in and looked around. They caught sight of Beth’s dress, following her redheaded friend to the ladies room. “I saw her, she went to the bathroom. We cant follow her there. I cant believe we agreed to do this. Shes 25, she can take care of herself”

“She will be fine. I bet she wont have any trouble at all. I have total faith in her, even though she is very naïve and very young minded for her age. But what can happen in this little town? I mean, we are in a fucking barn”Robin said,”Lets have fun and order a beer. And don’t say we don’t have the money. Because I know we haven’t spent any of our savings since we got here”

The two walked over to the makeshift bar and ordered a beer, which was all they had. They found a table in the back of the barn, away from the live band and dance floor. “We just need to stay secluded. She wont even know we are here”Robin said

“Well good evenin’ fellas”Beth said to them excitedly as she and her friend walked up to them.

Gabriel gave Robin a look and he only laughed as he sipped his beer. “Good evening Beth, you having a good time so far?”

“Sure am. Im glad you two decided to come. What changed your minds?”she asked them sweetly

“No reason. Just wanted to see what this big dance is all about”Gabriel replied

“Well why don’t ya’ll sit with us?”Beth asked them,”We have great seats right up front near the dance floor and the band”

“Sure why not?”Robin said as he stood up and walked with them

“Ya’ll remember Sue right?”Beth asked, introducing her to them again. They nodded.

“He sent ya’ll here didn’t he?”Sue said to Robin as they followed Beth to their table

“What do you mean?”he asked innocently

“Her father sent you two to watch her didn’t you? Why cant you two just let her have fun for once?”Sue asked

“We are”Gabriel assured her. “We didn’t want to, but he convinced us. We wont spoil your night, we promise”he said as they approached the table. Robin almost laughed at the sight. Mary Ann was surrounded by three men in navy uniforms. Maybe McNamara was right.

“Guess who decided to join us”Sue said and Mary Ann turned around and smiled widely.

“Oh the city boys are here”Mary Ann said happily. “Come on and sit down”she said as she grabbed some more chairs for them,”Lets make room for them fellas. These are close friends of my friend Beth here”she said as she plopped Robin down right beside her. Now she was sandwiched between him and three navy boys. Next to Robin was Sue, then Beth, then Gabriel.

The two men kept their promise to Sue and didn’t interfere too much. They really didn’t have to. Any man who asked Beth to dance, she turned down. “Your not dancing tonight?”Gabriel asked as he lit a cigarette. He needed one. “It’s a dance”

“Im just not interested”Beth said with a shrug. Gabriel shrugged too.

Then the band played a song that seemed to be the town’s favorite. They played the opening chords and everyone went wild. Mary Ann had been dancing all night and she came back to the table and grabbed Robin’s hand. “Dance with me?”she asked but he couldn’t say no since she dragged him out on the floor. Beth seemed to be dancing in her seat and she wanted Gabriel to ask her but he seemed content with his cigarette. She didn’t know that he smoked. He made smoking look so…sophisticated.

“May I have this dance Beth?”Bobby asked her, appearing out of nowhere.

Beth groaned but Bobby didn’t hear it but Gabriel did. Sue gave Beth a look and mouthed,”Tell him”

“Well Bobby….ugh…..thats very nice of you to ask me…..but….”she struggled to say,”But….I……”

“I already asked her”Gabriel said as he put out his cigarette and stood up, offering her his hand. He winked at her and she smiled.

She took his hand and smiled apologetically at Bobby,”Yes. He did. Sorry!”she said as Gabriel led her out on the floor.

Sue smiled, maybe the city boys had good intentions after all. “Ugh….Sue? How about you-?”

Sue quickly stood up and grabbed the arm of one of the navy boys that Mary Ann dropped off,”Sorry not interested Bobby”she said as she sympathetically patted his shoulder and ran out on the dance floor.

“Thanks for saving me back there”Beth said as she shouted over the music and cheers from the crowd as they sang along

“No problem. Does that Bobby guy give you problems?”Gabriel asked her

“No….he’s just very annoying. He’s been chasing me since grade school. He cant take the hint”

“Well you haven’t given him one. Let him down gently. Don’t lead him on any longer”Gabriel said

Beth nodded,”Yeah your right”she said and continued to dance with him. The band ended the song and they all cheered. Robin’s face was all red from the heat and the fact that Mary Ann was grinding on him, dancing very close. He smiled at Gabriel across the dance floor as the band played another song. “Can you be my wing man? I don’t have the heart to tell him tonight”she pleaded

“Sure, fine”Gabriel said with a smile and he stayed by her side all night. Basically, he just danced with her. But she seemed looser than she had ever been, not as uptight. She even shared a cigarette with Sue and drank beer. She never did either.

Sue quickly figured it out as she and Mary Ann watched her dance with Gabriel,”Seems our Bethie has a crush”

“Its about damn time”Mary Ann said,”The way things are goin’ shes gonn’ be an old maid”she said as she grabbed Robin and pulled him back out on the dance floor.

Beth and Gabriel danced to several songs and Beth was more giggly than usual. Gabriel sensed that she had drank too much and nonchalantly took the beer from her. She didn’t notice and kept dancing as the band played ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’, another town favorite. The floor got even more packed and Gabriel smiled as he danced with Beth. He always loved this song and he hadn’t heard it since….then he remembered….the night on the Titanic….Salomi looking beautiful in her expensive evening gown….partying with him in 3rd class, not having a care in the world or the fact that most everyone in 3rd class stared at her and didn’t want her there. He remembered teaching her the dance that he learned…and later their first kiss. It seemed like yesterday but also so long ago. He stopped dancing, he missed her so much. Too much. “Are you alright?”Beth asked him but he didn’t say a word and walked out.

He bummed a cigarette off of someone and they lit it for him as he walked outside. He couldn’t deal anymore. Salomi was everywhere. Everything reminded him of her.

“Gabriel! Gabriel! Whats wrong?”Beth asked him as she ran after him, almost tripping over the loose gravel and rocks. “What happened in there?”

“Its nothing. It got too hot, that’s all”he said

“You sure? You sick or something?”she asked him

“No Im not, just go back inside Beth. Im fine”Gabriel said

“Don’t tell me what to do. Your not my father”Beth snapped at him and he looked at her with surprise. Her eyes were bloodshot and she kept swaying from side to side. Shit, she was drunk.

“Seems like your not ok. You need some water”he said

“I don’t need water. I….I….I need another beer”she said as he led her to a water pump. He started pumping the water for her and she drank some. “That’s nice”she said with a laugh, falling to the ground

Gabriel helped her up and she clung to him and then she kissed him. He pushed her away and she almost fell again and he caught her. “What the hell are you doing Beth?”

“Didn’t ya wanna do this?”Beth asked him. “You like me don’t ya? Isnt that why you tell me all those stories? I wanna know what happened to that Salami girl? I love your stories Gabriel”she said as she tried to kiss him but he backed away

Gabriel sighed, great she wanted him. She had a crush on him? McNamara couldn’t know about this. He could lose his job. He didn’t trust any man around her, but he did trust them. And he didn’t want to lose that privilege. “Her name is Salomi and I married her. Im married Beth. I like you but just as a friend and Im sorry that you saw something different”he said as he held up his ring finger.

Beth gasped, she never noticed. Well, she did but she never put the two together. Or maybe she didn’t want to. “Your married to her? Your fucking married?”she asked him

“Please don’t get mad Beth, just calm down, you have had too much to drink”he said to her but she ran back inside. “Shit”he said to himself. He needed another cigarette and now he missed Salomi more than ever.

“What happened. Beth’s crying. What did you do?”Robin asked as he ran out to him

“I think we should be going. Im the one that caused trouble”Gabriel said

“No we cant drive right now. We’ve been drinking too much. Im not crashing McNamara’s truck….what the hell did you do?”

“You know what? I didn’t do anything! I didn’t think I was doing anything!”he said

“What?”

“Beth likes me. She kissed me. She thought I had the same feelings”

“Shit”

“I thought she knew I was married”

“Did you tell her?”

“I told her about Salomi….I don’t think I told her I was married but I have a ring on…I mean…..”

“You know how she is. Beth is naïve”

“Beth isn’t that naïve, we need to treat her like an adult. Its not fair”he said,”Shit…I don’t want to lose this job”

“You aren’t”

“Beth likes me. She kissed me. She thought that I liked her. Now shes crying her eyes out, she probably hates me. What if she tells McNamara?”

“Shes not going to tell”Robin said as people started to leave the barn. “Hey what time is it?”he asked a group of people.

“Almost midnight”one of them said

“SHIT!”they both exclaimed. Beth was supposed to be back by ten. They both ran towards the barn when Mary Ann’s car approached them.

“Shes fine, shes sleepin’ we got her covered!”Mary Ann said and drove off in a flash. She had lots to drink and the two ran to McNamara’s car and got in and drove closely behind. The last thing they needed was Beth to be passed out in a car while Mary Ann crashes it. They were already past curfew. Luckily they made it to the house safely and Mary Ann and Sue gave Beth to Gabriel. “No hard feelin’s. We figured she knew you were married and maybe you two had been foolin around or something”

“No, haven’t touched her”Gabriel said sternly as he held the sleeping Beth

“Take good care of her now”Mary Ann said with a giggle.”Bye cutie”she said to Robin and she and Sue sped out of the driveway and headed home.

Gabriel and Robin sighed, now they had to deal with McNamara. They quietly carried Beth’s passed out body through the dark house. McNamara had gone to bed which means they would have to deal with him in the morning. They laid her in her bed and wondered if they should dress her in her night clothes. They decided against it, took off her heels and tucked her in and ran back to the shack. Unfortunately, neither could sleep.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The rooster woke them all up. All of them had different things on their minds. Beth was confused, tired and had quite a headache. How did she get here? Gabriel and Robin were wondering how McNamara would react.

However, McNamara was in a great mood. He knocked on Beth’s door. “Slow rising this morning Bethie?”he asked her

“Ugh…..yes Daddy”she said

“You alright?”he asked her

“Yes, just fine. Tired but fine”

“I’ll start the grits”he said and walked away. He was at the stove making grits when Gabriel and Robin walked in. “Mornin’ fellas”

“Morning”they both said as they sat down. They were surprised that he was cooking and so nice to them. Maybe he was going to yell when they were all together. Beth finally came downstairs wearing a shirt and her favorite overalls, but looking very pale and tired. McNamara set a plate of eggs and grits in front of her with some orange juice.

“What time did you all get back last night?”McNamara asked

Beth looked at Gabriel and then looked away. She remembered everything that happened and was so ashamed that she acted like that. That would be something Mary Ann would do. Maybe Daddy was right. Mary Ann could rub off on her! Werent you supposed to not remember a thing when you got drunk? At least that’s what happened to everyone else….of course not her. However, she didn’t remember getting home or what time. Robin looked at Gabriel and he was about to answer when McNamara continued.

“I know ya’ll got home after 10. I know I went to bed at round 10:30”he said and then ate his grits.

The three of them stared at him with wide eyes. Then they all started talking at once.

“Daddy, Im so sorry. I was having so much fun. I forgot to bring your pocket watch with me”Beth said
“We lost track of time, ugh, time flies when you have fun”Robin said too, not able to think of an excuse
“When I realized what time it was, we brought her home right away. Im so sorry sir, we made a huge mistake”Gabriel said along with them

McNamara laughed. “No need. I trusted you all. As long as you all had a great time and didn’t get into trouble?”he asked

“No trouble, we had a great time”they replied

“Then that’s all that matters. And you didn’t sleep through the rooster. Just hope your work doesn’t suffer from all the partying”he said as he finished his plate. “Lets get to work”he said

The three of them stared at him in shock and looked at each other with the same expression. They cleaned off their plates and did their usual morning duties.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Beth was glad that her father wasn’t upset. She remembered Mary Ann cursing and apologizing and saying that it was midnight. Her father would have usually thrown a fit. What changed him? Maybe he came around. She did keep her distance from Gabriel. She didn’t know what to say besides sorry. But she figured he wanted nothing to do with her now. Why would he? He was married. Damn it, he was married. She kept her distance for a few days. One night after dinner, she was petting Angel, one of their many cats, when she saw Gabriel go to the mailbox. He walked back to the house and up the porch and was about to walk inside when she said,”Writin’ the misses?”she asked him

He nodded,”Yep and sending her some money too. They are going to need it”

“They?”she asked

“Im sorry I wasn’t honest with you. I thought that I had told you or you knew”he said as he sat next to her and pulled a photo out of his back pocket. It was a picture of Gabriel and a woman with dark eyes, dark hair, with very exotic features. Salomi. She was also surprised to see three children in the picture with them. One child looked just like Gabriel with blonde hair and blue eyes, the other boy and girl looked like their mother.

“One big happy family huh?”she asked him. Trying not to sound disappointed.

“Sure am”he said proudly,”That’s Salomi….thats Rita, my little star. Shes going to be a great performer one day, just like her Father. That’s Michael, very shy and is a real mama’s boy. That’s Dahlia, the youngest, loudest….she could be like Mary Ann when she gets older”he said with a laugh

“Wild huh?”she asked him and he nodded. She listened to his stories about them, but couldn’t help but hold back the tears.

*________________________________*





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