Dancing is fun at first, with the band playing a jazzy, old time sort of feeling song that lets me ignore the fact that I’m not dancing who I want to be dancing with. Instead I let myself go, channeling my inner boogie woogie bugle girl as I twirl and dance on the grass.

I have to give Justin some credit, he’s a good dancer and he knows how to move, and as the band swings in more I let him twirl me out. In my mind’s eye I can imagine Dan watching me as I swish my hips back and forth, letting him know that I can take everything his body can give me.

Big mistake. I open my eyes to see Justin grinning as he twirls me back in, and suddenly his hand’s on my ass as he tilts me back, kissing me hard. I’m so shocked that he’s able to lay it in deep before I push away. “What the fu-”

I hear a clang and a scream, and I look over to see Dan scrambling up as a tiki torch bounces off his body and rolls away, a shrill scream coming from his lips. He rolls the other direction, and I can see his face caught in haunted panic, his eyes blinded with flashbacks. “Da-”

“Looks like the Fryerman is a coward!” Justin jeers, pointing. “Run, Crispy, run! Fuckin cow-”

Justin’s words are cut off as my palm rockets forward. I’m a Chicago girl, growing up on the South Side and I’ve had to deal with grab happy assholes before. Justin’s head snaps back, his nose blooming red as I feel something snap. “You son of a bitch!”

“Fucking cun-” Justin chokes, but I cut him off again with a high heeled boot straight to his nuts. He drops, holding his balls as people start to laugh, but I’m not sure if they’re laughing at me, at Justin, or at Dan. I just know I’m enraged that anyone would do anything so… so….

I feel someone grab my arm, and I spin, ready to throw an elbow when my other arm is caught and twisted behind me. “Sorry Miss O’Hara, but you can’t go breakin’ people’s noses like that,” a man says in my ear. He’s wearing a uniform, and I realize he’s one of Lakeville’s cops. “Now, come nice with me, or else I cuff you.”

I struggle, but he’s got weight and my arm already locked up. “Fine,” I growl, relaxing. “Dan?”

“Don’t know,” the cop replies. “I’m sure Benson’s probably halfway to the lake by now… cowards always do run fast.”

That makes me struggle again, and moments later I feel handcuffs snap around my wrists, but I don’t care. “Fuck you all!”

“Yeah well, let’s see what a night in the drunk tank teaches you.”

“Hey.”

I look up, seeing Dirk standing on the other side of the bars. He looks chagrined, and I stand up, rolling my shoulders. The drunk tank’s mattress is like sleeping on an ironing board. “‘Morning, Mr. Mayor. What can I do for you?”

Dirk reaches into his pocket and pulls out a key, unlocking the cell door. “I got the DA to agrre not to press charges on you. You’re free to go.”

“On a Sunday?” I ask, lifting a sarcastic eyebrow. “I’m impressed.”

“Took a few people chatting with Judge Ellison, including me,” Dirk says, sighing. “And a video of what happened. Seems our county DA isn’t the kind to charge women who got their butts grabbed.”

“And what those fuckheads did to Dan?” I ask, my fists clenching. “My God Dirk, what I heard Justin call him, it-”

“Hush,” Dirk says urgently. “Rumors are going around already… seems a neighbor of yours has been making noise at the hospital. You don’t want to say you hit him for any other reason than because he assaulted you, got me? This might be a small town, but this is still Illinois… damn near as bad as California sometimes when it comes to civil suits.”

I get his advice, and shut my mouth. “So my things?”

Dirk holds out a plastic bag with my wallet and phone, I didn’t have anything else. “Here. And I’ll give you a ride home, if you’d like. Unless you’d like to call Willow?”

“She won’t be back until later this week,” I answer. “Fine, come on. Give me a ride… and you’re buying some damn coffee. Drive-thru only. I’m not in the mood for dealing with Lakeville right now.”

Dirk says nothing for most of the ride, and I’m in no mood to talk as we leave town and head out towards the lake. Finally, as we turn off onto the road that leads to my place, he speaks up. “If we were in each other’s places, I’d have done what you did,” Dirk says quietly. “Well, maybe not trying to throw a back elbow at Terry Rickard, but the rest… yeah, I understand.”

“Why’d you let me get arrested then?” I ask, and Dirk looks guilty.

“Honest? I was actually trying to follow Dan,” Dirk says. “But he ran off so damn fast, and when I got back you were already cuffed and being hauled away. I might be mayor, but I can’t tell a police officer to let someone go. Especially since the police for Lakeville are actually county employees.”

“Really?”

Dirk nods. “Really. Well, here we are.”

I get out, and Dirk follows me. “Dirk, I’m okay, I’m sure-”

“I know,” Dirk says, sticking out a hand. “I’m sorry this happened, Chrissy. I just hope Dan’s okay. Can you do me a favor, check on him?”

“Already ahead of you. I’m going to freshen up at warp speed to cut the funk and then it’s over to Dan’s to check on him.” I shake hands with Dirk and head inside, changing clothes and heading over to Dan’s place. His truck’s outside, but when I knock, there’s no answer.

“Come on Dan, I know you’re not out somewhere,” I growl, going around to the side door. We live in an area where a lot of people don’t lock all their doors, and I’m hoping that Dan’s just taking a nap. Unfortunately for me the door’s locked, but it’s an old door and with a little wiggling I hear the latch release.

It’s empty. Not cleaned out, but as I look around I see Dan’s clothes from last night flung across his bed, while the trunk that he keeps much of his clothing in is open. Poking around, I see that a few items are gone, and under his bed his hiking boots are missing.

“Shit,” I mutter, looking over in the corner where I know Dan usually keeps his backpack. It’s not a big one, a thirty liter bag that looks more like a bag an over-burdened college student might drag around, but it’s missing. I purse my lips, shaking my head. “Shit.”

Heading back over to my place, I grab my phone, seeing I’ve got a few missed calls, but none of them from Dan. I dial his number, but it kicks over to voicemail almost immediately. “This is Dan Benson. Leave a message.”

“Dan? It’s Chrissy. Listen, I don’t know what you saw last night, but I didn’t kiss Justin. He forced me. I… I want to talk, I’m worried about you. Give me a call ASAP, okay?”

I hang up and set my phone on the counter, watching it intently before sending him an identical text message. As the sun creeps higher in the sky, the phone still sits there, doing nothing.

Shit.

“Welcome back. How’re you feeling?”

Willow shakes her head, reaching out to give me a big hug. “Honey, retirement from the skin game can’t come soon enough. And never ask how work went on those runs, I’m going to be sleeping on my tummy for the next three days still. Whenever I come back from work, just hand me chocolate chip cookies and don’t say a damn thing when I have to eat ironically standing up and bent over the table.”

“That rough, huh?” I ask, trying to work up a smile and failing. “Sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah well… there’s lots of ways I can please a partner, but that doesn’t mean I’m a robot,” she groans, rubbing her hip. “Anyway, I heard about what happened. Welcome to Lakeville?”

“One of those small town traditions, I guess,” I grumble. “I’m doing my best not to be bitter, I saw just as much hateful small minded bullshit in Chicago. You know I went nose to nose with Bobbi Valentine yesterday?”

“Nope, that’s one I didn’t hear about yet,” Willow says, taking my offered iced tea and following me out onto the deck. “What happened?”

“I didn’t want to go back into town at all actually,” I admit, “but I realized I was running pretty short on food. So I decided a run into the market would be better than starving. Bobbi was there, and her, ahem, muttered comments got me upset. I finally had enough about the time she said something about crispy skin for the third time.”

“Oooh. That bitch has had it coming for awhile now, what did you say?” Willow asks with an amused smirk. “I hope it was good.”

“Not really. I told her that next time she had something to say about something she didn’t know anything about, she needed to shut the fuck up and do her job before it got her in trouble,” I reply, shaking my head and leaning on the railing. “Not exactly the smoothest comeback, I’m sure the grapevine’s burning with Bobbi’s bullshit again.”

“Surely,” Willow says, turning around and rolling her shoulders. “Helpful hint… if you ever do let someone put you in a leather kink harness, make sure it fits right. I’ve got chafe marks now that burn like a motherfucker. Guess that’s the point, though. Anyway, that’s not the only issue you’ve got to deal with. When I was in to see Dirk, he told me Justin was down at the City Hall, making noise. Apparently he wants to sue. Civil suit against you and the town.”

“Sue for what?” I growl. “The fucker grabbed my ass and kissed me. That’s sexual assault in my book.”

Willow’s face darkens, and she sets her glass down on the railing to walk away before turning back. “That fucker… really?” she asks, and I nod. “Okay… well, I’m a porn star and not a lawyer, but I happen to know a few lawyers and had to deal with the legal system a few times myself. I’ll talk with Dirk, but here’s how I’d play it. Justin can say all he wants about you assaulting him, but if there’s video of him grabbing your ass… wait, when?”

I explain the situation, and Willow’s lips pinch before she whistles lowly, a sign I’ve come to know means she’s pissed. “First, just because you were dancing doesn’t mean he has the right to do that. If it’s on video, that’s better, because it’ll show it was unwelcomed sexual touching. I know a guy who’ll take the case and have Justin pissing his britches in fear over the smear campaign we could lay on him over this. Forget broken nose, he’ll have a broken wallet after his business partners and banks dump his ass over this.”

“Tempting.”

“Yeah well, as for you, you’re not off the hook. What the fuck were you thinking?” Willow asks, crossing her arms across her chest. “Accepting a date with Justin? I figured you’d have been warned off enough when I told you how he reacted when he first found out about me, and you… you go and let that smarmy, self centered son of a bitch-”

“I know!” I yell, turning on Willow and glaring at her. “For three days I’ve been kicking myself over the same fucking thing, okay? Yeah, I was fucking stupid, I just thought… know what, it doesn’t fucking matter. I was wrong okay? For three days I’ve been looking for Dan and I can’t find him because he’s hiding out in the woods and, and-”

I stop, the tears getting the better of me and for the first time in a long time I start to cry. Willow wraps her arms around me, and I sob against her chest. “It’ll be okay, honey. What’s this about Dan being gone?”

I sniffle, hugging Willow and letting her stroke my hair as I calm down. “When I came back home, I went to check on Dan. He wasn’t there, it looks like… well, it looked like he packed a bunch of stuff and took off. He’s not answering his phone, I’ve texted… I just don’t know.”

“You talked to Dirk?”

I nod, pulling back a little from Willow. “Yeah, he said Dan sometimes has been sighted roughing it in the woods. He said that usually Dan just needs time to clear his head, and he comes back. Since Dan’s truck is still here, it means he didn’t go far. At least, that’s what I’m hoping, I’ve walked all around the lake and I can’t find him. But-”

“But if Dan doesn’t want to be found around this lake, he won’t be,” Willow finishes. “Okay, I get it. So, what now?”

I purse my lips, watching the morning sun climb into the sky. “I wish I could apologize to him, to tell him… I just want to tell him how I feel. About what happened, about what I did… about him.”

My last words make Willow raise an eyebrow, and a smirk breaks out on her face. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

I think for a moment, then nod. “Yeah… yeah I think I am. So what do I do about it?”

“Well, if it were me,” Willow says, biting her lip, “I’d go and buy some super sexy lingerie and the next time he comes home he’d open the door to find me done up in my slinkiest with a big heart written in lipstick around my butt. But that’s just me.”

I study her for a minute, trying to see if she’s making fun of me, but she’s serious. Finally, I snicker. “Lipstick?”

Willow nods, blushing. “I’m not very good at subtle, in case you haven’t noticed. What I’m saying Chrissy is that maybe you just need to tell Dan how you feel. And if you can’t right now, do what you do best. I saw those paintings, they’re beautiful. Now go figure out how you feel about Dan, and then, tell him. However you can.”

“Thanks,” I reply, opening my arms and hugging Willow. “You’re the best, Willow. I hope you find a guy who loves you the way you deserve.”

Willow hugs me back tightly, her voice going rough. “Keep it up babe, and people are going to start talking about you again.”

I laugh, letting go. “Let them. I learned my lesson once on that, and besides… if I can’t have Dan, you’re certainly higher up on my list of potential lifemates than most of the men I’ve met in this town.”

“That’s good,” Willow says, regaining her equilibrium and grinning a wiseass smirk. “Just remember, I’m not only better looking than most of the men in this town, I can deliver in the bedroom better than most of them too. With that though, I’m going to head back to town, I’m due for a checkup with Doc Patrick.”

“I’ll follow you, I’ve got an idea,” I reply, heading inside and grabbing my keys. “Say… why a checkup after working? I thought you had to get your blood tests and shit done before.”

“I do, but I also go in afterwards,” Willow confides. “He gives me an broad spectrum antibiotic shot right in the tushy and schedules another blood test for my next trip in for work. He’s the best in town, too. No qualms about who I am or what I do… he’s good peoples.”

I nod, climbing in my truck. “Good to know. I think I need to go see some good peoples myself, see if I can get some answers to some questions.”

“Good luck.”