Toby couldn’t remember feeling more ridiculous. Suits he could do. In fact, he looked great in suits. He looked great in jeans too.

What he didn’t look great in was flannel. He’d tried to convince Meredith that one of the solid color shirts in the store worked just fine, but she insisted he needed the thick plaid shirt and a cowboy hat that felt like it was a size or two too small. He’d been assured he looked great, even when the mirror told him otherwise.

As he walked into the barn the town’s fancy dance was being thrown in, he could tell he’d been lied to on many levels. There was plaid here in there, but most of the men were wearing red or blue collared shirts with their jeans and cowboy boots. Toby had drawn the line at the boots, only because he knew there wouldn’t be time to break them in and he wasn’t going to spend an hour or so standing around in boots that made his feet cringe.

Meredith and Caleb had followed Toby in their truck, since Meredith insisted them showing up together would be a bad idea. He could hear a tinkle of laughter behind him and knew he’d been played.

“You going in or what, Toby? I know it’s a barn, so it’s got oversized doors, but you’re kind of blocking the way in.”

He didn’t bother turning around to face the evil woman. He focused on finding the man she was supposed to meet. He doubted he was wearing flannel.

“I’m going to say you’re lucky you’re pregnant. I’ve never hit a woman before, but I have a feeling you could use a spanking.”

Caleb giggled at the idea. “You can’t spank her. She’s too big for that.”

Toby wasn’t going to touch the comment on Meredith’s size. She hadn’t acted like it was a sensitive subject, but he wasn’t about to chance it.

Looking down, he saw Caleb was wearing a flannel shirt that matched the blue and red colors of Toby’s. Other than the kid sporting some cowboy boots, their outfits looked almost the same.

“I’m glad you think it’s funny, but I’d be a bad role model if I didn’t point out that it’s never okay to hit a woman.”

The kid rolled his eyes before he widened them a little to say his next word. “Duh. Mom told me that when I saw Dad hitting her once. I know it’s not a joke, but I got a picture of you sitting down with Mom over your lap and thought it was funny.”

“Go find your friends, Caleb. I think I’ll go find Paul and make sure we’re seen together like he wants.”

Meredith hurried to push Caleb around Toby. Toby froze for a second as he tried to process what the kid had said. The kid didn’t talk like he was five. He talked like he was older than Toby.

As Meredith followed her son, Toby thought about reaching out to stop her, but he kept his hands to himself. He barely got a chance to see her light blue dress as she hurried off into the room.

“Well, howdy there, cowboy. You ready to dance?”

Toby heard the woman, but didn’t immediately look over as he stared after Meredith. He wanted to find out more about what Caleb brought up. If there was a habit of abuse from her husband, the iciness she hid herself behind made a lot more sense. He couldn’t blame her for wanting to keep men out of her life, and he only had a small piece of the story.

Shaking his head, he looked over to the woman asking to dance. He hadn’t even noticed the band playing some country riff. The woman’s red gingham dress made Toby think of a tablecloth.

“Wow, you are a looker. Everyone’s been talking about you and saying how you’re a panty dropper, but I can’t believe they got a good look in those baby blues of yours. If they would’ve, you would not have walked into this barn alone.”

The woman’s golden hair was tied with red ribbons on either side of her face. She just needed some straw sticking out of her hair and she’d be the picture of a country bumpkin. That probably wasn’t the politically correct term, but it was the first one that popped in Toby’s mind.

Toby glanced down at her left hand. She wasn’t his type, but he’d be surprised if someone in the dinky town hadn’t put a ring on her finger. Her finger didn’t include a ring, not even the engagement variety.

“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not, but I’m not actually here to dance, as silly as that sounds.”

He wasn’t there to be hit on either, but that would’ve sounded even ruder. After her introduction of what she thought of him, Toby was ready to run out the door.

“That does sound silly,” the woman said as she circled behind Toby. “Why on earth would you come to a dance with no intentions of dancing?”

The woman completed her lap and returned in front of Toby. Her light green eyes sparkled in the sunlight coming from behind him. She wasn’t unattractive, and in a different setting he might have given her the time of day. He smiled before he looked away to see where Meredith had run off to.

“I owed someone a favor. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to get some water.”

Toby didn’t give the woman a chance to come up with a reply as he sidestepped her and took off to the table full of food and beverages on the right side of the barn. Meredith was there with Paul already doing his best to undress her with his eyes. The guy was such a slimeball that it made Toby sick.

During the twenty-foot walk it took to get to them, Toby curled and uncurled his hand at least a dozen times, trying to keep from delivering a punch when he arrived. The closer he got, the easier it was to see Paul’s eyes were focused on Meredith’s breasts as she spoke. Having been fascinated by her stomach the day before, Toby didn’t have much moral high ground, but he could have a conversation without being a lecher.

“What time does Caleb usually go to bed?”

Paul’s voice was a low whisper. Toby didn’t immediately interrupt the conversation, since it was Meredith’s choice where it would lead. He bit his tongue and stood four feet away or so, looking over the odd food offerings. There were little hot dogs wrapped in some kind of dough, a bowl full of gelatin mixed with what looked like cottage cheese and some kind of medley that included corn, beans and tomatoes.

Toby had no idea what any of the food was, so he made no attempts to taste anything. He glanced over at Meredith out of the corner of his eye and saw her rubbing her belly. Maybe he was a lecher, because the move made him want to ask if he could feel what she was.

“Contrary to what you believe, I’m not stupid, Paul. I highly suggest you get rid of whatever plans you’ve got swimming around in your head, because they ain’t happening. And for God’s sake, quit staring at my boobs.”

Covering his mouth, Toby tried to keep his chuckles to himself. He’d seen Meredith perform the move more than once since they met. It felt natural to copy her way of hiding amusement. Heaven help any man who tried to tame Meredith.

He realized when he went searching for her last name in his head that she’d never shared it. The fact just reiterated to him how little he knew about her. Bits and pieces he’d picked up from her or Caleb didn’t even begin to tell the story. With how private she was, he got the feeling that he’d never know.

“So does anyone ever dance at these things? Or does everyone just stand around looking at each other?”

Toby stayed in his spot a safe distance away as he asked the question. When he browsed the room looking for Meredith, he’d seen there were handfuls of people dancing, but for the most part they were standing around talking.

“If that’s your way of offering to dance, I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Meredith didn’t give him a chance to explain he wasn’t trying to get her out on the dancefloor. Dancing wasn’t his thing, especially to whatever the banjo player was strumming. Slow dances were much more his style, but he didn’t get the feeling there were many of them lined up on the set list.

That obviously didn’t matter to Meredith, because she pulled him out to the dancefloor with a strength that frightened Toby. He never thought for a second she was weak, but he usually didn’t move that easily.

Paul mumbled behind them. Chances were it was more than a mumble, but Toby couldn’t hear him over the conversations and music.

“I’m going to warn you now that there’s no way I’m dancing to this.”

A group of ten people were in lines dancing in unison. It seemed like the motions were easy enough to figure out, but Toby wasn’t trying to draw attention to himself. At least not any more than being dragged around the room was doing for him. He saw the eyeballs following them along and none of them looked all that pleasant to see Meredith leading him around.

“You’re going to put your hands on my hips and sway with me in a corner. Hopefully they’ll get the idea and play something a little slower.”

No room for argument was given. Toby took a second to look for Caleb around the room, but with all the tall people standing and moving around, he didn’t see him. Meredith didn’t seem too concerned about where he’d gone off to, so Toby figured things were cool.

“You sure that’s a good idea? I thought I saw some friendly faces when I walked in here, but as soon as you grabbed ahold of my hand, I think I’m detecting more stink eyes than I see in an opposing team’s arena.”

The comparison was a little off, since there wasn’t ten thousand people in the town, but it didn’t change the difference in the atmosphere. People were actually stopping in mid-sentence as the pair moved by them.

“Welcome to being associated with the town pariah. They never did it for Lawrence, but I suspect that since you’re not from around here, you’re going to get my royal treatment.”

Meredith stopped on the edge of the partygoers and turned to face him. Her face was a deep shade of pink and her eyes looked like he had only moments before laser beams started shooting from them. Toby had known she didn’t want to go to the dance, and knowing that he was part of the reason she was there made him want to go punch Paul even more.

Wanting to make things easier on her, he didn’t hesitate to reach forward and gently place his hands on her hips. If he thought she would’ve stood for it, he would’ve wrapped his arms around her and danced as close as her stomach allowed.

“I get the feeling that you hate living here, and yet you stay,” Toby said as he started shifting his weight from side to side.

They were far enough apart that Meredith didn’t have any problem looking up at his face. She was almost a foot shorter than him, something he hadn’t really picked up since she generally kept him at a safe distance.

“Funny you should say that. I was just thinking yesterday about how it might be time to move on. When I first came here, I didn’t expect to put down roots.”

“I think I picked up somewhere that you aren’t from these parts originally, but if that’s the case, I really don’t understand you staying. Do you have some family around here I haven’t met yet?”

The accent clearly gave her away as being from somewhere else, but it was deluded like she’d changed it over the years. That made it impossible to figure out where she originally called home.

A not-so-happy smile appeared on her face before she shook her head. She sighed deeply as she looked around the room.

“My family is why I came here, but they aren’t here. That’s a topic we won’t be discussing tonight, or ever. I stopped here because I met Lawrence and fell in love with a man who I thought was the answer to my problems, at least temporarily.”

“And from what Caleb said earlier, I’m guessing it wasn’t as rosy a married life as you thought.”

The smile was still on her face as her eyes moved back to meet his. Her blue eyes were filled with hurt, but Toby wasn’t sure the cause. It could’ve been bringing up her family or the husband Toby was already on the way to deciding wasn’t good enough for her.

Before she could say anything in reply, a voice boomed from the other side of the room. Toby couldn’t help rolling his eyes and looking around him for a door to run out of.

“Toby Matthews, where the hell are you?”