“It’s one dance.”

“It was something you wanted before Tyler existed.” She looked at him. “That means he doesn’t get to take it,” Eli said.

Chapter 6 — One Dance

The ballroom was quiet except for the low hum of the sound system. Eli stood. He reached behind his waist and untied his black apron, folded it into a neat square, and laid it over the back of a chair.

Without it, he no longer looked like an employee attending to a customer. He looked like a nervous man in a white shirt and black vest, standing before a woman he wanted to honor.

He went to the sound console and searched the playlist. A piano melody floated into the room — the song Maddie had chosen for her first dance. Eli crossed the dance floor and stopped in front of her.

He gave a small, awkward bow and extended his hand. “Madison Price, would you give me this dance?”