A Lone Star Christmas by William W. Johnstone

my last time,” Red said.

C HAPTER F OUR
    Fort Worth, May 17
    The Texas Cattlemen’s Association held a dance in Fort Worth, and because there was no single building large enough to hold the event, carpenters had constructed a wooden dance floor near the stockyard in Sundance Square. A band had been hired just for the occasion, coming all the way from San Antonio and arriving by train earlier in the day.
    Though most of the other cowboys from Live Oaks were already in town, Tom, Dusty, and Mo waited to ride in alongside the surrey. Clay would be driving the trap, and his wife Maria was already in the surrey, sitting beside him as it waited in front of the big house for Rebecca to join them. Rebecca would ride into town in the back seat.
    Like the others, Tom had put on a clean pair of denims and a shirt but then he had second thoughts. While the others were outside with the surrey waiting for Rebecca, Tom went back into the bunkhouse to change clothes. When he came back outside, instead of the denims, Tom was wearing one of the suits he had brought West with him. He chose a dark blue suit with a light blue silk vest and a white shirt. At his collar, he wore a crimson cravat, and as he knew it would, his attire grabbed the attention of all the others when he went outside.
    â€œWhoowee, Tom I’ll say this for you. You do know how to turn out,” Mo teased.
    â€œYes, sir, but Tom ain’t the only one all fancied up,” Dusty said. “Look over there.”
    The object of Tom’s notice was Rebecca. Rebecca, who was walking toward the surrey from the big house, was wearing a bright blue dress trimmed in white faille. A wide white sash was around her waist, beautifully accenting her figure. Tom took in a sharp breath of admiration when he saw her.
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    Rebecca returned Tom’s look with her own appraising stare. She knew that if anyone else had attempted to dress as Tom was dressed, they would have been considered vain and a dandy. But Tom could bring it off because he was handsome enough to do justice to the clothes. In addition, he had already proven to the others by his willingness to work, as well as his brute strength, that any charge of dandyism would be falsely placed.
    While Rebecca made her critical appraisal of Tom, she felt a slow-building heat in her body, and she wondered what it would be like to be kissed by him. Embarrassed by what she was thinking, she felt a flushing in her cheeks and she put the thought away as quickly as she could, absolutely certain that someone could read it in her face.

    By dusk, the excitement which had been growing for the entire day was full-blown. Several had gathered around to watch the dance, including those who were too young, too old, too uncoordinated, or simply unable to get a partner. Now, as the band warmed up, their music could be heard all over the north end of Fort Worth, adding to the excitement that was already in the air.
    Before the dance even began, the band did a few numbers just to warm up the crowd. The dance not being limited to cattlemen only, men and women from the town streamed along the boardwalks toward the dance floor, the women in colorful ginghams, the men in clean blue denims and brightly decorated vests.
    To one side of the dance floor a large punch bowl and several glass cups were set on a table, and Rebecca watched as one of the cowboys walked over to the punch bowl to unobtrusively add whiskey from a bottle he had concealed beneath his vest. A moment later another cowboy did the same thing, and Rebecca smiled as she thought of the growing potency of the punch.
    The music was playing, but as yet no one was dancing. Then the music stopped, and the caller lifted a megaphone.
    â€œChoose up your squares!” the caller shouted.
    The cowboys started toward the young women who, giggling and turning their faces away shyly, accepted their invitations. In a moment there were three squares formed and waiting. As she had hoped