Chapter 4—Philadelphia, October 31, 1975

Forty minutes later, Thorne appeared at Bette’s side.

“Ready?  Um, do you know when there will be a slow song?  I’m not a very good dancer.”

“The next one, I think.”

Thorne raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement as the band began the introduction to “My Funny Valentine.”  He extended his and Bette stepped awkwardly off the low platform.  They moved to the edge of the dance floor and, after a few seconds during which each tried to remember dancing school lessons, they began the tentative first steps. 

A few older partygoers noticed the young couple and smiled at the sweet sight.

Kit was in her groove, caught up in the song, when she spotted Bette on the dance floor with the child of a club member.  Flustered, she lost her place for a moment but it was so brief that only Frank noticed.  While Kit continued to sing, she occasionally glanced worriedly at her sister.

“I’ve never dance in public before with anyone but my mother.”

“I danced with my father at a cousin’s wedding.”

“Is it hard to dance in those shoes?”

“A little, but those boots must be hard, too.”

“Yeah.”

Bette and Thorne continued their awkward dance on the edge of the club’s dance floor.

Back at their table, Thorne’s mother stopped speaking mid-sentence when spotted her missing son.

“Who is that, Alana?”

Alana waved at Bette, and smiled sweetly at her mother  “One of Thorne’s schoolmates.  She’s with the band.”

The older woman frowned.

Bette had seen Alana’s wave and her cheeks had reddened and she became flustered, both for reasons she could not understand.

“Hey, Bette, are you okay?”

“Um, yeah, it’s the shoes.”

When the song was over, Thorne escorted Bette back her chair.  He swept his pirate hat off his head and held it to his chest as be bowed with exaggerated formality  “Thank you for a lovely dance, Miss Porter.”

Bette giggled as she extended her gloved hand, “It was my pleasure, Master Hutchinson.”

Thorne flashed Bette a huge grin, “I’ll see you in school Monday.”

“Sure, on Monday.  I’ll be the girl in the blue blazer and gray skirt.”

“Good one.  I still think I’ll spot you,” Thorne said as he smiled again and returned to his parents’ table.