Where Does My Heart Beat Now- Chapter 37

*Disclaimer: The song(s) in this chapter is Callin' Baton Rouge by Garth Brooks.

Chapter 37

The Jefferson Institute was bustling with people attending the ball, and from what the men could see from where they stood outside of the pink building, it was going to be a full house. They waited on the women to join them after having changed into their dress uniform jackets, and they wondered what could possibly take them so long to put a dress on. Especially Casey, who leaned against the wall, gawking at some of the women going into the building. Seamus, on the other hand, had his phone out and was checking to see if he had any new messages on Facebook. Disappointed that there weren’t any, he shoved the device back into his pocket and resorted to playing with a piece of his hair. Gabriel paced back and forth along the long porch, growing anxious. Finally, Rob stopped him.

“Gabriel! Would you stop? You’re wearing a path in the rocks.”

His son stopped moving and leaned against one of the wrought iron poles, “Sorry. I’m usually not impatient, but COME ON! How long does it take to put bloomers and a dress on?”

Five minutes later, the women strolled up and met the guys, bright smiles on their features. Kate slipped her arm through Gabriel’s, and Mae’s through Rob’s. Ava took hold of Sean’s hand and hauled him off inside to get a good table for the group.  After opening the door for Kate and letting her go past, Gabriel noted that she wore her lavender and black dress she had worn the previous year. It was quickly becoming his favorite.

“What took you ladies so long? Did you get tangled up in your corset stays?” Gabriel asked jokingly.

“No, we were having trouble getting the bodice of my dress to come together in the back,” Kate replied, “I guess I still haven’t lost all of my baby belly.”

The group joined Ava and Sean at a table near the doorway just inside of the ball room, and then Gabriel muttered under his breath, “Maybe you should work on that…”

“What did you say?” Kate’s tone was icy, and when her husband looked at her, her eyes smoldered.

“Nothing, honey. I love you, honey,” Gabriel sat down beside her, keeping a little distance in between the two of them in case she decided to hit him with her reticule.

His wife rolled her eyes while pulling out her fan from her reticule and started waving it in front of her face, “You carry an eight pound baby and see what happens to your stomach. Your washboard abs won’t look like a washboard anymore. They’ll look more like a lumpy pillow.”

Some time after the ball had begun and the couples were swaying to a waltz, Seamus and Casey went to investigate, or more precisely, raid the refreshments table out in the open-air court yard. After getting himself a couple of chocolate chip cookies on a napkin, Seamus saw Casey staring dumbstruck at the bowl of lemonade. He, too, looked into the bowl and grimaced after joining him by the table; pink and red rose petals floated in the yellow liquid like they belonged there.

“The hell? Why are there flowers in the lemonade?” Casey finally spoke, and took one of the cookies from Seamus while he wasn’t paying attention.

His cousin threw him a sideways glance, his brow furrowed, when he noticed that one of his cookies was missing. Go get your own damn cookie, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

They stood by the table for several more minutes as they contemplated the possible reasons for putting flowers in lemonade. However, the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them made them turn around to find the source of the sound right behind them.

“Are y’all just gonna stand there like a couple of women trying to decide which shoes to buy, or are you gonna move so that the rest of us can get something to drink?” Ellen stood with her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised in questioning. She wore a dark sapphire blue silk dress trimmed in black with her hair piled up at the crown of her head in small ringlets and decorated with black crystals.

Without saying a word, the two men stepped out of the way, allowing Ellen and her friend to get some of the lemonade while Seamus watched them curiously. He was starting to notice that whenever she was around a man, Ellen got an attitude, almost as if she had an issue with them. Casey, on the other hand, had discovered the finger sandwiches, and was stuffing his face with some of the cucumber and cream cheese ones. A light tap on his shoulder startled him, and he turned around to find the lilac-colored woman standing nearby with a sweet smile on her face. Her dress was a bright yellow and made from silk with a lace overlay on the skirt. The entire dress was trimmed in white lace and braiding. Casey stood in his spot with his cheeks resembling that of a hamster’s from having food stuffed in them.

“Are you going to leave any for me?” She said in almost a whisper, and batted her eyes to appear more irresistible.

Casey forced the lump of food down and stepped out of the way so that she could get herself some of the sandwiches. In the meantime, he tried to think of something to say to her, but he was unable to form words, because her beauty had left him at a loss for words. It was strange that he hadn’t noticed her earlier that day… Then again, he was more worried about getting away from her friend at the time. It finally dawned on him that she was the woman who had run out of the coffee shop with the Yankee chasing after her, “You’re that woman from this morning at the coffee shop; the one that Yankee tried to have his way with… You have really cute bloomers.” D****t, Casey! You’re such an idiot! Now she probably thinks you just want to screw her, “So, do you always prostitute on the weekends?” Just shut up before you embarrass yourself any more than you already have, he mentally kicked himself while trying not to make eye contact with her for fear she would be just like her friend.

After getting their refreshments, the two women disappeared into the ball room, leaving Seamus and Casey baffled by the encounter. Even after he had helped her save the man’s life that afternoon, Ellen still seemed annoyed with Seamus, which struck him as odd. The men made their way back to the ball room and took their seats at the table while the others were still out dancing, but instead of the Grand March they were in the middle of the Patty Cake Polka. Seamus leaned back in his chair with his arms folded over his chest and watched the dancers, but then the sight of Ellen laughing with her friend caught his attention. The ladies sat a few tables to their left with a group of older women, and appeared to pay no attention to Seamus and Casey sitting alone at their own table. That was when Casey nudged him in the side with his elbow.

 “I dare you to go ask Maleficent to dance with you during the next dance,” he said with a laugh.

Seamus turned to look at him, a grin coming to his face, “Challenge accepted… And she’s honestly not that bad. You just have to look past her glaring eyes and clenched fists.”

“She mauled me on the sidewalk in front of the General Store, Seamus. How can you say she’s not that bad? What woman does that to a guy?”

The dark green male stood up after the dance ended and gulped down some of the rose-laced lemonade. Not bad, “The ones who get called a w***e.”

“Me bad,” Casey threw up his hands in surrender, “Maybe I need to just ask them ahead of time when I see one dressed in just their undies, ‘Hey, are you a w***e, or do you just like to walk around in your skivvies during the day?’ Not many women will react well to that.”

Ignoring his cousin’s comment, Seamus made his way over to the table where the women sat. He stood there for a moment, and then cleared his throat to get their attention. When they turned around in their chairs to look at him, he was smiling pleasantly. Ellen eyed him suspiciously, unsure of what he wanted.

“Come dance with me,” he directed his request toward Ellen, who stiffened up when she heard what he had said.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she turned her gaze away from him and started to reach for her drink, “I’m good.”

“Don’t make me haul you out there over my shoulder.”

Did he seriously just-, Ellen looked back up at him and saw that he was being serious, but there was not a chance in Hell that she was about to dance with a man, no matter how gorgeous he was, “You wouldn’t…”

That was all he needed to hear. Before Ellen knew what had happened, she let out a yelp of surprise when Seamus scooped her up with one arm and slung her over his shoulder, much to everyone’s surprise. After making sure he had a good grip on her, he headed out to the dance floor where the other dancers were starting to gather for a waltz, including his brother and Kate. Ellen kicked her feet against his stomach and beat on his shoulder blades with her fists, but his arm wasn’t about to loosen its hold on her.

“Put... me… down!” She struggled against his bonds, but to no avail; he had her and wasn’t about to let her go anywhere. When she looked down, she got a face full of his quite round bottom. Ooh, he’s got a nice a*s…What the hell am I thinking?! He’s carrying me like a feed sack!

Seamus continued to walk with her struggling in his arm, and he actually had a grin of satisfaction come across his face, knowing he was winning the battle, “Not a chance.”

Seeing his brother walk onto the dance floor with a woman flung over his shoulder, Gabriel stared open-mouthed at him, causing Kate to turn in order to see what had her husband so stunned. She hid a giggle at the sight of Seamus carrying the woman with her struggling to get away from him. After a few silent moments, Gabriel returned his attention to his wife and shook his head to clear his mind of what he had just witnessed. Apparently Seamus didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

“I bet that was a good first impression,” Gabriel commented while waiting for the music to begin.

Kate chuckled, “She’s sure to fall for him now.”

After setting her on her feet, Ellen tried to run back to her table, but Seamus grabbed onto her wrist and spun her back around to him. She fought him for nearly a minute until he finally pressed his stomach to hers and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding onto her wrists behind her back to keep her from fighting him. He stared into her eyes, his lips mere inches from hers. When he saw the look in her dark cobalt eyes he could see the anger burning in them. He had to figure out some way to get her to stop resisting him.

“Please, don’t fight me; I just want to dance with you… Nothing else,” his voice was calm when he spoke to her, and his hands stayed locked around her wrists, only they had released their tight hold.

The longer they stood on the dance floor, the more Ellen softened up. She eventually relaxed her stance and allowed Seamus to release his grasp from her wrists. Making sure that she wasn’t going to make a run for it, he gently laid his hand on the small of her back and took her right hand in his while she laid her left hand on his shoulder. By no means was she ready to let her guard down, but she would be nice for a few minutes and dance with him. After all, he was rather attractive to her. His strong accent was what made her give in to him; there was just something about it that was intoxicating.

Ellen rolled her eyes as soon as the waltz began, “You won this time, buddy,” she stuck a perfectly manicured finger in his face, “but don’t you even think about getting me into bed with you, because that will never happen. I still have my dignity to keep.”

“Fair enough. Besides, I don’t sleep with women right after meeting them,” he spun her out away from him and twirled her right back, “I prefer to win a woman’s respect up front.”

Meanwhile, Casey sat back in his chair staring longingly at Ellen’s friend, who was in the middle of a jerky waltz with a Yankee corporal. She appeared to be enjoying herself despite her awkward partner, and that was what drew Casey to her. He was becoming frustrated, however, because every time he had gone to ask her to dance, another man got to her first. At the rate things were going, he was bound and determined to dance with her before the night was over, even if it meant facing her devil of a friend and every other man in the room.

Back out on the dance floor, Kate swayed along to the rhythm of the music with her hoops pressed against her husband. They had kept their eyes on Seamus and Ellen just to see how she reacted to him, and also stayed close by in case Gabriel had to pull her off of him, but he was fairly certain that his brother could hold his own.

“She’s quite beautiful, if you ask me,” Kate commented, holding her skirt off the ground when she twirled so that she wouldn’t trip on it.

Gabriel nodded in agreement, “She is, and she just needs someone like Seamus to rein her in a little. From what I’ve seen of her, she’s a little spitfire.”

In what seemed like no time at all, the dance had ended and the men were escorting the women back to their seats, thanking them for the dance. After returning her to her seat, Seamus thanked Ellen for the dance and went over to sit beside his cousin and brother, who smirked at him. Seamus didn’t bother to ask what had Gabriel so amused, but he knew it probably had something to do with his encounter with Ellen moments before. Looking across the table toward the table where Ellen and her friend sat, he could see them gathering up their fans and purses before making their way to the ball room door. Were they leaving already? Then again, he realized that everyone was taking a break to get more refreshments. Excusing himself from his family, Seamus left the ball room to go outside for some fresh air. Once outside on the long porch, he could see the bottom of Ellen’s blue dress disappear around the backside of the courthouse along with her friend’s.

Did I do something to upset her? Maybe she doesn’t like to be around gatherings, Seamus’s mind wander as he walked across the abandoned street in the direction of the General Store. It was still open and had tourists strolling around inside as they shopped for souvenirs. He decided to go see if they had anything new in, and started for the door, but just as he passed by the flower pot that Casey had left his DNA on, something black caught his eye, and he looked down to see a black and white cameo brooch lying on the cement. After picking it up, he inspected it more closely. That’s Ellen’s brooch. She must have lost it when she was beating Casey to a pulp, Seamus thought about seeking her out to return it, however he figured that it was best to give it back to her at a later time so as not to make her think he was being desperate. He slipped the jewelry into the pocket of his jacket for safe keeping until he got back to camp and could put it in with the rest of his belongings. I’ll give her some time before I return it to her. I’m sure she’ll be grateful to have it back. A smile spread across his face at the thought of seeing the scarlet-colored woman again; for some reason, he was beginning to feel something for her, and not because she nearly murdered Casey.

 

Before ‘quiet time’ the family sat around underneath the tent fly in their civilian clothes, laughing and carrying on about different things, including the sight of Casey running in terror from a woman out to kill him. Even Casey had to laugh at himself, which was unusual for him to do. A few minutes later, Kate appeared from inside the tent after nursing Shannon and putting her to bed for the night. She took a seat next to her husband and cracked open a can of Dr. Pepper to give her a little boost to help keep her awake for a while longer. For the first time since she had met her husband’s brother, she was surprised to see him without his shirt on, and actually liked what she saw; it was clear that all of the Dawson men kept their bodies toned and muscled up. The sight of his model-like body made it hard for her to pull her eyes away from him… and Casey, too.

“You know, I have never seen anyone, man or woman, run that fast before,” Kate took a drink from her can and laughed, “I’m surprised she didn’t castrate you on the spot, Casey. I would have loved to have seen your balls go rolling down Austin Street.”

Casey narrowed his eyes at her, his lips pursed, “You have a sick sense of humor, you know that, Kate?”

She ignored his stare and leaned back in the chair, propping her feet up on the table in the center of the group, “I thought it was funny.”

The others laughed at the situation for a good while, but Seamus grew tired of just talking, so he got up from his chair and headed for the trailer. The family watched him dig through the trailer, curious as to what he was getting out. After a while they went back to talking about the train raid and the way Ellen had saved the man with the bee sting. When Seamus didn’t return a few minutes later they became worried and thought they should go look for him, but that was when the lights on the gazebo flashed on, catching their attention. Curious about what was going on when the camp was supposed to be quiet, they quietly left their camp and went over to the gazebo, where they were surprised to find Seamus sitting on the railing of the gazebo, tuning a fiddle.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow in questioning, his hands on his hips, “Um, what are you doing, Shay? The camps are supposed to be quiet, now.”

“Lighten up, Gabe. It’s time to liven up this place with some good music,” Seamus looked to his brother after hearing him grunt in displeasure, “Not that Civil War music isn’t entertaining.”

A short distance from the campsite, Ellen and her friend were out for a nighttime stroll along the streets. The women had changed into simple day dresses without their crinolines, which made walking much easier.  It was also a great opportunity for Ellen to clear her head, especially after her confusing encounter with Seamus at the ball. For some reason, she couldn’t get the Irish male out of her head, and it was driving her nuts. Her friend nudged her in the side with her elbow to get her attention, and she turned her head to look at her.

“What is it, Faye?”

Her friend pointed ahead of them at the lit up gazebo in the park, “Something must be going on in the park. Let’s go check it out!”

They picked up their pace as they walked up the hill to Lion’s Park. Along the way, Faye noted Ellen’s changed behavior, but she wasn’t going to say anything about it, knowing Ellen would just play it off as something stupid.

Back at the gazebo, Seamus jumped down from the railing and picked up his bow. Looking up, he saw that a small crowd had formed by the steps and was waiting to see what he was going to do. His family had found a good spot on the soft grass to plant their backsides, suddenly intrigued by the prospect of him playing the fiddle.

Time to fast forward one hundred and fifty years… Seamus sucked in a breath of air and put the bow against the strings of the fiddle, and began to play a fast riff. After a few seconds, he started to sing, and when he did, his Irish accent disappeared, “I spent last night in the arms of a girl in Louisiana. And though I’m out on the highway my thoughts are still with her. Such a strange combination of a woman and a child. Such a strange situation stoppin’ every hundred miles. Callin’ Baton Rouge.”

The entire camp had formed around the gazebo to watch the impromptu performance, and instead of being angry that the music had woken them up, they clapped along to the beat of the music when Seamus played the same riff as the beginning of the song. Even Gabriel was enjoying the sight of his own brother playing the fiddle.

“A replay of last night’s events roll through my mind. Except a scene or two erased by sweet red wine. And I see a truck stop sign ahead so I change lanes. I need a cup of coffee and a couple dollars change. Callin’ Baton Rouge.”

After hearing the music, Ellen and Faye quickened their pace to a run. When they approached the large crowd gathered around the gazebo it took them a minute to realize who was playing the music, and as soon as Ellen saw Seamus on the gazebo steps shirtless and barefoot with the top of his jeans below his pelvis bones, she nearly had a heart attack. She was quite certain karma had snuck up on her and was wreaking havoc on her ability to keep believing that she hated men. If Faye had noticed her reaction, she didn’t show it, which was a good thing. To keep Faye thinking that she despised men, Ellen stood completely still with her arms folded over her chest and put on her poker face.

“Operator won’t you put me on through. I gotta send my love down to Baton Rouge. Hurry up won’t you put her on the line. I gotta talk to the girl just one more time,” Seamus was fully immersed in the song, his hips moving in time with the fiddle. His fingers were a blur as they moved over the strings during the instrumental break, causing the crowd to applaud, “Hello Samantha dear, I hope you’re feelin’ fine. And it won’t be long until I’m with you all the time. But until then I’ll spend my money up right down to my last dime. Callin’ Baton Rouge.”

Ellen’s curiosity kept her from thinking clearly, making her slip away from Faye in order to get a closer view of Seamus. She disappeared behind the gazebo, keeping low so as not to be spotted by anyone. Easing herself up on the outside of the gazebo, she peered through the railing to watch him as he neared the end of the song. Her eyes fell on the black triskele tattoo on his left shoulder blade. On closer inspection, she noticed what appeared to be writing around it, but couldn’t make it out. At the sight of his tattoo, the butterflies in her stomach went crazy.  There was no doubt in her mind, that tiny winged b*****d had jabbed her in the a*s with his arrows of matchmaking… but she didn’t have to let anyone know that. She would keep up her façade around people, especially Faye.

“Operator won’t you put me on through. I gotta send my love down to Baton Rouge. Hurry up won’t you put her on the line. I gotta talk to the girl just one more time… Callin’ Baton Rouge… Sweet Baton Rouge, my Baton Rouge.”

As soon as he drew the bow across the strings for the final note, the camp applauded loudly, which was sure to wake the surrounding households if the music hadn’t already done that. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw some movement, and he turned around to the back of the gazebo to see what it was, but of course he didn’t see anything, because Ellen had ducked out of sight just as he turned around.

Ellen scurried away and decided to go back to camp without Faye. Sure, her friend would be worried when she couldn’t find her, but she needed to be alone for a while to sort out her thoughts. Hopefully, the time alone would do her some good. I might as well admit it; I’m in love. Never thought that would happen, she walked down the street, keeping her eyes on the dark allies in case she needed to protect herself, “Well, Ellen, time to go get a bottle of Jack from the Louisiana boys and drink yourself to sleep…”

 

Ellen walked down the hallway of the Paris Regional Medical Center on her way to the cafeteria for lunch. She wrapped her stethoscope around her neck, having just come from the ER, where she had dealt with a woman experiencing chest pain. It was just a normal day for her, but her mind just was not in her work. Wherever she went, she kept seeing Seamus’s face. It was as if Cupid was taunting her. And to make matters worse, she couldn’t get the image of him playing his fiddle while shirtless out of her mind, but she had to admit that he was absolutely mouthwatering. Arriving at the cafeteria, she pushed opened the doors and got in the line right behind Faye, who greeted her happily.

“Look who finally made it! I thought they were holding you hostage in that ER,” Faye put a chef salad on her tray, along with a bowl of fruit.

Ellen chuckled, “Nope. We just had a lot of patients to see.”

The two women found a table near the windows and sat down with their trays before starting on their lunch. Ellen nibbled on an apple while Faye dug into her salad. They ate in silence for a while, but seeing how Faye always took an interest in hearing Ellen’s stories from the Emergency Room, she spoke up.

“So, what interesting injuries do you have to tell me about, today?” She took a swig from her Cherry Coke.

Ellen tried to hide her grin, but that just made Faye lean closer to her so that her friend could tell her in a whisper without anyone overhearing their conversation. She knew it was against HIPAA to discuss patient matters, but she couldn’t resist hearing what all went on with Ellen, “How about a fractured penis?”

Upon hearing about the strange injury, Faye sat back, her eyes wide, “I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around that one. How does that happen?”

After making sure that no one in close proximity could hear her, once again, Ellen replied, “The guy’s girlfriend was pissed at him after they finished having sex, and she slammed the bathroom door on his wiener. It was hard not to laugh when he explained what happened.”

“Ouchies! So, anything else interesting?”

Ellen rolled her eyes, “Just the usual broken leg or arm, difficulty breathing, choking…” she forked some of her noodles into her mouth, “Oh, but I did have to fish a bag of cocaine out of a druggie’s rectum.”

“That’s… pleasant,” Faye set her fork down after getting a disturbing mental image in her head.

“Um no. I would rather go to a house call involving explosive diarrhea and vomit than stick my finger up some guy’s a*s.”

Faye rolled her eyes, not quite in the mood to explain that she had been sarcastic when she responded. She was in disbelief that Ellen was still eating calmly despite the nauseating deed of having to remove the baggie of cocaine, “I think I lost my appetite,” she pushed her tray away from her.

 

Meanwhile, Seamus had just pulled up outside the hospital, Ellen’s brooch in his pocket. He had decided that surprising her at work and returning the brooch seemed like a good idea. Let’s just pray that Casey doesn’t ask me where I was all day when I get back. I’ll never hear the end of it!

Seamus took a steadying breath as he walked up to the building. Even though he knew he had to see Ellen again, he was extremely nervous about how she would react to seeing him. He’d rather not end up on the wrong side of her temper " what happened to Casey was indication enough that it could get really, really ugly.

But still, what was life without the risks. He just really hoped he didn’t have to fight off an angry woman. Pushing in through the front double glass doors, Seamus braced himself. This is it…

 

“What in Hell’s name are you doing here?!”

Well, when I thought of surprising her, this wasn’t exactly the response I imagined, Seamus winced at Ellen’s raised voice. He pulled out the brooch and held it out to her, “You dropped this while beating my cousin to a bloody pulp…I thought you might want it back.”

Taking the brooch, Ellen blinked. Honestly, she felt charmed that he thought about returning it to her. She thought that she had lost it forever. Oh come on, Ellen! First you can’t stop thinking about him, and now you’re actually charmed by him. Pull yourself together, girl! He isn’t worth it, “You came all this way to return a bloody brooch!”

“Well, yeah,” Seamus grinned impishly. Okay, this is definitely not how I planned this conversation, “So…wanna have dinner sometime?” Oh way to go, Seamus. Now you sound just like Casey.

“I’d rather not,” Ellen said.

“Why not,” Seamus asked, feeling slightly dejected.

 “You’re gonna get me fired!”

“How would I manage to do that?” Seamus gave her an unconvinced look, “I think you’re trying to sidestep the question. Why not?” I, for one, certainly don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t, “And besides, you kind of owe me one. I did bring you your brooch, after all.”

“Well,” Ellen paused, thinking it through. For once, she knew he was right " she owed him one. But she didn’t want to get too personally involved with a male. She just wasn’t the type of girl that would get mixed up with a man...but on the other hand, it wouldn’t hurt just once. After all, he did her a favor and she should be thankful for that. It was just one night, after all, “All right. But just this once. And don’t go getting the wrong idea. It’s just because I owe you and it’s not a date or anything, you got that?”

“Yes ma’am,” Seamus said seriously. He had never intended it as a date, just as an occasion where he could get to know her better. There would be plenty of time to consider a relationship later.

“Now get out of here,” Ellen said as she glanced at her watch, “My break is nearly over.”

Seamus nodded before handing her a slip of paper with his number scribbled across it, “Call me when you’re off so that we can plan dinner.”

Ellen took it hesitantly and then strode off, leaving Seamus staring after her. After she rounded the corner, he walked back outside with a slight grin on his face. All in all, it had turned out to be a successful trip.