They saw the women dressed in gingham, which they both knew couldn't be true, but they couldn't seem to see them any other way but in jeans, and they knew that wouldn't happen.

They pulled into the parking lot of the town hall. Howie turned off the car and looked at Natalie. Neither said anything for a moment. Finally, Natalie spoke. "Well, we sure nailed it on the pickup trucks."

Howie looked around and laughed. "Come on City Slicker, let's get in there." He came around the car and opened her door. He offered his hand and she took it, stepping out gracefully. Howie wanted to lean her up against the car and kiss her for an hour or two. "Let's try not to say anything to tick off the locals," he whispered in her ear.

Kiss me. She pressed her lips together. Had she said it out loud? Apparently not, because he wasn't looking shocked. And he wasn't kissing her.

They walked into the hall. From the street, it looked like it could serve many purposes. It had windows down the side and wide doors at the front. It could easily be a school or a church...or a dance hall. Inside was a small foyer. There was a door at each end. One had a sign that said 'Gents' and the other one that said 'Gals'. There was a rolling metal rack at the side with coat hangers, but they hung empty on this warm July evening.

Ahead of them was a table with a plastic-covered book that said Our Guests. Beside it lay a pen attached to a long white feather and a picture frame holding a portrait of the happy couple.

"Good evening," said a woman standing behind the table. She gave Howie a quick look and then nodded at him. Natalie looked at him too. He seemed uncomfortable.

"Yeah, hi!" said Natalie, when it became obvious that Howie wasn't going to say anything. She looked at the woman. She was wearing a navy dress with small pink flowers and a lace collar. Her hair was...well, puffy. "We...um...we're staying at...um..."

"The McAllister place," filled in the woman.

Not too many secrets in a small town, guessed Natalie. "Yes," she answered. "We know this is a private party, but Ty Harper..."

The woman waved Natalie's words away. "No such thing as a private party around here. And Mandy told us she invited you all."

Okay, thought Natalie. She hadn't been totally with it the day before, but she was pretty sure the only thing Mandy would have invited her to was Natalie's own execution.

The woman looked embarrassed. "It's...um...it's...we sell tickets," she said finally.

Howie had his wallet out before she finished the sentence. He handed over the twenty dollar fee without blinking and added a second one. The woman looked like she wanted to refuse it, but Howie pressed her hand around it and said, "For the happy couple".

The woman beamed thanks on him and then continued, "Would you please sign the guest book?" She handed the pen to Howie. "Unless you don't like signing autographs," she added, surprising Natalie because the words were directed at her not him.

"No, it's okay," she said carefully, taking the pen from Howie, when he was done.
"Nice to see you again, Sir," said the woman to Howie, as Natalie bent to ink her name in the book. She went to fill in the line below Howie's and then changed her mind, writing "and Natalie Reardon" beside his signature.

"Do you know her?" whispered Natalie, as they moved past the table and entered the hall.

"I met her yesterday," said Howie, "while you were at the hardware store. Oh my..."

They stopped inside the door. The ladies of the town had certainly gotten the most out of Ty. Big pink and white bells made out of accordion paper, hung from the lights in the middle of the room. Pink and white streamers twisted together arched from there to various points on the wall ending in large crepe paper bows. 'Congratulations' was spelled out in a chain of gold cut-out letters that had obviously been used few times. The bottom part of the 'g' was taped on, probably having been torn off by some careless 'undecorator' in the past. 'Steph and Pete' was written in black marker on a piece of white Bristol board. This hung below the 'congratulations' sign.

"I guess they just fill in the blank," said Howie, mirroring Natalie's thoughts. "Here comes Ty," he added.

"And Mandy," said Natalie.

Ty was approaching from the other end of the hall near a stage. He had been talking to...Natalie guessed it was a DJ...and held up his hand to him in a 'be right back' gesture as soon as he saw them come in.

Mandy had been conversing with a group of women at the side of the hall. They were setting out paper cups around a punch bowl. Mandy never took her eyes off Ty and she followed his glance to the door. When she saw where he was headed, she moved to intercept him and they arrived at Howie and Natalie at the same time.

"Howie, Natalie, so nice you could join us," purred Mandy, slipping her arm through Ty's, establishing her possession.

"It was kind of you to invite us," responded Natalie. She was determined to be sweet and kind and totally non-threatening. Not because she was afraid of Mandy, but because she was afraid for her. It was obvious how she felt about Ty and the cold sweat of desperation was beginning to ooze from her psyche.

Howie shook hands with Ty and nodded a smile to Mandy.

"Come and meet some people," said Ty.

"Oh, I'll take them around," said Mandy. "You go finish helping Jake with the music."

Mandy proceeded to march them around the room, introducing them by their first names to assorted couples and groups. She introduced them as if they were one person. "This is HowieandNatalie. This is Mary...and Louise...and Susan..."

There were way more women than men. Howie and Natalie had guessed pretty well about the men - cowboy boots and their dressiest jeans. Not too many cowboy hats, though. More baseball caps with farm equipment company logos on them.

The women were dressed according to their age and marital status. Over thirty? Got yourself a man? Then flowers work for you. Natalie had never seen so many variations on a theme. Pansies, roses, tulips... She wouldn't be surprised if her hay fever started acting up. And lace collars. Everywhere. Some were attached to the dress, but some were a separate piece. How handy, thought Natalie. In case you wanted to fancy up your second-best floral dress.

The single-and-looking women - the desperation generation - were dressed in solid colors, black and red mostly, and stretchy knit fabrics that hugged their curves and displayed their assets. Their shoes had higher heels than the settled women, who had no need to show off their calves and just opted for comfort.

The teenagers had tried the hardest to be what they were not - women. They had obviously pored over the latest edition of Cosmogirl and then decided that more was better in the way of makeup and less was better in the way of clothing. Natalie bet there had been more than one argument over the dinner table tonight about how short a skirt was or how low it hung on the hips.

"You're not going out of this house looking like that, young lady!"

"But all the other girls will be dressed this way! Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The hair was the same on all of them. Long and puffy - teased to the max and then molded into shape and lacquered with hairspray.

And all of the were vying for the same thing - someone asking them to dance. Howie was going to have his work cut out for him, for sure!

They stopped in front of a group of teenagers. "HowieandNatalie," intoned Mandy.

The girls stared at them and then one of them spoke. "It is you, isn't it?" She promptly burst into tears.

Every head in the place came up at the sound of the crying. The testosterone level rose to a dangerous mark. If there had been pistols in the place, they would all have been cocked and pointed at Howie's head.

Howie smiled shyly.

"Omigod, omigod, omigod," sobbed the girl, fanning her shaking hands in front of her face. "I just love you so much. I have all your CDs and videos. I...I..."

Natalie could barely make out the words in the choking, gasping sobs. She looked at Howie and watched him turn into a Backstreet Boy.

"Thank you," he said simply. "That's very kind of you. We like to hear that from our fans. Would you like a hug?" He opened his arms and the girl fell into them. He rubbed her back and whispered soothing words to her. Then he set her gently away from him.

The word had spread quickly and there was now a small crowd of girls, and some older women as well, gathering around him, calling his name, touching his arm. Pens and pieces of paper had been produced from somewhere. Howie looked at Natalie and shrugged. Then he went to work, signing autographs, giving hugs and winks, letting them take pictures and constantly reassuring them that the group had not broken up, the five brothers were just doing their own thing for awhile. Two of the girls started arguing about Nick's album and Howie stopped it with a terse, "I loved it."

Eventually, Howie extricated himself and made his way back to Natalie, who had been moved aside by the fans and who now stood by the refreshment table with Mandy.

"That's a sweet man," said Mandy. "I didn't realize who he was. I like the music and all, I guess, but I'd a never known he was a big star."

"That's a sweet man, too," said Natalie, nodding in Ty's direction. "Why haven't you snapped him up?"

"Well, it ain't as easy as ropin' him and draggin' him home," said Mandy bristling. Who did this City Woman think she was?

"Have you ever tried that?" asked Natalie with a grin. "It might work."

Mandy sighed. "Pictured it in my head once or twice, but never acted on it...Hey, Howie, that was nice of you...to pose for the pictures and all."

Howie accepted a glass of punch.

"I got something out in the truck if you'd like a drink with a little more kick to it," said Ty, coming up to them. Howie assured them that this was fine.

The music started and the lights dimmed. Natalie wondered if the crying girl would be wallflower number one, and was surprised when Howie asked Mandy to dance. He winked at Natalie. Trust me.

Ty shuffled his feet back and forth. He knew he should ask Natalie to dance. "I ain't much of a dancer," he muttered.

"Me neither," said Natalie with relief in her voice. "I'd rather watch." They looked at Howie and Mandy moving gracefully around the floor, the only couple out there. It was a country song, with lots of twang, but a good beat. Everyone was watching them.

"Mandy's a good dancer," said Natalie, tentatively.

"Mandy's good at everything," Ty responded with a sigh.

Then why the hell aren't you married to her? wondered Natalie. Here was a mystery she wanted to solve.

So, as Howie moved around the dance floor, working his way through a carefully orchestrated hierarchy of girls and women, Natalie moved around the outside of the room, chatting with this woman and that one, asking about their families, getting to know them and gathering clues to solve the riddle of Mandy and Ty.