"And the next dance, ladies and gentlemen, will be the Heel-Toe Polka!" Jo shouted from the top of the stairs.

Robin smirked and paused cutting into the cornbread that sat, still steaming, on the kitchen table. He quickly walked into the hallway as music started playing loudly from the top of the stairs, crossing his arms as he leaned on the railing. There was only one room that the music might come from.

"Hey, Jo, who gave you permission to enter my room?" Robin called up to the young girl as she skipped down the stairs wearing a large cowboy hat and a blue and white striped nightgown.

"Do you know the Heel-Toe Polka, Mr. Robin?" Jo asked, changing the subject. She grabbed his arm and used all her strength to swing him around. "Heel and toe, heel and toe, slide to the middle..." Jo called, yelling instructions and pulling Robin into the drawing room after her.

Robin let out a laugh and tried to follow the young girl's steps, clapping when she instructed and leaning down to skip in a circle when she commanded it.

"This is when you switch partners," Holly yelled excitedly as she ran down the stairs to join them, hurrying into the room with her hair in a loose braid, still wearing her velvet green nightgown.

"Switch with me, Miss Holly!" Jo shouted, abandoning Robin and running over to grab Holly's hand.

Robin felt a bit abandoned as he watched the two of them dance the polka. Though taking a step back, it was easier observing how Jo's instructions came together to create the dance.  Watching the two of them preform more proficiently than he had as he stumbled over Jo's hurried instructions.

"Do you want another try?" Holly asked as the song came to the point to change partners once again, reaching out her hand to Robin.

"I'll watch one more time if that's alright," Robin said with a nervous laugh. "I'm getting a better idea of the dance by watching."

"Well, practice makes perfect," Holly said, waving her fingers towards the staircase before flicking them towards the record player in the drawing room's corner. Suddenly, the music that had been playing upstairs continued, but this time from the drawing room's record player. With the music now filling the drawing room, and the two girls resumed dancing.

"And you must practice if you want to dance at the Autumn Barn Dance tonight."

"Autumn Barn Dance?" Robin asked with a chuckle, not sure what they were referring to.

"Oh! Right, I-"Holly exclaimed, tripping over her feet.

"Uh oh! Miss Holly forgot to tell you," Jo teased, smirking at Holly as she tried to regain her steps in the dance.

Holly shot Jo a glare and turned her attention back to Robin.

"Tonight is the Autumn Barn Dance. It's held every year to celebrate the good harvest. The whole town is invited to dance and share food."

"I consider it my goodbye party," Jo chimed in. "Since it will be the last time I see my friends before I head home for the winter next week."

Holly glanced sadly at the small girl, the two of them finishing up the dance as the song came to an end. Holly quickly patted the small girl on the head.

"That's right. It's Jo's goodbye party, and also the most important event for the jewelry shop. Everyone from the town is gathered, and I can show off my designs in action. This is where I get most of my orders for the winter holidays," Holly said, glancing at Robin. "I have been making some things for you and Jo to wear to the dance...if you are okay with wearing it. I'm excited to finally have a male model this year." Holly added with an anxious laugh, her hands nervously fiddling with her nightgown.

Robin smiled at her, a small wave of relief washing over him. Not just because he was worried over having something to wear (which he might have been, had she not prepared something, as the traveling clothes he had brought were not suitable for a dance), but because over the last few days, Robin had been worried Holly was avoiding him.

Over the last week and a half, Holly had been mainly spending time in the shop or her office, seemingly avoiding him after what had happened with the Witch of the White Snakes. She would come home late or leaving early in the morning, telling Robin to leave any leftovers for her in the icebox before hurrying out the door. Whenever Robin would ask Jo about it, she would shrug her shoulders and say that she probably had a fancy order she had to focus on. Jo seemed to feel ignored as well, and would sit grumbling about Holly making her perfect the spells she had learned over the summer instead of teaching Jo new ones.

Robin had tried to watch for the "Sorcerer's Weekly" paper that The Witch of the White Snakes had mentioned, hoping it might have more information on what to look out for, should the Heart Thief find his way to Sunshine Acres. Robin wanted to be sure he did his part to help keep an eye out for this "Heart Thief" as well.

However, when Sunshine Acres received the latest of the "Sorcerer's Weekly", there was nothing about the "Heart Thief". Only boring articles about possible legislation that might go into effect that would affect sorcerers and regulate their use of powers. Robin couldn't blame Holly for not wanting to read it.

A new song crackled to life on the old record player once again, snapping Robin back to the current moment. Holly and Jo began aggressively jumping and twirling, their movements sporadic and random, unlike the dancing Robin assumed he might see that night at the barn dance.

Robin chuckled watching the dancing in amusement. "And what's this dance called then?"

"Having fun dance," Jo laughed while hopping, reaching up to twirl Holly. Holly obliged with a giggle, ducking under the small girl's arm before pretending to do a pirouette.

"This dance seems hard," Robin said with a laugh. "I don't know if I'll get these steps down by tonight."

"That's okay," Jo said, skipping back and forth with an invisible partner. "This dance is too hard for most people, so they don't do it at the barn dances."

"Ah, I see," Robin said, his smile growing as he stood watching them mix different dance genres and laugh along to the music.

"Try it, Robin," Holly laughed, as she spun, the velvet dress creating a circle around her. "You never know, you might be a natural."

"No, I couldn't..." Robin started, but when Jo came over to twirl him, he didn't hesitate to duck under her short arm, finishing with a mock pirouette to mirror Holly's movements from a second ago.

Holly stoped her twirling to laugh loudly at his mockery, almost falling to her knees as the laugh overcame her. Jo also let out an excited laugh, clapping at Robin's participation.

"Perfect, Robin!" Jo squealed. "You've got it!"

"Have I?" Robin asked, skipping around Holly and spinning in a circle.

Holly continued to laugh, her hands on her knees. She seemed to have a hard time catching her breath, and each new move Robin made caused her to start laughing again.

"It seems," Robin said, shrugging his shoulders and twirling to the music, "I might be even better at this than you are, Holly."

Holly tried to stand back up and let out a retort but became consumed with laughing again as Robin began shimmying in her direction.

"You've-" Holly wheezed, "definitely pick up on this fast."

Jo was laughing, too, copying each of Robin's dance moves and trying her best to keep Holly laughing as well, watching her mentor gasp for breath with a mischievous grin across her face.

"It's a good thing this song won't be at the dance," Holly continued, making her way to the arm chair to collapse in a fit of giggles. "We can't have you outdancing everyone at your first barn dance."

She remained seated as another laughing fit hit, watching as Jo and Robin danced together in an crazed and erratic manner. Holly's laughter at the two of them was almost as loud as the music.

Eventually, the music died down, and Robin and Jo dramatically bowed to each other as Holly's laughed slowly died, and she was finally able to catch her breath.

Robin took Jo's hand and the two of them bowed to Holly as she clapped at their performance.

Before Jo could pull her hand out of his, Robin raised it to his lips and kissed the back of her hand.

"HEY! Gross!" Jo said, wiping her hand on her nightgown. "I thought I told you not to do that."

"Oh, right," Robin said with a smile. "My apologies, Jo."

Jo giggled, glancing at Holly, who was wiping tears from her eyes on the sofa, before she leaned towards Robin, lowering her voice to a whisper. "But if you're dancing with Miss Holly, she might be fine with it," Jo giggled with a wink.

Robin smirked at the young girl, winking back. Jo's eyes went wide, and she covered her mouth as she continued to giggle.

"Alright," Holly said, finally regaining control of her breath. "While you might not be able to show off that dance tonight, I think it would be good to teach you some of the basics of the real dances that will be played." she said as he hesitantly rose from the chair, seemingly exhausted despite not having danced with them. "The pieces I have been working on will be best displayed with movement, after all."

Holly grabbed Robin's hand, and pulled him closer to her. "Let's try the Heel-Toe Polka again, and then I'll show you the Cincinnati Reel."

As Holly looked up at him, her face was flushed with laughter and her eyes were shining with a joy Robin had found himself addicted to. He hope she saw the same joy reflected in his own. 

"Ready?" Holly laughed.

"Always," Robin smirked squeezing her hand just a bit tighter at the word.