Dancing With Katie is about Aaron — divorced, a retired academic living in northern Vermont where he owns and manages an upscale restaurant — who wants to be proficient in dancing the Argentine tango. He takes lessons wherever and from whoever, traveling to Canada, France, and Buenos Aires, in his quest. But what he lacks is someone with whom he can dance on a regular basis.
One of his teachers in NYC — Mariella — introduces Aaron to Katie, the lover of one of her students, Barry, for Aaron to each Katie to dance the Argentine tango so that Barry will have a partner to dance with at milongas. In teaching Katie, Aaron would have a dance partner with whom he could practice: a win-win situation.
Without understanding what is happening, Aaron finds himself becoming more and more attached to Katie, no longer seeing her as a dance partner but as ...? He schemes to eliminate Barry, but as soon as Katie — without much help from Aaron — ends her affaire with Barry, she begins another.
While dancing, Aaron and Katie discuss the merits — and drawbacks — of her succession of lovers. Aaron constantly examines his own motives regarding Katie, until he suddenly realizes that he loves her and wants to spend whatever time is left to him, with her, —but it might be too late as Katie is very much involved with her latest lover, Lenny.
In the last chapter, while they dance under the stars in an empty parking lot, Katie confesses to Aaron that he has always been the man she has been looking for but was too caught up in her own affaires that she hadn't realized that the person she danced with every Tuesday, that held her in his arms was the right person for her — Aaron.
My intention in writing Dancing With Katie has been to entertain, to write a story that readers will enjoy, laugh over, cry over, and realize that Aaron and Katie are emblematic of themselves. Too often, whatever we are seeking, whatever we need, is right before our eyes. We're too caught up in ourselves to see that it's been there all the time.
Regards,
E. P. Lande
South Carolina, USA
