Page 22 of Just Like Home

“I love dancing,” Jules said. “But not with people hollering at me all day. Takes all the fun out of it.”

Charlotte rolled over in her bed, annoyed that she’d been paired with someone who so obviously didn’t belong there. But in the end, it had been the biggest blessing of her life.

And also in the end, Julianna’s mindset changed. While Charlotte was driven by regimen and order, Julianna was driven by passion. And the passion ended up taking her pretty far. She became a beautiful, accomplished dancer.

There really was no telling how far Jules would’ve gone if she’d chosen to pursue ballet instead of the life she ended up with. If fate—or Charlotte—hadn’t intervened.

“Charlotte is the youngest principal dancer in the Chicago City Ballet,” Lucy said.

Oohs and aahscircled the table.

“Well, I was,” Charlotte said, her laugh nervous and awkward. “I quit.”

“You quit and moved to Harbor Pointe?” Haley said in disbelief. “You had the life girls everywhere dream of and you gave it up to movehere?”

A tickle of concern scurried down Charlotte’s back, kicking up that familiar self-doubt she’d been trying to ignore. Leaving the ballet hadn’t been a completely rash decision. She’d taken a good four weeks of entertaining the idea before handing in her notice.

The artistic director, Martin DuBois, never one to show emotion, said she’d be missed, thanked her for her years in the ballet, and then basically dismissed her with a flick of his wrist. Charlotte had never felt more irrelevant in her life.

Of course, that was his way. He had an ego to protect, and he certainly wasn’t going to beg her to stay. He would send the message that she was replaceable, that she was nothing special, confirming all of her insecurities.

Without dance, she was nothing.

Lucy eyed her. “You gave up a lot, Charlotte. It’s normal if you’re having regrets.” Then, after a pause, “Are you having regrets?”

“Not exactly.” Charlotte turned her mug of lukewarm coffee around in her hands. “I feel okay. I mean, it was the first real decision I ever made for myself, so I suppose it’s natural to doubt it was the right one.”

They all reassured her it was, in fact, natural.

“I just hope you aren’t disappointed,” Quinn said. “Life in Harbor Pointe is very different from life in Chicago.”

“And so far, I’m not making a great impression,” Charlotte said.

“She crashed into Cole Turner’s truck,” Lucy said with a knowing glance across the table.

Collective eye-widening happened around the table.

“You crashed the vintage Chevy?” Haley asked.

“Not a crash, exactly,” Charlotte said. “But he seemed pretty mad.”

“Cole is kind of—” Quinn started.

“Cranky,” Haley interrupted.

“Moody,” Lucy added.

“Terrifying,” Quinn said.

All three of them laughed.

“Should I be worried? I mean, I smashed the headlight, tried to correct my mistake, and smashed into it again.” She grimaced. “I heard metal crunching.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Haley said. “He just doesn’t like to talk to people, is all.”

“He’s had a few hard years,” Quinn said. “I mean, it’s not like his crankiness isn’t justified, especially after Jules.”

Betsy walked over and tapped the table. “Need you behind the counter, Haley.”

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