Page 85 of Just Like Home

“Why?”

“Because you’re—” She shoved both hands toward him, moving them up, then down, as if to fill in the end of her sentence.

“I’m not completely uncoordinated,” he said. “I used to have some serious moves on the football field.”

“Well, you’re . . .” Her voice trailed off, as if she’d thought better of whatever it was she was going to say.

“I’m what?”

Her shoulders stiffened, and she glared at him. “Not very nice.”

That was fair. He hadn’t been very nice to her. To anyone. There really was no excuse for that, though, was there? “I’m working on it.”

She stared at him for too many seconds, leaving his mind to fill in the blanks as to what she was thinking.

“Never mind,” he said. “It was probably a stupid idea. I’ll get out of your hair now.” He made it all the way to the entryway before she called out for him to stop.

He wouldn’t have—his humiliation level was sky-high by this point. But the truth was, he needed her. He owed it to Amelia. And he owed it to Jules. No matter how much he didn’t want to do it. And he very much did not want to do it.

Cole wasn’t alife of the partykind of guy. He didn’t laugh easily, especially not at himself. And after what he’d been through with his parents and then Gemma, having the undivided attention of anyone in this town was just about the last thing he wanted.

“If I do this—” She stood in front of him now, looking up at him with a look so stern he had to tell himself not to laugh at her. “You will, in fact, do exactly what I tell you to do.”

“Okay.”

“You won’t groan. You won’t be late. You won’t give me any guff.”

“Guff?”

“Guff.”

“People don’t say ‘guff.’”

“Well, I do.” She stuck her hands on her hips. “If I do this, it’s on my terms.”

“You got it, boss.”

“There’s a meeting for everyone who’ll be learning partner dances. It’s tomorrow. We’re going over some of the basics, assigning each couple a choreographer, that sort of thing. You’ll come.”

“Uh, sure,” he said, though it wasn’t a question. “Should I bring Amelia?”

“No,” Charlotte said. “We’ll fill her in later.” She stuck her hand out in his direction and he allowed himself a slight, hopefully undetectable, smile as he took it and squeezed.

Charlotte barely allowed him a three-second handshake before she pulled her hand away.

“You should go,” she said, opening the front door. “Thanks for dinner.”

“Thanks for doing this for me, Charlotte,” he said.

“I’m not doing it for you,” she said. “I’m doing it for Amelia. And for Julianna.”

Point taken.

He watched her for a long moment before stepping out onto the porch. He turned back to thank her just as she closed the door in his face.

And he wondered if this was Charlotte giving him a taste of his own sour medicine.

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