Page 88 of Just Like Home

“Miss Charlotte?” Amelia looked up at her now. “Do you love it too? Like my mom did?”

She smoothed Amelia’s hair and smiled. “I’m trying to. Maybe you can help.”

“Me?”

“Sure.” Charlotte picked up her phone to change the music. “Maybe if you remember why you loved dance so much, you can help me remember too.”

Amelia’s face brightened ever so slightly. “Okay.”

What followed was an impromptu dance class, in which Charlotte took Julianna’s daughter through familiar warm-ups at the barre and then across the floor. As she watched Amelia slowly warm up to her and to ballet, she began to understand what it was that Julianna loved so much about watching the girl dance.

She shared Julianna’s passion—Charlotte could see it in her eyes. She envied her that.

She watched Amelia take her corrections, then improve, a strong resolve lighting up her eyes. And seeing it stirred something inside Charlotte that had been dead a long time. Or maybe it had never been alive.

She didn’t get much of a chance to explore the thought, though, because Brinley knocked on the door and poked her head in.

“Hey, girl, your dad’s here,” she said.

Amelia’s shoulders slumped. “Do I have to go?”

“We can meet back here anytime,” Charlotte said. “And I hear I’m choreographing a dance for you and your Uncle Cole?”

The girl smiled.

“Sneaky getting him to do this,” Charlotte said. “I asked him twice, and he turned me down both times.”

“Really?” Amelia’s eyes widened.

“Really,” Charlotte said.

Her face lit with a full smile. “Thank you, Miss Charlotte.” She rushed over and threw her arms around Charlotte, who found herself unable to resist the urge to hug her back.

Amelia swiped her ballet bag off the hooks and raced out the door, leaving Brinley standing slack-jawed. “What did you do? Do you know how many times I’ve tried to get her to dance?”

Charlotte smiled. “She’s talented.”

“Don’t downplay this, Charlotte,” Brinley said, moving in front of her so she couldn’t look away. “That’s a big deal what you did for Amelia.”

Charlotte shrugged. “I wish I could do more. I owe it to Jules.”

Brinley took Charlotte by the arms and squeezed. “Is this why you’re so successful? Because you’re never satisfied?”

Charlotte laughed. “Don’t we have a rehearsal to get ready for?”

Brinley grinned. “Yep. And don’t be surprised if that video of you goes viral.”

26

Dance rehearsal. Not a place Cole ever thought he’d go. At least not for anything other than to pick up his niece after class.

Well, that wasn’t completely true. Gemma had insisted they take dance lessons before their wedding. They’d gone to a ballroom dance studio two towns over, and that’s when Cole learned what he already knew—he was not a dancer.

She’d suggested asking Julianna to help, but that would’ve been even more horrifying. At least this way, he’d be embarrassing himself in front of someone he didn’t know.

Cole had tried to get out of it, and had successfully postponed it twice, but Gemma wasn’t having it anymore. Why couldn’t they just stand and sway like most couples? Because he was marrying Gemma, that’s why.

“Our wedding has to be perfect, Cole,” she’d said. “And I really want to make our first dance one to remember.”

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