Page 4 of Stolen Fate

Evelyn

Emilia and Dadwere out for their regular Sunday lunch date, and I was at home, unable to tear my eyes away from the piece of paper I was holding.

Forty thousand dollars a term. That was eighty thousand dollars a year. The program was giving her a very generous scholarship, but it didn’t cover all her tuition. If I rearranged some of our finances and cut our budget down, we could get her in for a semester… maybe.

Juilliard’s was different. Most students who got accepted after winning the Junior Miss competition were almost always given full-ride scholarships. I had been counting on that.

What was I going to do?

Mom’s studio had been put up for sale three years ago at a fraction of the market price. I hadn’t been able to manage it on my own, and Emilia couldn’t teach and train at the same time, so we thought it was best to sell it, even if it broke my heart.

Last I’d heard, it was being renovated into a corporate office for a new up-and-coming tech company that had grown exponentially in the past several years.

Dad was out of work, barely able to live off of his disability checks—the claim money he got from his previous employer for his injuries were automatically put into a savings account for his retirement fund. We couldn’t cash that or Dad would have nothing left.

But if I couldn’t come up with the money, Emilia wouldn’t be able to follow her dreams. And Mom’s dream wouldn’t come true, either.

Tears of frustration stung my eyes, and I folded the paper up, trying to think of a solution.

The first payment was due in a month.

We could always sell the house, but…it was Mom’s house. The one she built with my dad. How could I ever expect him to just sell it? Never mind the fact that I didn’t think I could part with it.

The dance studio was one thing, but the house we grew up in…

I couldn’t do it.

The front door opened, and I quickly shoved the paper back into the envelope. Until I could find a solution—or not find one at all—I couldn’t tell them.

I wiped away the tears that had fallen and hid the paper in one of the drawers.

Putting on a smile I didn’t feel, I made my way downstairs.

“Hey? How was lunch?”

“Oh, it was great! Wasn’t it, Dad? We saw Cameron and his mom there, too.”

Emilia winked at me when Dad’s back was turned, and I couldn’t control my eye roll. Dad hadn’t been on a date since mom died, and Emilia thought five years was long enough and he was ready. Then at New Year’s, Emilia got it into her head that Alice would be a good match for him.

I didn’t think Dad was ready to date anyone, and despite what Emilia thought, five years wasn’t long enough to get him back out into the dating world.

I shook my head, and she put one finger on her lips, as if telling me to not say a word. I didn’t even know what I would have said at that point anyway.

“Dad, don’t you think Ms. Moretti looked pretty today? She told me she got her dress last week on sale.”

“Yes, sweetheart. I thought she looked lovely today,” Dad said, indulging her.

Emilia’s smile widened as she walked to the kitchen counter, looking through the mail. My heart thudded in my chest, even though I knew the letter was well hidden upstairs in my office.

“Is there any news from Bowing’s?”

Aside from the acceptance letter Emilia received a few weeks back and the financial statement, there wasn’t any news. And I didn’t think they would be corresponding with us again until they received the full payment for the Fall semester.

“No, sorry. I’m sure they’ll send something soon.”

“I hope so. I need to know what they want me to do to prepare.”

“I’m sure they’ll give you plenty of time to prepare over the summer,” I said looking away, feeling ashamed for getting her hopes up.

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