Page 136 of The Forever After Bet

Ford is standing in the middle of the hallway with his arms open, and I run into them at full speed. He lifts me up, spinning me around.

“You were incredible.” He tightens his hold around me and kisses my neck.

“Thank you,” I breathe, feeling happy, blessed, excited, and relieved it’s over.

Ford sits me down, and my mom wraps her arms around me.

“You were so beautiful and graceful on that stage. I’m so proud of you. Congratulations, Hanny.”

I pull back, looking at Beth. She’s never called me by my nickname before. I smile and hug her again. “Thank you for being here and supporting me, Mom.”

Beth pats my cheek, wiping away a stray tear. “It was my pleasure.”

“Enough of the mushy, gushy crap.” Jack yanks on my arm and pulls me into a hug. “I had no idea you could dance like that. There’s a hole in the back of my head where my mind has been blown away.”

I tip my head back, laughing. “Thank you for coming.”

Ty picks me up, hugging and shaking me. “Congrats, Clark. I need you to teach me how to do those spins on your tiptoes.” He sits me down and attempts a spin, but trips over his feet.

“I teach dance every Monday, but beware, I have twelve seven-year-old girls in my class. I If you’re not careful, they’ll eat you alive.” I pat Ty’s shoulders.

“What do we think, Clark family?” Micah says, walking up to us. “You’re looking at the first place All American lyrical dancer for the Pacific Northwest.” Micah holds his hands out and everyone claps for me—again. I stand tall and take several bows.

“I knew you could do it,” Sophie says. She hands me a small blue gift bag. “This is for you.”

“Thank you. You didn’t have to.” I give her another hug, even though we’ve hugged several times today.

“We wanted to,” Micah says. “Unfortunately, we can’t stay to celebrate. We have a meeting with our dance team dancers and their parents. They have their big competition tomorrow.”

“Good luck,” I say.

“Thank you. I will see you on Monday.” Sophie waves as they walk away.

“It’s time to celebrate.” Ty rubs his hands together. “I’m starving. Let’s go eat.”

“I’m hungry too. Where should we go?” I ask, glancing at everyone.

“There’s a great Italian place near here called Gilda’s. I called yesterday and made a party reservation for seven-thirty. Is that all right with everyone?” Ford asks, glancing around.

“Pasta sounds fabulous,” my mom says, rubbing her belly. “Let’s go.”

“I’ll drive,” Ford says.

“I need to get all my stuff. How about if Jack and Ty help me and you take mom and go get the car,” I say looking at Ford.

“That sounds great.” He smiles without hesitation and puts a hand on Beth’s back, guiding her toward the exit.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Jack says as we watch them leave.

“Me too. They need to have a talk, though, and this is a weekend of growth.” I pat Jack on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s get my stuff.”

“I take it you worked things out with Beth?” Ty asks as we walk.

“Yeah, we have a ways to go, but we’re going to work on our relationship,” I say. “I have the two bags and the dress bag with my costume in it.” I try to grab my duffle, but Ty and Jack insist on carrying everything.

“You know Jack, you need to talk to mom and figure stuff out.”

Jack narrows his eyes at me. “We’re good.” He shrugs.

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