When they got to the door of the building, he waited until she found the key. “Good luck tomorrow. I’ll text you later to see what you decided.”
“Good.” She smiled softly at him before unlocking the door. When it opened and he saw that a light was shining on the second-floor landing, she said, “I guess I’m set now.”
He didn’t know if it was an invitation or not, but he leaned closed and kissed her lightly on the lips. To his satisfaction, she rested her hands on his shoulders and leaned into him. When they pulled apart, her lips were parted slightly.
He covered one of her hands with his own. “Night, Kimber.”
“Good night, Gunnar Law,” she murmured before walking inside.
After he heard her lock the door, he walked back to his truck, thinking that things might be good in his future after all.
CHAPTER 12
the cavalier: The handsome partner of
the Sugar Plum Fairy
“Okay, ladies. That’s it for tonight,” Miss Shannon said. “We had a real good class tonight. Y’all worked real hard. All of you are dismissed.”
There was a collective sigh through the whole room. The practice had been really hard.
Practically collapsing on the floor, Bethany waved to two of the other girls who were already on their way out the door. She wasn’t that anxious to get out of there, but she was anxious to give her feet a rest. She was pretty sure she had two new blisters on her right foot.
Just as she sat down on the floor to undo the ribbons of her toe shoes, Miss Shannon walked to her side. “Are you okay, Bethany?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Pulling off her right shoe, she winced as she saw that one of those blisters she’d worried about had not only appeared but had started to bleed.
“Uh-oh,” Shannon said. “You’re going to need to soak that foot tonight.”
“I will.” Luckily, her mother never gave her lectures about bloody toes, just pulled out her footbath and handed her a towel.
“I’m glad we’re the only two people left in here, because I wanted to talk to you about something. Do you have a moment or does your mother need you to rush off?”
“Um, I’m pretty sure I have a moment. But, could I text my mom and tell her I’ll be another five minutes?”
Miss Shannon looked pleased, which helped her roaring nerves a lot. “Yes, honey. You do that. Get yourself together and text your mom. When you’re ready, I’ll be over at my desk.”
“Yes, Miss Shannon.”
“And Bethany?”
She skidded to a stop. “Yes?”
“Try not to feel so nervous. This is a good thing, I promise.”
Smiling weakly, Bethany nodded. Then she quickly did as her teacher suggested, putting on sweatpants, thick socks, and her favorite rubber flip flops that had the Velcro straps across the toes. Finally, she texted her mom that she had to meet with her teacher for a few, tossed her phone in her purse, and hurried over to her teacher’s desk.
She looked up like she’d forgotten Bethany was there. “Boy, that was quick.”
“I didn’t have much to do.”
“Goodness, but you look worried.” Frowning slightly, Miss Shannon’s usually thick accent got even thicker. “Honey, I’m real sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Like I said, what I wanted to talk to you about is a good thing.”
“Yes?” Bethany wished she’d just get on with it.
“I’d like you to take on the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy.”
She just about fell over. “You mean the main one?”
Shannon’s smile got bigger. “Yep. You’ve really been working hard and it shows. All of you girls are very talented, and honestly I couldn’t decide between two of you, but then today, your pirouettes were incredible. And you’re picking up material more quickly than the other girls.”
“Thank you.”
“You’ve also become a real leader, dear. You have a good way with the little girls in the cast. They look up to you and I think you’ll be a great help to me. In short, I think you’ll make everyone proud.”
“I don’t know what to say.” She had been working hard, but she hadn’t thought anyone noticed.
“Do you want to think about it? It does mean more practices and more responsibility.”
“No.” When Miss Shannon blinked, Bethany said in a rush, “I mean, no, I don’t need to think about it. I want to be the Sugar Plum Fairy. Thank you!”
“You’re very welcome. I’ll work on the schedule and talk to you and your mother later this week.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Anxious to tell her mother, she suddenly thought of something. “Um, is this a secret? I mean, can I tell my mom?”
A warm smile appeared. “It’s not a secret at all. Tell whomever you would like, dear.”
“Thank you!” she said again before she hurried to the parking lot. A quick scan showed her mom was sitting in her van. Like usual, she had her Kindle open and was reading. She started when Bethany opened the door. “Oh, Bethy. You startled me! Is everything okay?”
“Mom, you’ll never guess what happened?”
She turned off her tablet and put it in her purse. “You better tell me quick, then.”
“Miss Shannon asked me to be the Sugar Plum Fairy! Mom, the main one!”
“That’s incredible!” She reached out and hugged Bethany tight. “Congratulations! My goodness, think of all the years you performed other parts.”
“I know! Remember when I was a baker for about two minutes?”
Her mother nodded. “It was so hard for Dad and me to sit through all those dress rehearsals for your fleeting brush with fame.”
Just the reminder of how much her parents had done for her was humbling. “You’ve done so much for me. Thanks.”
“Oh, sweetie. This isn’t about us. It’s about your hard work. You should be very proud to be cast as the Sugar Plum Fairy. It’s quite an achievement.”
Bethany held out her hand. “When Miss Shannon first asked me to stay late, I was worried that I’d done something wrong. But then she gave me a bunch of compliments and said she wanted me to be the fairy.”
“This is so exciting. You deserve it too. You’ve been working so hard.”
“She said I’m going to have to do extra practices.” Suddenly thinking about her mother’s job as a receptionist at the veterinary hospital, she felt another rush of doubts. “Can I do that?”