And look at that—they got it. They’d listened.
By the time they struck their final poses, Charlotte nearly burst with pride in these boys. They were going to be amazing. The audience would eat them up. And more importantly, Jules would be so proud.
The music ended and they held the moment for a beat. Then, after a pause, Cole started applauding, and the boys let out a cheer. High-fives wound their way around the group, and she dared a glance at their coach, to find him smiling. She really wished he’d do that more often.
“Wow,” he said. “You guys killed it.”
“We have a good teacher,” Hotchke said. He draped an arm around Charlotte’s shoulder and Charlotte slunk out from under it.
“You need a shower, Hotch,” she said, eliciting laughs from the others.
“I can take a hint, Miss Page,” he said.
“It wasn’t exactly a hint,” Asher said. “She came right out and told you you stink.”
“All right,” Charlotte said. “That was pretty good.”
“Pretty good?” Dunbar’s tone was incredulous. “Miss Page, we killed it.”
“You did pretty good,” she repeated. “But there’s always room for improvement. Some of your moves were sloppy and, Greg, you were completely lost in section three.”
“You saw that, huh?” Greg asked.
“I saw everything,” she said. “That’s my job. Remember, if you’re on the stage, someone in the audience is always watching you. So, you can’t slack off.”
A quiet murmur worked its way through the room. “Promise me you’ll practice this before our next rehearsal?”
“We’re getting together tonight,” Asher said. “In the parking lot of the high school.”
“Okay, but don’t let anyone else watch,” Charlotte said. “We want it to be a surprise. You’re dismissed. Good work today.”
They congratulated themselves as they gathered their things and filtered out, saying goodbye to her and to Cole as they did.
Once the room had emptied, she found herself alone with Cole, and her nerves let her know exactly how they felt about that.
“Wow,” he said. “How’d you do that?”
She picked up her water bottle. “Do what?”
“Get them to work together like that? That’s the most cohesive I’ve ever seen them.”
She shrugged. “I try to make it fun.”
He held her gaze. “Fun.”
She nodded. “It’s taken me a long time to realize it, but fun is a great motivator.”
“Obviously.” He studied her for a beat. “Do you have fun when you dance?”
She shook her head. “I don’t want it to feel like that for these boys. I want it to feel like it did for your sister. She always had the time of her life, every time she took the stage.”
He half-smiled, but it was enough for her to spot a dimple in his left cheek. She hadn’t noticed that before. It was nice.
She motioned for Cole to take a place on the floor. “We’re going to pick up where we left off.” Where they’d left off had been nowhere because once they learned Amelia wasn’t coming to their last rehearsal, Charlotte had called it on account of her jittering nerves.
Would they betray her again today?
He slipped his hand around her waist.
Yep. The nerves were definitely little backstabbers.
“Let’s just do a simple box step,” she said. “The woman always leads with her right, which means—”
“I lead with my left.”
She grinned. “You can be taught.”
He rolled his eyes, then straightened, his grip on her hand firm. She counted him off and walked him through a 1-2-3 count, the most basic steps of a waltz.
And to her surprise, he caught on right away.
“I thought you said you were bad at this,” she said.
He frowned. “Bad is an understatement.”
She smiled. “Let’s do it again.” They’d worked their way up to moving around the floor when Amelia appeared in the doorway, Hildy at her side.
“You two look wonderful together,” Hildy said, a sigh in her voice.
Charlotte stepped out of Cole’s embrace. “Amelia, you’re here.”
The little girl turned shy.
“Are you ready to dance with your uncle?”
Amelia didn’t respond. Brinley had told Charlotte that the week had been a productive one with Julianna’s oldest. She’d danced in all of her classes, and she’d danced well. But maybe this dance, which she was supposed to do with her father, had a different sting.
“Why don’t you two show her what you’ve done so far?” Hildy smiled softly at Charlotte. “We’ll give her some time to warm into it.”
“Good idea,” Charlotte said. She returned to Cole, who still stood in the center of the floor while Hildy led Amelia off to the side.
Charlotte turned on some music—not their official song because she hadn’t selected that yet—and led Cole in a circle around the room. When they returned to the place where they’d started, she lifted her chin to face him. “Okay, now you lead.”
His arms went limp. “I’m not ready for that yet.”
“Yes, you are,” she said. She didn’t give him time to think about it. Instead, she counted him off and waited for him before she moved. On her second “One-two-three” he nodded and off they went, the same way they’d done before, only this time, it was Cole who determined their direction.
It was his hand on her waist that guided her, and for the briefest moment, she let herself get lost in the most basic of moves.
They returned to the center of the room and came to a stop. She should step out of his arms. She should drag her gaze away. She should run for safety.
But she did none of those things.
Instead, she simply stared, memorizing the way it felt to be held.
Behind her, Hildy cleared her throat. “That was lovely. Cole, I had no idea you could dance.”
“I can’t,” he said, still looking at Charlotte.
Finally, she took a step back. “Your turn, Amelia.”
The little girl stood and stepped forward quietly and stood in front of her uncle.
Cole smiled down at her. “Now the real test begins.”
Amelia glanced up at him, a curious look in her eye.
“The real professional,” he said. “I’m not sure I can keep up with you.”
A shy smile crossed her lips, and something inside Charlotte’s heart squeezed. “Are we ready?”
The pair nodded and Charlotte walked them through the first section of the dance. Cole wasn’t as graceful as Amelia, but he never gave up, and after about forty-five minutes, they had a solid start.
They came to a stopping point, and Charlotte smiled. “I think we’re going to have a winner on our hands.”
Cole looked at Amelia, and the two of them smiled.
Amelia looked at Hildy, who’d parked herself off to the side. “What did you think, Miss Hildy?”
Hildy stood. “I think your uncle might need a little more rehearsal than you. You’re kind of a pro.” She looked at Charlotte and winked.
“Ouch,” Cole said. “Hit a man while he’s down, why don’t ya?”