“Wait. You didn’t?”
“Nope, not a one. I was too busy trying to be a famous dancer.” A thought occurred to her as they drew up to the front of Dance with Me. “Wait, weren’t you working all the time? I thought you started modeling when you were a little girl.”
“Oh, no. I didn’t start that until the middle of my senior year. Before that, I was all about trying to fit in and spend time with Tyler.”
Shannon couldn’t help but grin. Kimber probably didn’t realize it but even now her voice softened when she said his name. “Tyler, huh?”
Kimber rested against the headrest. “Oh, honey. He was so fine. He was the running back on the football team, and he played basketball, too.”
“He sounds athletic.”
“Oh, he was all that.” She crossed her legs. “But more than all the sports, there was something more important that I couldn’t shy away from.”
“Which was?” Shannon was fully invested now.
“Tyler thought I was amazing.” Kimber kind of sighed under her breath. “That counted more than anything to me.”
Shannon couldn’t believe that Kimber sounded so insecure. “But you are, Kimber.” She not only was beautiful, she was fun, and she uprooted her whole fancy New York life to live in a run-down loft in southern Ohio.
“I didn’t feel that way. I was constantly trying to figure out why my parents weren’t all about me. I knew I was adopted, of course, but half the time they kind of acted like they wished they’d picked a different baby.”
“I’m sure that isn’t true.” She really hoped not, anyway.
“Probably not, but I was a disappointment. They had goals, and I didn’t meet them. I know that to be true.”
“Oh, Kimber.”
“Hey, now. It’s time to redirect this conversation. I sure didn’t want to go down that road. My point is that I had Tyler, and for a time, we were in love.”
“And then you weren’t?”
“And then . . . he found somebody else to love.”
“Ouch,” Shannon said as she parked the car.
“Yeah. I’m not gonna lie. That hurt . . . Bad.” She sighed. “I swear I was the last to know. One minute I was feeling like Tyler and I were so tight we were going to plan a whole future together. Then, next thing I knew? Tyler had found Madison, and I was yesterday’s bacon.”
“Guys are pigs.”
“Not all of them, but that boy sure hurt me bad,” Kimber said as they unlocked the front door and entered the warm building.
Turning on a couple of lights, Shannon said, “I bet one day you’ll meet a man worthy of you.”
Kimber shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know if it really matters. I found two sisters. I’ll take that.”
Putting down her purse and her bag of books, Shannon let herself really take a good look around her new home. There was their Addams Family couch in the entryway. Her pretty desk in the corner of her dance studio. A stairway with carved spindles that Traci had polished the other night when she’d been bored.
Suddenly, it didn’t seem like it was worn out and too small. Instead, it looked like home. Like a place to be thankful for.
“I’m glad I found you, Kimber.”
Kimber leaned over and kissed Shannon’s cheek. “You and me both, sister. Now, let’s get inside and make some decent coffee.”
As she followed Kimber up the stairs to their very fine coffee maker, she took a moment and looked up.
“Thanks,” she said softly.
She didn’t hear a reply, but she didn’t need one. She’d had so many prayers answered already.
CHAPTER 24
“Our feet are planted in the real world, but we dance with angels and ghosts.”
—John Cameron Mitchell
By the time they’d gone four blocks, Jennifer knew that going with Jack was a mistake. It wasn’t anything that he’d done, the problem lay with her. As much as she wanted to be better, she knew she still had a ways to go. The enclosed space, the feeling that she wouldn’t be able to escape easily, even the sense that he was expecting something from her scratched at her nerves.
She began to feel clammy and a little ill.
When Jack pulled to a stop in front of a very pretty house near the river, she was silently giving herself a stern pep talk. She could do this. She just had to stop letting her imagination get the best of her.
As if he could tell that she wasn’t doing well, Jack glanced at her warily before walking to the back seat to let the puppy out. “I need to put Harvard inside and give him some food. Do you want to come inside with me or stay out here?”
She wasn’t ready to be alone with him in his house. “I’ll just stay out here. The falling snow is so pretty.”
He looked at snowflakes covering his windshield with a doubtful expression. “All right. I won’t be long. But if you change your mind—”
“If I change my mind or get cold, I’ll come inside. I promise.”
“I’ll stop worrying about you then. I’ll be out in five minutes or so.” He snapped his fingers. “Come on, Harvard.”
The pup loped off the seat and onto the driveway, wagging his tail at his owner. Jack bent down and rubbed the puppy’s head, then laughed when Harvard yipped.
As the puppy scampered around Jack’s feet, gazing up at him with adoring eyes, Jennifer crossed her arms over her chest, loving how cute the two of them were together.
But then, right in front of them, Harvard stopped, spotted a fluffy gray rabbit at the tree line, and did an about-face and started running toward the woods.
Seconds later, he was gone.
“Harvard!” Jack yelled. “Harvard, come back here.”
Jennifer got out of his truck. “Want me to help?” She scanned the area but couldn’t see a thing.
Looking back at her, he shook his head. “You won’t get too far with those leather flats. Might as well stay dry.” With a curse, Jack started running. “I’m sorry. I’ve got to find him.”
“Of course you do. Um, I’ll wait around here in case he circles back.”
“Thanks!” he called out before disappearing into the woods.
Jennifer craned her neck, hoping to hear either Jack or the rustle of leaves, signaling that Harvard had lost his quest for that rabbit.
After a couple of more minutes, she didn’t hear anything from where Jack had disappeared. But she was pretty sure she spied a glimpse of the pup in the opposite direction. After hesitating a moment, she ran that way into the woods.