She hadn’t been able to sleep for fear of losing her chance of buying the dance studio, and honestly, it had tied a huge knot in her stomach.
She’d come here to take it over. She’d come because she wanted to be the one to carry on Julianna’s dream. She’d come for absolution.
She marched toward the front door and knocked, aware that she might not be doing herself a favor showing up unannounced.
But when the door opened and Amelia stood on the other side of it, dressed and wearing a sparkly headband, she hoped she was in the clear.
“Miss Charlotte?” Amelia’s big eyes stared at her.
“Hi, Amelia,” she said. “How are you?”
“Fine.” The little girl gave her a quizzical look. “You saw me yesterday.”
“Right,” she said. “Your turns are looking beautiful.”
She smiled. “Thanks. Why are you here?”
“I’m here to see your dad,” Charlotte said. “Is he here?”
Amelia turned. “Dad! Miss Charlotte is here to see you.”
Connor emerged from another room, baby on his hip, looking slightly more alive than he had the last time she’d seen him. Charlotte smiled. Connor didn’t.
“Charlotte?”
“Sorry to barge in on you,” she said, stepping inside.
“I’m trying to get the kids ready for the babysitter,” he said. “Can this wait?”
“Not really,” she said. It wasn’t true. It could wait. It wasn’t life or death. And yet, it couldn’t wait. Because if he sold the business to someone else and she missed her chance, she’d never forgive herself.
“Okay, well, here.” He shoved the baby in her arms, and the little girl squirmed. “Follow me.”
She did, straight through the house and into the sweetest nursery Charlotte could’ve imagined. The soft cream was accented by colors just slightly deeper than pastel and in the corner was a rocking chair. She could practically see Jules rocking her babies to sleep right there, singing a quiet lullaby.
“Charlotte?”
She turned to find Connor staring at her, holding a stack of diapers. “Sorry, what?”
“What’s so important you showed up this early?”
She shifted the baby to her other hip and watched as he packed the diaper bag with all the necessities. He seemed better, but she wondered if he was just going through the motions.
“Don’t sell the dance studio to that person from Chicago,” she said.
He stopped packing and looked at her. “How’d you find out about that?”
“Doesn’t matter,” she said. “Sell it to me.”
He shoved a small container of wipes and a change of clothes inside the bag and walked out of the room, Charlotte close on his heels.
“I know Julianna. I know what she wanted to do here,” Charlotte said. “And I know I’m the person to carry on her legacy.”
He was in the kitchen now, pouring coffee into a travel mug, and that’s when she saw the threat of tears behind his eyes. The pain of thinking about Julianna was still so raw.
“I loved her, Connor,” Charlotte said. “And I’m a good teacher.”
“It’s too late,” he said. “I already sold it.”
Charlotte’s heart dropped straight to her feet. “You did?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t have time to think about it. They made me a good offer.”
“So, it’s a done deal?”
He screwed the lid on his travel mug and took the baby from her. “I mean, there are papers to sign, but other than that, it’s a done deal.”
Amelia appeared in the doorway and took her sister from Connor. “We’re going to be late.”
Charlotte’s eyes had filled with tears. She was so sure she knew what she was doing when she left the ballet. How could she be so wrong?
“I’ll see you tonight, right, Miss Charlotte?” Amelia faced her now.
Charlotte nodded. “I’ll be there to watch.”
“What’s tonight?” Connor asked.
“My dance class, Dad,” Amelia said, her tone slightly exasperated. She walked out of the room. “We’ll be in the car!”
Connor went still. “She’s dancing again?”
Okay, so he definitely wasn’t completely in the land of the living. Other people were still managing his life for him, and that was fine. But it meant that when it came to the studio, he didn’t know yet what was best—not for the community or the students or for Julianna’s memory.
“She’s dancing,” Charlotte said. “With me.”
His face fell. “I didn’t know.”
She waited a moment before speaking. “Don’t sign the papers.”
“Charlotte—”
“Wait until after the recital,” she said. “Come see how it goes, and if you still feel like you need to sell to this other buyer and turn her studio into something she would hate, so be it.”
He paused at the door and smirked at her. “This is an interesting sales