A Wright Christmas - K.A. Linde Page 0,6

to stand next to me. She only came up to my hip, but she was full of energy. “I’ve heard all about you. You’re a ballerina. A real ballerina.”

I startled out of my own melancholy. “You’ve heard about me?”

“Of course! My daddy only knows one real ballerina. One day, I’m going to move to New York and dance on a stage, just like you!”

I squatted down to her level. “I believe that you will.”

“Of course I will. Daddy tells me that I can be anything I want when I grow up.”

“He’s right.”

“I’m even going to be a mouse in The Nutcracker this year.”

“That’s quite impressive,” I encouraged. “And how old are you?”

She held her hand out. “Five. But I’m going to be six in April.”

“Wow. That is quite an accomplishment for a five-year-old.”

“I know. I’m smart and a good listener,” she boasted.

I cracked a smile.

“And modest, too,” Isaac said with a laugh, ruffling Aly’s perfect ballet bun.

“Dad, don’t mess up my hair!”

“Do you want to know something, Aly?” I asked.

She nodded vigorously.

I tried not to laugh. “I am going to be the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker here in Lubbock this year.”

Aly screamed in delight. Isaac shushed her with an eye roll as the parents who were still nearby looked over in shock. “That is going to be ah-may-zing! Daddy, did you hear?”

“I did, Aly Cat. Now, you should probably let Peyton go. I’m sure you will see her around a lot at rehearsals.”

“I can’t wait,” she said, clenching her hands into fists and shaking with joy.

I straightened up and hauled my dance bag back over my shoulder. “Well…I’ll see you around.”

Isaac nodded at me. “Looking forward to it.”

I swallowed back my disappointment and all the questions I wanted to ask. First and foremost among them: Where’s her mom?

I was deeply regretting not being on social media. For so long in my career, it had meant direct access to my critics, and I just hadn’t been able to handle that. Now, I was wondering how I could be so out of the loop.

With one more backward glance at Isaac holding Aly’s tiny hand, I hastened out of the Lubbock Ballet Company lobby and away from all my what-ifs from the past.

4

Peyton

“You will never guess who I ran into at the Lubbock Ballet Company,” I said to Piper later that day as I drove with her and Blaire to my parents’ home on the south side of town.

“Isaac Donoghue,” Piper guessed.

My eyes widened. “How did you guess?”

“Because his daughter is obsessed with dance. She’s there almost every day.”

“What?” I gasped. “You knew this and didn’t tell me?”

“Everyone knows that, Peyton,” Blaire said from the backseat.

I turned around to glare at her, but Blaire just laughed. She was Piper’s roommate and best friend from college. They’d been inseparable ever since they first met. She had a baseball hat low over her wide blue eyes, and her nearly black hair whipped around her face in the wind with the Jeep’s top down. It was too cold to have the top down at the end of November, but Piper always liked to push boundaries.

“Well, I didn’t know that. It was quite a shock to meet his daughter.”

“She’s so cute though, isn’t she?” Piper said.

“She is. Is her mom…in the picture?” I asked as nonchalantly as I could.

But Piper’s smile fell off her face. “She died…in childbirth.”

“Oh.”

I flushed and looked out the window as the streets of my parents’ neighborhood zoomed past. Christmas lights dotted the houses as everyone prepared for the upcoming holiday. For so long, that had only meant extra hours in the studio and endless Nutcracker performances. Not that I’d ever minded. But in that moment, I minded.

“Yeah, he’s doing okay now, as far as I know,” Piper said. “It was pretty traumatic at the time.”

“I can only imagine.” With a sigh, I turned back to Piper. “So, he’s a single dad? Not…attached?”

Piper’s smile returned. “Are you interested?”

“No,” I said automatically. “I’m only here for a month. I’m just trying to digest everything I missed.”

“Liar.”

Blaire cackled from the backseat. “Yeah, he’s single. His parents and sister help take care of Aly a lot.”

“Oh, wow, Annie,” I said, remembering his sister’s name. “I haven’t seen her in forever. She was just a little kid when I left.”

“She’s in med school now,” Piper said.

“That’s amazing.”

“Yeah, Blaire plays on Isaac and Annie’s soccer team, the Tacos.”

“The Tacos?” I asked with an eye roll.

“Hey the Tacos are awesome!” Blair said. She leaned forward. “Anyway, Isaac