by LuAnn McLane
Ava gasped.
“I know, right? After snatching his phone, I went running out of the building,” Angelica exclaimed, waving her hands over her head.
“Is that how you ran?”
“Yes, I really did,” she said with a ghost of a smile. “And I hauled ass over here to get you back to the center so you can still perform your dance with Jesse.”
“But I’m a train wreck!”
“So go fix your face. Come on, redo your makeup! We have time to pull this off.”
Ava closed her eyes.
“Breathe. Dig deep, Ava. Come on, do this for Jesse.”
Ava sucked in a breath and then nodded her head. “Yeah, he doesn’t deserve this shit.”
“Now you’re talking! Now go . . . hurry. Chop, chop.”
Ava flicked her a glance. “Don’t say that again.”
“Sorry, got caught up in the moment.”
Ava felt a sudden surge of energy. She jumped up from the sofa and nearly ran into the bathroom. “Oh God.” She took one look at her ravaged face and groaned. But, determined, she washed her face and then reapplied her makeup, willing her fingers not to shake, and they somehow obeyed.
“You did it!” Angelica said triumphantly.
And somehow she had: though her eyes were still a little red, Ava’s makeup looked just as it had before Anthony had tried to ruin her night. She was suddenly filled with determination. “Come on, let’s go.”
They hurried down the back steps and into the parking lot, and Ava almost laughed when Angelica waved her hands over her head, as if that would make them get there faster.
“This is your car?” Ava asked, when they approached a shiny black Mercedes coupe.
“Spoiled rich girl, remember? Anthony can’t afford groceries, much less a luxury car or a house on the beach.”
“Right,” Ava said, opening the door. She slipped onto the smooth leather seat.
“My dad owns a dealership,” Angelica explained as the car rumbled to life. She chattered the entire ride over to the performing arts center. “I’m a walking, talking cliché,” she said while pulling out onto Main Street. “My mother was the starter wife, hates my dad with a passion. She’s a cliché too. Has had too much work done, dates younger men, and drinks wine like it’s water.” Angelica shook her head. “All my life, my father showered me with lavish gifts to compensate for his lack of involvement in my life. So I did stupid shit to get his attention, like dropping out of college to pursue my ballroom dancing. One of the reasons I stayed with Anthony was because my father hated him.” She shrugged. “Pathetic, right?” she asked, but kept right on going without giving Ava time to answer. “But what I did to you takes the fucking cake. Messing up my own life is one thing.” She pulled into the parking lot and killed the engine. “But messing up your life was wrong on so many levels. I don’t expect you to forgive me. But I’m sorry. Like, over-the-top sorry.”
“If you think we’re going to hug, think again,” Ava said, but without heat. “Look, you did a very bad thing.”
“Several, actually.” Angelica brushed away a tear. “Do you forgive me? Please say yes.”
Ava gave her a look.
“Too soon?”
“Okay, I’ll give you this. In a roundabout way, I dodged the Anthony Grecco bullet because of you. I’m not going to go so far as to say thank you, but you know what I’m getting at.”
“I’ll take it!” She leaned over, arms outstretched.
“Nope, no hug.”
“ ’Kay,” she said with a slight pout, but then brightened. “Let’s get you in there.”
“Right.” Ava put her hand to her fluttering stomach, knowing she was going to walk into chaos and questions. “Do you think Anthony is still in the building?”
“Yeah, he probably thinks I’ve come to my senses—and, well, I have, but not in the way he expects. I’ll never compete with him again. Before I snatched his phone, he left me a text message, threatening me after I let him know I was leaving and missed our time slot. Apparently, he sweet-talked the judges into letting us go last, lying that I’d gotten sick. So he’s likely still in there searching for me. I wonder if he knows I took his phone?”
“Are you going in?”
Angelica lifted her chin a notch. “You betcha.”
“Okay, look, you stick by me. The Heart brothers will keep it real,” Ava assured her, and Angelica looked a little dreamy at the prospect of getting protection from the four heartthrobs. “Angelica, focus.”
“Right,” Angelica said, and scrambled from the car.
“We’ll go up the back way so we don’t cause a commotion. Where do you think Anthony might be hiding?” Ava asked just before opening the heavy door.
“My guess is he’s locked in his dressing room. The coward,” Angelica added, following Ava inside.
“Okay, let’s hurry to my dressing room,” Ava said, praying they wouldn’t be seen. “Go slow.” Ava stopped at the end of the hallway. Having a run-in with Anthony was the last thing she wanted to do, so she peeked her head around the corner. “Coast is clear,” she whispered. “Let’s roll.”
Ava hurried toward her dressing room with Angelica so close she could feel her breath on her neck. But just as they were nearly to the door, Anthony came sauntering their way.
“Shit!” Angelica hissed.
“Well, well, what do we have here?” Anthony asked with an ugly sneer. He reached into his pocket and then frowned.
Angelica arched one eyebrow and came forward. “Looking for something?”
“Yes, where’s my fucking phone?” Anthony narrowed his eyes at Angelica.
“Gone forever.”
“It’s my damned phone. Give it back to me,” he growled, but Angelica stood her ground.
“Um, it was on my cell phone plan, so I had the right to take it,” she spat.
Ava watched the exchange with wide eyes. Anthony appeared so filled with anger that she wouldn’t have been surprised if he puffed up, turned green, split his clothes, and turned into the Incredible Asshole.
“Then I’ll launch the video from my computer.”
“Shut up, Anthony, there isn’t a video any longer. I deleted it from everything.”
“You did what?”
“You heard me,” Angelica said. “You never saved it to your laptop, remember? Made no backup file? And I took the liberty of wiping it from your iCloud account. You’re welcome, douche bag.”
“You little bitch—or should I say bitches.” Anthony’s eyes narrowed to slits. He fisted his hands at his sides and stood up on the balls of his feet. There was a time when his aggressive stance would have intimidated Ava—like right now—but she stood her ground next to Angelica.
“You need to leave before I have you escorted out of here,” Ava said. “And don’t bother going back home. Angelica’s done with you. Take the next bus out of town,” she ordered, even though her knees were knocking.
“Oh snap,” Angelica said. “And, by the way, Anthony? I’m not your fiancée any longer. We’re done.”
Ava wasn’t sure she’d ever seen pure rage before, but she sure as hell was seeing it right now. Anthony’s face turned beet red and his nostrils flared. Ava swallowed hard and suddenly wondered if they’d pushed him too far. Then again, maybe this was the first time a woman had stood up to him and he just couldn’t deal with it.
“You little bitches,” he spat again. A muscle jumped in his jaw, and Ava was certain he was going to turn violent. Fear gripped her, and, acting on instinct, she reached inside her purse, frantically searching for her phone. Dammit! Then her fingers found her travel perfume tube. She pulled it from her purse and pointed it at him. “Take one more step and you’ll get Mace in your eyes.”
“I can take that from you in nothing flat,” Anthony growled.
“Don’t even try it,” Ava said in what she hoped was a confident tone. Anthony lunged for her and she sprayed him in the eyes with Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue. Anthony scr
eamed like a girl, putting his hands to his eyes. But, determined, he came at Ava. To Ava’s surprise, Angelica ran in front of her, jumped on his back, and started to pummel him wherever she could make contact.
Anthony bucked and twisted like an enraged bull, tossing Angelica to the floor. He came charging at Ava, blinking and cursing a blue streak . . .
And then all four Heart brothers came charging around the corner.
“What the fuck’s going on here?” Jesse shouted, eyes widening when he spotted Ava. He hurried to her side.
“He’s crazy,” Angelica said in a shaky tone, accepting help up from Jimmy. “Like, seriously out there.”
“Ava, what’s going on?” Jesse asked, but she was afraid to come clean, since the Heart brothers all appeared seriously pissed. She didn’t want a scene, just for Anthony to go.
“Anthony tried to blackmail Ava, to scare her into leaving,” Angelica spoke up. “He threatened both of us and—”
Before she could finish, Jesse lunged forward and gave Anthony an uppercut shot to the jaw, sending him staggering backward.
“Get the fuck out of here before I beat the shit out of you,” Jesse said, jaw clenched, chest heaving.
Grady and Oliver hurried over to hold Jesse back. Grady gave Anthony a disgusted look. “I’d listen if I were you. I’ll give you ten seconds to run, and then I let Jesse have at it.”
Anthony appeared as if ready to run his mouth instead.
“Do it,” Jesse challenged, straining against Grady’s hold. “Open your fucking mouth.”
“Yeah, you’re all big and bad with your washed-up-boy-band brothers standing beside you. Bunch of losers.”
“Let go, Grady,” Jesse said, and when his brother released him Jesse swung at Anthony, but Anthony was ready and managed to sidestep the punch this time. “Come on,” Jesse challenged. “Just me and you.”
“You’re not worth it,” Anthony yelped, and with that, he turned and nearly ran away down the hallway.
“Dirtbag!” Angelica shouted after him. “That’s right, keep going! Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out!” she added, rising up on tiptoe. “And—”
“Angelica, enough,” Ava said in a loud whisper.
“Right,” Angelica said, nodding. “Gotcha.”
Jesse turned to Ava and pulled her into his arms. “You scared me to death. Why didn’t you call me and let me know what was going on? I’ve been going insane with worry.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ava said, close to tears. “I wanted to but . . . it’s complicated and I wasn’t sure what to do.”
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Jesse said, hugging her closer.
“Should we call the police?” Jimmy asked, clearly wanting to do so.
“No,” Ava replied. “I don’t think we’ll ever see him again.” She just wanted Anthony gone.
“He’ll crawl back under the rock he came from,” Angelica said, drawing everyone’s attention.
“So wait,” Grady said. “You’re the fiancée?”
“Ex,” Angelica muttered, but then blushed a bright pink when she realized she was the center of attention. “Ava and I just took him down together,” she added, wanting to be on the winning team. “Sweet move with the Mace threat.” She gave Ava a thumbs-up.
“I hated to waste my Light Blue on him.” Ava groaned, and relief started to settle in her stomach.
“I have a feeling this is going to be quite a story,” Oliver said with a slow shake of his head.
“Oh, no doubt.” Ava glanced over at Angelica, who still seemed uncertain. She nibbled on a wobbly bottom lip as if not sure what to do. “Angelica?”
“Yeah?” she asked.
“It’s time.”
“For me to leave?” Angelica asked, ducking her head.
Ava shook her head. Angelica was a victim of Anthony’s vile behavior. She’d been bullied and duped and she was obviously very sorry for her actions. Ava stretched her arms out to her, and Angelica flew over to Ava, nearly knocking her over.
“I’m so sorry,” Angelica said, with anguish in her voice.
“I know,” Ava said. “We just had a little bit of a John Tucker Must Die moment.”
Angelica stepped back and laughed.
“What’s that mean?” Grady asked.
“I think it’s a girl thing,” Oliver answered, looking confused.
“So then, can we be friends?” Angelica asked with raised eyebrows.
“Let’s take it one step at a time,” Ava answered.
“Gotcha.” Angelica appeared relieved. “But is it okay if I stay and watch you and Jesse dance?”
Angelica’s expression looked so hopeful that Ava couldn’t refuse. “Sure.”
“Let’s dance,” Ava said to Jesse.
“Are you sure?” Jesse asked with a frown of concern.
“Positive.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MUSIC OF MY HEART
Jesse didn’t know if it was the relief that Ava was with him after his earlier panic or the leftover adrenaline from his altercation with A2, but once he and Ava began performing their electrifying hip-hop dance routine to Heartbeat’s classic “Hold Me Tight,” magic started to happen. They began the dance with classic Argentine tango moves, crisp and dramatic while telling a sensual tug-of-war love story. Energy radiated from the stage, hit the audience, and bounced back to them. They dazzled the crowd with lightning-fast leg kicks, but when Jesse did his first hip-hop backflip, everyone went wild, obviously taken by surprise that this final dance was going to combine the two genres and go freestyle.
With her hand on her hips, Ava arched an eyebrow as if in surprise and then, with a challenging lift of her chin, she performed a backflip of her own, making the carefully choreographed dance seem to be a spontaneous dance-off. Their moves took on new life, defying gravity, and they seemed to dance together in one fluid motion.
“Let’s do this,” Jesse said in Ava’s ear during the final chords of the song, referring to the iconic Step Up move where Tyler lifted Nora and spun her above his head. When Ava nodded, Jesse lifted her up to a wildly cheering audience. Arms akimbo like the wings of a bird in flight, she soared above him, and as soon as he brought her back down to the floor, the curtains behind them parted to allow Grady, Jimmy, and Oliver to dance onto the stage, and Ava took her exit while Jimmy joined the Heartbeat crew. Heartbeat segued into “Give Me Another Tomorrow,” performing their classic boy-band dance moves and bringing the audience to their feet, singing along. Jesse looked across the stage after a fist-to-his-heart move and smiled at Ava, and she returned the gesture from the wings.
After Heartbeat’s bow and exit, the audience wasn’t ready for them to leave, and they started cheering for an encore with their cell phone flashlights raised in the air. When it was time to return to the stage, however, it was Oliver and Belinda who took over to perform “Islands in the Stream,” the song that had brought Oliver and Belinda together as a country duo.
“They’re so cute together,” Ava whispered to Jesse while watching from backstage. “I never would have thought in a million years that Oliver would embrace country music, but he’s so good.”
“Anything for love,” Jesse said, sliding his arm around her waist. The cold fear he’d felt when he saw Anthony attempting to harm her was a feeling he hoped never to experience again.
After Oliver and Belinda took their bow, Nancy Parsons headed out onto the stage.
“Well, it’s been quite a show tonight!” she proclaimed with a bright smile. “Not only were we dazzled by the amazingly talented ballroom dancers, many here from Sea Breeze, but we had surprise performances by our very own Heartbeat!” She had to wait for the crowd’s cheering to die down before continuing. “I know most of you already know what the Heart family means to Sea Breeze. They don’t like for me to sing their praises in public, but I’m in charge, and so I will do as I please,” she said, drawing laughter. “From the free music and voice lessons given at I Heart M
usic to donations of instruments and money to the Sea Breeze High School band, the Hearts have made sure that music stays alive and well in our town.” She pointed to the stage. “Besides starting the music store, John and Susan Heart helped to keep the Sea Breeze Performing Arts Center in business when times were tough. They directed plays and raised money and awareness for the arts.” She had to stop to clear her throat, obviously holding back tears. “If you’ll pardon the pun, this family is the heart of Sea Breeze and will be remembered with love and gratitude.” She looked over to the side of the stage. “I would like to bring the Heart brothers out onto the stage. Arabella, Belinda, Maggie, Ava . . . and Ella, come up here too,” she requested, waiting for the entire family to face the audience.
Jesse squeezed Ava’s hand, trying hard to hold back tears of his own.
“It is with great pleasure that I am announcing that this auditorium will be named the Heart Family Auditorium, in honor of our love and gratitude for all the Hearts have done for the community for so many years. And just outside the entrance, a plaque will be hung in memory of John and Susan Heart. And I want to add that donations for the Susan Heart Lupus Foundation can be given through our website. We also have envelopes and boxes in the lobby for your convenience. Please be generous,” she requested. “And now, please join me with a final, well-deserved round of applause for the Heart brothers and their families!”
When the audience jumped to their feet, Jesse couldn’t hold back tears, and neither could his brothers. They waved, bowed, and then made the fist-to-the-heart gesture before the curtains closed.
Tears flowed, hugs and more hugs commenced, and everything was followed up by laughter.
“That was unexpected,” Grady said, getting yet another hug from Arabella and Ella.
“But so deserved,” Arabella said, turning to Ava and Jesse. “Wow, that dance! I was blown away! Such energy, but so much emotion at the same time. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Jesse said, smiling at Ava.
Nancy rushed into the room. “Wait! Don’t go until we have a family picture.” She motioned to a photographer. “I want this to go out in the next newsletter.”
