At last night’s final group dinner Casey had purposely wedged herself in between a couple parents at the opposite end of the table from Drew. On the way home he had taken a seat next to Casey in the limo, but she’d managed to make an excuse to get up and reseat herself elsewhere.
Yet she could think of nothing but him today. Spending her afternoon in the greenhouse going over and over what might have been.
The November dusk came early, the dark and cold settling in fast. Casey walked back into the main living area. Roses that arrived yesterday sat in a vase on the table. From dear Amanda, her first mentor and dance teacher, who now lived in Florida with her husband, Russ.
Just as she put on some tea, Parker’s phone rang. Casey glanced at the caller ID. It was Jenna.
She picked up. Partly because she loved her sister too much to stiff her and knew Jenna would not have flirted with Drew if she’d known the truth. But also because at this point the suspense around Drew and Jenna was killing Casey. “Hi, baby sister.”
“Hey, why aren’t you answering your cell?”
“I was working in the greenhouse and kind of left it somewhere,” she lied.
“Uh-oh. Parker’s weirdness is rubbing off on you. How’re you feeling after your big win last night?”
“Oh, pretty good, I guess. So, are you going to be seeing Drew Byrne?” Not exactly subtle, but Casey had to know. Except now she held her breath waiting for Jenna’s reply as if it were an executioner’s axe.
“Nope. He didn’t even ask for my phone number.”
Casey let out a thankful sigh and sank into a wooden chair at the garden table that filled the center of the room. “Did he say anything about…his son’s dance teacher?”
“Yeah. He thinks you’re great.”
“Really?” Casey tried to damp down the hope rising in her. But she didn’t have to try too hard because Jenna’s next words did it for her.
“Too bad he’s already involved with somebody, because he’s definitely hot.”
“Involved? How do you know?”
Jenna giggled. “I did a little probing. When I invited him to come see the ballet tonight and meet me for a bite afterwards, he said he already had a date lined up. I came out and asked if he was involved with someone. Well, he got this look and said, ‘Yeah. And she’s real special.’ So I backed off.”
Casey forced out a short laugh, fighting back tears. Luckily she heard Parker’s truck pulling in. “Big bro’s home from work. I’ll run and get him.”
“No need. Just give him a hug for me. I only called to see how you were doing. Even though you weren’t performing yourself, I know the awful slump that happens after the excitement dies down.”
“I’ll say.” Too bad Jenna’s news about Drew having a woman who was special to him made it worse. Was the woman someone he’d met after Casey insisted they just be friends? Or someone he’d been seeing all along? Maybe even Amber?
Casey thanked Jenna and signed off. She watched Reef and Skipper doing their usual happy dance around Parker as he got out of his truck. Not sure she could handle a lucid conversation, much less keep herself from crying, she made a beeline for her room.
Parker shuffled about, settling in after a day’s work. Casey knew he’d start wondering why she hadn’t even emerged to say hello. But before she could muster the control to talk without breaking down in front of him, her brother knocked at her door.
She pulled it open. “Hi.”
He walked in. “What’s up, Casey? You look lost.”
“A little mixed up, I guess.”
“Maybe you should cheer yourself up with a spin in your fancy new car.”
She moaned, glaring out the window at the hulky shadow in the dark yard. Andrew Byrne’s gift. “I’m not keeping it.”
“Why not? The old boy can afford it. And you deserve it.”
“Deserve it?”
“Come on, Casey. You saved the guy’s heart from dying, for God’s sake.”
Her voice faltered. “Too bad I can’t do the same for my own.”
Parker did a double take. “That’s what’s wrong, isn’t it? You are in love with Drew Byrne.”
Casey pressed her lips together and nodded. “I tried really hard not to be, but I can’t help it.”
“Have you told him?”
“No. It’s too late now. And it’s my own stupid fault.” She broke into an avalanche of tears.
Parker guided her to the cot and sat next to her as she sobbed into her hands. “Tell me what happened.”
“I don’t want to dump my weird baggage on you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. That’s what big brothers are for.”
Casey blew her nose, got hold of herself and told him everything. All the way back to their visit to Taz’s vineyard, the catering job at Amber’s party, Drew’s explanation, his two a.m. phone call that ended with her refusal, to Andrew Sr. telling her Drew loved her, to Madame Lumina and their fight at Halloween and the latest news about him now being involved with someone else.
“Okay, I hear all that, Casey, and I think his father’s right. When Drew spoke to me about you, I could tell he really loved you. And people don’t fall out of love that easily. As you’re proving right now.”
“Just because I’m a mush who can’t let go doesn’t mean Drew’s still hooked on me. If he ever really was.”
“Cut it out. If building that whole performing arts academy isn’t a sign of his devotion to you, don’t ask me what is.”
She smirked. “That’s not for me. Drew contributes to a lot of charities. And his son needs—”
“His son will be living with his mother in Germany now that the Got Moves contest is over. I assure you, Drew is building that place for you.”
Casey stood and paced back and forth, something inside her ready to burst. She needed to move, to run, to dance. “You’re a dreamer, Parker. Maybe that’s the kind of thing you would do, but Drew’s more practical.”
“Practical? I know a bit about construction and Drew is sinking an outrageous amount of cash into a place that will probably never earn a profit.”
“Especially if it’s run by the likes of me. Which is why I’m going to take my share of the Got Moves prize money and leave town. I don’t want to be here anymore.”
“What?”
“I’ve decided to tell Drew I can’t do it.”
“He’ll be crushed if you tell him you don’t want that studio.”
“I doubt that. I’ll miss my students, but Drew will probably find someone a lot better than me to teach them.”
“There isn’t anyone better than you, Casey.”
“Oh, please. I’m a B-lister on all counts.”
Parker made a growling sound in his throat. “How come you’re so strong when you’re going to bat for other people, but when it comes to yourself you fold? You’ve been doing this your whole life. Throwing in the towel even when you’re winning.”
“Winning? You mean the Cove Corps? The kids did that.”
“The kids? Who taught them, rehearsed them, choreographed the dances and directed the whole project? You created the win, Casey. You.” He stood and looked down at her. “But that’s just for starters. You’ve also succeeded in getting the kind of studio you’ve always wanted and winning the love of a top dog like Drew Byrne.”
“Don’t you get it? Drew doesn’t love me!” She whipped around so fast the end of her unzipped hoodie snapped across a low shelf where Casey had put a few things she’d dug out of her storage boxes when Parker made this room for her. Something flew off and crashed on the rugless floor.
She looked down and saw the shattered pieces of the blue unicorn her father had given her just before he died.
Casey ran from the room, tears clouding her eyes. She snatched up her key ring plus an envelope that sat on the table and raced outside.
Parker followed her out of the room and barreled after her.
But Casey was already in the driver’s seat revving the engi
ne of her Escalade. She took a quick glance in the rearview at Parker’s truck, slipped into reverse and gently touched the gas.
And heard a loud, metallic crunch.
“Shit! Sorry, Parker.” Casey hit the brakes, put it in Drive and tore out of the yard, biting her lip against a steady stream of curses and tears.
She turned onto Route 48 and drove. No idea where she would go. Didn’t matter. She just needed the feeling of motion.
But when Casey slowed at the first main intersection she heard that familiar whooping sound and noticed the multicolored strobe of a police car.
It pulled up alongside her. The cop who came to her window was Officer Jimmy Boy McCauley. An old high school wrestling star she’d once had a teenage crush on—until the night he polished off a case of Bud and mooned half the population of North Fork from the back seat of his best friend’s car.
“Casey Richardson. I’ve been hearing a lot about you lately. Saw the kids on TV. Congrats. Even my little Aubrey wants to take lessons now.”
“Thanks, Jimmy. Nice to see you.” Of course she was wearing her rattiest hoodie and probably had dirt smeared on her face from wiping her tears after working all day in the greenhouse. She could guess what was coming.
“Hate to tell you, Casey, but you’ve got a busted taillight.”
“I know. I’ll take care of it.”
He wrote up a slip and handed it to her. “Sorry, but I’ve got to give you this warning. Fix it within two weeks, and you won’t be fined.”
“Will do.”
“Great car, by the way.”
“Hey, nothing like a shiny new car with a busted taillight.”
“One of the prizes from the show? I know it’s not from a rich husband.” He laughed at what he obviously thought was a great joke. “Everybody from the old high school crowd says you live alone in the dance studio with your cats.”
She mumbled something about being out at Parker’s farm and drove off into the night, wishing she could be alone in her dance studio right now.
And suddenly Casey knew where she needed to go.
Within minutes she parked in a weed-filled lot behind the massive building that was soon to be the North Cove Performing Arts Academy. She walked through the dark to the side door and fumbled with the studio keys she kept on her New York Yankees keychain alongside those for Parker’s house.
She stepped into a short hallway that was pitch black. Careful not to trip on any tools that might have been left on the floor by the workmen, she brushed her hand along the wall, found a light switch and flicked it on. Enough light to almost make her life seem bright again. Like dancing on a beach.
As Casey made her way from the smaller studios created by new walls, to the office, the dressing rooms and finally to the enormous main studio, conflicting emotions battled inside. Parker was right. Even in the days when she was an aspiring performer she’d dreamed of having a school like this. Truth was, she didn’t like the life a professional dancer had to lead, spending weeks at a time on the road, fretting over gaining a couple pounds, vying for roles, competing for rank and dealing with company politics.
Sometimes her sister amazed her the way she could take it all in stride. Maybe it was because Jenna grew up with Casey and Parker always there for her as stand-in parents, while Casey’s world fell to pieces when her dad died and alcohol turned her mother into someone she no longer recognized. Whatever the reason, Casey had discovered what she really needed was peace and warmth and seeing the glow on kids’ faces when they learned something new.
Of course she wished she could have her own children, too, with a man who loved her passionately. She’d once had silly fantasies of Drew being that man. Now all that was left was their business partnership, and Casey knew she had to end that as well. She could never handle working with Drew if it meant seeing him with other women—especially if he fell as hopelessly in love with someone else as she had with him.
Turning around, Casey admitted to herself that she adored this place. She gazed up at the astoundingly high ceiling with the narrow skylight windows Drew had suggested. Tonight sparkling dots of stars peeked through. The dance floor had not yet been sanded. A few strips of plywood and other debris lay scattered. Casey cleared the floor and then used a push broom on it. She retrieved the workmen’s old paint and plaster smeared boom box and turned it on.
She tossed her hoodie to the side and began to dance in her jeans and sneakers. At first she just swayed and chugged and floated her arms around. But between the music’s driving beat and the questions screaming in her head, Casey’s body surged into bigger, faster and harder movement. She soared and leaped and turned, rolling to the floor and bounding upward, arms reaching wide. Propelling her body like a bullet through the vast space.
Losing herself in a rapturous delirium of dance.
***
When Drew saw a phone call coming in from Richardson’s Landscape Gardening and Lawncare his fears immediately went to Casey. He’d thought their last argument was the reason she wasn’t returning his calls, but now he freaked, imagining her in the hospital. Or worse.
“Parker?”
“Do you really care about my sister or not?”
“Yeah, I do. Is she in trouble? Did something happen?”
“Casey thinks you’ve moved on to somebody else now. Is that true?”
“Is that why she won’t return my calls?”
“Answer me, please.”
“I’m not seeing anyone.”
“Are you still in love with Casey?”
“Why am I always the one on the defensive? Maybe it’s time I started asking if she’s in love with me.”
“She’s crazy in love with you.”
The awful knot that Drew had been carrying around in his gut suddenly released. “And me with her.”
“I hope you mean it, because if you hurt my sister, I swear—”
“For your information I’m not the only one who’s pulled some bad moves.”
“I know. She told me.”
“So what’s this all about? Where is she?”
“Casey’s thinking of leaving town. Thinks you could find somebody better than her to run the studio.”
“What? The whole thing is for her. I wanted her to—”
“I told her that. But she doesn’t believe it. Or that you’d want her. She was really distraught and went driving off in the Escalade.”
“Don’t tell me she had an accident?” Drew panicked at the thought of losing Casey. Especially now that he finally knew she loved him.
“She’s okay. I followed her. But I decided you’re the one Casey needs to see now. Not me. She went to the new studio. Doesn’t surprise me. Growing up together I’d often find her dancing alone in the cellar when she was upset.”
“I’m there. Call me if anything changes.”
He grabbed the flowers he’d bought for his date tonight and raced to his father’s wing. The live-in nurse told Drew his dad was asleep and assured him she had his cell number if she needed him. On the drive to the North Fork he called Brendan’s mother when Josh didn’t answer his cell.
“How’s my boy doing at the sleepover party? He’s not picking up.”
“Stop worrying. Josh is fine. And you’re going to have to learn they don’t like to be embarrassed by calls from their parents.”
The saddest part was now that Drew was learning how to be a good father to Josh, Heather would soon take him away. Josh had called his mother last night about winning the Got Moves season. Heather had clearly been less than happy to hear it, since it came with Josh’s request to extend his stay. A surprise from his son that rewarded Drew in so many ways.
He reached the building in North Cove about seven o’clock. Relieved to see the red Cadillac SUV still parked there, Drew rushed inside and heard music coming from the main studio. He crept through the dim hall and stood in the shadows watching her.
He’d only witnessed Casey demonstrating short techniques in front of her
classes or rehearsals. Never saw her dance full out like this. Her fire, her beauty and the sheer power of her moves took his breath away. And made his heart swell.
This was the woman he loved. The only one he ever wanted.
***
The sound of applause snapped Casey out of her swirling dance.
A tall figure stepped out of the shadows. Drew Byrne.
What was it about him that made her pulse go wild the minute he came close? And why did he always have to look so darn gorgeous? Especially when she stood here with wild hair and no makeup, all sweaty and raw after dancing her butt off for the better part of an hour. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.”
“Yeah, well, here I am.” She shuffled to the box and flicked it off. “Hope you don’t mind me making personal use of your building.”
“It’s your building, too.”
“Not hardly. In fact, I need to talk to you.” She turned to him. Unable to keep her eyes on his, she looked at her hands while formulating her words. “I know I agreed to run the academy, but you could easily find someone much more—”
“It’s yours because I put your name on the property deed right next to mine.”
“What?” Did she hear him right? “Wh-why would you do that?”
He didn’t answer her, but instead walked closer with a cocky sort of half smile, almost as if he were stalking her. “I have a question about something you said when you pretended to be Madame Lumina.”
Casey rubbed her temples. “I’m sorry, Drew. I know it was dumb. And cowardly. I should’ve—”
“Just answer me this. Did you really pick those cards that pointed to my getting married? Or did you make that up?”
“Yeah, I pulled those cards. So?”
“Interesting prediction.”
Oh no. Hadn’t she cried enough for one day? All she needed was for Drew to tell her he was engaged to this special person Jenna had mentioned. Which reminded her… “Didn’t you tell my sister you had a date tonight?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Drew held out a bouquet of pink roses.
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