by K. A. Linde
When Cassidy finally came out, I stopped her with a smile.
“Hey, have you seen Peyton?”
“I thought she’d already left! She might still be backstage. We had a little…drama tonight with the high school girls,” she said conspiratorially. “You’re free to go back there if you want to see her.”
“Thanks, Cassidy,” I said, entering the backstage area.
I’d been back here dozens of times while we were building the facility, but once it had come to life, it was strange to see it so…dead. Even the janitorial staff had finished cleaning up the stage. I could only hear them moving around out in the auditorium, looking for any trash.
I searched everywhere, except the women’s dressing room before realizing I was going to have to go in there. Where else would she be? She hadn’t snuck out in front of me. I’d been waiting for her.
With a sigh, I rapped on the door. “Peyton?”
“Isaac?” her voice called out in confusion.
“Is there anyone else in there with you?”
“No.”
“Can I come in?”
She paused. “Yes.”
I pressed open the dressing room door and found Peyton still in costume, lying on a chaise. Her eyes were red and puffy, as if she’d been crying.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I was waiting for you.”
“Where’s Aly?”
“She left with my mom at intermission. I wouldn’t have even let her dance if it hadn’t been a responsibility. She’d been a nightmare all day.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault. She had been bad in the morning, and then she got in trouble at school. So, I told her we had to cancel baking cookies with you. Then, she turned into a nightmare and had to go into time-out. It was a whole thing.” I stepped forward. “Why aren’t you out of costume?”
She blew out a heavy breath and looked at the ceiling. “We had…an incident with Katelyn.”
“Cassidy said there was high school girl drama.”
“Yes. She planted one of Bebe’s shoes in my exit wing. I tripped over it.” She sighed. “And landed on my knee.”
My eyes darted to her knee. Now that I knew, I could tell that it was swollen. “Your…hurt knee?”
“Yes.”
“Shit, Peyton. Are you okay?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. It hurt when it happened, but I ignored it to confront the girls, and now, I’m not sure I should move.”
I dropped down before her and took a look at her knee. “Did you tear it again?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s not that bad. I’ll probably be fine if I ice it and take some medicine and rest. It only hurts worse than normal. I just don’t know how I’m going to drive home.”
My eyes flicked up to hers. “Worse than normal?”
She bit her lip and looked like she wanted to kick herself. “Um…”
“Your knee still hurts? I thought you’d recovered?”
“I did. I mean, I mostly did.” She winced. “I’m, like, ninety percent better. I did PT and I work out and the pain is almost always gone.”
“When does it hurt again?” I asked in horror.
She gulped. “I don’t know. When I dance…”
“Peyton…all you do is dance.”
“I know,” she whispered, closing her eyes and letting tears fall down her cheeks. “I can’t quit. I can’t give it up, Isaac. I just love it too much.”
“Okay. Well, let’s not talk about quitting. Let’s get you home and see how bad it actually is. Maybe it’s just inflamed because you danced on it for a half hour.”
She nodded. “All right.”
I helped her sit up, and together, we stripped her out of her costume. As much as I wanted to admire her body, I kept myself clinical. She needed help, and I was here for her. No matter how beautiful she looked right now.
She tugged a shirt on over her head as I went to carefully lower her tights. She hissed slightly as I pulled them over her knee. It was definitely swollen. But not as bad as it had looked when obscured by the pink material. I stripped her shoes off along with the tights, helped her into a pair of sweats, and then her winter coat.
“Where’s your bag?”
Peyton pointed it out, and I grabbed it, slinging it over my shoulder. Then, I leaned down and slipped my hands under her body.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her eyes wide.
I hauled her into the air. She gasped, and I saw pain cross her face.
“Is this okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Thank you.”
I carried her back out through the empty backstage, across the lobby, and to my truck, gently placing her on a foot at the passenger side.
“Sorry you had to carry me,” she said.
“It’s fine, Pey. You don’t weigh anything,” I said with a chuckle. “Plus, I couldn’t just leave you there.” I wiped a tear off of her cheek. “I’m going to get you home safe.”
“What about my car?”
“We’ll leave it. It’ll be fine. We can pick it up tomorrow if we have to.”
She nodded, grabbing my jacket and pulling me into her. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and held her tight to me.
“I thought you were ghosting me.”
I kissed her forehead. “That was my fault. I’m sorry.”
“I kept telling myself you weren’t that kind of guy, but then…”
“Then, I acted like a jerk,” I told her. She blinked up at me. “I just…freaked myself out. Why don’t I get you home, and we can talk then?”
She nodded. “I’d like that.”
Peyton hobbled into the passenger seat, and as we pulled away from the performing arts center, snow started falling. She laughed with all the enthusiasm of a child and watched the snow with wide eyes.
“I never get tired of that first snowfall. It’s all sludge in New York afterward, but the first snow…it’s magic,” she whispered.
I reached across the console and took her hand, lacing our fingers together. She didn’t pull away. Instead, she leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder. We drove the rest of the way back in comfortable silence.
Once we were back at Piper’s, I helped Peyton into the living room and headed to the fridge for ice.
“There’s a note here from Piper,” I told her. “Staying at Bradley’s tonight.”
Peyton rolled her eyes. “So much for we’re just friends.”
I laughed. “Sounds right. Where’s Blaire?”
“She went to Ruidoso with her family for the weekend. They have a cabin in the mountains.”
“Going to be a good weekend to be there. Perfect snowboarding weather,” I told her as I came back over with an ice pack.
Without a word, I wrapped it around her knee and then went in search of medicine. She washed down some ibuprofen with water and finally rested back on the couch with a sigh.
“Looks pretty bad out there,” I said, peering through the windows at the snow.
“Do you need to get back to Aly?”
I rolled my eyes. “You know my mom’s fear of driving in snow. She told me not to move from where I’m at until it all clears.”
“But…you could probably make it before anything happens, and you’re in a truck. You know people drive in snow all over the US?”
“I know that. Tell that to my mom.”
Peyton laughed. “I sometimes forget your mom’s irrational fears.”
“She’s great, but…well, you know.”
“I do. Remember that time that we were supposed to go skiing in Santa Fe, but your mom was too worried it was going to snow?” She giggled again. “At the ski resort.”
I took a seat across from her with a grin. “I do remember that. God, that was so long ago.”
“It was,” she whispered.
So many memories between me and this beautiful woman. A lifetime of memories in those three years.
Today, I�
�d let myself get all caught up in the what-ifs that I hadn’t even talked to her. It had been a mistake. I wanted another lifetime of memories with her. Because when we were together, it was the only time that felt completely right in my life. I loved Aly with all my heart, but she was my kid, not my partner. And I hadn’t even realized how much I’d missed having one until Peyton stumbled back into my life.
“About today…”
She held up her hand and looked down at the ice pack on her knee. “It’s fine, Isaac. If you were with Aly and she needed you, then I get it.”
“It’s more than that. Aly was a struggle today, but…I’m falling for you all over again.”
Her head popped up in surprise. “Isaac…”
“I know that it’s only been a few weeks, and I know that you have to go back to New York. I know all of these things. And when we’re apart, I stress about them and worry that I’m making the wrong choice. But when we’re together, Peyton”—I moved to sit next to her, taking her hand—“the world is right.”
She swallowed. “I feel the same way.”
“I don’t know what we’re going to do. You’re leaving for New York in a week. Your job is there. Your life is there. I couldn’t ever ask you to give that up. I couldn’t do it when I had you when we were kids, and I’d never think to ask now.” I kissed her hand. “But I don’t want to walk away from this either.”
“Me neither,” she whispered. “But how…how is it even going to work?”
“We’ll figure it out,” I told her honestly. “If we want it to work, we’ll figure it out.”
“Okay,” she agreed hesitantly.
“I know it’s not going to be easy, but this…you are what I want, Peyton Medina.”
“Yes,” she said as I brought my lips to hers. “You’re what I want, too.”
“We have one more week. Let’s just take it one day at a time. After Christmas, we can figure out how to make this work.”
She nodded and brought her hand back up to my jaw, pulling me in for another kiss. “In the meantime,” she whispered against my lips, “we have the house to ourselves.”
“Your knee…”
She laughed. “Maybe I can try to be sexy after I finish icing.”
I drew her lips against mine one more time. “You’re always sexy. And I’m here to take care of you…anything else is just a bonus.”
“I’d like to take you up on that bonus.”
Fuck, I wasn’t just falling for this woman. I was in love with her. Unequivocally.
And I let the rest of my fears and consequences dissipate as she tossed the ice aside and drew me toward her. Who was I to deny her anything?
22
Peyton
The snow fell thick and heavy all night and through most of the day Saturday. And while this much snow wouldn’t have been a big deal in New York, Texas wasn’t equipped for it. To my dismay, we had to cancel the show Saturday night.
It ended up being a blessing in disguise since I needed the extra day of rest. Especially considering my…extracurricular activities with Isaac.
Luckily, by the time the Sunday matinee show rolled around, the roads were clear, and my knee was back to normal. Which wasn’t a hundred percent, but the swelling had all gone down, and I could walk again without pain. I was sure dancing was going to make it worse, but there were only two more shows in Lubbock, and I wasn’t ready to hand it over to the understudy.
Isaac had gone home Sunday morning when the roads were clear, promising to see me at the soccer game that night. Since I had no car, Piper agreed to drive me to the studio.
“Remind me again why you don’t have a car,” Piper asked as we headed that direction.
“Remind me again why you were snowed in with Bradley.”
She huffed, “I wasn’t with Bradley. I was just at his place.”
“Uh-huh,” I said disbelievingly. “Is it because Blaire was gone, so she couldn’t talk you out of it?”
“No!”
I laughed at my sister. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she grumbled.
She dropped me off at the front entrance, and I felt the normal swell of excitement right before I went onstage. That dissipated as soon as I saw who was waiting for me—Angelica and Bart Lawson.
I should have anticipated it. Of course I couldn’t hope that Katelyn would actually be a bigger person and let it all go. That she’d realize the consequences of her actions. Instead, she’d brought in the big guns. Great.
Katelyn stood just behind them with wide eyes. It wasn’t the vindictive, smug look I was used to from her. I met her gaze for the briefest moment, wondering what she was thinking, before turning to her parents.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Lawson,” I said with the biggest smile I could muster, ignoring the stares from the rest of the performers who had already arrived for the show. “Thank you for dropping Katelyn off for the show this afternoon. Are you going to stay to watch? She’s a lovely flower.”
“You know why we’re here,” Bart growled.
“You tried to kick our daughter out of the show!” Angelica snapped.
They had an audience now. I had confronted Katelyn in front of her peers but not the entire show. This was humiliating.
“Why don’t we go inside my office to discuss this?” I said graciously.
“We’re not going anywhere with you. I’ll have you know that we plan to sue you and this company for what you’ve done to our daughter,” Angelica said, arching an eyebrow.
“Really?” I said without inflection. “Well then, I believe there’s nothing more that I can say, and I’m going to have to ask that you vacate the premises.”
“You can’t kick us out,” Bart snapped. “We have a right to air our grievances.”
“I’m sure that you do. However, threatening legal action will only get you dismissed from the building.” I gestured to the door. “Have a nice day.”
“You—” Angelica said, taking a step forward.
“Stop!” Katelyn yelled. She silenced everyone, but her gaze was on me. “Everyone, just stop. This has gotten completely out of hand.”
“Katelyn…” her father said gently.
“No, Daddy. You two need to stop. I want to stay in the company. I want to go to Joffrey this summer.”
“We know, baby. We’re making sure that happens,” her mother said.
“No, you’re making it worse,” she ground out. “You don’t have to sue everyone who disagrees with you. Just…go watch the show.”
“But you deserve better than this treatment,” her father said.
Katelyn met my gaze and nodded. “Then, I’ll earn it. Maybe next year, I’ll be Clara.”
Her parents looked flabbergasted by her outburst, but Katelyn just masterfully shuffled them toward the door and shut it behind them. Her shoulders heaved, and everyone was still watching.
“All right, show’s over,” I said, clapping my hands. “Let’s get back to work.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and went back to what they had been doing. I walked over to Katelyn and put a hand on her shoulder.
“You too,” I said gently.
She looked up at me, and something like understanding passed between us. Katelyn wasn’t going to completely change anytime soon. I could see that in her stubborn expression and the way she couldn’t quite say anything about what had happened. But as she headed back to the dressing room, I had hope that she’d get there.
Even though we still had one more show on Christmas Eve, everyone was celebrating the end of the official run. Kathy had even shown up with her teeny-tiny baby for the performance.
She pulled me into a huge hug. “Thank you so much for taking over. I’ve heard having you here for a month has been transformative. You make a spectacular artistic director, just like I knew you would.”
“Thank you, Kathy. I just worked with what you had already established.”
“I heard about what had happened with Katelyn, t
oo.” Kathy winced. “Sorry about leaving you with that land mine.”
I laughed. “It’s fine. We worked it out. Or at least, I think so.”
“Well, good. I should have known they’d take advantage of a transitional period. It’s like they were trying to destabilize a government.” Kathy dramatically rolled her eyes. “Anyway, here. Hold Lily.”
I took the little dumpling in my arms and cooed over her as Kathy went to have five whole minutes alone.
“You’re holding a baby,” Isaac said, appearing before me.
“Oh my God, you scared me.” I rocked the baby, hoping to slow my racing heart.
“Sorry about that.” He put his finger out, and Lily wrapped her little hand around him like a vise grip. “She’s so cute and squishy. God, I forgot how little they are.”
“Do you want to hold her?”
He nodded, and I passed Lily off to him. He held her like she was the most precious thing in the universe. And he was much better at it than me. It was clear that he’d held a baby many a times before. My heart melted all over as I imagined him with Aly like this.
“You’re a natural,” I said, running my finger over the baby’s chubby cheek.
“Lots and lots of practice,” he said with a laugh. “Are you still planning to meet me at the game tonight?”
“Yep. I’ll be there.”
“Aly is coming.”
“Oh, really? I thought you normally had someone watch her.”
“Normally…I do. But Sutton and Jennifer said they could manage. So, I thought you could all hang out.”
“I’d like that,” I admitted.
I wanted to be more involved with his life. Figure out where this was going. If it was possible for this to even work.
Kathy appeared back again. “Oh, look at you!” she gasped when she saw Isaac. “God, I am such mush when I see a man holding a baby.”
Isaac chuckled and offered Lily back to her mom. “She’s cute.”
“I sure think so,” Kathy said. “Are you two going to the after-party tonight? Nick is hosting it at his mansion at, like, eight o’clock.”
“I’ll be there after Isaac’s soccer game,” I told Kathy.
