A Mom For Christmas

“I understand she is quite amazing. A very successful ballerina.” Gram raised her eyebrows. “She and your father were close friends in high school.”

Chloe grabbed his arm. “Really? Are you serious? You knew her? Did you see her dance? Was she gorgeous? Did she float like a dandelion puff?” Chloe spread her arms and twirled around the kitchen, bumping into the island.

“I never saw her dance.” Strange how he’d never realized that until now. He’d seen her in her studio warming up, but he’d never actually attended a performance. They’d been best friends, had shared everything, but at eighteen the thought of going to a ballet hadn’t been an option, even for a nerd like he’d been.

Chloe’s eyes widened. “I’m sure I could find videos of her on the internet. Can I look? Please?”

Refusal was on the tip of his tongue, but the pointed look from his gram told him to give in. She wasn’t above pointing out his parenting shortcomings. He really needed his own place, but he couldn’t leave her alone in this big house. “You can use my tablet, but sit here at the kitchen table to search.”

Chloe scooped up the device and started tapping the screen.

Gram put the finishing touches on the sandwiches she was preparing and handed him the plate. He plucked a stem of grapes from the fruit bowl and grabbed a couple of cookies from the jar before taking a seat at the island.

“I wondered how long it would take you to run into Beth again. She’s been home a while now.”

“How do you know that?”

“Francie told me.”

He’d forgotten that his gram and Beth’s mom were good friends. But then, he’d forgotten a lot about this place. He’d only been back in town a couple of months himself. “I ran into her yesterday.”

Gram set her own plate of food on the counter. “Hmm. That explains why you came home hissing like a snared alligator.”

“I did not.”

Gram shrugged. “How does she look? Has she changed much?”

“She’s too thin. But I guess she has to be. Her hair is shorter.” Softer looking, and it framed her face in long curvy strands that caressed her cheeks and made him want to brush them aside and feel the silky softness. “But otherwise she hasn’t changed.” She still had the sweet, childlike smile that made him want to hug her. Her hazel eyes, with their sooty lashes, were still as beguiling as ever, though they held a darker shade to them now. Maturity? Or sadness?

“Chloe seems taken with her.”

“Not for long. Beth told me herself that as soon as she’s recovered she’s going back to the ballet.”

Gram studied him a long moment. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. Francie told me that her injury was career-ending. She’ll never dance professionally as a ballerina again. She’s facing an uncertain future.”

The bite of sandwich stuck in Noah’s throat. No. Gram had to be wrong. “Are you sure? She looked fine to me.” More than fine. He shut down that thought.

“That fall she took destroyed her knee, and then there were complications.”

“What fall?”

“Noah, don’t you know what happened?”

He didn’t have a clue. He’d made it a point not to keep track of her successes. “I knew she’d been injured, but that’s all.”

“Oh, it was a terrible thing. She was doing one of those big leaps and landed wrong and tore her ACL. Her mother thinks Beth is in denial over her situation. It’s very sad. That child was born to dance.”

That was one thing Noah could not deny. “Yes. She was.” The thought of Beth never dancing again left an unfamiliar chill in his chest. As much as he resented her passion for the dance, and the way she’d shut out everyone, he knew how much it meant to her. It had shaped her entire life. How would she cope without it? What was she going to do now?

“Daddy, I found some videos. Can I watch them?”

Reluctantly, he nodded. Chloe sat beside him, and he couldn’t resist glancing at the tablet as she scrolled through the selection of clips featuring Bethany Montgomery. There were dozens. “Pick three. That’s all.”

Chloe clicked on the one labeled Aurora’s Act 3 Variation in The Sleeping Beauty. He had no idea what that meant, but he couldn’t force himself to look away. Beth appeared in a short tutu jutting out from her tiny waist. The puffy sleeves of her costume highlighted the graceful curves of her neck and shoulders. She rose on her toes, her arms floating gracefully as she began to dance with quick, precise steps. Part of him wanted to watch. To see her passion in action. But then reality shoved its way into his thoughts. There was only room for one love in her life, and it hadn’t been him. That’s what he had to remember.

Pushing back from the table, he carried his plate to the sink, then headed for the room off the parlor that had once been his grandfather’s office. Now it was his. He had a four-inch binder of Mississippi building codes to study. He focused on the numbers in front of him, but he couldn’t fully shake the vision of Beth on the screen, moving as if gravity had no claim on her. Even in the few moments he’d watched, her joy as she performed was impossible to miss. The thought of his Beth never dancing again was a cruel twist of fate he’d never have wanted for her.

His Beth. Ha. She’d never been his, even if that’s how he’d always thought of her. He’d fallen for Beth from the first moment he’d started tutoring her in math their senior year. She’d missed several weeks of school due to illness, and when the teacher had approached him about helping her catch up, he’d jumped at the chance. They’d quickly become friends. Neither of them had fit in well at school, and their friendship had filled a void for both of them.

He’d been sullen and withdrawn, burying himself in school and video games. Beth had been the shy, pretty girl, a self-proclaimed dance geek. Her friendship had drawn him out of his lingering anger and grief over losing his parents, and had brought a new life and light to his existence. He’d never confessed his true feelings, fearing it would destroy their relationship. Deep down he’d believed a gangly, self-conscious guy like him had little chance with an elegant, talented girl like Beth.

But something had changed between them those last months before graduation. Beth had auditioned for the Forsythe Company but hadn’t made the cut. She was devastated, and he’d done all he could to comfort and encourage her. The incident had drawn them closer together, and Noah had seen a new sparkle in her hazel eyes and a more intimate curve to her lips when she smiled at him. They’d touched more, laughed more and shared longing looks. He’d been certain it was love.

But he’d been wrong. She’d walked out of his life without so much as a goodbye, leaving him emotionally bleeding and giving him his first lesson in believing in dreams.

It was only later that he learned a position had opened up with the ballet suddenly, and Beth had gone to New York to pursue her dancing dream. That’s when the truth had hit. Hard. In Beth’s life, dance came first. Always. Friends were easily discarded, like an old pair of toe shoes. Dreams of a future with Beth were just that. Empty dreams. And dreams didn’t come true. It was a lesson he would learn well over the years.

It was probably good he’d never revealed his heart. Rejecting his friendship had been painful enough. Rejecting his love would have been too humiliating to bear. For the time being, he’d stick to his plan. Avoid Beth at all costs, and when she was gone he could pick up and move forward.

But how would Beth move forward? Who would help her face the loss of the thing she loved most? An unwanted flicker of protectiveness pinged along his nerves.

It wasn’t his problem. She’d made her choice, and she would have to adjust to the consequences.

* * *

“Please, Daddy, let Miss Beth teach me how to dance. I promise I’ll do my exercises every day.”

Noah placed the salt and pepper shakers in the cupboard after supper that night. Chloe had talked of nothing else all through the meal. “Just because Miss Beth thinks dancing is a good idea doesn’t mean it is. It could make your injury worse.”

Silverware clanged as Gram placed it in the dishwasher. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. She needs something to encourage her to do those exercises.”

Noah shut the cabinet door with more force than necessary. “Chloe is fine. She just needs to do what she’s supposed to.”

Gram exhaled a puff of air as she glared over her glasses. “I’m supposed to exercise for my arthritis, too, but it’s uncomfortable so I don’t do it. I know it’ll help eventually, but getting to the ‘eventually’ part takes too long. Why don’t you talk to Pete Jones, her physical therapist, and see what he says? Or better yet, have Pete consult with Beth about the pros and cons of letting her dance.”

“Out of the question.”

“Honestly.” Gram faced him, a deep scowl on her face. “Would you feel the same if it was anyone other than Beth? I would have thought you’d have gotten over her long ago.”

“There was nothing to get over. We were friends. It ended. I simply don’t want Chloe getting silly dreams in her head. I want her to have a secure future and a job that will provide a good living. Not something like dancing that could end suddenly or never take off at all.”

Gram placed the decorative candle back in the center of the breakfast room table. “Like moving to Hollywood and having your own talk show.”

Noah set the tea pitcher in the fridge and shut the door. “I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.” Gram untied her apron and hung it on a peg at the end of the counter. “Have you heard from Yvonne?”

Noah groaned softly. Another sore subject. His ex-wife and her utter disregard for their child. “Not since she texted Chloe about sending her a plane ticket to come out to Los Angeles for Thanksgiving.”