Page 74 of Last Dance, Second Chance

Jessica felt really bad to be blowing Nathan off, especially as he’d booked the day off — but she needed to be alone right now. She needed to have a wallow and then work out how she was going to get herself literally back on her feet.

“Shall I drive you around?”

“No, thanks. I’ll walk. With the crutches,” she quickly added, seeing the concern on Nathan’s face.

“OK,” said Nathan. “I’ll see you for dinner tonight.”

“Of course,” said Jessica, forcing a smile. There was no way out of it, but the last thing she felt like doing was attending a celebratory supper for herself.

She reached up and kissed him. She hated leaving him when things still weren’t right between them, but he just didn’t understand what she was going through.

Jessica began walking but stopped when she got to the turning to the dance school and found herself heading towards it.

The door was locked, and she let herself in with the key Diana had given her and turned on the lights. She walked to the barre and laid down her crutches. Slowly, and very cautiously, she put her feet into first and began working her way up the positions.

Her foot seemed to handle that, so she moved on to some simple exercises, too nervous to really enjoy herself, but grateful she was able to at least do some dancing.

She was so absorbed in her movements that she didn’t hear Diana come in until her old teacher began clapping.

Jessica turned and gave her a shy smile.

“Your cast is off!” said Diana. “How wonderful!”

“It is,” said Jessica, slowly. “And I know I should be really happy, but all I can think about is how much work there is ahead of me and what I’ll do if my foot isn’t as strong as it was before.”

“Has any doctor given you any impression that your foot won’t heal fully?” asked Diana kindly.

“No,” admitted Jessica.

“And you haven’t seen a physiotherapist yet, have you?”

“No,” said Jessica, a smile returning to her face.

“Then I would save your worrying until after you see a physio at least.”

“My company will arrange for me to see their dance physios, but that means I have to be back in New York,” Jessica explained.

“And you don’t want to go back?” guessed Diana.

“I’m completely torn,” said Jessica. “I can’t wait to get back to work, but I’ve also really enjoyed spending more time with my family, and getting to know Nathan.” She felt herself blushing.

“You can’t be in two places at the same time, so it seems to me like you’ve got a decision to make.”

* * *

Monty was pleased to see Jessica when she let herself into her parents’ house. She made herself some lunch, very gingerly standing on her foot. It was sore, but nothing like it had been. She could hardly wait to begin training carefully on it, but she’d need to have it checked over by a dance physio first. That would mean going back to New York. She couldn’t afford a private consultation if she stayed in the UK and she didn’t want to waste more time waiting for a referral to come through for a physiotherapist who was unlikely to be a dance expert.

As for her family, she’d miss them all terribly. She wouldn’t be performing over Christmas, though, thanks to her foot, so she’d be able to come back for at least a couple of weeks then while everyone else was dancing The Nutcracker. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d taken a break at Christmas.

But what about Nathan? They’d been together for such a short amount of time, and they’d both agreed that this was just a fling. She understood that Nathan wasn’t ready for anything serious after his divorce, and they lived on different continents. But even if they did live closer together, Nathan didn’t understand what ballet meant to her. She couldn’t be with someone like that. She had to give even more of herself to her career now so that she could get her fitness back to what it had been. She didn’t have time for a relationship. Not unless she was going to give up on her dreams.

And the longer she stayed here, the more she could feel herself falling in love with Nathan, no matter how many times she told herself that he wasn’t right for her. The more it was dragged out, the worse it would be when she left.

She’d made her decision. She logged into her iPad and rebooked her flight for the next day.

* * *

Jessica debated whether to leave telling Nathan until after dinner or even the next morning. But he’d be at work tomorrow, and she felt she’d be being dishonest if she went through the evening without saying anything.

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