Page 47 of Master of My Heart

When Martin arrived, he paused, looking at her. “You okay?” Sabrina nodded and looked at the floor. He squeezed her shoulder gently. “You’re doing great, Sabrina. No worries.”

He gave her a kind smile, then moved to the center of the room and began to explain what would be going on for the next few weeks. When Martin announced Aiden Lang would be playing Herr Drosselmeyer, Clara’s quirky godfather, the girls all erupted into excited whispers. Sabrina had no idea who he was and made a mental note to ask Liz when she got home.

Martin introduced Sabrina and asked the tallest boy to come forward. “Sabrina, this is Holden. He’ll be your dance partner for the party.”

Holden grinned at her. “Hi,” he said enthusiastically.

Sabrina nodded. “Hi,” she replied nervously. She prayed her body would stay under control.

Rehearsal went quicker than Sabrina expected. Dancing with Holden was easy enough to deal with, mostly just holding hands. Sabrina sighed in relief at the end of rehearsal when she felt almost normal.

The downstairs lobby was full of parents, so Sabrina squeezed her way through the crowd and outside into the crisp fall air. By the time she made it back to the apartment, she felt better. She warmed up a microwave dinner and sat down at the table.

When Jayson arrived home a few minutes later, he sat down across from her. “How was rehearsal?” He’d been rehearsing with Rachel, the Sugar Plum Fairy, while Sabrina was with the kids.

She shrugged. “Okay, I guess.” She wouldn’t tell him about her troublesome body. She didn’t want to see the look on his face if she confessed her struggle.

“Who’s your partner for the party?”

“Holden.”

Jayson narrowed his eyes in thought, then nodded. “I think I remember him. Tall and blond?”

Sabrina nodded.

“He’s a great dancer in the pre-professional program. He’s worthy of you,” he added with a laugh.

Sabrina pressed her lips together. The pre-professional program... The program she’d been invited into when she was Holden’s age. The sting of the loss struck her heart. If she hadn’t been taken, maybe she’d have changed her mind and come back to Boston sooner.

So many what-ifs.

“What’s wrong?” Jayson asked, tilting his head.

“Nothing.”

“Then why do you look like you’re going to cry?”

Sabrina shrugged. “Who’s Aiden Lang?” she asked, changing the subject.

Jayson looked shocked. “You don’t know?

She shook her head.

“He’s a movie star. Big one. Why?”

“Martin said he’s dancing with us.”

After thinking a moment, Jayson exclaimed, “Oh! Drosselmeyer. That’s right.”

“Yeah. The girls got all excited when his name was mentioned.”

“I can’t believe you don’t know who he is.”

Sabrina looked down at her dinner and took a bite. There was so much she didn’t know. She hadn’t thought it was a big deal before now, but apparently, it was.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”

Sabrina shrugged. “No biggie.”

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