Page 114 of Just Like Home

A shy smile crossed her lips, and something inside Charlotte’s heart squeezed. “Are we ready?”

The pair nodded and Charlotte walked them through the first section of the dance. Cole wasn’t as graceful as Amelia, but he never gave up, and after about forty-five minutes, they had a solid start.

They came to a stopping point, and Charlotte smiled. “I think we’re going to have a winner on our hands.”

Cole looked at Amelia, and the two of them smiled.

Amelia looked at Hildy, who’d parked herself off to the side. “What did you think, Miss Hildy?”

Hildy stood. “I think your uncle might need a little more rehearsal than you. You’re kind of a pro.” She looked at Charlotte and winked.

“Ouch,” Cole said. “Hit a man while he’s down, why don’t ya?”

“I call it like I see it, kiddo.” Hildy reached over and squeezed Cole’s arm. “I’m sure Charlotte can get you up to Amelia’s level. It’s just going to take a little work.”

There was a gleam in Hildy’s eye that Charlotte didn’t miss, though she pretended not to notice.

“Can we go back to the pool?” Amelia asked Hildy.

Hildy put a hand on the little girl’s shoulder. “Sure, honey.” She glanced at Charlotte, then at Cole. “We’ll see you both later.”

Amelia gathered her things into her dance bag, lifted her hand in a wave and walked out, Hildy close behind.

Charlotte slowly drew her eyes to Cole’s.

“I’m a hopeless cause, aren’t I?”

She laughed. “No. Not at all. But we can do some extra practicing if it makes you more comfortable. This really isn’t easy if you’ve never done it before.”

He groaned. “I’m going to make a complete fool of myself.”

She stuck her hands on her hips. “Enough with the pity party. You have an excellent teacher.”

At that, he smiled. “True. You’ve definitely made progress with my team. Gotta say, I was impressed.”

“Really?”

He looked confused. “Yeah. I’m sure you’ve been told that before.”

“Not so much,” she said. “Mostly I perform. I’ve only done a little bit of teaching. Maybe that’s why Connor hasn’t gotten back to me about the studio.” She walked toward the speaker and picked up her phone.

Cole frowned. “What about the studio?”

“I offered to buy it,” she said.

His heavy sigh told her something was wrong.

“What is it?”

“It’s just that he mentioned possibly selling to someone in Chicago.” Cole looked genuinely pained to break the news, but once he did, she struggled to process it.

“He did?”

Cole shrugged. “Said he got an offer from someone wanting to buy the business. That’s really all I know.”

“Do you know if he took it?”

“I don’t,” Cole said.

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