Page 116 of Just Like Home

He stopped packing and looked at her. “How’d you find out about that?”

“Doesn’t matter,” she said. “Sell it to me.”

He shoved a small container of wipes and a change of clothes inside the bag and walked out of the room, Charlotte close on his heels.

“I know Julianna. I know what she wanted to do here,” Charlotte said. “And I know I’m the person to carry on her legacy.”

He was in the kitchen now, pouring coffee into a travel mug, and that’s when she saw the threat of tears behind his eyes. The pain of thinking about Julianna was still so raw.

“I loved her, Connor,” Charlotte said. “And I’m a good teacher.”

“It’s too late,” he said. “I already sold it.”

Charlotte’s heart dropped straight to her feet. “You did?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t have time to think about it. They made me a good offer.”

“So, it’s a done deal?”

He screwed the lid on his travel mug and took the baby from her. “I mean, there are papers to sign, but other than that, it’s a done deal.”

Amelia appeared in the doorway and took her sister from Connor. “We’re going to be late.”

Charlotte’s eyes had filled with tears. She was so sure she knew what she was doing when she left the ballet. How could she be so wrong?

“I’ll see you tonight, right, Miss Charlotte?” Amelia faced her now.

Charlotte nodded. “I’ll be there to watch.”

“What’s tonight?” Connor asked.

“My dance class, Dad,” Amelia said, her tone slightly exasperated. She walked out of the room. “We’ll be in the car!”

Connor went still. “She’s dancing again?”

Okay, so he definitely wasn’t completely in the land of the living. Other people were still managing his life for him, and that was fine. But it meant that when it came to the studio, he didn’t know yet what was best—not for the community or the students or for Julianna’s memory.

“She’s dancing,” Charlotte said. “With me.”

His face fell. “I didn’t know.”

She waited a moment before speaking. “Don’t sign the papers.”

“Charlotte—”

“Wait until after the recital,” she said. “Come see how it goes, and if you still feel like you need to sell to this other buyer and turn her studio into something she would hate, so be it.”

He paused at the door and smirked at her. “This is an interesting sales tactic.”

She smiled. “I promise I will win you over. Please, Connor, let me at least try.”

“I don’t go back on my word,” he said, pushing the door open.

She followed him outside. “I know, but you do have the right to change your mind.” She grabbed his arm. “I know it might seem easier to just get this off your plate, but think about Amelia.”

He frowned. “What about her?”

“Don’t you want her dancing for someone who knew and loved her mother? That studio will radiate Jules if you sell it to me. If you sell it to someone who didn’t know her, she just disappears.”

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