Page 74 of Just Like Home

“I get it,” he said. “They asked me to dance in this recital thing too.”

Amelia’s face brightened as she sat up straighter.

He met her eyes and slowly, her lips spread into a smile.

“Are you laughing at me?” he teased.

She covered her mouth with her hands and giggled. “I want to see you dance, Uncle Cole.”

“You want to see me make a fool of myself, that’s what you’re saying.” He gave her shoulder a little nudge with his own.

She nodded, still grinning. Probably the first time he’d seen her smile since she found out about her mom. Her smile quickly faded. “I always do a dance with Daddy.”

“Yeah, I remember that,” he said.

Her eyes turned glassy as she bit back tears.

“Have you asked him to do it this year?” he asked quietly.

She shook her head. “He won’t.”

Cole knew she was probably right. Connor wasn’t in good shape, especially not to do something that would so clearly remind him of Julianna.

And that’s when he got the dumbest idea he’d ever had in his life. “What if you had a stand-in?” He could see out of the corner of his eye that he had her attention. He drew in a breath—he couldn’t believe he was about to say what he was about to say. But at some point, his life had to stop being about him and his pain.

It had to be about helping the people he loved.

And if it would make Amelia smile, Cole would make a fool of himself a hundred times over.

“I’ll do it if you do it.” Cole faced her. Her eyes were lit up like a night sky on a cloudless night. And she almost looked happy.

Cole knew this was what his sister would’ve wanted. She talked about Amelia’s love of dance all the time. If her death stole that love away from her daughter, it would devastate Jules. He couldn’t let that happen.

“Really?”

He nodded. “Really.”

She looked away, and he could see the moment she changed her mind. “I don’t want to dance.”

Cole leaned back against the wall of the treehouse. “Yeah, me neither.”

Her eyes seemed to scold.

“You love to dance,” Cole said, realizing it wasn’t the time for jokes. “What’s going on?”

She shrugged. He wouldn’t make her say it. Dancing reminded her of Julianna. It was the thing they shared—a love, a passion for dance. Of course she didn’t want to do it.

If Jules knew, that would break her heart too.

“You know, kiddo,” Cole said. “I think watching you dance was one of your mom’s favorite things to do.”

She was back to hugging her knees.

“She talked about it a lot. I think it made her so happy because she knew it made you happy. And you worked so hard in class all year.” Cole reached over and put an arm around her. She leaned in, resting her head on his chest. The seconds ticked by, and she broke the silence with her sniffles. He squeezed her, wishing he could take away this pain from such an innocent little girl.

“I’ll tell you what,” he said. “The deal is on the table. You can think it over, and I’ll get to work, and then you’ll let me know later if we’re doing it or not.”

Her head, under his chin, moved in affirmation.

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