Page 16 of Dancing in the Rain

“You two can talk.”

Drew’s chest lifted and fell. “Okay.” He sat back down.

Silence filled the room. Drew looked at Peyton. “Tell me about Chloe,” he said quietly.

Peyton nodded. “Well, she’s almost twelve, as you know. She’s just started seventh grade. She’s an amazing girl.” She smiled. “I might be biased, but seriously, she’s very bright. Very mature for her age. She’s a talented dancer.”

“Dancer.”

“Yes. She takes ballet and jazz dance lessons and she’s on a competitive dance team. She also enjoys sports.” She paused and eyed the man on the couch. “Um. I guess she gets that from you.”

“She sure doesn’t get it from me,” Sara murmured dryly without opening her eyes.

Peyton smiled. “Yeah, Sara was more of an academic than an athlete.”

“How about you?”

Peyton met Drew’s eyes. He was asking about her? This wasn’t about her. She gave a light laugh. “I wasn’t as smart as Sara but I could run faster.”

“Phhht.” The noise came from Sara.

Peyton grinned. “What are you disputing? That I can run faster than you can?”

“No. That’s for sure. But you’re just as smart as me.”

“I ran track in high school,” Peyton told Drew. “But I wasn’t a straight-A student like Sara. Anyway, Chloe is a little crusader. She takes up causes at school and sinks her teeth into them. Right now she’s on an anti-bullying mission because of something that happened to a kid in her class. She’s pretty determined. It can be a good quality, but drove us crazy when she was little. She’d get an idea of something she wanted to do and there wasnotalking her out of it. There may have been the odd temper tantrum.”

Drew smiled.

“She’s pretty brave in some ways, but in other ways we’ve thought she’s a little reckless.”

“Ha.” Drew rubbed his chin. “That’s what my parents say about me.”

“Oh, yeah?”

He smiled ruefully. “Competitive and reckless are a dangerous combination. I was always trying to climb the highest tree, do the biggest jump on the ski hill, skate the fastest. Never worried about getting hurt, just had to be the best. Damn near killed my parents, though.”

Peyton could see that. A man who was one of the best in his sport had to have a lot of drive on top of a lot of talent.

A sense of unreality descended on Peyton. All of Chloe’s life they’d never known who her father was, where she got some of the traits they saw developing in her that were different from Sara or the rest of the Watt family. Even physical traits like her dark hair and athletic ability. Now they could have all those answers, put the pieces together for her. It was like finding the missing puzzle pieces to who Chloe was, although they’d never felt as if she wasn’t a complete person. Because she was. A beautiful, bright, and dynamic young girl.

Peyton bent her head for a moment, emotion swelling in her chest. She’d been skeptical and nervous about inviting this man into their lives, but Sara was insistent that if she had this chance for Chloe to know her father they had to take it. Maybe it was going to be okay.

She lifted her head and met Drew’s eyes, reading the nervous uncertainty in them. He came across as confident and fearless, but beneath the surface he was as freaked out about this as she and Sara were.

She still didn’t know if that meant he was a terrible person who didn’t want a child and would hurt Chloe, or if it meant he cared enough that he’d make a good dad. They’d find out, though, soon enough, and if he did anything, any freaking little thing to hurt her…

That wasn’t real life, though. They couldn’t insulate Chloe from being hurt. Sara’s illness was proof of that. Chloe was going to lose her mom at a young, vulnerable age, and that fucking sucked.

“Excuse me.” Peyton jumped up, trying to keep her voice steady. “I’m just going to get some more tea.”

She rushed out of the room with her mug. In the kitchen she grabbed hold of the counter and stood with her eyes closed, her chest aching, heart pounding. Most of the time she kept her shit together, but every once in a while it just swamped her, the agony and hopelessness and helplessness.

She kicked the cupboard door with her bare foot then winced.

“Are you okay?”

The low, rasping voice that spoke behind her made her jump.

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