Page 39 of Dancing in the Rain

Chloe nodded sagely. “I heard Grandma and Grandpa arguing once. I think it was because he’d made plans for them and didn’t ask her and it was with some people she didn’t like and…they ended upkissing. And they wereold.” She wrinkled her nose. “Really old.”

“That’s another hard thing you’ve gone through. Losing your grandparents.”

“Yeah.” Her bottom lip pushed out. “I was really sad about that.”

“Well, I can already see that you’re a very strong young lady.”

She gave him another doubtful look then dropped her gaze. “Thanks.”

“So about the dancing…your mom says you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

Chloe didn’t look happy about that. “I feel guilty.”

Drew’s forehead tightened. “Why?”

“Because Idowant to go. But I shouldn’t.” Her bottom lip quivered. “I should be here with Mom.”

“Your mom wants you to be happy.”

“How can I be happy when she’s dying?” she cried.

Fuck, wrong thing to say. Wrong, wrong, wrong. “You can’t.” He held up a hand “You can’t. I’m just saying, she wants you to have as normal a life as you can.”

“Maybe I could go to one class. Like, just hip-hop.”

He nodded and pursed his lips, not wanting to push things. “That sounds reasonable.”

Chloe swiped her fingertips down the sides of her nose as if catching tears. “Yeah.”

“Maybe sometime I could take you to class. Is there a way to watch? I’d like to see you dance.”

She gave him that look again, a penetrating, wise look that was much older than her years. “Yes, you can watch. There are big windows in the dance studios. Lots of moms stay. My mom did, when she took me.”

Was it smart to make plans with Chloe when he had no idea where things were going? He’d agreed to meet her but he’d tried not to think of much beyond that. Did he want a relationship with her? Didshewant one withhim? Both their worlds were in a state of chaos, which wasn’t very conducive to forming bonds.

Or maybe itwas. Maybe both of them experiencing all this upheaval in their lives could help them find common ground.

“Want to go back down and finish your orange juice?”

Her top lip lifted in a tiny sneer and she shrugged. “Sure.”

He bit back a smile at the attitude and stood. She slid off the bed and tossed the cushion down.

He squinted at the Japanese anime posters on the wall as they walked out. There’d been a time in his life when he’d been into anime.

The faint sound of footsteps below them caught his attention. For some reason he had a feeling Peyton had stayed upstairs with them. Had she listened to their conversation?

“D’you like videogames?” he asked Chloe as she bounced down the stairs in front of him.

“Yeah. I have an Xbox.”

“Cool. Me, too.”

“Xbox One?”

“Yeah.”

He glimpsed Peyton taking a seat in the living room as they reached the bottom of the stairs. She turned toward them and smiled. “Hey.”

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