Page 95 of Dancing in the Rain

“Why?”

“Chloe went back to school.”

“Yeah, that’s why I was calling. So she did go? She didn’t seem enthused about the idea.”

“No, she wasn’t. We had a little discussion about it last night. But she went.”

“She okay?”

“I guess so. She’s pretty…quiet.”

“Can I talk to her?”

“Of course.”

“Wait. In a minute. What are you two doing for dinner?”

“I have five hundred casseroles in the freezer.”

He laughed. They’d joked about all the food that kept arriving at the house.

“Want to join us?” she asked.

He’d been about to offer to bring food over, which was ridiculous but felt helpful and was an excuse to see them. So he said, “Sure. Thanks. I’m just leaving Paterson House, so I can be there in half an hour or so.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll talk to Chloe when I get there.”

—

“Tell me why today was weird.”

He and Peyton were alone in the kitchen after dinner. She’d heated up a beef stew that was actually pretty damn good, and put together a fresh salad.

He’d talked to Chloe about school, although her answers to his questions were one word. He tried to coax a couple of smiles out of her, but clearly she was hurting. After dinner Peyton went upstairs with her and got her going on all the homework she had to catch up on after being away a couple of weeks, while he started cleaning up. She’d just rejoined him.

As usual it was hard to keep his hands off her. Awareness made his skin itch and his groin tighten. He couldn’t stop watching her as she moved from the counter to the dishwasher, taking in the curve of her ass in a pair of tight black yoga pants. Her pert breasts lifted the thin hoodie she wore on top.

“I was here all alone,” she admitted. “It was good, in a way. I got a lot of work done. I was on the phone most of the afternoon, and I accomplished quite a bit. And I even went for a run for the first time in weeks. It just felt funny…you know, with Sara not here.”

“I know.”

“How about you?”

“Went and watched a practice. Then I stopped by Paterson House. I used to do that a lot.”

“That’s good.”

“It was. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed hanging out with those kids.”

“Do you skate with them?”

“Yeah. I guess it’s sort of coaching, but sometimes we hang out after and talk about other things. Some of those kids don’t have much in their lives.”

“My boss is bugging me again about getting back to New York.” She closed the door of the dishwasher.

His gut clenched. “Yeah?”

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