If I Saw You Dancing (Love in Madelia Book 2)

by Jessa Chase

  It wasn’t until the truck pulled away from the stop sign and one of her less patient pupils tugged on her skirt that Claire realized she’d been standing still, transfixed by what she saw.

  “Miss Weaver?” Little Amanda Walker stood there, her hand still on Claire’s skirt. “You okay?”

  Claire shook her head and refocused on the kids in front of her. “Of course, Amanda, I’m so sorry. I got lost in my head a little just then. Do you ever have that happen?”

  “Like in your ‘magination?”

  “Yes, exactly. In your imagination, or maybe you just remember something and think about it really hard.”

  A few of her students nodded their heads in agreement.

  “Well, what do you say we use those imaginations, and those memories, and we use them to do a really great dance today?”

  A raucous cheer rose up from her tiny pupils. There was something truly adorable about a bunch of kids in their ballerina finest, their fists in the air as they shouted their approval.

  “Okay, so let’s get ourselves into 1st position and I’ll show you what I’m thinking we should do.”

  The children settled down and got themselves into their proper 1st position. Claire smiled.

  “Perfect. Okay, now I want you to close your eyes, and think about the best thing that’s happened to you this week. Maybe it was a really great pizza you got to eat, or maybe you played soccer outside in the sunshine.”

  Claire lifted her right arm high above her head. “Now open your eyes, look at me. Follow my movements. Yep, there you go. Now let your heels follow your hand, so you’re up on your toes. If you can’t manage it, don’t worry, but I want you to try your very hardest.”

  A few of the younger children stumbled on that direction, but Claire noted with pride that every single one of them tried it. Some of them kept trying, even after stumbling a few times.

  “Yes! Now hold it right there, and look around at your classmates. Look at what your positive memories did! You are lighter than air and floating on your toes!”

  The clock in the hallway chimed, reminding Claire that their time was limited.

  “Oh, well you know what that sound means, everybody. Lets bring ourselves back down to Earth now and start to pack up for the day.”

  Claire followed behind some of the children as they preferred to dawdle, but before long they were all safely in the custody of their family members and Claire was left alone in the studio. Left to her own devices, Claire found herself musing over Daniel and what Daisy had referred to as their “star-crossed” romance.

  It had all seemed very romantic and heady at the time, but then again it had been Claire’s first experience with a boy. And he was a rebel without a cause, a brilliant but troubled teen who had long-ago perfected a dramatic, pouty expression that would make James Dean proud.

  She’d been sheltered by her parents, not allowed to do much outside of school and home other than extracurricular academic pursuits like horseback riding, swimming, piano. Dance. She’d found a passion for ballet early on, and it was her parents’ opinion that spending time with a boy would do nothing but hamper her ability to advance in the world of ballet.

  And that boy, in particular, was completely off-limits. They had no reservations about telling Claire exactly what was wrong with “that McAllister family”, and how her life would come to ruin if she even so much as shared a gym class with him.

  Chapter 4

  KATE

  “Do you think he’s settling in okay? I haven’t heard a peep out of him all day.” Kate asked as Logan moved around her in the kitchen. He was the master of the kitchen, she mostly just got in the way, but she enjoyed helping him where she could. The longer they lived together, the more of a rhythm they got, in the kitchen and outside of it.

  “I think so. He’s going to need time, I’m sure. It’s a big adjustment. But he’s a tough kid. He’ll pull through.”

  “He’s not a kid anymore, Logan.” She wrapped her arms around Logan’s waist, choosing not to notice when his arms barely fit around her anymore.

  Having been thin her entire life and devoting herself to a running regimen to stay that way, Kate was struggling a little with her pregnancy weight.

  Logan rested his chin on top of his wife’s head.

  “I know. But he’s my little brother so he’s always going to kind of be a kid to me. But I promise not to call him that to his face, anyway.”

  “Thank you. Are we doing the right thing here? Inviting Claire over for dinner?”

  “Oh, I’m sure of that one. I saw a flicker of life in him when he saw Claire at her dance studio. It was small but I’d like to give it a chance to grow. She might be good for him.”

  “I hope so.”

  DANIEL

  “Fuck. Fuck this fucking fuck fucker.” Daniel stretched his arm as far as he could, nearly pulling his shoulder out in the process, but he still could just barely touch the edge of his crutch. His fingers brushed the padded top, for the fiftieth time, just enough to tantalize him without giving him a chance to actually grab the damn thing.

  Once again he dropped his arm, the muscles in his bicep bunching up and aching from the strain. It hadn’t helped him any, lying in that hospital bed and feeling sorry for himself. He should have been up the day after surgery. He should have been working out, staying in shape. He should have been doing a hell of a lot more than he’d been doing, which was why he was kicking himself in the ass right now.

  “Well, not kicking,” he said with a smirk.

  If he could just reach his stupid crutch, he could get up, start practicing with the damn thing. He could get used to the uncomfortable underarm pads, build back up the muscles in his arms so he could better support himself sans his left calf, ankle, and foot.

  With that in mind, Daniel made a final stretch toward the crutch. He had overexerted himself and realized it too late when he began to tumble headfirst off of his bed.

  “Fuck!”

  He landed ungracefully, lush white carpet in his face. Pressing his hands to the floor he pushed up, but his arms had nothing left to give and they refused. It was then that he heard the heavy footfalls of his brother running up the stairs.

  “Daniel! Daniel, are you okay?” Logan came running in the room like he thought his little brother might have lit himself on fire in his absence or something.

  Daniel, to his credit, managed to roll himself over onto his back, staring up at Logan from the floor.

  “I’m fine. This is all perfectly fine. I swear.”

  “Uh huh,” Logan responded dubiously, squatting and offering a hand of support to Daniel. After a moment of stubborn contemplation, he complied and let himself be pulled to a seated position.

  “You can’t do everyone on your own anymore,” Logan said. “At least not yet. And you don’t have to. I’m here to help you, so please, just let me help.”

  “Not much of a choice,” Daniel muttered.

  “Oh, you’ve got a choice. You can stay up here, throw yourself the world’s biggest pity party, and I’ll let you sink deeper into depression and pathos. Or, you can let me help you, you can get up off your ass, get dressed, and be presentable company for the dinner we’re throwing tonight.”

  “I’m not really feeling like company right now, big brother.”

  “Well, tough shit, little brother, because Claire is on her way over, and knowing her she’ll have a pretty little dress on and an even prettier little smile, and she’s going to aim it at you and expect you to be a half-decent human being and smile right back at her.”

  “Well, shit. When you put it that way...Hand me my damn pants.”

  CLAIRE

  Claire’s belly was doing flip flops as she walked up the entryway to Logan and Kate’s home. She’d been there a million times before, so why the heck was she feeling so nervous about tonight? Well, that wasn’t exactly a fair question. After all, not one of the million other visits to this home, had Daniel been there.

 
; She saw the light on upstairs and thought about him. She wondered how he’d feel about seeing her again. She wondered if Logan had told him anything about her, about her dance studio, or her time in the ballet. She wondered what he thought about her, and then chastised herself for wondering such a vain and stupid thing. In reality, the man probably had a million more pressing thoughts on his mind than his high school girlfriend.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid. Claire mentally beat herself up as she stood on the porch, the chilled bottle of wine clutched in her arms. How could she be so selfish? Had she not matured one single bit since high school?

  Before she had any more time to contemplate what that could mean for her evening, the door swung open and revealed Kate.

  “Claire! I’m so glad you could come! And you brought wine!”

  “I know, not very fun for you, but it’s kind of the traditional gift, right?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Kate replied as she ushered Claire into the house. “I’m pretty sure tradition has something to say about refusing a perfectly wonderful hostess gift too.”

  Claire smiled, and felt some of her nervousness slide off of her as easily as she shed her jacket and hung it on the hall coat tree.

  “It looks amazing in here, as usual. What did you guys do differently in here?” Claire was standing facing the living room, which always seemed to look different to her every time she visited.

  “Oh, well you know Logan. He’s always moving something around, changing it up. I think if he left it alone too long he’d get stir-crazy or bored or something.”

  “Me? Bored? Never.” Logan entered the room, with Daniel a few steps behind him. Claire tried to get a good look of him without seeming like she was staring.

  Daniel was being supported by a set of crutches, and seemed to be managing all right, all things considered. He had a very determined look on his face, and until he spoke she wasn’t sure if he’d seen her at all or if he’d been so focused on his movement that he’d missed her.

  “Claire. You look...really good.” He glanced up then, and those baby blue eyes were just as devastatingly crisp as the first day she’d met him.

  “I...thank you, Daniel. You look-”

  “Don’t say good, please. I’d hate to start the evening off with a lie.”

  Claire bit her lip and out of the corner of her eye she saw Logan making a warning gesture to Daniel. She swore she heard him whisper, “be nice” but couldn’t be sure.

  She moved forward toward Daniel, who to his credit didn’t move backwards but stayed his ground. Claire stopped before she would be close enough to touch him. She hadn’t the right to do that; she hadn’t that right in a very long time.

  “I won’t say that then. But it’s still very nice to see you. I’d heard you were home and...well I was hoping we could catch up.”

  Daniel smiled. It was a small smile, like he was using old muscles that hadn’t been exercised in months. But it was something, and on him it was something quite spectacular to see.

  “I’d like that, Claire. I really would.”

  “I’d like to eat, if ya’ll wouldn’t mind,” Logan said abruptly. “How’s about we all sit down and you two can keep making googly eyes at each other over some roast duck.”

  *

  The foursome had settled down at the large dining room table, passing around the side dishes and making conversation. Claire had found herself more nervous that she'd expected, a bubbling in her stomach that thrilled her even as it scared her a little bit.

  It was like that the last time she'd been with Daniel, she remembered then. That bubbly feeling that she'd initially assumed was a teenaged emotion, seemed to be tied to how she felt about him.

  “So Claire,” Kate said without an ounce of subtlety. "Have you had any luck with the float prep? I still can't believe you took on such a big project all by yourself.”

  Claire nodded enthusiastically, pausing with her fork in the air. “I have lots of tiny volunteers ready to decorate, just haven’t quite worked out how to get the structural part of the float put together yet.”

  Daniel raised an eyebrow in her. “You're building the float by yourself?”

  “Trying to anyway,” Claire said with a sigh. “I’m not really what anyone would consider to be handy with a hammer. I can design things in my head and come up with really cool ideas, but the follow-through...”

  "I'd love to take a look at your plans, see if it was something I could help you flesh out," Daniel replied.

  Claire smiled brightly. "I'd love that, thank you."

  “I guess it's a good thing I volunteered you then.” Kate said quickly, pointing to her husband and Daniel. “Well, both of you actually.”

  “Nice,” Logan responded with a chuckle. “Well, I’m up for it. How about you, Danny? Feel like swinging a hammer with me again?”

  “As long as I don’t end up with the business-end flying toward me again.”

  When he saw Claire and Kate’s confused looks, he elaborated.

  “Oh, I’m betting he never told you that story, Kate. See, Big Bad Logan over there used to be awkward as hell when it came to construction equipment. He got too tall too fast or something, I don’t know all the salient medical details. But bottom line is he was big and lanky and obstinate, with these ridiculous giant sweaty hands and absolutely no sense of balance.”

  The women were laughing while they listened to Daniel speak, and with every extra detail he embellished, he became more and more animated in his storytelling.

  “Anyway, he’s got this brand new hammer in his hand and he’s so damn proud of the thing because he bought it himself. It’s shiny and new and slippery as hell because of those gross sweaty palms.”

  “Uh huh,” Logan muttered. “Feel free to stop any time now.”

  “Oh, I’m just getting started, big brother,” Daniel said with a snicker. “So he swings back, brings the hammer down at this nail, except the whole thing goes sliding out of his hand and flying through the air, headed for me of course.”

  “Of course,” Claire repeated, her eyes bright with laughter.

  “He’s exaggerating a bit. It might have landed near him.”

  “Near my head!”

  “It didn’t hit you, is my point.”

  “Close enough,” Daniel said, slapping his hands down on the table. “Damn close enough. Worth it, for having a story to tell though.” He winked at Claire, who blushed in response.

  "Well, a good story, a great dinner, and wonderful company," Claire said after they'd all stopped laughing. "Hard to beat a night like this."

  "Absolutely," Kate replied. "I'm glad we could have you over, Claire."

  "Even if it was all just a clever ploy to get me out of my bedroom," Daniel remarked. Although they all looked uncomfortable for a moment, he continued. "And it worked, so thank you for that. But don't start letting it get to your head there, big brother."

  "No problem there, little brother," Logan muttered. "I'm just glad you're in a better mood than you were before."

  "Good company, like the lady said," Daniel winked at Claire again. She was surprised how easily she'd fit back into his company again after so many years. She'd expected some awkwardness, maybe some ridiculous small talk, but sitting there with him, it felt more like having dinner with someone she'd known her entire life. It didn't feel like they'd missed out on any time together at all.

  She blushed when she realized just how much she'd missed the man, how much seeing him made her feel like a teenager again.

  "Why don't we head into the living room then?" Kate suggested. "Logan can grab us all some drinks and we can hear more ridiculous hammer stories from the McAllister boys."

  "Some hot cocoa for you, Wife." Logan said with a mock stern face. Kate grinned, shifting to her side to kiss him on the cheek.

  "Yep, cocoa for me, and Claire's delicious looking wine for all of you. I'll try not to pout or point out too strongly that medical science says one glass of wine is fine for a pregn
ant lady."

  "Deal."

  "I'll help you clear the dishes, Kate," Claire piped up.

  "Double deal!"

  Claire stood and moved to clear the plates from her side of the table, noting that Daniel had grown suddenly still as a statue. She looked at him with a question in her eyes, but he appeared busy boring a hole into the table with his eyes.

  "Daniel? Are you...Can I help you?"

  "No." He replied curtly, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "I can do it. I don't need help."

  She wasn't sure what to do, whether to ignore him and let him try on his own, as he plainly seemed to want to do, or to step in and offer help with more assertiveness. Claire had encountered some very stubborn fellow dancers in her lifetime and she was aware that for many people, suddenly finding yourself less physically able could be devastating to the ego. She didn't want to hurt him further by making him feel less able than he already did.

  Claire stepped away from the table with dishes in her hands, resisting the urge to look back at Daniel again.

  She was in the kitchen when she heard him stumble, heard him fall from his crutches onto the floor. Logan ran past her to where Daniel lay prone on the floor.

  "Goddamnit!" Daniel yelled as he pounded his fist into the floor. "Dammit."

  "Take my hand," Logan said strongly. "You just got snagged on the rug a bit. We'll move it out of here, take away the chance of falling again."

  "Rug or no rug, pretty sure falling is a given when I'm down a damn limb."

  Claire's heart broke when she heard the resignation in Daniel's voice. She wanted to run to him, wanted to take his face in her hands and kiss him. It sounded crazy even as it ran through her head, and she knew it would do nothing but confuse things between the two of them, but the impulse was so strong that she had to squeeze her hands tight at her sides to keep herself still.

  "I'm.... I’m going to go," Claire said suddenly. She wasn't sure what to do, wasn't sure what she could do that wouldn't just make things worse. She had a very real need to get out of that room right then, and she felt ashamed when she realized that this was going to be her reaction to something as simple as Daniel tripping on the carpet.