Love Inspired March 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: A Wife for JacobThe Forest Ranger's RescueAlaskan Homecoming

by Rebecca Kertz

  The lump in her throat grew tenfold. “Yeah, too bad.”

  * * *

  A week into rehearsals for the recital, Posy realized that the shortage of ballet apparel in Aurora was the least of her problems. In fact, all fashion-related obstacles had been eliminated on day one with a brief phone call to Martha, the costume mistress for Posy’s dance company in San Francisco.

  She’d pleaded the girls’ case, and once Martha heard that there was a group of teenagers in Alaska who’d never had the opportunity to slip their feet into a pair of ballet slippers, she’d gone about rectifying the situation immediately. Within days, a box had arrived, packed to the brim with pale pink leather ballet shoes. They were discards from company dancers throughout the years that Martha had been holding on to for some inexplicable reason. They’d been previously worn, of course, which the girls seemed to think made them infinitely more valuable than if they’d been brand-new. In the words of Melody, they were real ballet shoes that had been worn by real dancers. Thus, they’d been deemed priceless, irrespective of the threadbare areas around the toes.

  Even more surprising than the girls’ steadfast affection for their hand-me-down ballet shoes were the seven sets of white leotards and matching tutus that had been buried at the bottom of the box. In those first few days of planning, costumes had been a luxury that Posy hadn’t allowed herself to think about. She’d certainly never expected Martha to whip up tutus for the girls or purchase leotards and tights with company funds. But that was exactly what she’d done, with approval from the company’s charitable foundation. Less than a week after Liam had approached her with the idea of putting on a recital, she’d managed to procure ballet shoes and full costumes for all seven girls. The disinterested teenagers that she’d first met just weeks ago would dance the part of winter-wonderland snowflakes.

  Other details quickly fell into place, as well. The Aurora Community Center had a stage available free of charge. Posy’s mother had been thrilled to put together a program on her laptop. Even her dad had decided to pitch in, agreeing to put his photography skills to use taking photos at the recital instead of chasing moose into public buildings. Posy had decided that perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing after all that the moose report on the nightly news had bitten the dust.

  The problem wasn’t the shoes, the costumes, the music, the staging or the programs. It wasn’t even the choreography. Inspired by the snowy-white tutus, Posy had decided to put together a simple dance to the music from the Winter Fairy’s Variation in Cinderella. She knew the music like the back of her hand since it had been her most recent performance piece. She’d just never gotten a chance to dance to it onstage since she’d fallen during the opening bars.

  Even her broken foot was no longer her biggest problem. She’d been dancing in tiny increments as recommended by Dr. Cooper, and every day she felt stronger and more sure of herself.

  The problem was none of these things. The problem, unfortunately, was the dancing.

  It wasn’t for lack of trying. Posy had done her absolute best. So had the girls. But the amount of skills that a dancer could acquire in four short weeks simply wasn’t sufficient to put together a classical-ballet number. At least not one that wasn’t a complete and total snooze fest.

  “What do you think?” she asked Liam during rehearsal one day in the fellowship hall. “I added an eight count of tendus to that section.”

  Seated beside her, he was notably silent.

  “Liam, I asked you a question.” She swiveled in her seat to look at him, and only then did she realize that he was asleep. To add insult to injury, he started snoring when she tried to wake him.

  “Liam!” She jabbed him with her elbow.

  He woke with a start and jammed a hand through his hair. “What? I’m watching.”

  Posy rolled her eyes. “No, you aren’t. You were asleep.”

  “I wasn’t.” He yawned and blinked a few times.

  A mysterious noise rose above the notes of the music, and after a quick scan of the room Posy realized it was the sound of a Newfoundland snoring. Wonderful. Even Sundog was wholly unimpressed.

  “This is bad. This is really bad. You’re so bored you can’t even stay awake.” Posy glanced back at the front of the room, where the girls continued to dance.

  The poor things. Their faces were scrunched in concentration, stage grins glued in place. Posy had never seen a corps of dancers so determined to perform to the best of their ability. They deserved thunderous applause and a standing ovation, both of which were unlikely to happen.

  To her abject horror, she found herself yawning.

  “Liam, we have to do something. This isn’t going to work,” she murmured. In the center of the floor, Melody was executing a shaky passé.

  She’d given Melody a featured role in the dance, which had definitely helped matters. But the entire variation was just missing something. There had to be a way to breathe life into this routine. Something simple and doable, even at a beginning level. For the life of her, she couldn’t come up with anything.

  Liam cut her a meaningful look. “Posy, you know you’re being too hard on yourself.”

  Maybe he was right. Maybe her unending quest for perfection—the flawless turnout, the just-right arabesque—was getting in the way of enjoying this whole process. Ballerinas were notorious overachievers, and she was no exception. When you spent hours upon hours, days upon days, years upon years standing in front of a mirror repeating the same movements, it was all too easy to notice the slightest little wobble or imperfection.

  But that didn’t explain the snoring of the masses, did it?

  “I want them to be happy, to be proud of themselves. They’ve worked so hard. I want the people in the audience to jump to their feet when it’s over.”

  Liam smiled warmly. “They will. The show is for their friends and relatives. You know what a tight-knit community this is. You couldn’t ask for a more supportive audience.”

  “I also want the grant for the youth program. You do, too.” And therein lay the true problem. Would the recital be impressive enough to convince the government to award money to their program? Money they so desperately needed?

  “I see your point.” Liam’s smile faded.

  Despite his best efforts, the snowball team’s record thus far was a dismal 0-3. The boys were having fun despite their losing streak, but Lou was even more convinced that the youth group’s only shot at the grant was Posy’s ballet instruction. And of course, he was sure the biggest jewel in their crown would be the recital.

  Her stomach hurt just thinking about it.

  “I want to capture the wonder of dance, Liam. That spirit has nothing to do with technical perfection. It’s something else. Something better.”

  “I know,” he said quietly. He was thinking about their night on the ice.

  She was thinking about it, too. Because that sweet moment of magic was precisely the feeling she wanted to somehow capture within the recital. But who was she kidding? That had been a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Dancing with Liam had meant more to her than all of her ballet performances put together.

  But she couldn’t dwell on that now. Thinking that way would make leaving all the more difficult.

  The music swelled. Posy squeezed her eyes closed against the images dancing and spinning in her imagination. She did her best not to sigh, not to picture herself moving across a diamond sheet of ice in Liam’s arms, stepping in time to the dramatic crescendo of Prokofiev’s score.

  Why did she keep reliving that moment?

  Because it was the single most romantic moment of your existence.

  She opened her eyes.

  “That’s it,” she said.

  “What?” Liam asked.

  “I’ve figured it out. What this recital needs is romance. Not more advanced dance steps
or anything technical. Just the tenderness of romance.” How had she not thought of this before? It was so simple.

  “Surely you’re not saying what I think you’re saying.”

  Indeed she was.

  “I’m talking about a pas de deux. It’s the perfect idea. Think about it. It would look so great on the grant application. We just need one thing to make it work.” She smiled. The steps were already coming to her. Basic turns, a promenade—the sweet simplicity of Cinderella dancing with her Prince Charming. “A dance partner for Melody.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “No way.” Ronnie shook his head so hard that Liam was almost worried it would fall right off his neck. “No. Way.”

  “Ronnie,” Liam said with exaggerated calmness. “I urge you to think about this for a little while before you say no.”

  He’d been worried that Ronnie’s reaction wouldn’t be favorable, which was why he’d convinced Posy to let him handle the situation. Liam suspected that if Posy approached him with the idea, he wouldn’t be able to see past her clothes—the leotard and tights—and wonder if she would expect him to wear something similar.

  Plus Liam had developed a special rapport with Ronnie. He had a feeling Ronnie would get on board simply because he asked for his help.

  As added insurance, Liam had removed Ronnie from the situation. Far away from anything ballet-related. Plus he’d invoked pizza as a bribe, choosing to drop the bomb on him at the pizza parlor down the street from the church.

  “No way,” Ronnie said again and shoved a slice of pepperoni pizza in his mouth. “Find someone else, Pastor. Please.”

  So much for their special rapport.

  “Ronnie, like I said before, if you just think about it...”

  Ronnie gestured wildly with his pizza slice. A few shavings of pepperoni went airborne. “I don’t need to think about it. There’s no way I’m going to put on a pair of tights and get up onstage in front of the entire town. I can’t believe you’re even asking me to do this. Haven’t I been punished enough? It was one snowball. One snowball!”

  To say he wasn’t taking the news well that Posy wanted him to dance the role of Prince Charming in the recital would have been an understatement. An understatement bigger than the imaginary bear Posy had thought was after her on her first day back in town.

  “Think about the group for a minute, Ronnie. Think about how hard the girls have been working on this recital.” He paused for dramatic effect before he pulled out the big guns. If this didn’t work, nothing would. “Think about Melody.”

  Ronnie’s second pizza slice paused halfway en route to his mouth. “What about Melody?”

  Finally they were getting somewhere. “She would be your dance partner.”

  “She would?” he asked tentatively.

  “Yes. She’s Cinderella, and you’d be playing the part of Prince Charming.”

  Ronnie frowned. “Are you sure? I thought Posy was the big star of the show. She’s the famous dancer and all. Isn’t she supposed to be Cinderella?”

  “I’m one hundred percent sure. Posy is only dancing in the recital because Pastor Lou insisted that she participate. She’s going to dance a small solo at the very end. The show is really about you kids.” Liam slid a slice of pizza onto his plate before it was too late. Ronnie was putting away the food faster than the snow was falling outside. “Melody is most definitely Cinderella.”

  “And I would get to dance with her? Like it was prom?”

  Ah, prom. Liam had forgotten all about it. The big high school dance was still two months away, but that hadn’t stopped the kids from chatting about it nearly every day at youth group.

  “Not exactly like prom, but similar. It’s still ballet, but maybe Melody would be more inclined to go to prom with you if she danced with you in the recital. That’s certainly something to consider.” He needed to consider it fast. The recital was only a week and a half away.

  “I don’t know, Pastor. Me? Ballet? I just don’t see it.”

  “All right. I understand.” Liam feigned nonchalance. He was down to his final tactic. “I’m sure one of the other boys will step up to the plate.”

  Ronnie kept on eating, but then seemed to catch on to the implications of what Liam had said. “Wait. What do you mean one of the other boys? I thought Posy wanted me to do it.”

  “She does, but if you say no, she’s going to ask someone else. Caleb probably. He and Melody get along great. They’d make a good couple, don’t you think?” He was laying it on a little thick, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

  “Fine.” Ronnie tossed a sliver of pizza crust down on his plate. “I’ll do it.”

  “I thought you might change your mind.” Liam grinned.

  “But no tights!”

  * * *

  The next afternoon, Liam busied himself in his office while Posy held the first rehearsal for the pas de deux she’d choreographed for Melody and Ronnie. He’d offered to help out to make sure Ronnie cooperated as promised, but Posy had assured him that his assistance wasn’t necessary. She could handle things on her own, which was for the best, really. He had plenty to do. Over the course of the past few weeks, he’d fallen woefully behind on office work. He told himself he’d simply been busy dodging snowballs and dealing with the grant application paperwork. He refused to admit that his mess of an office had anything to do with Posy’s return to Aurora.

  Keep telling yourself that. Your head has been all over the place lately.

  He had stacks of permission forms that had never been filed, the calendar of youth activities required revisions and the youth department website was sorely in need of updating. The first two items on his to-do list probably could have waited, but that last chore probably needed to be taken care of before their application for the grant was turned in. It sure couldn’t hurt. Given the youth group’s funds, or lack thereof, hiring an actual Webmaster was an unheard-of luxury. That chore, like so many others, fell squarely on Liam’s shoulders. And there was no time like the present to get caught up.

  He logged on to the hosting site and uploaded a few photos from recent youth-group activities. Within just a few minutes of getting started, the steady thump-thump of music drifted toward his office from the fellowship hall.

  Liam’s fingertips grew still over his keyboard, and he strained to hear the score. It sounded vaguely familiar. Something classical, no doubt. Ronnie was probably rolling his eyes right that very second.

  Maybe he should go look in on things, just to be sure Ronnie’s attitude stayed in check.

  Right. It’s Ronnie you want to see.

  Liam scowled at his reflection in the computer monitor. Of course Ronnie was the one he was concerned about. After all, the kid hadn’t seemed all that enthusiastic about the prospect of dancing in the recital. Liam had pretty much tricked him into agreeing to participate.

  Posy can handle things. Mind your own business.

  He went back to jabbing at his keyboard and willed himself to ignore the music coming from the fellowship hall. Within five minutes, his foot was tapping along to the melody. He continued uploading photos, one after another, and suddenly the music came to an abrupt halt.

  His foot grew restless. He waited for the tune to resume. It didn’t. He waited, then waited some more. Nothing.

  Do not go in there.

  Once again, he stared at himself in the glossy screen of his monitor. “You’re going in there, aren’t you?”

  He huffed out a sigh and pushed out of his chair. You’re not spending all afternoon crashing Posy’s rehearsal. One minute. Five, tops.

  “Pastor.” Ronnie’s face grew deep crimson the moment Liam crossed the threshold. His hands, which had been placed gingerly around Melody’s waist, jerked away at once. “What are you doing here?”

  Melody co
llapsed out of a tentative-looking arabesque and went teetering face-first toward the floor. Panic gripped Liam by the throat. He’d known all along this was a bad idea. Someone was bound to get hurt. He leaped toward Melody to keep her from falling, but Posy had already steadied her. Liam found himself grasping at nothing but air.

  “I’ve got her. She’s fine,” Posy said.

  Melody beamed up at Posy with an expression of hero worship and wonder on her face that mirrored that of every girl in the youth group lately. They all wanted to be Posy when they grew up. Every last one of them. And by all appearances, Posy adored them with equal affection.

  Posy aimed a quizzical look at him over Melody’s outstretched arm. “What are you doing here? Besides distracting my danseur, that is.”

  Ronnie’s face grew three shades redder. “Please don’t call me that. It sounds dumb.”

  Melody dropped her extended leg, stood upright and jammed her hands on her hips. “It means male dancer in French. That’s all. You’re the one being dumb.”

  Ronnie crossed his arms. “This is your recital, not mine. I’m doing you a favor. The least you could do is be nice.”

  They were at each other’s throats. Already. It had to be some kind of record.

  Liam glanced at Posy and lifted a brow. “I thought I’d come check on things. How’s it going?”

  “You’re looking at it.” Posy blew a stray wisp of hair from her eyes. “And this is mild compared to earlier.”

  “So it’s going that well, huh?” Liam asked.

  “You can’t just let go of me like that, Ronnie. Don’t you get it? I’ll fall over, right in front of the entire town.” Melody threw her hands in the air. “Is that what you want?”