I hear the door open and release Luke from my hug only to see a rather tall black haired woman storm in.
James curses. “I knew she wouldn’t wait,” he mutters to Jennifer.
Jennifer takes his hand in hers and grimaces as her mother walks up to them. I stand in front of the two of them, glowering.
“Step aside, she has tarnished our family’s name.”
James gently pushes me aside and fixes her with a flat stare. “No.”
Her eyes narrowed and I could see that she wasn’t used to hearing that word often. “H-I-How dare you?” she says.
“Don’t give me that,” James says, chuckling darkly.
“Give you what? The fact that I want my daughter to have what’s best fo—”
“You’ve never known what’s best for her ever! You don’t even know her!”
The woman crosses her arms. “She’s my daughter of course I know her.”
Jennifer shakes her head sadly.
“No, you don’t,” James says. “If you did, you would know that she wants a normal life. That’s all she’s ever wanted.”
“As a seamstress?” She scoffs.
He put up his hand. “Let. Me. Finish,” he growls. “Instead of letting her live the life she wants, you stick her with living the life you wanted. You never let her do what she wanted to do and so you’ve lost her. Now get out of our way so she can live the life she’s always wanted to.”
“I won’t take her back when she comes crying to me when you leave her because she’s no longer inheriting anything.”
James snorted. “Money’s never mattered to me, unlike you. Which I’m guessing it meant more to you than your dreams.”
She laughs. “I got what I always dreamed about, I was in ballet and loved the thrill of it. She told me she wanted to dance too. And then she threw it all away.”
“That’s when she was a little girl. No one ever knows what they want to do when they were little. I certainly didn’t. We have fantasies. And sometimes reality comes to bite us. And sometimes we need that.”
“Bite this, lover boy. I—”
James interrupts her again. “You don’t get to talk anymore. Okay? We’re done talking to you, you manipulative witch.”
I stand in front of him again when she opens her mouth to speak. “You are no longer welcome backstage. Please leave or I will be forced to call security.”
“And I’ll be glad to help them throw you out,” he growls.
The woman walks off with a huff and Jennifer wraps her arms around James from behind.
“Thank you.”
“Anytime, tiny dancer, she was out of line.” James gently pats her hands.
I smile softly and glance back when the announcer says that it’s time for us to learn who won the contest. I take Luke’s hand as I head out with the other contestants to hear the judging.
“Jennifer is disqualified from the contest for her disrespect of the rules,” the judge says. “However, I would like to mention that your dance was very touching.”
“Thank you, sir,” Jennifer says as she stands back with James.
“The third place winner with a prize of 1,000 dollars is Katie.”
Applause and scatters whoos went through the audience and I smile a little. Go, Katie!
“The second place winner with a prize of 5,000 dollars as well as a scholarship to the New York Ballet is Kristen!”
I squeeze Luke’s hand, I’m now very worried and I don’t know what else to do.
“And the winner of the Grand Prize trip to France to meet with the masters of ballet and learn their arts for a year as well as 10,000 dollars to cover living expenses is…”
I always hated dramatic pauses.
“April!”
I squeak and my eyes widen. “M-me?”
“Yes, you, darling. Come up here and get your prize.”
I walk up there and stand in front of the crowd hearing them cheering my name as my eyes widen. I won. I take the cardboard check as well as the envelope with the tickets to France—I had opened it up and seen two in there—as I watch the crowd. I gave a graceful little wave with my free hand as Luke came to stand beside me.
“You won your dreams, April,” he murmurs to me.
“Will you come with me? There’s two tickets.”
He smiles and kisses my cheek. “I wouldn’t think of anything else I would rather do.”
I smile, this was the best day of my life and I was going to spend the rest of my life with Luke. I couldn’t think of a better life.
The End
About
Lydia Joy Nickerson is a Colorado Author. She has a Tortoise Shell cat named Belle.
You can follow her on facebook https://www.facebook.com/LydiaJoy-Nickerson-464234083607686
Twitter: @LJoywriter.
And Tumblr http://official-lydiajoynickerson.tumblr.com/
And look for her website: LydiaJoyNickerson.webs.com. On her website she has upcoming books release dates, and links to her current published books, sites, and everything else.
You can also email her at: [email protected]
Love's Sporting Chance: Volume 1: 6 Romantic sporting novellas Page 45