Make Her Wish Come True Collection

Chapter Eight

Evie was dressed and hovering by the front door fifteen minutes before Dante was due to arrive. It was barely seven and well below freezing. But the skies were clear, so there still wasn’t any snow.

This morning was the work party for her sets and she was nervous about everything getting done. While the sets were simple and the dancers the focus of the performances, the backdrops provided context and mood. No one would expect perfection from an amateur show, but she was determined to get as close to professional as possible.

She opened the front door when she saw him walking up the front steps. He smiled when he saw her.

“You look nervous,” he said.

“What if we don’t get everything done? I’m trying not to freak out, and it’s difficult.”

He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Have a little faith.”

“I have great faith in you,” she told him. “It’s myself and everyone else who causes me doubt. I’ve barely held a paintbrush.”

“Now you’ll be able to practice.”

She grabbed her jacket and followed him outside. Instead of his sleek German import, a large pickup truck was parked in his driveway.

“Compliments of your sister-in-law,” he said.

She slid onto the seat and stared at him. “You borrowed Heidi’s truck?”

He shrugged. “I knew if I asked one of your brothers to trade with me, he would probably drive my car. Heidi won’t.”

She grinned. “Are you sure about that? She has a bit of a wild streak. What if she takes one of her goats for a joyride?”

“Now you’re just messing with me. Come on. We need to get our supplies and be at the warehouse before our workers show up.”

Ten minutes later Dante was backing toward the loading dock of the Fool’s Gold hardware store. Two teenagers were ready with stacks of paint, brushes, tarps, glue and bags filled with Evie wasn’t sure what. Dante went over his master list, and Evie signed the purchase order. The store would bill Dominique, the dance studio’s owner, directly.

By quarter to eight, they’d stopped for coffee and were on their way to the warehouse. Evie told herself that whatever work they got done would be enough and that she shouldn’t be disappointed if no one showed up to help. People had busy lives, and it wasn’t as if she had a bunch of friends in town. Sure, Charlie and Patience had offered to make a few calls, but would that make a difference? Patience would be there, Evie knew, but Charlie had to work at the fire station. Still, with one or two parents and her brothers, they could make some serious progress.

Dante pulled into the storage warehouse parking lot. She saw there were already about ten or fifteen cars and trucks there.

As she climbed out of the truck, Patience hurried toward her, her long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail.

“’Morning,” she said cheerfully. “I’m just organizing the work parties now. The sets have already been pulled out and grouped together by scene. I was waiting to hear what you think about how we’re going to do this.”

Not sure she would have an opinion, Evie followed her inside the large building.

Instead of the sets being stacked together in the cramped storage locker, they were spread out in the long, open hallway of the warehouse. Sure enough, they had been clustered together by scene and in chronological order. She could look at them and see the flow of the show.

More surprising was the setup. Long tables stood at one end. Heaters were plugged in the whole length of the hall. Lights blazed overhead. But the most amazing part of all was the people waiting. There had to be at least twenty adults and several of her dance students. As Evie blinked in astonishment, two more families arrived, including Melissa and Abby Sutton. They were accompanied by a boy, who was probably their brother, and their parents. Rafe, Shane and Clay were also there, smiling at her with an annoying combination of pride and smugness.

“Surprised?” Clay asked.

“Yes,” she admitted.

“Good. We decided you needed more surprises in your life.”

“Lucky me.”

“By eight-thirty we won’t be able to move in here,” Patience told her. “But, hey, the more hands, the better, right? This way, we’ll get it all done by noon.”

Evie opened her mouth, then closed it. Her throat was tight, and she had the horrifying thought that she might actually start to cry. She’d been hoping for a couple of parents to show up. Not a flood of assistance from people she didn’t even know.

“I, um,” she began, then waved her arms, not sure what to say.

Dante took one of her hands in his and squeezed her fingers. “I’m the professional here,” he told her. “Why don’t you let me organize everyone into groups? You can supervise.”

“Thank you,” she said, vowing to bake him a cake or something later. Okay, maybe baking wasn’t the best way to show her appreciation, but she would come up with a plan.

“Stryker brothers,” he called. “Come with me to unload the truck. Everyone else, pick a set and go stand by it. Make sure you divide yourselves evenly.”

Five other guys went with Dante and her brothers. By the time they’d returned, there were at least twenty more people there to help. The hallway was loud and crowded. While a few people had collected by sets, most were just laughing and talking. They’d moved from controlled chaos to a party.

“How do you want to handle this?” Dante asked. He had a paint can in each hand.

Patience stood with her clipboard but didn’t look as if she was going to take charge. Evie knew she was ultimately responsible for the project. What was that old saying? An embarrassment of riches. She needed to get over it, she told herself.

She walked over to a folding chair and climbed onto the seat. Her injured leg protested slightly, but she ignored the twinge and waited as people turned toward her and grew quiet.

Everyone was staring at her, she thought, feeling herself flush. She knew less than a third of the adults in the room. The only time she’d ever been anything close to a leader was while she was teaching. Still, the performance was her responsibility, and that made the sets her problem.

“I’d like to thank everyone for taking time out of your Saturday to come here and help. I know the holidays are especially busy, so your generosity is all the more appreciated. For those of you who arrived in the past fifteen minutes, we’re asking everyone to gather around the set you want to work on.”

She pointed to the chronological beginning of the story. “I’ll walk down the line and tell you what I would like done. The supplies will be on those tables at the end. We may have to share cans of paint and brushes.”

“I brought tools,” a man called. “Three toolboxes, nails, screws, extra lumber.”

“Thank you.” Evie smiled at the crowd. “You’re all fantastic for coming out here today. I hope you’ll enjoy our performance.”

“We always love the show,” a woman said.

Everyone applauded and Evie stepped down.

She walked over to the first set. Patience walked with her.

“I’ll take notes,” the other woman said. “So we can keep track of what’s going to be done.”

“Thank you.”

One of the men standing by the first set, a good-looking blond guy with an easy smile, pointed to the back of the tall trees.

“The supports are all busted,” he said. “We should replace them while we’re painting. It won’t take long and Ethan is here to give us novices advice.”

Evie cleared her throat. “Ethan?”

“The guy who said he had tools.”

A pretty, obviously pregnant woman with brown hair joined the man. “Josh, start with the basics.” She smiled at Evie. “I’m Charity Golden. This is my husband, Josh. Ethan Hendrix is a local contractor.”

“Thanks for coming.”

“Oh, we love helping out. This is a fun project. Our daughter is still too tiny to be involved in anything, so we’re practicing for when she’s older.”

Josh leaned over and patted his wife’s tummy. “And he.”

Charity rolled her eyes. “Yes, this one is a boy and Josh is too proud for words.” But there was love in her voice as she spoke, and the couple shared a look that spoke of devotion and caring.

Evie went over the rest of the repairs and agreed that, yes, this was a good time to deal with the trees.

She and Patience went down the line. Her brothers and Dante had claimed the throne where the Winter King sat. She looked at the four of them. “Tell me you know what you’re doing.”

Clay pressed a hand to his chest. “Mortal blow. Come on, sis, we’re good. Dante and Rafe have both done construction, and Shane and I will follow their instructions.”

She sighed. “Fine, but no fighting.”

By eight-thirty, everyone was hard at work. She walked up and down the line, pleased with how quickly things were progressing. Close to nine, a tall, dark-haired man walked into the warehouse. He had as many muscles as Wolverine and looked nearly as dangerous. He glanced around at everyone working, caught sight of Evie and headed directly for her.

“I’m Gideon,” he told her, his low voice rubbing against her skin like velvet. Or maybe chocolate.

“Okay,” she said, wanting to get him to speak again. A voice like that was magic. “I’m Evie.”

His dark eyes glinted with amusement but his mouth didn’t smile. “I own both radio stations here in town.”

“That’s nice.”

Patience cleared her throat and leaned close. “He’s, ah, doing the narration for the performance.”

Evie looked back at him. “Oh. Gideon. We’ve emailed.” Had she known what his voice sounded like, she would have asked that they speak on the phone instead of meeting in person. “Nice to meet you.”

They shook hands.

“I’ve watched the performances on DVD,” he said. “And I went over the script. I thought about making a few changes.” He handed her several sheets of paper. “To smooth things out and make the story flow better.”

“Sure. I’m open to that.” She took the papers he offered.

He was a good-looking guy with a seductive voice. She was currently unattached, although secretly attracted to her neighbor. Shouldn’t Gideon be getting her tingles on? After all, she could simply close her eyes and listen to the magic of him speaking.

She glanced at the script, all the while trying to imagine sharing dinner with the smooth-talking stranger. But instead of enjoying the visual, her brain replaced Gideon with Dante and then got all quivery. So much for the magic voice working on her sexually. Apparently she simply enjoyed it the way she enjoyed good music or latte. At least now she didn’t have to find out if he was single.

She smiled at him. “There are too many distractions for me to read this now. Can I get back to you?”

“Sure.” He glanced around. “You’ve got quite the party here.”

“I know. Patience and Charlie put out word that I needed help and look what happened.” She lowered her voice. “I’m not from here, so it’s kind of a surprise.”

“I know what you mean. I’ve only been in town for about two months and it’s not like anywhere else I’ve lived.”

“Big-city guy?” she asked.

He shrugged. “That works as well as any other description. I’m retired military, so I’ve been all over the world.”

“How did you find Fool’s Gold?”

“A buddy told me about it. I came for a weekend and ended up buying the radio stations.”

Melissa hurried over. “We’re putting on the glitter. Can you come tell us if it’s okay?”

“Sure.” Evie smiled at Gideon. “Nice to finally meet you.”

“You, too.”

She followed Melissa over to one of the sets. When she turned back, Gideon was gone.

Work continued. Just before ten, Morgan, the owner of Morgan’s Books and the man who played the famous Winter King, showed up with coffee and cupcakes for everyone. Evie introduced herself to the older man.

“I like what you’re doing,” he told her, his brown eyes kind as he spoke. “A few of the girls have stopped by to tell me about the changes you’re making in the show. They’re very excited.”

“I hope everyone enjoys the performance.”

“They will.” He nodded toward the throne. “The fur is a nice touch.”

“Fur?” She followed his gaze and saw her brothers had attached faux snow-leopard fur trim to the throne. “Excuse me,” she said to Morgan, then hurried the length of the hall.

“Fur?” she demanded when she reached the throne. “Are you serious?”

“Annabelle thought it would look nice,” Shane said, his tone warning. “She gave it to me and I put it on.”

“Fine.” Evie liked her sister-in-law to-be and wasn’t about to take on Shane over fur. “Any other surprises?”

“If we told you, they wouldn’t be surprises,” Clay said.

“Great.”

Patience appeared at her side, clipboard in hand. “We’re making great progress. With everyone drinking coffee and eating cupcakes, we should get a nice rush in productivity and have all the work done in another hour or so.”

This time yesterday Evie would have said there was no way the sets could be spruced up in less than four hours. But now, surrounded by thirty or forty people digging in and getting it done, she realized it was more than possible.

“Thank you,” Evie told her. “This wouldn’t have happened without you and Charlie helping me.”

“You’re wonderful with Lillie, so I figure we’re even. Oh, I forgot to tell you, we’re all confirmed for the costumes and the makeup and hair. You know that’s all provided, right? We have a fitting and make sure the girls are set with the clothes, then talk about hair and makeup.”

The throat tightness was back again as she remembered the feuding stylist sisters story. “Let me guess. A couple of the local salons team up to take care of hair and makeup?”

“Exactly.”

“Is this place even real?”

“Of course it is. I know it seems like we’re really nice, but the truth is we’re pretty nosy, and getting involved means we get the good gossip first.”

Evie laughed. “I think the motivations are more altruistic than that.”

“Which means we have you fooled.” Patience started to say something else, but despite her open mouth, she was silent.

“What?” Evie asked, turning to follow her gaze. All she saw was some older woman with white hair walking into the warehouse. “You know her?”

“That’s Mayor Marsha,” Patience said, her voice hushed.

“Okay. Is it bad she’s here?”

“No. She always comes to things like this. It’s just…” Patience pointed. “Look.”

Evie did and saw nothing out of the ordinary. “You’ve got to give me a clue.”

“Look at what she’s wearing!”

“Jeans and a cardigan over a turtleneck?”

“She’s in pants.”

“Uh-huh. You know women have been wearing pants out in public for maybe a hundred years.”

“Not Mayor Marsha. She always wears a suit with a skirt. OMG.”

Evie started to laugh. “You did not just say OMG.”

“It’s Mayor Marsha in jeans. It’s an OMG moment. I have to go call my mom. She’ll die when I tell her.”

Patience pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and pushed a button. Evie shook her head and walked back toward the people working.

Over the next hour, each of the sets was completed. Evie thanked the teams as they finished. She introduced herself to the mayor, who was a very pleasant woman. From what Evie could tell, no one else had shared Patience’s reaction to the mayor wearing pants.

“Thank you,” Evie told a blonde woman and her husband. “I’m sorry, I know you said your name, but I…” The woman was one of the triplets, but Evie had no idea which one.

“Don’t worry. You’ve met way too many people today. You can’t keep us all straight. I’m Nevada Janack and this is my husband, Tucker.”

Evie shook hands with both of them, telling herself Nevada was pregnant. That information would help her keep the name with the face, at least until Nevada gave birth. “You were both wonderful. You didn’t need to rebuild that whole section.”

“It needed it,” Tucker said. “Not to worry. Nevada and I are both in construction. So’s Will.” He pointed to the man who had been assisting them.

The three of them had taken apart the last set and basically created a new version from scratch. Now it was painted, and the pulley system for the falling snow gleamed with new hardware.

“Good luck with the show,” Tucker said, then turned to his wife. “I’m going to help Will load the truck.”

“Sure,” Nevada said, then she looked at Evie. “My two sisters said to say they’re sorry they couldn’t make it. They both have kids on the tail end of colds.”

“That’s fine. We had plenty of people.”

Nevada leaned toward her and lowered her voice. “Be grateful they didn’t come. One of my brothers is in the military. He just told us he’s not reenlisting, which means he’s coming home next year.”

Evie wasn’t sure what that had to do with her sets. “Okay. You must all be happy.”

“We are. We haven’t spent any time with Ford in years. But the thing is, my sisters are determined to get him married off as quickly as possible. They’re making a list of potential women and you’re on it.”

“Oh.” Evie took a step back. “While I’m flattered, I, ah…”

“Can get your own guy? That’s what I told them. Not that they’ll listen. Ford’s great. Don’t get me wrong, but matchmaking is a slick road to disaster.”

“I appreciate the warning.”

“Anytime.”

Technically, it wouldn’t ever be an issue, Evie thought. She wasn’t planning to be here a year from now. Although it made her kind of sad to think she wouldn’t be working on the dance again.

Nevada, Tucker and Will gathered their tools and left. Evie’s brothers had finished with the throne and were now checking to see which sets were dry and ready to be put away.

The nearly empty hallway smelled of paint and glue. The coffee and cupcakes had disappeared, and sometime when she hadn’t been looking, someone had cleaned up the brushes and neatly stacked the cans of paint.

Shane and Rafe wheeled the throne back into the storage locker while Clay crossed to Evie.

“Five of the sets need to dry a little more before we store them,” he told her. “I talked to the manager, and he said we can leave the sets out as long as they’re not in the way. I’ll swing by later and put them back into storage.”

“I can do it,” she said, surprised he would offer.

“Some of them are heavy. I’ll take care of it.” He draped his arm over her shoulder. “Then you’ll owe me and I like the sound of that.”

“Thanks,” she told him.

“No problem.”

Clay joined his brothers. A few minutes later, Dante and Evie were left alone in the warehouse. She pulled out her phone and glanced at the time.

“It’s not even noon.”

“Told you,” Dante said. “You have to have a little faith in people.”

“Oh, please. You’re a lawyer. Faith is hardly your strong suit.”

“I have my moments.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “The tree lighting ceremony is tonight. Want to go with me?”

The sense of anticipation that had been so obviously quiet when she’d been speaking to Gideon fluttered to life in her tummy. She felt herself smiling up at Dante and hoped she didn’t look as foolish as she felt.

“I’d like that.”

“Pick you up at six. We’ll eat on the way.”

Chapter Nine

“You were right,” Evie said, sipping the tea Charlie had made for them.

Charlie sat across from her in the kitchen at the fire station and smiled. “That never gets old. Maybe you could say it again.”

Evie laughed. “I’m happy to. You were right. People showed up to help me with the sets. Lots of people. I didn’t know most of them and yet there they were. Everything was done by noon. I never expected anything like that to happen. And yes, I know. I need to have faith in people. I’ve been told.”

“Then my work here is done.” Charlie leaned back in her chair.

“I met Gideon.”

“What’s he like? I’ve heard him on the radio. Sexy voice.”

“Tell me about it. He’s attractive, in a dangerous sort of way.”

“That should make him irresistible.” Charlie arched her eyebrows. “Any interest?” She held up a hand. “Never mind. I apologize for asking. I can’t believe I’m turning into one of those women who falls in love and then wants to see everyone around her paired up as well. It’s horrible.”

“I don’t mind. And sorry, no. Gideon seemed very nice, but there was no chemistry.” She wasn’t about to mention her attraction to Dante. The fewer people who knew about that, the better.

“I’m glad the town came through for you,” Charlie told her. “This place is always special, but even more so at the holidays.” She hesitated. “Now I’m going to say something else I’ll have to apologize for, but I can’t help myself.”

Evie held on to her mug and waited.

“It’s your mom,” Charlie began.

Evie stiffened. “What about her?”

“It’s not my business,” she began.

“You’re right, it’s not.”

Charlie sighed. “And I always hated when people gave me advice about my mother. She and I didn’t get along, either. But last summer she showed up here and wanted us to be close. I won’t go into the reasons, but I will say I resisted. Only she didn’t go away and one day I realized she was the only family I had. That without her, I had no biological connection to another person on this planet. That was kind of sobering.”

“I know you’re trying to help,” Evie said grudgingly.

“I would have bet you every penny I had that my mother would never change,” Charlie told her. “But I was wrong. And if Dominique can do it, May is more than capable. Your mom cares about you.”

“Now,” Evie muttered. “But back when it mattered, she was never there for me.”

Charlie leaned toward her. “That sucks. She was wrong and she needs to understand that. I just have one question. If she’s genuinely sorry and regrets what she did, how is she supposed to make it okay now?”

“I don’t understand.”

“If she feels remorse and asks for your forgiveness, what will make you grant it? She can’t undo the past. So how do you find closure? How do you move on?”

“I don’t know,” Evie admitted. “I don’t think I want to forgive her.”

“So you’ll both always be in pain? That doesn’t sound very pleasant. Are you sure you want to live that way?”

“No, I don’t,” Evie said before she could stop herself. “But why does she get a free pass?”

“Because in any other alternative, you have to pay, too. Aren’t you tired of that?”

Evie nodded slowly. “I want normal,” she admitted. “I want to have a family who cares about me and whom I can care about.” She wanted so much more than she had.

“You either make it work with the family you have or go find a new one. I hate to break it to you, but you’re kind of past the cute kid stage.”

Evie managed a smile. “You think? Because I look adorable in a tutu.”

She knew Charlie was right. May had acknowledged the past, which was a big step. She was also reaching out. But part of her wanted to stomp her foot and insist it was too little, too late.

Dante had pointed out that she had responsibility for the relationship as it existed today. That if she wanted things to be different, she had to make a little effort.

The past couldn’t be fixed, but maybe there was a way for the hole inside of her to be healed. Was being a part of something worth the work it would take?

Just then alarms went off in the station.

“Gotta go,” Charlie said as she jumped to her feet and ran toward the engine bay.

Evie stayed where she was until the ambulance and fire engine had left, then she started for home. Dante was picking her up in a few hours. Until then she was going to try on everything in her closet until she found the perfect thing to wear tonight.

As for the question of what to do with her family—that she would release into the universe. Maybe with a little time, the answer would present itself all on its own.

* * *

IN THE END, comfort and warmth won over fashion. Evie pulled on long underwear, which meant she wasn’t going to fit into her skinniest jeans. She layered a camisole under a sweater, over which she would wear a jacket. As the tree lighting ceremony was going to involve a lot of standing around, cute boots that pinched her toes were out of the question. So much for being dazzling, she thought as she gave in completely and tossed a pair of mittens on the sofa.

She did take the time to use hot rollers, then finger comb her hair into a tangle of curls. She brushed on a second coat of mascara and then applied peppermint-flavored lip gloss in case there was mistletoe. She was ready five minutes before Dante was due to arrive.

Fortunately he was four minutes early. She opened the door and hoped she didn’t look as excited as she felt. Maybe being cool was out of the question, but there was no excuse for acting as eager as a puppy.

“Hi,” he said as he stepped inside. “You look great.”

“Thanks. You, too.”

He had on jeans and boots, a leather jacket and a scarf that made his dark blue eyes even sexier. He smelled of wood smoke and pine, and when he leaned in to kiss her, she felt herself melting.

His mouth claimed hers with a combination of hunger and tenderness. After the first brush of skin-on-skin, he drew back and raised his eyebrows.

“Peppermint?”

She shrugged. “It’s seasonal.”

“I like it.”

He closed the front door, then cupped her cheeks in his large hands and lowered his mouth to hers. This time, instead of kissing her, he lightly licked her bottom lip. Tasting maybe, she thought, as wanting made her weak. She pressed her fingers against the cold leather of his jacket, wishing she could get a lot closer.

He waited until she parted for him, then swept his tongue inside. They strained toward each other, kissing more deeply, passion growing until she felt herself start to tremble.

This time she was the one to draw back, her breathing uneven, her head spinning. Spending time with Dante was great. She enjoyed his company, and she felt oddly safe around him. But taking things to the next level? She would have to make sure she kept a firm hold on her heart before she could let that happen. She deserved a little fun but didn’t want to let that morph into anything more than that.

“I want to say it’s the dance clothes,” he murmured, staring into her eyes. “Only you’re fully dressed. So it must be you.”

She managed a smile. “You’re saying I’m a temptation?”

“I’m saying you’re on my mind a lot these days.”

Words to make her quiver.

For a second she thought about suggesting they pass on the tree lighting ceremony. That her bedroom was only a short staircase away. Except, she needed to be sure she knew what she was doing.

“Don’t worry,” Dante said, lightly kissing the tip of her nose. “We have a date with a tree and you know how they get if we’re late. All sad and then the pine needles fall off. We can’t disappoint the children of Fool’s Gold just because I find you the sexiest woman in three counties.”

That made her laugh. She stepped back and grabbed her coat. “Only three? Who’s the competition?”

“A former Miss Apple Valley, four counties away.”

“I hate her already.”

She zipped her coat. Dante tucked in her scarf, then handed her the mittens. He opened the front door and they stepped into the night.

“You’re saying if Miss Apple Valley came calling, you’d dump me in a heartbeat?” she asked, tucking her hand around the crook of his elbow.

“It’s a serious possibility.”

“And here I was holding out for Matt Damon.”

“A married man? I’m shocked and more than a little disappointed.”

They were still laughing as they walked toward town.

The evening was clear and cold. Their breath came in white puffs of steam.

“I have a feeling I didn’t layer enough,” she said as they turned toward the center of town.

“I’ll keep you warm,” Dante promised.

They weren’t the only ones out. The lighting of the town Christmas tree was a big deal, and the sidewalks were crowded. Most of the stores were open. Signs in the windows promised everything from hot chocolate to hot apple cider. There were stands selling homemade cookies and funnel cakes. Christmas music played from speakers.

“Evie, Dante! Good to see you!”

Evie heard someone calling their names but couldn’t see who it was. She waved in the general direction of the voice.

“Any clue?” she asked Dante.

“Not even one.”

“It’s kind of scary that people know who we are.”

“As long as they don’t chase us with pitchforks.”

There were more booths set up by the town square where the crowd was the thickest. Evie hung on to Dante, knowing if they weren’t careful, they would get separated.

“Hey, you two.” Evie turned and saw Charlie walking toward them. She was with a blonde woman carrying a toddler.

At first Evie wanted to say the woman was Nevada Janack, only the hair wasn’t the same and there was something different about her smile. Plus she didn’t look pregnant. Clay trailed along behind Charlie, his gaze locked firmly on his fiancée.

“Evie, this is Dakota Andersson. You met her sister Nevada this morning.” Charlie leaned close. “You’re not going crazy. They’re triplets.”

“Oh, right. I remember that from the brunch. It’s good to see you again.”

Dakota laughed. “You, too. My sister Montana is the one who’s missing tonight. She’s crushed not to be here, but her baby and mine both got a cold and are recovering. My mom is home with Jordan Taylor because we didn’t want Hannah to miss tonight.” She kissed her daughter’s cheek. “Daddy is off getting us hot chocolate.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Evie said. “This is Dante Jefferson, my brother’s business partner.”

“Hi.” Dakota nodded at him, then turned back to Evie. “I was wondering if there’s a toddler class at the dance school. Hannah saw The Nutcracker on TV and can’t stop talking about it. I know kids can start dance classes pretty young. I went online, but there isn’t a website for the studio.”