A Fool's Gold Christmas (Fool's Gold #9.5)(45)

He shrugged and reached for his glass of wine. “Quiet. Good. We didn’t have a lot of money and it was just my mom and me, but we had fun. We went to midnight services on Christmas Eve. I understood we were poor and didn’t expect a lot, but Mom always made the day special.” He hesitated. “I miss her at the holidays.”

Evie nodded. “Sure. She was your family.”

“She would have liked you.”

Evie told herself not to read too much into the statement. “Thank you. I would have loved to have met her.”

He sipped his wine. “What about you and your family?”

“Christmases were loud,” she said remembering her brothers getting the family up early to see all the presents. There were other memories—times when she’d felt left out, but she wasn’t in the mood to explore them.

“After my mom died and I was sent to the military school, Christmas was different,” Dante said. “They kept us on campus. My senior year, one of the sponsors invited a couple of us to his house for Christmas.” He reached for another slice of pizza and grinned. “Let’s just say it’s the first time I figured out the rich really are different.”

“Nice house?”

“Nice mansion. It was three stories, I don’t know how many bedrooms. I’d never seen a tree that big, even at the mall. The family had presents for us and a stocking. I’d never had a stocking before.”

“We always had stockings,” Evie said, remembering her twelfth Christmas, when her mother had given her lip gloss and mascara. An acknowledgement that the teen years weren’t that far away.

There were good memories, she reminded herself. Maybe instead of focusing on the ones that were bad, she should start looking for the more pleasant ones.

“Have you talked to Gideon?” Dante asked, his voice casual.

“About the narration? Not yet. He left me a message. I need to call him back. He said he has some ideas about the story. Why?”

“He mentioned it at the book wrapping.”

She glanced at Dante, wondering if she was imagining things or if he genuinely wasn’t pleased about her working with Gideon. In your dreams, she thought, taking a sip of her wine. While the idea of Dante jealous was kind of exciting, reality was very different. He’d made it clear what he was and wasn’t looking for in their relationship. Them being together was all about getting through the holidays, about having fun together. Neither of them was committed to anything else, and if she allowed herself to think anything different, she was opening herself up to a world of hurt.

Chapter Fourteen

“Extend,” Evie said, holding out her arm to demonstrate. “Reach and lift.” She turned slowly, then sank down into the final move.

Lillie smiled. “You’re so good,” she said with an easy smile. “When you do it, it looks right.”

“It looks right when you do it, too.” Evie stepped behind the girl so they were both facing the mirror. “Now lift and reach and lift.”

She moved with Lillie, lightly pressing her palm against the girl’s back to keep her straight.

“Lean, turn, stretch.”

Lillie did as instructed. She made one last turn and sank down, her fingertips curled delicately, her wrists perfectly bent.

“See,” Evie said approvingly. “That was perfect.”

Lillie jumped to her feet and spun in a circle. “I got it! I got it!”

“Look at you,” Patience said, walking in to the studio.

“Mom!” Lillie ran to her mother, her arms outstretched. “Did you see me?”

“I did. Lillie, that was beautiful.”

Lille dashed off to collect her coat. Patience turned to Evie.

“Thanks for working with her. I know she doesn’t get the steps as quickly as the other girls.”

“She works hard and has fun. As long as she’s enjoying the classes, I’m thrilled to have her. She’s a great kid.”

“Thank you.”

Evie knew that Dominique would say Lillie was one of the “unfortunates.” Those not blessed with the dancing gene. But Evie found a special kind of pleasure teaching the Lillies of the world. As far as Evie was concerned, if Lillie enjoyed herself and ended up with good memories about her part in the performance, then the experience was a total success for both of them.

“Are you staying sane?” Patience asked. “I heard the cheerleaders wanted your help with their Pom-Pom-A-Thon.”

“I’m running ragged,” Evie admitted. “But only a couple more weeks and everything will be done. Then I can collapse through New Year’s.”

“Tell me about it.”

Lillie returned, her boots on her feet and her ballet shoes in her hand. “I’m ready, Mom.”

“Okay. Off we go. We have to stop at the grocery store and get more supplies. Your grandmother is still on a cookie tear.” Patience waved. “Hang in there and I’ll do the same.”

“Will do.”

She and Lillie left. Evie glanced at the clock. She had about an hour until her next class. Time enough to grab something to eat and maybe stop by Morgan’s Books for something to read. As soon as Christmas was over, she was going to put her feet up and not move for a week. There were no classes between the twenty-sixth and the first of the year. While she couldn’t afford a real vacation, she could hide out and rest.