Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
“And then you won the Classic and she gave it to you,” Juniper guessed.
“I think so. When I woke up a few days later in the hospital, the nurse gave me a bag of the belongings I’d had when the ambulance brought me in, and the ring was there. So, I know that part is true, but head wounds are weird.” She didn’t need to know the rest, the bits and pieces that came screaming back in my dreams, or whenever a song played on the radio.
“Did you show them as proof?” She wiggled on the swing.
I shook my head. “No one but you knows I have it.” I’d been too afraid that Mom would take it back and I’d have nothing left of Lina. “Point is, I choose to believe that her last words were asking me to look after the people she loved, and I think it’s okay if you choose to believe that too.”
She nodded.
“Getting late, don’t you think?” Caroline called out as they came closer. “What are you two talking about?”
Juniper blinked twice. “I was asking Allie about how she tore her Achilles when she was performing.”
She even lied like a Rousseau. Impressive.
I stood as Caroline reached us, her mouth hanging slightly agape.
“Juniper, that’s not something you just ask someone,” she chastised.
Juniper shrugged and climbed out of the swing. “It’s not like it’s not on the internet. Do you think it was overuse?”
“Umm. Yes.” I nodded, and the four of us started up to the trail. “I knew I should have rested it, and made the bad choice to dance instead.”
“And it just . . . went?” Juniper asked.
“Allie, I’m so sorry,” Caroline apologized, shooting a look at her daughter. “You’ve been more than kind with what you’ve already shared.”
“It’s okay. I got a little distracted, lost my spot during the piqué turns, and that probably didn’t help.” I shrugged, and Hudson stiffened at my side. “But I don’t remember falling out or anything that would have caused it. It just tore. And had it not torn at the end of the variation, it would have in act two.” We reached the trail. “When you don’t give your body time to heal, it will take the time from you.”
Juniper nodded.
“And on that note, we’re headed to bed.” Caroline put her hand on Juniper’s back. “See you two tomorrow.”
We said our good nights and started back toward our cabin, stopping at the outhouse before going the rest of the way.
“I don’t think we should tell Caroline,” I blurted in a whisper as we walked back to the main trail.
“What?” Hudson paused, and I turned to face him.
“She’s scared for Juniper on so many levels after losing Sean. I think we can’t just tell her that we’re not a threat, or tell her that Juniper has a gift. Caroline is a lot like Lina, in a way. She needs the evidence, she needs to be shown. So we prove it to her. We let her see just how talented Juniper is for herself, at the Classic. With how stubborn Caroline is, it might be the only way Juniper ever gets to show her.”
Hudson lowered his head, his eyes shifting in thought. “It could work, and I can handle the fallout, but there’s every chance Caroline will go right back to hating you for the deception, even if she realizes you aren’t coming to steal Juniper away.”
I nod, my stomach hollowing. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take. This should be about Juniper, not me. Not Anne. Being cut out for eight years is worth it if it means Juniper’s happy.” And I’d be able to sleep knowing I did what I could, which was the least of what I owed Lina.
“Okay.” Hudson nodded, and we started back up the trail to our cabin. “You got distracted?” he asked as we picked our way through the moonlight. “During the Giselle performance?”
Heat stung my cheeks. “Yeah.”
“But you don’t think that had anything to do with the tear?” His brow furrowed.
“No.” I shook my head. “I did at first, but I was just looking for something to blame. I faltered a little bit, but nothing that would have caused the tear.” A wry chuckle worked its way up my throat. “Funny thing, and I’ve never told anyone this, and I don’t even want you to respond because it’s so embarrassing, but . . .”
He glanced my way.
“I thought I saw you.” I shoved my hands into the front pocket of his hoodie and definitely did not look over to see the way he gawked at me. “I thought I saw you in the back row, and when I looked again, you weren’t there, of course. It was just my brain playing tricks on me, probably because you’d been there the only other time I’d performed the variation for an audience.”