His voice brings me out of my own head and I stand, clapping loudly. I’m so incredibly proud of her; she dances like it’s her life, like it’s all that she is—just like her mom used to. At the age of five, I had no idea that she could dance like that. No matter how many times her teacher tells me that she’s talented and should have private lessons, I didn’t think anything of it.
I thought that she wanted to earn more money; the name Carter bringing dollar signs to her eyes, but now I can see that she was right; my Izzie is amazing.
Once the show is over and all of the dancers have given a bow at the end, I make my way down to the stage, Izzie spotting me right away and running down the stairs, barreling toward me.
“Did you see me, Daddy!”
> I pick her up, holding her against my chest as I spin around to face Amelia, Nate, and Clay. “We did! You were amazing, pumpkin!”
“Do you think?” she asks, her voice a whisper and her brows drawn down into a frown.
“I don’t think,” I say. “I know!” I kiss her cheek, my eyes misting over as I stare at her, seeing Natalia in her eyes. “I think your teacher is right.”
“She is?”
“Uh huh. You need more dance classes.” I frown and clear my throat, realizing that I’m making the decision for her. “That’s if you want to, of course.”
“Yeah! I do! I love dancing so much!”
She pulls me closer, her little arms wrapping around my neck before she leans away toward Nate.
“I can’t believe what my princess can do,” he says, pulling her to his chest in the same way that I did. “You looked just like your mommy.”
My head whips around to him as I hear my name being called, but I ignore it, focusing on what Nate is saying.
“Did you like it, Uncle Nate?”
“Yeah, I did!”
“Mr. Carter?” I spin around at the soft voice and come face to face with Izzie’s dance teacher.
Her dark brown hair is up in a bun—much like all of the students—and she has lightly-applied makeup gracing her face, the focus being on her dark blue eyes.
“Miss Zoe.” I nod, meeting her gaze as I shake her hand but my attention’s not really on her.
“What did you think of Izzie’s dancing?”
I turn to face Izzie who is now being cuddled by Amelia, a giant smile on her face as she talks to her before turning back to Nate.
“She’s amazing,” I tell her.
“She is, isn’t she?” I turn back to Miss Zoe. “I was wondering if you had time to think about those one-on-one classes that I mentioned a few weeks ago?”
I widen my stance, catching sight of all the other kids as their parents meet them off the stage. There’s so many dancers here of all capabilities, yet it’s Izzie she sees something in.
“Let’s do them.”
“Great!” Her lips lift into a smile before her gaze meets Izzie’s. “I think a forty-five-minute session after her normal dance class would work out really well.” I nod in reply as she takes a step toward Izzie. “You were incredible, sweetie.”
“Thanks, Miss Zoe.” Izzie’s cheeks heat as Miss Zoe smiles before she walks away to talk to someone else.
“I think—”
“Do you think I looked like Mommy too, Daddy?”
My breath catches in my throat at Izzie’s simple question, but it’s not as simple and innocent as she means it to be, she’s asking me to talk about Natalia and no matter how much I want to, I can’t. I can’t go there, I can’t think about her and tell the kids things that she used to do or say without spiraling.
“I…”