Tumble (Dogwood Lane 1)

“Totally.” She lays a hand on mine. “Mia aside, I’ve never seen you this happy. In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you like this. It makes me wonder if the Dane I knew before all this was really just a shell of you.”

“I am happier. I wake up and don’t just think about Mia and what she needs for the day. For once, there’s something there just for me. That probably sounds selfish, but it’s true.”

“Selfish?” She laughs. “No. It sounds like you’re a man with needs and you’ve found someone that might meet them.”

“I just keep thinking what it would be like for us to wake up in the same house. For Mia to have a mother-like figure in her life—no offense, Haley. We love you.”

She holds up her hands. “No offense taken. That’s a job I don’t want. You know that. I will give that girl whatever she needs, but I’d rather not take on the duties of a parent. Besides, she needs someone in her corner. I’m not around all the time.”

Nodding, I sip my coffee again. “I need to figure out a way to keep her here.”

Haley cheers, then clamps a hand over her mouth. “Yay,” she whispers.

“You’re nuts.” I throw a tip on the table and head to the front. I toss a ten-dollar bill on the counter and take the bag with my name spelled out across the front. “Thanks, Claire,” I call out to her in the back.

“See ya, Dane.”

As I walk by the round table by the door, I pause. “Thanks for listening, Haley.”

“It’s why you pay me the big bucks.”

With a spring in my step, I head into the warm summer air with a head full of ideas.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

NEELY

Madison! Point your toes!” I call out as she lands her tumbling pass. “No. Do it again.” Jogging over to her, I put a hand on her shoulder. “You can do better than that. Remember—you perform like you practice. Habits are built here, when you’re doing it for yourself and no one is watching.” I work my head side to side. “Except I’m watching, and you have to do it again.”

She sighs, but smiles. “Okay. I’ll try again.”

“Good girl.”

I get out of her way and watch as she readies herself at the opposite end of the room. She inhales and then sprints a few feet and begins her tumbling pass. This time, as she flips through the air, everything is nearly perfect.

“Great job,” I tell her as she looks my way. “Very, very good, Madison. I knew you could do it.”

“Thanks, Neely.”

The girls work in little groups, each focused on a certain element Aerial feels they could improve on. I love the team-building aspect of the groups. It lets the girls see they aren’t the only ones struggling in an area.

After surveying the practice pods, as Aerial calls them, I head to the water fountain for a quick drink and almost run into Aerial herself.

“Hey, you,” she says. “I heard you yelling at Madison. I’m glad you did that because that second pass was awesome.”

“You’ve got a great group of kids here. They take criticism well. They work hard. They have positive attitudes, for the most part.”

“Come into my office for a second, will you?”

I follow her inside and lean against the wall. “What’s up?”

She fights with the words she wants to use. “I know you said your heart isn’t here.”

I shift my weight back and forth. That was certainly true when I said it at a time that feels like a lifetime ago. My heart was very much rooted in New York then. Now? I’m not so sure.

“If you ever wanted to stick around,” Aerial says, “I’d love to talk to you about taking over the gym.”

“What?” I ask, shoving off the wall. “What are you saying?”

“I’m getting old. I still love the kids and will always want to be a part of the learning environment here. I don’t think I could exist if I didn’t. But there are lots of days, Neely, where I don’t want to deal with the rest of it.” Her shoulders sag. I can see the exhaustion, the years of worry and wear written on her face. “But what do I do? I’ve spent my entire life building this gym. We have the Summer Show that’s basically a tourist attraction for the whole town at this point. We have the competitions in the winter that keep a lot of little girls, and some boys, working hard and staying out of trouble. I don’t want to walk away and just shut this place down. I’ve worked way too hard at it for way too long to do that.”

I look at the floor, trying to replay that through my mind. “You want to retire?” I ask. “Is that what you’re saying?”