Read The Dance for Free Online Page B

home.” Bryan put his arm around Melanie.
    Melanie was content to listen and snuggle close to Bryan in the back seat. She didn’t feel quite so alone now.
    After delivering Hank, Seth headed for his house. Then Bryan and Melanie got in the front seat of the old Camaro, and Bryan took her home. He walked her to the door, but they didn’t linger in the cold and blowing snow. His kiss was warm, though, and he held her that extra minute that said if they were together, not much else mattered.
    She stood just inside the door for a few seconds, enjoying the memory of Bryan’s lips on hers. She knew he loved her. She knew he would stick by her if she got herself into a mess, looking into Paulie’s death. Knowing that gave her the strength to do it.
    She wanted to go straight to her room, to savor the warmth she felt inside. To remember the tryouts and the joy she felt at getting a part in the ballet. She felt she didn’t really have anything to lose. If she discovered that Madame Leona was on the up and up, that Paulie’s death really had been an accident, then she’d have the fun of being in the ballet. How could she have thought of quitting? She loved her dancing. She’d wanted to be in the ballet all along.
    â€œMelanie, is that you? Come in here. Why are you standing in the hall? Did you get the part? Did you get into Madame Leona’s class? Tell me about it.”
    Melanie sighed and walked slowly into the small, comfortable living room. Her mother lay on the couch, an afghan pulled over her legs. A stack of romance novels spilled on the rug beside her. Katherine Clark sat up, her long red hair tousled, as if she’d alternately read and slept the evening away.
    Melanie’s mother had also been an aspiring dancer, just like her best friend, Ilene Greenway. Ilene had danced until she injured an ankle, then opened the school in Bellponte. But Mom had given up her career early on for marriage and a family, a sacrifice she didn’t often let Melanie forget, even though that had been her mom’s choice.
    â€œHi, Mom.” Melanie bent to kiss her mother lightly. Then she flopped into an overstuffed chair, pulling her feet from her boots and curling her legs up underneath her.
    â€œYou got it, didn’t you?” Katherine’s face was eager for the news. Just as she lived a part of her life vicariously through her romances, she lived her abandoned dance career through Melanie. “I knew you could.”
    Melanie prayed her mother would never have to find out she had two reasons for getting into Madame Leona’s exclusive troupe.
    â€œYes, Mom. I was wonderful. I’ve never danced so well. I was nervous at first, but I met a girl who helped me relax and get over my jitters. I think we’re going to be friends.” Melanie thought about Hank. She liked her friendly, carefree attitude. She did think she’d made a new friend. And—she hoped she’d made the right decision to trust Hank.
    â€œThat’s fine, but remember you don’t have much time for friends and socializing with everyone who comes along.”
    â€œShe’s not just someone who came along.” Melanie jumped to defend Hank. “She’s a dancer. She’s serious about her career, too. I need a girl friend, Mom. I—I’ve been lonely.” Melanie didn’t know that until she said it.
    She missed Paulie terribly. She and Paulie had been friends for a long time. They had started dance together. Taking dance, seeing all the dance movies over and over, and living their dreams had taken up most of their lives. School was just something they did because it was expected of them.
    Melanie didn’t know why she’d shared the confidence about needing friends with her mother. She told her mother only what she had to, not her real feelings, as a rule. It was a way of defending herself. Sometimes Melanie felt Katherine would gobble her up, take over her