Off Balance (Ballet Theatre Chronicles Book 1) (39 page)

She took a step closer and slipped her arms around his waist. Immediately his arms went around her, holding her close, which felt as delicious and luxurious as slipping into a hot bath. She nestled her face in the crook of his neck that still smelled spicy-fresh from his shaving lotion. His hands worked her back. She drew in a deep, cleansing breath. Another. Another.

She pulled away finally, but he held onto her hands and met her eyes.

“I want you to know this, and Dena’s here as my witness,” he said. “Julia knows about you, about us. Everything. I told her I’d move out. Give her back the car. Whatever she deemed appropriate, because the bottom line is, you come first from here on out.”

She sucked in a breath, staggered by the news.

“I’m not saying this to encroach on your space,” he continued. “I’m going to keep honoring that.” He gestured to Dena, who’d risen as well. “You two go on tour soon. I’ll be thinking of you every day, all day. Because I love you. But I can wait. Through
Nutcracker
, through the holidays. I’m like family. You can ignore me, reject me, but I’ll always be there.”

He paused, winced. “God. I’m not coming off sounding like a stalker, am I?”

The comment was so unexpected, the three of them began to laugh.

“I’m going,” Gil said, while they were still chuckling. “I’m officially late.”

A moment later he’d hurried off, but his words, their impact, still hung in the air. Dena grinned and shook her head. “That Gil,” she said.

A whiff of suspicion took hold in Lana’s mind. “Do you suppose he planted that last bit, about the stalker, in there to lighten the air, make his exit easier?”

Dena stared at her. “Who cares? It was the rest that counted. And the rest—omigod. You’re the luckiest girl alive.”

Uncertainty battled with euphoria. “Do you really think he meant it all?”

Dena’s nod was vehement. “Without a doubt. I know Gil, and that was honesty.”

What a day for life-changing pronouncements. It put her in a daze, like the time she fell in rehearsal, only without the pain.

“We’d better get moving,” Dena said, glancing at her own watch. “
Arpeggio
rehearsal in five minutes.”

“The three of us together. You, me and your sister.”

“Yup.” Dena looked happy.

The memory of Lucinda’s words floated back into her mind.

“Hey,” Lana said as they made their way down the hall. “Wanna hear some exciting news?”

“Sure.”

Lana lowered her voice. “I was in with Lucinda this morning. There’s going to be a photo shoot when we come back from tour. For
Arpeggio.
They want the three of us in that trio variation.”

Dena’s jaw sagged. She stopped walking. “They usually cast the dancers they feature in publicity shots,” she said.

“That was my hunch, too.”

The two of them eyed each other, not sure whether to be loudly jubilant or quietly, cautiously, carefully elated.

“It’s going to happen for us,” Dena said.

Lana bit her lip and nodded.

“Oh, shit,” Dena added. “I am so not going to be popular here.”

“Ditto. Tell you what. We’ll be not-popular together, okay?”

“It’s a deal.”

Laughter bubbled up, as though one of them had just told the funniest joke ever. They laughed until tears welled up in their eyes that they had to wipe away.

“We’re going to be late,” Lana said finally. “We really have to fly.”

A smile spread across Dena’s face that seemed to mirror Lana’s own buoyance.

“Watch us fly, world,” Dena said softly.

And together, they took off.

My thanks must always go, first and foremost, to my family for supporting me in my countless writing endeavors. Second, heartfelt thanks to my agent, Anne Hawkins, who was the one to say “why not a ballet novel?” What evolved from that simple suggestion turned not only into two novels, but an entire shift in direction of my writing, that nourishes and thrills me, immersing me in today’s dance world as a blogger and reviewer. The shift has also sent me back to my own dance performance days, for which I hold eternal gratitude to Kristin Benjamin, friend, mentor and artistic director of the Kaw Valley Dance Theatre. I’ll always appreciate the way you supported me, challenged me, and made me realize how high I could fly if I set my mind, body and spirit to it.

Books that enriched and educated me through the writing process of this novel include Toni Bentley’s
Winter Season: A Dancer’s Journal,
Steven Manes’
Where Snowflakes Dance and Swear: Inside the Land of Ballet,
Janice Ross’
San Francisco Ballet at Seventy-Five,
Kyle Frohman’s
In the Wings: Behind the Scenes at the New York City Ballet.

Thank you to all my writer buddies through the eight years of this novel’s evolution, including Tara Staley, Kristina Riggle, Kelly Mustian, Carolyn Burns Bass, Kristy Kiernan Graves, Grace Harstadt, Karen Dionne and the Backspace writers’ community. Thanks for early support of my novel-writing career goes to John Dalton, author, teacher and advisor, whose words and positive attitude encouraged me to persevere, through novel after novel after novel.

Thank you to my readers and supporters at The Classical Girl. You are the reason I’m attempting this madness in book form. Thank you, to early readers of this novel: Kathleen Hermes, Donna Zimmerman, Sue Novikov, Alise Driscoll. A late-in-the-game thanks to fellow author and former dancer Grier Cooper, whose own ballet novel motivated me to publish mine once and for all. Thank you, Lauren Baratz-Logsted for your excellent editing and enthusiastic support. To James T. Egan at BookFly Design, kudos for creating the perfect cover. To ballet teacher Vicki Bergland at the International Academy of Dance, thank you for giving me the opportunity to continue the art and craft of ballet in such a supportive, pleasant environment.

Finally, at the risk of duplicating my words, I again offer my thanks, love and gratitude to my family. Jonathan, for all that you are, and all that you’ve taught me. Peter, for your unfailing support and faith in my ability to follow my dreams and make them happen. And to the entire Mertes family, my parents and seven siblings. Thank you for being you, and making me become uniquely and stubbornly me. I love you all.

OUTSIDE THE LIMELIGHT

Ballet Theatre Chronicles – Book 2

A brain tumor diagnosis forces a prodigiously talented dancer to consider a life outside ballet, just as aging and physical degeneration have forced her fellow dancer sister to do the same, even as she sinks deeper into an affair with the company’s artistic director. Told in alternating point of views, OUTSIDE THE LIMELIGHT chronicles the sisters’ forays into the unfamiliar world of medicine and academia and non-dancer relationships, as they strive to discover what is worth fighting for, what is best letting go of, and what should be shouted out to the online world.

Visit The Classical Girl (
www.theclassicalgirl.com
) for news and excerpts as the date draws closer.