“Yes, that’s right. Only this time you’ll be freezing fairies,” Reese said.
A few of the kids giggled again.
Reese started the music. For the rest of the hour, the children happily free-danced, fluttering their arms, doing lopsided pirouettes and leaping through the air. There were even a few cartwheels. And accompanying it all? A symphony of bumps and thumps and shrieking hand tools. She could hardly wait to march next door and see for herself who was responsible for ruining her class.
The parents arrived, bundling up their tiny dancers. Before long, they were all out the door. Reese had another class later in the day but for now she was free.
Free to explore whatever was happening next door.
She pulled her tunic-length sweater on over her pale blush leotard and replaced her ballet slippers with a pair of sneakers before heading out her back entrance to the alley. The moment she was outside, she understood exactly where the racket had come from.
The entire back wall of the building had been opened up. Where there used to be a standard rear exit, it was now a half-installed garage-style door, metal tracks bolted into place, the opening taller and wider than it used to be. The concrete edges were raw and pale where they’d been freshly cut. A pile of broken concrete sat off to one side, evidence of recent destruction.
What in the world was happening? Why would anyone want a garage door for the back entrance?
Determined to find out, she walked over to get a better view. Careful not to step in any debris, she called out to whoever the sledge-hammering, flannel shirt wearing man was. “Hello?”
He came out from behind a pallet of rubber mats.
She gasped. Roan Hayes stood there. Just right there in the middle of the torn apart gym. Fifteen years since she’d last seen him, but she would know him anywhere. He was broader, more muscular than he’d been at eighteen, and his hair was long and disheveled in a way his mother would have never allowed. A close-cropped beard did nothing to hide the strong angles of his jaw. And those eyes of his? The same shade of alpine lake green they’d always been. She’d gotten lost in them from the very first moment they locked eyes in ninth grade English class. She’d just moved to town after her father had been transferred to the bank in Sugarville Grove from Burlington. Although she’d not wanted to move and leave her friends, Roan quickly made it all worth it.
Until his mother died. Until he left without a word.
“Hey, Reese.”
“What are you doing here?” She could hardly speak. Her legs felt wobbly and her mouth had gone dry. She pulled her sweater closed then crossed her arms over her chest.
“You look amazing.”
“You look different,” Reese said.
“Bigger, yeah. My job required me to be in good shape.”
“Right. The Hollywood stuntman and all that.” She couldn’t keep the mocking bitterness out of her voice.
“You know about that?” His eyes widened slightly. As if he were surprised that she knew where he’d been all this time.
“It’s a small town, Roan. Everyone knows where you and Jason went. Where you’ve been.”
“Well, Jason’s on television, so that one’s more obvious.”
Was he trying to sound lighthearted? After he’d ruined her heart for such things?
She didn’t say anything, just glared at him.
“I’m back in town,” Roan said. “Opening a gym, as you can see. CrossFit.”
“You’re back in town.” Reese nodded, speaking with as much flatness as she could muster. “And opening a business right next door to mine. How wonderful.”
“It was the only space available that made sense for my gym.”
That’s why Wayne had been acting strange last week. He’d known he’d just sold his business to Reese’s high school sweetheart. The rat.
“I’m assuming the racket that just ruined my class won’t be a regular occurrence?” Reese asked.
“Sorry about that. It’ll just be a few more days. Only major change is the back door here.” Roan gestured toward the empty space where the wall had once been.
“Had you bothered to check with your neighbor, I would have asked you to tear down a wall some other time than my ten o’clock class.”
