His gaze clears. “Ah. I get it. Spencer won’t tell me anything either.” He taps something on his computer. “Let me get down some of the details here, and then we’ll look at the calendar. So what exactly are you thinking of doing? Any particular age group?”
“No. Any ages. All ages.” I shrug.
“What type of dance?”
“Tap.”
His brows lift. “Is that complicated for a one-time class?”
“Not at all. Only the basic moves. They wouldn’t need special shoes or clothes or anything.”
Beverly would always talk about how there aren’t enough movies with it anymore, not like there used to be. Like Anchors Aweigh, Ship Ahoy, The Little Colonel. Now it’s all Magic Mike and a dozen Step Up movies.
Mother made me do all kinds of dance classes, music classes, singing lessons, and even horse riding because you never knew when it would be needed for a role, but I always enjoyed tap the most because it reminded me of Beverly.
“How long would the class be?” Carter asks.
“Maybe an hour?”
“Is four o’clock okay, during the week? That way the kids can just stay after school ends if they want to participate.”
“Yes. That works. The sooner the better. I have to get it done by the end of next week. Friday at the very latest.”
He makes a note. “I’ll get a signup sheet up tomorrow. We can cap it at twenty, so you aren’t overwhelmed.”
“You really think that many of the kids would be interested?”
“Absolutely. There’s nothing like it here in town. I think we may be letting them down.”
I frown. I didn’t think about that.
“I can help,” a voice chimes from the doorway.
I twist in the seat. Audrey. “You want to help teach kids tap? Do you even know how to tap?”
She fidgets with the strap on her Gucci bag. “Yes. I’ve had lessons in tap, ballet, jazz, and modern. If I help you, more kids could sign up.”
I blow out a breath. “Fine. The more the merrier. Oh, we’ll have a third adult, actually.”
“Who?”
“Graham Deadwyler. I have to check with him before we formalize the date for the class so hold off on the sign-up sheet. I’ll text you later, once I know.”
Carter sits back in his seat. “First you get him to appear in public, and now you’re going to get him to dance? In front of people?”
“Yep.”
He just doesn’t know it yet.
As we leave the school, I direct Audrey to Graham’s. I’ve texted him multiple times over the past few days, but he never replied.
She doesn’t speak, doesn’t mention our fight, and neither do I. I have other things to worry about, and I have guilt pressing down on my chest about what she said. It’s too much to deal with right now.
I open the text thread to read over the one-sided conversation.
* * *
Hi Graham, it’s Vivien. I have a proposal for you.
