Page 76 of Until We Come Home

The stage lights come up to a soft, golden glow. The audience quiets, and as the opening notes swell through the theater, I take a breath and let the music take over. My body glides into the opening phrase, in step with Jada as the choreography unfolds.

Every movement feels weightless. Yet as I leap and extend through the space, my gaze wanders toward the sea of faces in the darkened hall.

I scan the crowd out of habit, and there’s a little twist of guilt in it, because my eyes go right past Derek sitting near the front with a grand bouquet of flowers resting in his lap. Past Lark’s glowing smile and Maren snapping photos, barely pausing on Claudia’s approving nod. I keep searching until my eyes land on the one person I’ve been looking for all night.

Mateo.

He’s at the fire department’s table near the front, sitting very still, looking like a movie star in a crisp dark suit that fits his broad shoulders far too well, his dark hair tamed for once. His gaze locks onto mine with an intensity so fierce that I swear everyone in this room must be able to feel the heat crackling between us.

Everything else fades into white noise, and just like that night on Front Street, it feels as though I’m dancing for an audience of one. Every extension, every leap, every arch of my spine becomes an unspoken message sent straight across the room to him. There’s no pretending anymore, no hiding behind old excuses or safe boundaries. It’s all him, radiant and steady as the sun.

After the show I can’t get away from anyone. The event director wants me to meet the sponsors, and then a cluster of firefighters from the other stations and their families want to tell me about their kids who dance, and then there are the little girls who want photos with the fairy from the stage. Ordinarily, I’m the consummate social butterfly, soaking up every bit of the room’s energy, but tonight I feel out of place.

It’s clear I can’t keep going like this. I need to talk to Derek, or Mateo, or disappear off the face of the earth and leave the two of them better off without me yanking their hearts around. Instead I smile and nod and make small talk and feel like I’m watching myself do it from somewhere near the ceiling.

Lark and Maren find me and there are hugs and too many compliments, and then Calvin and Jack behind them, and through all of it I can’t see Mateo anywhere. It’s like he dropped off the planet. I keep up my end of the conversation with my eyes darting over everybody’s shoulders.

I’m still in my stage costume—the green floral dress offers at least a little coverage, even if the skirt falls higher than what I’d usually choose for a black-tie gala. My bare legs feel the chill of the hall, but I do my best to smile and keep up with the guests around us.

Claudia glides over with an appreciative smile. “Mia, that was simply breathtaking. A truly magnificent performance.”

I flush, and for a second the quiet panic in my chest eases.

“Thank you, Claudia,” I say. “It might be one of my absolute favorite pieces I’ve ever danced.”

“You’re a rare talent,” she says. “The way you move is pure artistry. Truly, a generational gift.”

“That means the absolute world to me, Claudia,” I tell her, and my voice wobbles on it.

Her praise strikes a deep chord. Even with my personal life threatening to implode, I’m proud of the youth company and of the piece Jada and I brought to life tonight. Standing on that stage gave me back a sense of purpose I didn’t realize I’d lost.

Lark, Maren, Jada, and Claudia gather in a loose circle, raising their champagne glasses in a quick toast to celebrate the night’s success just as the silent auction is announced over the loudspeakers.

I scan the room once more for Mateo’s tall frame, but he’s still missing.

Derek reaches my side, sliding his arm around my waist to press a kiss against my cheek. He’s holding a gorgeous bouquet of long-stemmed red roses, which he presents with a wide, confident grin.

“Oh.” I blink, taking them into my arms. “Thank you.”

“Babe,” he says warmly. “You were incredible tonight. Absolute perfection out there.”

I give a tight smile as his hand settles on my hip, pulling me in close. My stomach knots, and I wonder if we ought to step outside to talk, though I have no idea how to start that conversation. The timing couldn’t be worse.

“In fact,” he continues, his eyes bright, “I was going to wait for a quiet moment, but you are so radiant tonight, and your star is rising so fast, that celebrating right here feels like the perfect time.”

Confusion washes over me, and across the circle, Lark and Maren exchange a startled look. Derek turns to face the group, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. He drops down onto one knee, and everything in me goes cold. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a velvet box, popping it open to reveal a sparkling diamond ring.

“Mia,” he says. “I wanted to do this in front of your friends and the people you work with. I know we’ve gone back and forth over the years. Hell, we only just found our way back to each other. And that’s only made it clearer to me how special you are. How much I love you.”

I freeze, feeling like I’m watching a train wreck unfold in slow motion. A collective gasp ripples through the crowd, and a few people pull out their phones to snap photos, but all I feel is a dizzying dread. My eyes dart over the room, searching for Mateo.

He isn’t there.

“So I thought, why not?” Derek goes on. “Why not take this leap? The next step for us. Being together, for real this time. No more breaks. Just you and me. So, Mia Monroe, will you marry me?”

The world tilts as I stare at his face, my whole body screaming no. I’ve spent my entire life convinced I never wanted to get married, watching my parents’ bitter divorce curdle into resentment and vowing never to trap myself in that kind of disaster. Yet looking at Derek kneeling on the floor, I realize there’s only one man who could ever make me reconsider that rule.

And it isn’t the one on his knee.