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Juliette pictured Holly’s eyebrows scrunched together as her friend digested the bombshell she’d dropped.
“You… you’re considering moving to Avon and opening a dance school? I know you wanted a change and were tired of the photoshoots, but isn’t this a little… uh, drastic?”
“Maybe, but I’ve got a goo
d feeling about it.”
“I’d need more than a good feeling before I gave up my career and left Manhattan to live in Avon again. But hey, to each their own. Whatever you decide, I’ll support you.”
She’d known Holly would support her decision, but it was still nice to hear.
“If you want to reschedule to Thursday, I can drive up tomorrow and go with you,” Holly offered. “A second opinion can be useful.”
In the past, she’d consulted Holly for advice, and she appreciated her offer to come and help her now. But it wasn’t Holly’s opinion she wanted this time. “Thanks for offering, but Aaron’s coming with me tomorrow.”
“I can’t say I blame you for picking him over me,” Holly teased. “Let me know if you make an offer on anything. Sometime next week, I might come up and visit. I can look at houses with you then, if you’re still looking and Aaron’s not available.”
“I’ll keep you up to date.” Juliette stifled a yawn. She’d been wide awake when she answered the phone. Now she wanted to crawl between the sheets and go to sleep. Thankfully, she didn’t have far to go to make that happen. “I’m going to bed, Holly. I’ll talk to you later.”
Moments after her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep, and once again, Aaron invaded her dreams.
Chapter 13
The bright pink awning caught Juliette’s eye even before she turned into the parking lot. It, along with the equally bright pink door, called a person’s attention to the white building better than a neon sign. If she purchased the place, both would have to go.
She put her car in Park and turned off the ignition. For the moment, they were the only ones in the parking lot, but they had arrived ten minutes early. “I wonder if the pink theme continues inside?”
“I don’t think I have ever been in the building. Not a fan of pink?” Aaron asked as he unbuckled his seat belt.
Juliette followed his lead, but her eyes never left the former dance studio. The pink color aside, from here the structure looked well-maintained. It was a promising sign.
“It’s okay, but not my favorite.”
“Neither of my sisters like pink either. And Tiegan’s favorite color, at least right now, is dark green. Speaking of my sister, I told her you’re thinking about opening a dance school in town. I assumed you’d already told her. I’m sorry.”
By the tone of his voice, she’d have thought he shared her deepest secret with Candace. “Until I talked to Holly yesterday, you were the only person I told. But don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal. And if I go ahead with this, I’m going to ask Candace if she’d like to teach a few classes. I was also going to ask her if Sandy might like to teach since they worked together before, and both do the classes through the park and rec department.”
“You’ll probably get a yes to both questions. If Candace could have afforded to purchase the school when Merry retired, she would’ve. I’d say the same was true in Sandy’s case,” Aaron explained before gesturing toward the driver-side window. “Caryn’s here.”
Excitement zigzagged through her body as she stepped out of the car and waited with Aaron for the real estate agent to join them. When Caryn finally exited the metallic gray Miata, she had two folders in one hand and a leather purse large enough to carry a small child in over her shoulder. Juliette couldn’t even begin to imagine what the woman brought around with her that required her to use such a bag.
“I hope you haven’t been waiting long. A last-minute call came in about a closing next week, and I had to deal with it before I left the office,” Caryn greeted, approaching them.
“We just got here ourselves,” Juliette assured the woman.
“Good. I hate to keep people waiting. When you called, I thought your name sounded familiar. Now I know why.”
Did she have her recent magazine appearances and association with Daniel to thank for Caryn recognizing her or was the woman referring to all the times she’d appeared in the fragrance section at Caryn’s favorite department store on a poster advertising a new scent from one of the many companies she’d modeled for? She’d prefer the latter but wasn’t going to hold her breath.
“It’s so nice to meet you.” The older woman’s attention moved to Aaron. “I don’t remember the last time I saw you, Aaron. How have you been?”
“Fine, and you?” Aaron replied, although Juliette doubted the woman was paying attention to anything he said. In fact, Juliette could all but see the wheels spinning in Caryn’s head as she took in Aaron’s arm across her shoulders and tried to determine the exact nature of their relationship.
“Busy but well,” the other woman finally answered, proving she’d been listening while determining what to tell everyone she knew. “I put all the information about each of the properties we’re looking at today in here as well as some information about the Ferguson Real Estate Agency.” She handed over one of the two folders before using the key in the lockbox to open the studio door.
Someone liked the color pink. Juliette stepped into a small waiting area. Although a light gray carpet covered the floor, the owner had painted the walls the same shade of pink as the main door. Without even taking another step, she could see the color continued on into the office located off to the left.
“The building is forty-six years old. Originally it was an apartment complex. Merry Baxter, the current owner, purchased it thirty-five years ago and remodeled the entire place. We’ve been friends for a long time, and I remember when she first bought the building. She spent hours with the contractors, making sure everything was laid out to fit her vision.”
