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“Oh my gosh! This turned out amazing!” Clara says with bright eyes and a youthful smile as she walks through the front door, holding a bouquet of purple flowers.
A middle aged woman comes in behind her, stopping right next to her. I smile at the woman and turn towards Clara.
“This is my mom! She lives in Phoenix. She was already planning on coming for the weekend to visit. It worked out perfectly.”
I reach my hand out towards the woman with a welcoming smile. “Hi! I’m Heather.”
“Hi, Heather. My name is Rebecca. I wanted to tell you that my husband and I are so grateful that you’re taking a chance on our Clara.”
“Of course! The dancing she showed me at her interview was amazing and is truly what got her the job. Well, that and the fact that she’s a very sweet girl.”
Clara blushes at my compliment.
“Well, she has a lot of experience teaching young kids. She helped out so much at my studio with all the littles.”
“You own a studio?”
Rebecca smiles at me before turning towards Clara. “You didn’t tell her?”
“I wanted to get the job by myself,” Clara says, bashfully.
“I’m going to have to get your number and give you a call! I’m actually pretty lost here!” I laugh.
Brenna comes out of the first classroom holding a bag of balloons. “Winnie’s air pump broke. We’re going to need some volunteers for blow duty.”
Brenna’s cheeks turn a dark shade of pink when she sees it’s not just me sitting out front anymore and realizes that other people heard her. She slowly raises her hand and waves at Clara and her mom.
Rebecca claps her hands together and smiles. “Put me to work!” she chirps.
“Me too!” Clara bounces. “After all, it is my first day!”
Brenna takes them into the room where she and Winnie are working. It looks like a latex truck blew up with every size purple balloon they had in stock. Lyric, Lilah, and Maria are in the other room setting up different tables for anyone wanting to sign up with us today.
We had quite the turnout on the ad we posted online of hopeful families and dancers wanting to come check us out. There are no other dance studios in Desert Rose, and the closest is in the city, which is at least thirty minutes away. I’m hoping that little fact works to our advantage for families that want another option closer to home.
An hour into the opening, my belly is full of butterflies as I greet all the families that have come pouring into the studio. Clara and even her mom jumped in to dance with kids in the first room while the other ladies gave out information and even signed up a few kids.
I stay in the front and time passes quickly as I greet each and every family. A lot of my ownfamilyhas trickled in over the last hour and have hung out to show support.
I check my phone for the tenth time when there’s a break in the wave of people. Trigger was supposed to be here with the cupcakes thirty minutes ago, but he still hasn’t shown.
When Maria comes out of the back I stop her. “Can you stand here in case anyone comes in? I haven’t heard from Trigger, and he was supposed to be here thirty minutes ago.”
Maria’s brow furrows and she nods her head. “Of course. Go give him a call and let me know.”
Tank steps out of the room Maria just came out of and I pass him in the hall on the way to my office. I shut the door behind me and take a deep breath.
When he came over last night he looked so tired. Maybe he fell asleep at home and forgot to set his alarm? Based on the snoring that was coming from the couch next to me all night, I figured he slept great. Maybe I was wrong.
I click his contact, tap the green call button, and press the phone to my face. “Come on, pick up,” I say to my empty office as the phone continues to ring until his voicemail picks up.
“What the hell,” I mumble.
I leave my office, going in search of Lilah. I find her pressed against the back wall, watching all of the young dancers follow along with Clara and her mom.
She smiles brightly at me when I stop next to her but then frowns at my expression. “What’s wrong? This turn out is amazing!”
“Have you heard from Trigger?”
