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The room quieted expectantly.
“This wasn’t a job I applied for,” Nick said. “I didn’t even think it was a job I was suited for. I’m embarrassed to say it now, but I thought Linda was throwing me work because of my condition.”
“You mean that great hair?”
Cal got some laughs, Gavin among them, and Nick shook his head with a grin. “I have something called cerebral palsy,” he said. “I don’t know how many of you know, or care, but telling you now and showing off these”—he gestured to the leg bracesthat were visible thanks to his new khaki shorts—“is my way of saying, if it doesn’t matter to you, it shouldn’t matter to me.”
A lump in his throat surprised him; he paused.
“It took me too long to realize it really doesn’t matter to you guys,” he said. “You welcomed me and you included me and you loved me.” He pointed at Mimi and Cal, who were now standing together. “Especially you two. And you know I will always love you back. Linda’s asked me to help Vivez figure out how we can better involve artists and patrons with disabilities here, and I’ll give it my best shot, but the truth is we’re all different. We all have different capabilities and passions and preferences, and as long as you guys are as kindhearted and generous and attentive with everybody who walks through that door as you were with me, I can’t see how anyone could possibly have a problem belonging at Vivez. This job, this place, is one of the best things to ever happen to me, and I can’t thank you enough.”
Nick was looking at Cal and Mimi during the applause that came next, and because the three of them were busy trying not to cry, he barely registered movement as someone made her way down the ramp from the back of the room. Eventually, the clapping stopped, and Nick took a seat at the nearest table.
“Can I say what I love about Nick?” a new voice asked.
Nick turned around so fast he wrenched his back. Hayley Burke was quickly weaving her way through the tables to the front. She was gliding, even with Rosie on her hip. And she was wearing her Chucks.
“Absolutely,” said Linda. “All, this is Hayley Burke, our newest member.”
Hayley stopped in front of Nick, and he looked up in amazement as his two favorite girls smiled down at him.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi.” Hayley handed Rosie to him. “You stay here with her. We can’t have you trying to steal my moment.”
Nick perched Rosie on his knee as Hayley joined Linda at the front of the room.
“I’m Hayley,” she said. “I can’t wait to dance with you guys. For a while I thought I was done with the stage, but the truth is I just need the right one. There’s nothing I love more than truly dancing with others, and I dream of being in a creative community where people care more about one another than they do about impressing everybody else. I really think I’ve found that here.” She looked at Nick. “I’m hoping I’ve found a partner too.”
Everyone was watching Nick now. It seemed ridiculous somehow, like he should stand up and correct her.Sorry, guys, there’s no way she’s talking about me. She can’t be looking atmewith so much joy.
“I used to think finding a partner was about magic,” Hayley said. “As long as you found that rhythm, that fit, then nothing else mattered. And then I thought it was about work. I thought you could make the magic if you tried hard enough. Now I know it’s about both. You have to find a rhythm that’s worth the work. You have towantto work on it together.”
He thought of all the times she’d held him up, put an arm around him, helped him climb and kept him from falling.“Easy does it. We’ve got this, rock star.”
“Nick Freeman is the best dance partner I’ve ever had,” Hayley said. “We’ve got more magic than I know what to do with, but even so, we’ve stepped on each other’s toes more than once. I think we …” She paused, met his eyes. “I think we see the light in each other more than we’ve ever been willing to see it in ourselves. But Nickfightsfor that light, you know? He fights to shine for others so that nobody he meets will ever doubt how important they are. He brings out the absolute best in his partner. That’s what I love about Nick. When I dance with him, I’m completely me.”
Nick ached to jump out of his chair and wrap her in his arms. He wanted to tell her it was the other way around, that henever felt stronger or lighter than when she was by his side—but of course, she’d anticipated this and put a three-year-old in his lap.
“None of this is really my style,” Hayley said, “but last week Nick took a trip to talk to someone who doesn’t like him very much, in a room full of people who weren’t on his side, and he actually tried to do all that for me without me finding out. So now that he’s taken a risk in front of all my friends, I wanted to come here and do the same for him.” She walked over to his chair. “Rose, can you help Uncle Nick?”
Rosie jumped off his lap and started tugging his hand. “Come on,” she said. “I’ll help you.”
Nick got to his feet and into the walker, and the little girl stood proudly by his side.
Hayley said, “I’m sorry, Nick. I’m sorry I hurt you, and I’m sorry I didn’t listen, and I’m sorry I’m just telling you now. But nothing I’ve ever cared about this much has turned out right, and I had to be sure I wanted this for me, instead of because I was lonely or because my parents could see how happy you make me. I didn’t want your feelings to make a difference.”
She was beaming, and he could see her heart in her eyes.
“Did they?” he asked.
Hayley shook her head. “Those three words didn’t make a difference,” she said. “But when I looked back on everything you’ve done, everything I know, I realized you never needed to say them.”
Then, before a breathless crowd, she held out her hand.
“Wanna dance, rock star?”
Nick reached for her. “More than anything in the world.”
