A Moment To Dance (17 page)

When they finally finished, Carlota said, “Come on. Give us the complete view.”

Ella stepped off the stool. She twirled around the kitchen floor, letting the skirt puff out.

“Perfect,” the women announced in unison. They clapped their hands in excitement.

“Wait,” Carlota said, rushing up beside her. “Let’s try this.”

She reached up to release Ella’s hair from the barrette and used her fingers to gently comb it into submission.

Stepping back, the older woman said, “The dress may be beautiful, but it can’t compare with your own natural beauty.”

Her scars were never mentioned again. For a moment, Ella wasn’t quite so self-conscious. Maybe it was being near these amazingly kind women, or maybe it was this fancy dress, but for the first time in her life, she actually felt beautiful—inside and out.

♥♥♥

Tony, still holding the doorknob, watched from the doorway. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Ella looked like—he struggled for the right word—an angel. No, an angel wouldn’t cause the excitement coursing through his body. His gaze took in the waves of golden hair flowing over her shoulders.

“You look stunning,” he uttered. It wasn’t until her compelling, blue eyes met his that he realized he’d spoken out loud.

His gaze moved from her long, slender neck to her lush bosom, which threatened to spill over the restraints of the tight material. He’d already known she was hot, but seeing her in this low-cut dress was more tempting than any of his fantasies. He ached to take her into his arms and kiss her passionately.

“I agree, Tony,” Mrs. Sanchez said. “You’ll be the most stunning couple in the competition. All the available men will be jealous.”

“You better be careful, son.” Carlota arched a brow at Tony. “Or someone might just steal your dance partner.”

Ella looked away as her fingers twisted together, making him realize he was still openly ogling her. A glance at his mother’s amused grin only increased his discomfort.

Carlota offered Ella a necklace. “Let’s try this on with the dress.”

Ella hesitated before reaching for the strand of sparkly beads. Her lips lowered into a frown. He wondered what was troubling her, but then he noticed the webbed scars on her forearms. He’d seen too many fire victims not to recognize them instantly as burn scars. This newfound knowledge hit him like a sucker punch.

At last, he knew her secret.

The picture of her little brother and the teddy bear on her mantel flashed through his mind. He remembered the tremble in her voice as she told Johnny her brother was dead. The pain from her scars ran much deeper than her skin. In that moment, he was truly seeing her for the first time, and he understood her in ways he had never imagined.

This was why she’d insisted on the thorough fire-safety precautions at the cabin. And why she insisted he clear the brush from outside her bedroom window. Most of all, this was the reason for her insistence on the darkness when they made love, why she’d jerked away from him in bed when he’d tried to comfort her. The pieces all started falling into place.

Sure, her past had been painful, but why had she decided to reveal her scars to his mother and not him? The jagged thought poked at his chest. He’d opened up to her about his deepest, darkest moment, and it hadn’t meant a thing to her. He didn’t know what else he could have done to gain her trust. He’d obviously been wrong about her—about them.

Not about to have this conversation in front of witnesses, he turned and walked away.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

E
lla watched in horror as Tony made a hasty exit. Just as she’d feared, he was walking away from her after seeing her scars. But, no, she refused to let another man reject her because of something as superficial as scars. She rushed out the back door after him.

“Wait,” she called out to him. “You can’t just walk away.”

His shoulders straightened, and he turned. “Your mother and brother died in a fire, didn’t they?”

She swallowed, determined to face him and finally tell the truth. She could do this. “Yes, when I was a child.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how devastating that was.” His voice grew rough with emotion. “Why didn’t you tell me, especially after I opened up to you about my own brother’s death?”

Deep down, she wanted to share her awful secret with him. Maybe he’d understand. As she considered where to begin, an overwhelming fear consumed her that she hadn’t experienced since she was a child. For a second, she was that little girl again in the hospital after the fire, with her distraught grandmother, the one who heaped all of the blame on her. It was her grandfather who’d been understanding. Her grandmother had never understood. How would Tony react?

Fright twisted and mangled Ella’s thoughts. She was wrong. She couldn’t do this. “It’s too difficult to talk about. I…I can’t. Not yet.”

Hurt shadowed his eyes. “This is why you pushed me away the other night, isn’t it? You didn’t want me to see your scars.”

She couldn’t let on there was more to her secret than her disfigurement. “Have you ever thought about the difficult position it would put me in to have a romantic relationship with the parent of a boy I’m tutoring? How it might look to the school board, especially while they’re considering me for a permanent position?”

“No one would care. Don’t try to make up excuses.” Tony’s gaze narrowed as he stared at her as though trying to read her thoughts. “You’ve been avoiding talking about your past all along. What else don’t I know?”

Scared of him digging too deep, she threw out a question of her own. “Why is my past so important to you? Or are you mad because you unknowingly became involved with someone who is disfigured?”

“You can’t be serious. You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.” The anger brewing in his eyes stole the joy of his compliment. “Do I come across as someone who’s so superficial that I can’t see past a couple of scars?”

She didn’t think that of him. He was the greatest guy she’d ever known, which made this discussion all that much harder. Somehow she had to make it clear this was her burden to carry alone. “My past is something I won’t share with anyone—not even you.”

He raked his fingers through his hair, scattering it into a mass of tiny spikes. “I thought over these past few weeks we’d been growing closer, learning to trust each other. But I guess I was wrong to let down my guard and let you in.”

“No, I was wrong…to assume I could move to this small town and expect some privacy.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be getting all the privacy you want. I’ll make sure not to bother you again.”

His enraged words hit her glass heart like hurled rocks, shattering it into jagged pieces. Her chest ached, and her vision blurred.

Letting her pain rule her mouth, she choked out, “Moving here was a mistake.”

A moment passed, and his frown deepened. Then his gaze narrowed. “You’re right.”

He turned and strode away without a backward glance.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

W
ould the pain and loneliness ever ease up?

After school the following day, Ella let out a string of yawns as she drove home. Thoughts of her argument with Tony lurked around the edges of her mind, keeping her awake most of the night.

The thought of revealing her secret—the one she’d kept locked up for years—frightened her more than anything. She honestly didn’t know if she had the strength to peel back the layers of guilt and remorse in order to confess. Though, for the first time, she wanted to open up. She wanted to share everything with Tony. She was torn by her conflicting emotions, and her head began to throb.

Once she reached the cabin, she tended to Patch. Then, she pulled out some leftover chicken noodle soup for herself, but just as quickly she returned it to the fridge. She’d agonized over her problems with Tony to the point of making herself sick.

She needed a distraction and moved to the built-in bookcases that lined each side of the stone fireplace. Her fingers ran along the smooth wood shelves her grandfather had lovingly crafted. His love for the cabin was evident in everything he’d touched. She took comfort in having all of these family heirlooms surrounding her and being able to call this place home.

Ella selected a romance novel she’d bought before leaving Albuquerque. It’d be nice to escape, to read about someone having a happily-ever-after, since she wouldn’t be having one of her own.

She curled up on the couch next to the puppy, opened the cover and forced her attention on the words. Every time she came to a detailed description of the sexy hero, her thoughts turned to Tony. By the time she reached the bottom of that page, she couldn’t remember what she’d read. Starting at the beginning again, she soon lost her train of thought as her mind filled with images of the hurt in Tony’s eyes.

With a frustrated sigh, she set aside the book and decided to call it a night. In the bedroom, she slipped on an old T-shirt and crawled beneath the covers. The wind howled as a draft moved through the room, forcing her deeper under the blankets.

Patch pawed at her closet door, anxious to get into his favorite hiding spot. She sighed and crawled out of her snuggly cocoon of blankets in order to open the door for him.

The air whistled through the tiny crevices around the old window and sent Ella scurrying back into bed. She closed her eyes, envisioning Tony next to her, sharing his body heat. Oh, how she longed to snuggle with him.

Sometime during the night, she at last dozed off, only to be abruptly awakened by a loud bang. The powerful winds had thrown something against the side of the cabin. Startled and nervous, she slipped out of bed and padded over to the window. In the dark, she wasn’t able to see much. After checking the rest of the cabin, she slid back under the covers, but sleep evaded her.

When her alarm went off, she grudgingly climbed out of bed. The first thing she did was take Patch outside. Dark clouds scudded across the early morning sky, and trees bent to and fro as lightning lit up the sky. The gloomy weather seemed to fit her mood.

The blustering wind frightened the pup to the point where he would barely move from the steps to do his business. When she picked him up, he buried his head in the crook of her arm, hiding from the flashes of lightning. She set him down inside, and Patch immediately ran for the bedroom, undoubtedly returning to the closet to snuggle on a fleece shirt that had fallen from a hanger.

Once dressed for work, she set out Patch’s food and called him, but he didn’t budge. He seemed calm in his hideaway. She didn’t have the heart to force him into his crate. She’d call her neighbor, Tracey, and ask her to check on him later.

She hated to leave the little guy, but it was only a little wind. Everything would be fine, she told herself. Right now she had her job to do.

By the time she reached school, the winds hadn’t let up. In fact, they might have been even stronger. She parked and rushed toward the building. The fierce winds whipped sand and dirt in her face. She pressed her lips tightly together to keep the grit out of her mouth. Once inside, she ran her hand over her hair, smoothing the loose strands. This was going to be a challenging day, of that she had no doubt.

A half hour later, a gust of wind rattled her classroom windows. Lightning lit up the sky, followed by the echoing boom of thunder. A chill of apprehension ran up her spine.

She wondered if Tony was keeping an eye on the sky, too. Since he was a volunteer firefighter, she imagined he’d be on standby. The thought of him protecting the community gave her a sense of security, knowing he would respond should this electrical storm create havoc in their normally peaceful corner of the world.

A knock at the door drew her attention. She turned and found Melissa standing in the opening. Children skirted around the woman and filed into the room. “Hi. Do you have a second?”

“Sure.” Ella joined her in the hallway.

“I thought you’d want to know the radio announced that the authorities raised a red-flag warning. They say this storm has cloud-to-ground lightning strikes.”

The fine hairs on her arms rose. Patch! He was all alone. Thoughts of the dry tinder around her cabin and the way the winds would fan flames made her shudder. “Thanks for the update. Let me know if you hear anything else.”

“Try not to worry too much.” Melissa’s words were meant to comfort, but her drawn mouth and the lines creasing her brow underscored the dire circumstances. “I need to get back to the office. I’ll be in touch.”

Ella returned to her desk and grabbed her cell phone. Maybe Tracey could collect Patch and keep him safe. But when the phone switched to Tracey’s voicemail, Ella could do no more than leave a message.

She inhaled a deep breath, reminding herself to stay calm. Everything would be all right. She turned to the class and asked them to open their math books. The children, feeling the undercurrent of energy in the air, grew restless. She continued with the planned lesson, hoping if she acted normal, the students would be able to ignore the cracks of thunder, the brilliant flashes of lightning, and the flickering of the classroom lights.

Everything will be all right
.

She had to believe that. She didn’t want to give the children any further reason to be concerned.

Sirens blew off and on throughout the day, each time causing her thoughts to stray to Tony. She mentally chastised herself for dwelling on him and his safety when she had a class to teach. He would be safe. He was a professional. He knew what he was doing.

After the final school bell, Melissa once again stopped by her classroom. She had her son, Bobby, and Johnny in tow. “Wait here,” she said, leaving the boys in the doorway.

“Has something happened?”

Her friend’s brow wrinkled as concern filled her eyes. “There’s a fire on Roca Mountain.”

“No.” Ella’s veins ran ice cold with fear.

“Don’t panic.” Melissa put a comforting arm around her shoulders. “The reports indicate the fire’s not near your cabin.”

Roca Mountain was vast, but that didn’t mean the blaze wouldn’t spread. Her home was in danger—again. Her hands balled into fists. Wasn’t it enough that a fire had stolen her family? Would she have to endure losing her home again, too?

“I don’t know what to do,” Ella said, her voice rising. “My cabin. My puppy. I need to get Patch before the fire…”

Tears sprang to her eyes as her words faded away. This couldn’t be happening. Her breath came short and fast. She had to save her home—and her sweet, furry baby.

“Calm down. It’ll be okay.” Melissa turned to the boys. “Why don’t you guys go shoot hoops in the gym? I’ll stop by as soon as I grab my things from the office.”

Johnny looked at Ella with worry in his eyes. “Is Patch going to be okay?”

Ella snapped out of her panic in order to comfort Johnny. “Of course he’ll be okay. The fire’s not in the same area, so don’t worry. Go ahead with Bobby.”

Melissa’s cell phone rang as Ella rushed to clear off her desk. She overheard half of the conversation, but she was unable to tell who was on the other end of the call. She caught a glimpse of Johnny still lingering in the doorway and started toward him when Melissa held up her hand, stopping her.

“You know that my husband, Moe, is Whistle Stop’s assistant fire chief, right?” When Ella nodded, she continued, “He said they’ve evacuated the whole mountain and closed the road.”

Ella grabbed her cell phone and selected Tracey’s mobile number.
Please let her have Patch.
The phone rang once, twice, three times. Ella’s grip tightened on the phone.
Answer the phone
.

“Ella?” Tracey’s faint voice came across the line. “Ella, where are you?” The line crackled with static.

“At school. Do you have Patch?”

“No. I was forced to leave before I could—” The line went dead.

Ella tried calling back, but all she got was a strange beeping sound.

She swiped at the dampness on her cheeks. “I have to save Patch.”

Melissa hugged her. “I’ll call Moe back and let him know. I’m sure he’ll get some firefighters to get Patch. Everything will be okay.”

Ella prayed her friend’s words would come true. But she knew how unpredictable life could be, how everything could change in a heartbeat. One second you were part of a loving family, and the next you’re alone and you don’t fit in anywhere.

Seconds dragged by as Melissa talked to Moe. At last, she turned a somber face her way. “Moe will do what he can to get someone up to your cabin as soon as possible. But right now they’re shorthanded, and no one can be spared. I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks for trying. You…you don’t need to stick around. You should take the boys home.”

“Come with us.”

Ella didn’t miss her friend’s unspoken words. She might as well go home with them since she couldn’t get to her own home. Her chest tightened. Would it survive the wildfire?

When Ella didn’t answer, Melissa persisted, “Come on. Moe will be gone all evening. So it’ll just be me and the boys. I could use the company. I have a couple of things to do in the office before I leave. I’ll stop back when I’m done. I’m going to put together some water bottles and food for the firefighters, do you want to help?”

“Umm…sure. Just give me a couple of minutes to grab my stuff.”

When she was alone in the classroom, frantic thoughts crowded into Ella’s mind. Frustration balled up in her chest. There had to be something she could do. Unable to sit still, she rushed through her daily routine of straightening up the classroom before leaving.

Flashbacks of her childhood crowded her mind. Memories plagued her of helplessly watching as her home went up in flames with her mother and brother trapped inside. She hugged herself as the unleashed tears ran down her cheeks. She couldn’t bear to lose Patch in the same horrific way. She’d promised Johnny she would keep the puppy safe.

With the classroom in order and a chance to think through the situation, she grabbed her car keys and purse. She resolved that there was nothing she could do about Patch. The realization stabbed at her, but she can’t do anything foolish and make matters worse.

Ella stepped into the hallway when Melissa came rushing toward her. “Have you seen Johnny? I can’t find him anywhere.”

“No. Not since…” He had been standing in the doorway when Melissa told her about the wildfire. A sense of dread coursed through her. Did he get it into his head to save Patch?

“Since when?”

“I haven’t seen him since you sent both boys to the gym.”

“Bobby says Johnny went to the boys’ room a while ago. I was hoping maybe he forgot something and stopped by his classroom.”

The women split up and explored each classroom. No sign of Johnny. Ella’s thoughts relentlessly returned to her concern that the boy had run off to try to save the puppy. She prayed she was wrong.

“You’d better call Tony,” Ella said. “I’ll drive around town and see if I can spot him.”

Once in her car, she set off searching the streets for any sign of the boy. Following a hunch that he might be at the baseball park, she drove through the parking lot, but she didn’t spot him on the playground equipment.

What she wouldn’t do now for a brave, strong cowboy like…Tony. Disregarding the awkwardness between her and him, she stopped by the fire station where two of the three bays were empty. She jumped out of her car. Without bothering to close the door, she rushed over to the station house.

A young firefighter paused from checking some equipment on the back of the remaining fire truck. “Can I help you?”

“Is Tony Granger here?”

“No. He’s been on Roca Mountain most of the day. You’re the second person looking for him.”

“The second?”

“Yeah, his nephew came by a bit ago.”

“Do you remember when?”

The guy ran a hand over his scruffy beard. “The same time some trucks stopped here before heading up to the fire. I’d say fifteen, twenty minutes ago.”

His words triggered her memory of how Johnny had stowed away in the back of her neighbor’s truck to get to her cabin. Had he sneaked aboard a fire engine? Or hidden in someone’s personal vehicle?