CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Cara
Leaving Edward in Wixby had been too hard, so he’d ridden back to Charleston with me, we’d spent another night together in my townhouse, and then he’d flown home the next day.
I was feeling good about my decision, helped along by everyone else, to leave in early January.
There was just no reason to stay if there was even the smallest chance I was in danger.
Especially now that it seemed I was turning down a different path entirely and potentially getting ready to work out a deal with Mrs. Cason over the dance studio.
The thought of coming back home and working towards taking over my former teacher’s dance studio was exciting.
She and I had agreed to talk more about it when I came home in January, but we agreed that it seemed like a great idea for both of us.
I was interested in being a dance teacher long-term, and she was looking for someone she trusted to buy her out so she could retire.
It was a win-win situation, and the feeling of peace I got when I thought about it was a clear signal to me that I was moving in the right direction.
It hadn’t taken a lot of convincing once I’d realized that staying through January still gave me a chance to dance in The Nutcracker one last season, say goodbye to Charleston, and feel as if I was leaving on good terms. Being away from dance and Charleston for a bit was exactly what I had needed to see my life through a crystal-clear lens.
I wasn’t happy anymore. And it was more than that.
Taking a step back from the endless grueling cycle of dance practice combined with both talking to Mrs. Cason and the fact that I hadn’t heard from any of the dance companies to which I’d sent showreels all pointed in one direction—a change of plans.
Once I got back to Charleston, getting back into the groove of practice was harder than usual.
I could only think it was because I’d been so happy during my days off.
Happier maybe than I’d ever been in my life.
I’d felt like I was floating through those days and nights.
Now? It was like crashing back to Earth.
Whether it was being apart from Edward, being so far away from my family, or walking on eggshells around Nora again, things felt…
off. There was a tension now that permeated my days and nights, and it was leaving me feeling anxious.
I was glad my dad had insisted I needed more to keep me safe until January.
The rotating schedule of people coming to stay with me until I could leave made me feel much better.
Edward came whenever he could, but Declan, Livy, Aidan, and my dad had all made the trip as well.
There were a couple of weeks that more than one of them had come, and I had enjoyed showing off my favorite parts of Charleston to everyone.
They all made sure to come to the ballet and say hello to Garrison Hart while they were there.
Dad thought it would send the message that I had people looking out for me.
Lots of people. It seemed to do the job.
The Harts, even Monty, left me alone. But I still avoided Nora as much as possible—she hadn’t seemed to get the message that she should back off.
And they couldn’t stay with me all the time. I started feeling vulnerable on the days I was by myself, and I hated it. I felt like a strong woman who could protect myself reasonably well, but it still felt so much better when someone was at the townhouse with me. Especially when it was Edward.
Still, the season went on, and I owed it to Kelisha, all the other dancers, and the city I’d called home for so many years to perform at my best levels. Slowly, I got back into the well-oiled machine that my life had become. And it was fine. Not great, but fine.
I still missed Edward terribly. He’d fallen behind in work while he’d stayed with me and
during the time I’d been home. He was struggling to get caught up and wasn’t able to come see me as often as we both would have liked.
Kelisha hadn’t been surprised to hear I had decided to leave the Moonlight in January.
She had been extremely supportive, and I was grateful for that.
Early in November, I made the announcement, with her approval, that I’d be leaving Charleston for good in January.
That had seemed to ease tensions with the Hart family even more.
Things even became slightly less strained between Nora and me.
Monty also dialed his creep factor back to where I barely noticed him, and the Harts pretty much left me alone.
They were pleasant, but distant. After a while, I let my guard down.
I tried not to, but it’s not in my nature to stay alert and suspicious all the time.
I figured that maybe they’d realized my presence was temporary—I wouldn’t be in their lives much longer.
I wasn’t bound to Charleston and could leave at any time.
It could be my brief absence had helped them see that I wasn’t what was causing all of Nora’s career problems. Kelisha had picked another soloist, Mitzi Simmins, to take my place while I’d been gone.
And it was clear that Monty didn’t die of a broken heart without me, either.
I even heard that he was starting to date some debutante his family approved of, and I’d felt weak with relief.
Whatever it was, I was thankful things had gotten better. And I worried less and less about the stage-light incident. It must have been an accident. Only a psychopath would try to kill me to get a better position at the ballet.
And Nora might be self-centered, but I didn’t think she was a psychopath.
Though when I thought too hard about it, certain things made me very uneasy.
Like her putting a tracker in my tote. I didn’t know if that pointed to some sort of psychopathy, or if she had just been really intent on helping Monty track me down.
Still, I tried to push those thoughts aside and focus on the present.
Edward and Declan came to see me together at one point, which was both hilarious and weird.
Hilarious because Declan made everything funnier, and weird because Edward and I made him stay at a hotel so we could sleep together.
Declan said it made him feel icky and gross knowing what we were up to.
I told him it’s what he deserved for me having to know what he had been up to with half the girls in North Wixby in the pool house for years.
He’d shut up, looked properly scandalized that I knew his secret, and decided to take advantage of the Charleston nightlife while he was in town.
The days wore on, and the holiday season was upon us.
I had looked forward to it because it would be my first Christmas with Edward.
But I also dreaded it a bit because I’m so busy during that time of the year.
The Nutcracker is such a tradition for a lot of families during the holidays.
I would be dancing the role of the Sugarplum Fairy again this year.
My days would soon be packed with performances, but at least it was one of my favorite ballets to perform.
And with each performance I knew I’d be one step closer to packing my bags and leaving in January.
And just when I’d started to think that everything was going about as well as it could go, it all fell apart.
Early one Monday, Kelisha called me into her office at the theater. She never did that. I’d only ever met with her in her office at the dance studio, and it had me on edge.
She looked grim when I walked in. Theo, the crew manager for the theater, was sitting in front of her desk with his hat in his hand.
“What’s going on?”
“Sit down, Cara. There’s… something you need to know.”
I swallowed hard, my fear rising at the tone of her voice. “What is it?”
“You don’t know this, but Theo hasn’t been satisfied with the police’s investigation into the lighting incident, either.
He’s also noticed some strange things around the theater in the past few months.
People, namely Monty Hart and Eric Hightower, hanging around in unauthorized areas, things like that. ”
Theo looked at me. “I don’t have anything solid to report, but I’m still digging into some things.”
“Can you tell me…”
He shook his head cutting me off. “I’m not one to spread rumors, and I don’t want to say anything until I have something besides what my gut’s telling me. Some proof. And I don’t have that yet. At least,” he paused, looking at Kelisha, “not about the lighting.”
That sounded ominous. I looked between the two of them, feeling like something bad was coming.
“Over the weekend, the cleaning crew came to him with some disturbing information,” Kelisha said. “There’s no easy way to say this. Someone has been using an old, abandoned closet that backs up to your dressing room as a place to… spy on you.” Kelisha winced as she said the words.
I stared at her, certain I couldn’t have heard her correctly. “What?”
Theo crumpled his hat in his hands and was wringing it nervously. “Someone drilled a hole in the shared wall so they could see in your dressing room. I looked on your side of the wall. The hole was hidden by a picture of you and Nora Hart.”
“If it was hidden, how could they see into my dressing room?” I felt sick. I didn’t want this to be true. I didn’t want to think someone had been watching me.
Kelisha and Theo exchanged a look. “I think you need to come see for yourself.” Kelisha stood up and motioned for me and Theo to follow her.
I didn’t know if I wanted to see. My legs felt shaky as I followed them through the familiar hallways to the dressing rooms.
I started to push the door to mine open, but Kelisha stopped me. “Come in here first.” She stood at the door next to mine. I had never even paid attention to it. It was a skinny door to what I thought might be a broom closet. Kelisha pushed it open and flipped a switch.