Dance with the Doctor by Cindi Myers Read Free Book Online Page B

that was one of her aims in teaching this girls’ class. “The important thing to remember when dancing is to not think about the people watching you or what they think or feel,” she said. “It’s all about how dancing makes you feel.”
    “How do you feel when you dance?” Taylor asked.
    “I feel I have a healthy body and can move and am alive. I listen to the music and try to forget about everything else except losing myself in the beauty of this one moment.” It was dance’s power to help her forget that had saved her in the agonizing days and months after Riley’s and Pete’s deaths.
    “How can I forget other people if I’m performing for them?” Taylor asked.
    “They only think you’re performing for them,” Darcy said. “The secret is, you’re really dancing for yourself. You’re doing this for you.”
    “That’s what I wanted to tell my dad when he was worried about me coming here,” Taylor said. “But I don’t think he’d understand.”
    “Dads don’t always understand. But that’s okay. He let you come to class after all,” she said. “So he must be getting better about not being so overprotective.”
    “Maybe.” She sighed. “It would be easier if he had a girlfriend or something. You know, if he had someone else to worry about besides me.”
    So Mike didn’t have a girlfriend? A single, good-looking doctor? Darcy ignored the flutter in her chest at the thought. What was so unusual about that, anyway? She didn’t have a man in her life. She didn’t want one. She liked making her own decisions and not having to rely on or be responsible for anyone else. “I don’t think a girlfriend would keep your father from being concerned about you,” she said. “And tell the truth—you’d miss it if he didn’t fuss over you some.”
    “Some. I just wish…I wish sometimes he didn’t fuss so much.”
    The door opened and there was the man himself, looking harried. “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “I got behind at the office.”
    “That’s all right.” Darcy rested her hand on Taylor’s shoulder. “It gave Taylor and me more time to talk. She’s concerned about what costume she’ll wear in our show. I promised to help her put something together. If that’s all right.” She didn’t want Mike to think she was overstepping her role. “Or maybe her mother would like to make something…”
    He shook his head. “Melissa isn’t the domestic type. And her schedule is so hectic she might not have time to shop before the show.”
    “Darcy can come to dinner Saturday,” Taylor said.
    “I hope it wasn’t too short notice,” Mike said. “Melissa just let me know she’s going to be in town.”
    “No, that’s fine.” She’d never known a woman who had willingly given up custody of her child. If she and Pete had divorced, she would never have surrendered custody of Riley to him.
    But theirs had been a different situation. Pete wasn’t responsible like Mike. He couldn’t be trusted to put his son’s welfare ahead of every other consideration.
    He’d proved that when he’d taken the boy out on the night of their deaths. When Darcy had left them that evening, Pete had intended to stay home. He’d been drinking, as he did every evening he didn’t work, but he hadn’t been drunk. Darcy had trusted him to look after their son.
    After Darcy had left, a friend had called and invited Pete out. Pete, always ready for a party, had set out in a snowstorm, Riley in the backseat of the car. He’d lost control on the icy road, plunging them over a cliff to their deaths.
    If only Darcy had stayed home that evening. If only she’d insisted Pete stay home. If only she’d been harder on him about his drinking… She closed her eyes against the familiar guilty litany. Pete’s drinking and driving had killed their son, but Darcy’s irresponsibility in leaving her son in the care of a man she knew was an alcoholic made her just as responsible. She’d been given the greatest gift a