Evolving Dreams (New Beginnings Series) Read Free Page B

She felt a connection—an attraction. He made her nervous in a way she couldn’t remember feeling since her last crush in high school. But how could that be? She’d barely spent any time with him. It must have been the jet lag. Maybe it was because she had heard so much about him from his family. Sean, Claire and Michael had told so many Trace stories, of course she thought she knew him. She looked up and her heart stuttered. There he was, sitting on the deck steps drinking his morning coffee.
    • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
    Trace had woken with a start early that morning. After a few seconds he realized he’d heard the patio door slide shut. It was very quiet, but his senses were finely honed. He could drop off to sleep quickly but it didn’t take much to snap him fully awake. He had glanced out the windows that made up the whole back wall of his room and saw Meg take off running down the beach. It was still the soft light of daybreak and he was surprised to see her up. But then everything about her surprised him.
    He had known a lot of dancers in his life. The son of a dance teacher would be accustomed to having them around. He had dated several of his mother’s students that he met around the studio while working as a handyman there in high school. It had never seemed to turn out well. Some were cool, but the most talented of them seemed to be self-involved and self-important. Divas he thought they called them. And from what he’d heard about Meg from the family, she was the most talented of the talented. And she was unexpected.
    He’d laid in bed and watched the waves from the window for a couple of minutes as he reflected on her, then decided he wouldn’t be able to figure her out. But it could be fun studying her for a little while. For the first time he didn’t regret agreeing to let her and Sean stay with him for a few weeks. That’s when he smelled it. Coffee—already made—without him having to get up and make it himself. Yeah, he thought as he swung his feet to the floor, this might shape up to be a pretty good six weeks.
    He pulled on sweatpants and a well-worn Navy t-shirt after stopping in the bathroom and padded into the kitchen for coffee. He noticed Sean, still unconscious on the couch, as he passed through the living room. He let himself out the back door quietly and sat on the steps down to the beach to enjoy his coffee. It tasted better than his. What was that—a pinch of cinnamon?
    Trace glanced to his left and saw Meg in the distance jogging toward him wearing running shorts and an old t-shirt with Dance Dance Dance in faded rainbow colors down the front. Her dark hair, pulled back into a ponytail, bounced behind her.
    “Mornin’,” he called as she came nearer.
    “Hi. Hope I didn’t wake you up this morning.”
    “No, not at all. I’m usually an early riser. Thanks for the coffee, but you really don’t have to do that . . .”
    “It’s no big deal—just a pot of coffee. It’s not like I refinished your floors or something.” Meg looked a little embarrassed.
    “Why? Do my floors need refinishing?” Trace tried to look offended.
    “N-n-no . . . I mean . . . I didn’t mean . . .”
    He laughed, “I was just kidding! I do appreciate the coffee, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to earn your keep.”
    Meg looked at him sheepishly. “I know. It’s not that I’m trying to earn my keep.” She bit her lip, then burst out, “But do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had access to a kitchen? I’m so excited about it I can hardly stand it. I hope you won’t mind if I want to cook.”
    “Wow. You just did it again.” He looked surprised. “Who am I to stop you from cooking? Would you be cooking for all of us?”
    “Of course. Um, what did I do ‘again?’”
    “Nothing. Never mind. So, big day today, huh?”
    “Yeah. We have a series of meetings at the Institute. We won’t start the workshops until Wednesday,