The Ballerina's Stand by Angel Smits Page A

continued to watch until the bus turned around the corner and vanished between the next street’s skyscrapers. Shaking his head, he turned back to his desk. He had work to do.
    â€œI’m heading home, boss.” Susan spoke from the doorway and Jason looked up to see her standing there, her purse over her shoulder, jacket over her arm and a scowl on her face. He really wished she’d smile more.
    â€œSee you tomorrow.” He lifted a hand and pretended he was focusing on the screen.
    â€œYou can’t fool me,” she said. “You’re signed up for the sign language classes, by the way. They start on Thursday. 7:00 p.m. At the Y.” She spun around, and he listened as the even tone of her heels echoed through the empty office.
    â€œYou’ll be there, too, right?” he called after her.
    â€œYes,” was her begrudging reply. “I had both registrations put on your credit card.”
    He heard the elevator’s ding and the whoosh of the doors. Maybe when she stepped off the elevator she’d be in a better mood, maybe when she got home, she wouldn’t be so grumpy.
    The ringing of the phone a few minutes later startled him out of his thoughts. “Hello.”
    â€œHey, little brother.” Wyatt’s voice boomed through the line, as if he were in the next room instead of Texas.
    â€œHey, yourself. Is everything okay?”
    â€œWhy does something have to be wrong for me to call you?”
    â€œBecause that’s the only time you call.” Despite the ribbing, he knew Wyatt would be grinning on the other end of the line.
    â€œYeah, well. I’ve been thinking.”
    â€œThat’s dangerous.”
    â€œFunny. I was thinking about your offer. Emily and I’ve been talking. We think we’ll take you up on it.”
    â€œOffer?” He racked his brain. What offer? Oh, yeah. “To come visit?”
    â€œDon’t sound so shocked.” Wyatt’s laughter sounded good, comforting. “And don’t worry, we aren’t going to crash at your place. This is technically our honeymoon, you know.”
    Jason wasn’t touching that one. “Yeah? So when are you planning on coming?”
    â€œIn a couple of weeks. Emily’s got to clear her docket, and we’re moving the last herd upstream. After that, we should be able to manage.”
    â€œHow long you planning to stay?”
    â€œRemember what Mom used to say?”
    â€œNo.” Wyatt, being the eldest child, had had more time with Mom, more chances to learn about her.
    â€œWhen they start asking how long you’re staying, it’s time to leave.” Wyatt’s laugh came again. “Four, five days at most.”
    Jason found himself nodding, looking forward to time with his brother and new sister-in-law—to picking Emily’s brain about family law and the situation with Pal’s will and Lauren.
    None of his family had come out to LA to see him. Not in the two years he’d been here.
    Partially because Jason had made plenty of trips home. When DJ was hurt, then again when he was planning to take off to find Tammie. More recently when his sister Mandy had baby Lucas, and again for DJ and Tammie’s wedding. He hadn’t really been away from them long enough to miss them—and vice versa.
    So, why did LA feel so empty and lonely sometimes?
    â€œSounds great.” Jason smiled at his own reflection in the window. “Let me know when you finalize your plans.”
    â€œWill do.”
    The office seemed too silent after he hung up. As always, Jason had tons of work to do, but none of it appealed to him right now. Except for the research he still had to do. Opening the browser, he punched in names and pulled up facts and faces. Lauren’s publicity photo stared at him from an old news story about a dance studio opening.
    Studio? He followed the link and leaned back in his chair as he scrolled through the beautiful,