I immediately straightened, my gaze swinging around my empty office and settling on the tiny three-foot Christmas tree I’d brought in that morning. I’d picked it up last night at Target. It was pre-lit and I’d splurged on another timer, hooking it up so it stayed on while I was in the office.

The only news I was waiting on was about converting space into a dance studio.

“Good news?” I asked, hopeful.

Brock chuckled. “If it were bad news, do you think I’d be in the office?”

Hope gave way to excitement. “You’re going to approve the plan?”

“I’m going to approve the plan,” Dad replied.

I jumped from my chair and danced in a small circle as I silently screamed into the handset. “Thank you,” I managed to say calmly. “You will not regret this choice.”

“You’re dancing, aren’t you?” Brock asked wryly.

Continuing to hobble around my chair, I said, “No. I am not.”

“On one condition,” Dad spoke up again. “Your friends need to sign a contract where they agree to not move their dance company for at least eight years. It’s a lot of money we’ll be investing in this. We don’t want to spend it and then have them bail on us.”

“Completely understandable.” I sat down, brimming full of excitement. “I’m sure they will be agreeable to this.”

“Get in touch with them today,” Dad said. “If they agree, I’ll get the contract written up next week and we’ll get this squared away before Christmas.”

“Will do.” I squeezed the phone until I was sure it creaked. “Seriously, Dad. Thank you for believing in this.”

“It’s not this road I believe in. It’s you,” he said. “And it’s Brock. I believe in both of you.”

A knot sealed off my throat as unexpected raw emotion swamped me. My office blurred. Hearing him say that? God, I’d been waiting . . . waited for so long. I managed to say something that sounded kind of professional, and then it was Brock talking into my ear.

“You’re off speaker,” he said, and a moment passed. “You feeling good right now? Doing okay?”

“I’m feeling great,” I admitted in a hushed, raspy voice, and then, because of everything we’d shared in the last couple of weeks and how wonderful I was feeling, I said, “I’d be feeling perfect if you were here.”

There was a stretch of silence. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I know.”

“Call your girls. Let them know.”

I did just that.

I was able to get a hold of Teresa, who patched in Avery, and there were many, many shrieks to be heard. I was actually afraid Teresa would end up going into labor.