The Biker's Fate Chapter 238

Maisie

MONDAY MORNING ARRIVED far too early for my body; however, my mind had been awake most of the night. I forced myself to get up and face the day, deciding to shower before waking Poppy. I was surprised to find her up and already eating breakfast in the kitchen. She'd even made coffee. "Thank you, Poppet. For some reason, I'm extra tired this morning."

She giggled. "It's Merrick's fault, huh?"

Merrick had been wired for some reason, sneaking reading time when he should have been sleeping. I'd been up and down a few times trying to get him to shut off his light and go to bed. Not that I'd been sleeping. I was battling my own fantasy world.

"Ah, no. It's no one's fault." As if to mock me, a vision of Hatch filled my head. "Just have a lot going on this week."

"Don't forget Grace and I have that dance workshop tonight. You're driving."

"Bloody—" I cut my curse off. "Right, I actually did forget. Thank you for reminding me."

Poppy and Grace had been involved in ballet for a while, but there was a new class being offered once a month for advanced dancers. Grace was amazing. Poppy was good, but she was missing something, and I'd hoped this instructor could assist us in figuring out what it was. My perfectionist daughter tended to berate herself if she didn't excel at everything she did, and I needed to get a handle on it.

"Do you think she'll hate me?" Poppy asked quietly.

"Who?"

"The teacher."

Oh, the joys of hormonal girls. "My love, no one could possibly hate you. Mrs. Quinn may have some important things to say about your technique though, darling, and it's important you don't take those personally. Dancing is not who you are, it's what you do. I love your passion and your need to do your very best, but even if you didn't dance, you'd still be the most amazing young woman I know." I cupped her chin. "I'm proud of you every minute of every day. Don't ever forget that."

She smiled. "Even when I'm angry at you?"

"Well, no, I'm much less proud of you then, and admittedly, I love you conditionally, but only when you're being a strop…when you're not being a strop, I love you unconditionally."

Poppy giggled. "You're ridiculous."

"I know, love." I grinned. "Right, I'll get dressed quickly and drop you at school."

"I love you, Mummy."

I adored it when she called me "Mummy." It wasn't often because my little girl was growing up, but she'd pull that out when she needed me to know just how much she was feeling.

"Love you too, Poppet." I kissed her forehead and headed to my room to change.

Four-thirty rolled around faster than expected, so I left Ali at the office to handle the final meeting and rushed off to pick up the girls and take them to dance. Glad to find they were ready, we all piled in the car and headed to North Portland. Traffic was hellish, but I'd left in just enough time and we arrived with ten minutes to spare.

"Girls, you go warm up and I'll check you in," I directed, and headed to the desk.

A stunning brunette smiled up at me. "Hi. Welcome."

"Thank you. I have Poppy Mann and Grace Lundy."

"Perfect. You're all set. If you head inside, my daughter will show you where you can watch the class."

I smiled and headed through the doors. Poppy and Grace were already at the barre stretching along with several other girls.

"Ma'am?"

I turned to the young woman smiling. "Yes."

"If you'll please come with me, I'll take you to the viewing room for parents."

"Thanks, love." I followed where she directed and joined several of the other parents. They had coffee and bottled waters set up on a table against the back wall, along with a few snacky-type things, which I deeply appreciated since I was starving. I'd promised the girls dinner afterwards, but I grabbed a couple of crackers to tide me over.

Small talk ensued amongst a few of us as we waited for the class to begin, but once the door was closed and our only access to our children was through the looking glass so to speak, the room went silent.

The young woman who'd showed me into the room served as the example dancing before the class and her technique was flawless. Her petite curvy build seemed to lengthen with each limber move, and as she broke into a pirouette, little wisps of blonde hair escaped from the loose bun piled on top of her head. She moved like water through a graceful stream.

"Lily," Mrs. Quinn instructed. "When you go into the petits jetés, point your toes a bit harder."

Lily nodded and did a little jog, then went straight into the jump, her feet arched perfectly (as far as I knew, anyway).

"Beautiful, honey," Mrs. Quinn said. "Now, who'd like to try that?"

I smiled to see both Poppy and Grace raise their hands immediately. Grace went first and she was lovely (as I suspected she would be), then it was Poppy's turn and my heart was in my throat. She did well, but I could tell by her face she wasn't happy.

The class moved on and I sighed as I watched Poppy's countenance change. It was slight, and I knew that only I, as her mother, would notice, but it was enough to put a stone in my gut. She watched Grace with suspicion and a little jealousy, but would quickly force a smile. I knew she wanted to be supportive, but I think all girls fight the tendency to be mean on occasion, even to our best friends. Something was going on with my girl and I couldn't put my finger on it.