CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

"Right here. Pookie, you need to swing your leg right here, on that beat."

"Right."

Their blades cut into the ice, as they tried a move.

"That right?"

"Yeah, but my turn was too slow. I came out of it a half-beat behind."

"’sokay, Snugglebear, let’s try it again."

It was the middle of August. Sophia and Warren were trying to nail down their new free dance, before they pulled their old junior-length free from last year out of mothballs for the Junior Grand Prix.

It had been a busy summer. Dan and his buddies quickly renovated the basement, because Dan and Kate wanted to move in as quickly as possible. Sophia was thrilled with her new bachelorette pad—Ellen had even had Dan install an intercom, which anyone had to buzz before going down there--and Sophia had the pleasure of waking up next to Warren a couple of times already. Warren’s parents were a little wary about that, as was Dan, but it didn’t happen every night. And, since everyone knew what was going on anyway…….Warren just had to call Peg and tell her, because she worried.

Peg and Dan were getting married next weekend. The weekend after that, Sophia and Warren were travelling to Washington, DC, to attend the wedding of John Garrison and his dance teacher, Amanda Glover. They were thrilled to have been invited, and were really looking forward to it. The crème de la crème of the figure skating world promised to be there—and John was a dear friend. After that, the school year would start, senior year for Warren and Sophia, interspersed with trips to Europe for the Grand Prix. Plus they had to do their college applications.

So, finishing this free dance now would be nice. They wanted it done—or almost done—today. Plus, some of their family members were going to stop by for a grand preview.

Family members—Sophia had more of them now. She smiled at that. After that big blowout, Dan and she had gotten along much better. Somehow, Dan stopped seeing her as a kid after that encounter. Now, we just had to get him to stop seeing Kate as a kid, Sophia thought. That was coming along a bit, but it was harder. As for herself, Sophia loved Dan. She thought he was a great guy. Kate had confided that meeting Ellen had been the best thing that ever happened to him, because Ellen had loosened him up.

Kate, herself, Sophia found delightful. There were over 8 years difference between Sophia and her next oldest sister, Tara, so having a stepsister close to her own age was fun. And Kate was a wonderful young lady. She was almost as tall as Sophia, slender, with a cascade of sandy-blond ringlets hanging past her shoulders and bright green eyes. She affected a funky bohemian style, wearing long wraparound skirts and cotton tee shirts, often accompanied by beads and bracelets and something unusual in her hair, or a unique hat. Different from Sophia, whose wardrobe contained, in Warren's words, "either 'My boyfriend is a preppie and he bought me this', or basic sexbomb" but it looked good on Kate.

And Sophia realized that Kate had a passion. It became apparent quickly after Kate moved into Sophia’s room—Sophia went up there to retrieve a few things she had left, and found one corner completely given over to easels, canvas, paints, cleaning equipment, palettes, and the like. Kate was an artist—specifically, a painter. And she was good, too.

"That’s my stress relief. Anytime I’m bothered by something, I paint." Kate had said to Sophia.

"It’s always good to have an outlet."

"Are you creative?" Kate had asked her.

Sophia just laughed. "Who do you think choreographs Warren’s and my dances? Well, both of us, actually, but, yeah, we are our own choreographers. Believe me, that’s creative."

"Yeah, it is," Kate smiled.

Now Kate was sitting in the stands, along with Ellen and Dan, and her best friend Tanya. Tanya was also a figure skating fan, and a photographer, and Kate had asked if she could come along and take some pictures.

"Only if we get a copy," Warren had smiled.

Peg and Jim Kelleher joined them, and the skaters skated over to them.

"Now, remember, this isn’t 100% done. Close, but not quite," Warren told them. "We’ll tweak some, I’m sure."

"And we’re not in costume," Sophia added. "He’s gonna wear a tux, and I’m gonna wear some slinky queen-of-the-dance-floor dress." Everyone laughed. "And my hair will be up, proper, not just a ponytail."

"Anyway," Warren concluded, "here’s the rough cut. Fred and Ginger Revisited."

They took their opening positions, and June hit play on the CD player. The slinky, sassy strains of Glenn Miller’s String Of Pearls filled the rink. Sophia and Warren glided around the ice, playing off of one another, sure-footed and confident. Their innate musicality shone through, as every step, every glide, every nuance was keyed perfectly to the walking bass and the gently swaying horns of the swing classic. The dance was technically difficult, with changes of handholds and difficult intertwining steps. They did very little side-by-side dancing, and stuck close to one another, which was more difficult. The ability to work their feet while skating extremely close together was a skill they had mastered early, and it was impressive. As the music gained in intensity, so did they, doing a fabulous diagonal step sequence in closed position, with perfectly timed turns and swaying hips. And, when they ice danced, they smiled. Always. They loved doing this.

Then the music changed, to the more uptempo, harder swinging Little Brown Jug. They started that portion with their side-by-side step sequence. As the song really got going, they went back to skating close together, changing positions and holds, turning and swinging with abandon. When they got going, they were fast, and this part of the dance showed their speed, without sacrificing an iota of difficulty in footwork.

Their cut of Little Brown Jug proceeded through a number of bars of various horn solos, with the band gently but relentlessly swinging behind the soloist. Sophia and Warren sped around the ice, swinging each other around and digging their skates into the ice in time with the swinging rhythm.

Little Brown Jug has a Big Finish, and Sophia and Warren had choreographed for it. About thirty seconds before the end, the last soloist finishes up. At that point, the drummer switches from rim shots to a relentlessly pounding snare, and the horns swing with a vengeance. Sophia and Warren went into this section with Warren behind Sophia, his hands on her hips, her hands on his, right close together, and they swung, shaking their hips perfectly to the beat, all the while keeping their skates moving with difficult footwork and deep edges. Then Sophie turned, and they went into classic closed position, not losing their rhythm for a second. For the last series of bars, he pulled her in close, and they skated, arms around each other. There was seemingly no room for their feet to continue moving, but they did. They ended with a spin, and a big flourish.

The small group of their supporters erupted with applause. Kate and Tanya were especially impressed, because they had never seen them skate live. Dan was really impressed—he had never seen them skate at all.

"My God, you guys are good!" he enthused. "That was really something."

"I can’t believe two kids your age can swing that hard," Jim added.

"Thanks. We’re glad you like it. We love it," Warren said.

"I keep telling them that if they skate it clean, it’s going to get them on the podium at Nationals," June said.

"Well, it’s very us," Sophia said. "Well, one side of us."

"Yeah, and for the other side of us, you guys wanna see the exhibition?"

"Exhibition?" Dan asked.

"If we finish high enough—it’s usually top 3 or top 4—in any of our events, we get invited to skate in the post-competition gala," Sophia told him. "You can skate to anything you want to, no rules, so most people choreograph a special exhibition number. I don’t know if I agree with June about Nationals, but we fully expect to finish high enough at the Grand Prix events, so we choreographed an exhibition."

"In fact, that’s our main motivation for making it to the podium at Nationals. They don’t televise the Junior Grand Prix, but they do televise the exhibitions at Nationals, and we want to do this dance on TV." Warren said.

Sophia added, "It’s not as technically complex as our competitive programs, but it’s got other things going for it. Don’t need the ponytail for this one," she said as she took it out.

"Love to see it," Dan said. Everyone else agreed. "I’m glad I brought extra film," Tanya added, to general laughter.

"So, what type of dance is this?" Jim asked as they skated to their starting positions. "Tango? Rumba? Classical? Techno?"

Sophia giggled, and smiled at him. "Call it a love letter." June started the CD player, and "You’ll Be In My Heart," by Phil Collins started playing.

The song is a passionate, intense, love song, and Sophia and Warren’s dance was passionate, intense, and loving. The footwork was scaled back a bit from the Glenn Miller dance, as fits an exhibition, but the rest of the dance compensated for it. Their dance was all about deep edges, close holds, constant eye contact, a touch of a cheek, a caress of an arm, a loving smile. They sang snippets of the lyrics at each other as they glided around the ice, lost in their own world. Sophia smiled gently at Warren, who smiled gently back, as they held each other, dancing to the beautiful love song. The love and passion they had for each other was unmistakable.

When they were done, they were slightly out of breath from the intensity of it. And their audience was thunderstruck.

"I thought I knew what you guys felt about each other. I was wrong. Now I know," Kate pointed out succinctly.

"Love letter is an apt description," Jim added.

"I keep telling them that if that dance gets any more intense, they’re going to end up skating on bare concrete because the ice will have completely melted," June said.

"No doubt," Dan agreed.

"I hope you do get to do that at Nationals," Kate said. "It would be a little calling card for your career. ‘Hi, America—we’re here, we’re really good, and you just wish you were this much in love.’" Everyone cracked up laughing at that, Sophia and Warren most of all.

"We’re glad you guys liked it," Sophia offered.

"And I’m so glad you guys let me come and take pictures of it!" Tanya enthused.

Kate and Tanya went right down to the Walgreen's downtown to get the pictures developed. They got two sets, and went back to Kate’s house and gave a set to Warren and Sophia. The skaters loved them, and Tanya was very pleased with how they had turned out.

Kate was thumbing through Tanya’s copies. "Hey, Tanya, can I borrow this one?" she said of one that had really caught her eye. "Just for a couple days. I’ll give it back."

"Sure. Make sure you give it back, though, that’s one of my favorites.

After Tanya had left, Kate made a beeline to her room.

Sophia came upstairs at about 9:00 that night, to fetch sodas and make popcorn. Ellen and Dan were sitting in the living room.

"Hi guys. Where’s Kate? Warren and I were just watching movies, I thought Kate might like to join us."

"She’s in her room," Ellen said.

"Ah, I’ll go see if she wants to come down."

"Uh-uh," Dan said. "I went up there a little while ago. She’s painting. I learned long ago that you do not disturb Kate when she’s painting." Ellen and Sophia laughed. "Especially since she told me, when I went up there, that she’s in one of her legendary painting grooves."

"Painting grooves?" Ellen asked.

Dan smiled. "That’s what she calls it. ‘I’m in a groove, Dad.’ That means she’s working on something really good and she can’t stop and she’ll be there pounding away at the thing until it’s done even if it takes until four in the morning, so don’t bug her."

Sophia laughed. "Aah. I can relate, I’m the same way when I’m reading, and my Snugglebear is even worse. Anyhow, if she gets a cramp in her brush hand or something, tell her she’s welcome to buzz the intercom. Warren and I already had our ‘private time’ tonight."

Dan grinned at her. "I’ll tell her."

Sophia got up for breakfast—Warren had spent the night, but had left, because he got an extra shift at the donut shop—and was surprised to see just Ellen and Dan there.

"She still painting?" Sophia asked.

"Yup," Dan confirmed. "She actually went to bed last night, but got up at the crack of dawn and went right back to the easel."

Warren came back over in the afternoon, after his shift. Both he and Sophia were planning on quitting the donut shop when school started, because they just had too much going on this year, and were trying to squirrel away as much money as they could.

He came in through the front door, saying hi to Dan, Ellen, and Tara and Eric who were home from their fathers by that point. "Hiya, folks. Beautiful be downstairs?" Ellen laughed and confirmed it.

A few minutes later, Kate came running downstairs, paint on her hands, and even some on her face. "Well, if it isn’t Michaelangelo emerging from the Sistine Chapel for a breath of fresh air," Dan joked.

"Thanks, Dad. Was that Warren coming back in?"

"Yeah."

"Good." She walked over to the intercom. "Hey guys can I come down?"

"Sure," Sophia’s voice came over.

"Great. I’ll be down in about ten minutes."

"OK."

She ran back upstairs and was up there for a few minutes. She emerged with a large object—clearly, a framed canvas wrapped in white paper.

"That what you’ve been working on, Pumpkin?" Dan asked.

"Yeah. But it’s for Warren and Sophie, so they get to see it first." She hustled down to the basement.

She knocked on the door to Sophia’s room, leaving the canvas outside. Sophia opened the door, and Kate walked in. She made a little show of looking around the room.

"Y’know, I was thinking. These walls are awfully bare. You need something on them, Sophie, besides your prom picture, and that Feeling Sophie Up series."

Sophia giggled. "Actually we were thinking about asking Tanya to blow up some of those pictures she took."

"I’ve got a better idea." She opened the door and grabbed the canvas. "This is for you guys."

Sophia looked at Kate in amazement. "This what you’ve been working on for two days?"

"Yup. When inspiration hits…." She giggled. "Open it."

Sophia did, with Warren helping. When they got the paper off, Sophia gasped.

Kate had taken the photo she had borrowed from Tanya, and used it as a reference. She didn’t copy it, but had made a painting that was all her own. Sophia and Warren were dancing, in closed position, gazing into each other’s eyes. Kate had captured, perfectly, the flush in Sophia’s cheeks, the twinkle in her eyes, the sure, steady, loving gaze in Warren’s. Sophia’s long black hair was flowing gently behind her, to help create the sense of movement on the ice.

"I can’t believe you did this!" Sophia exclaimed.

"That is really, really good," Warren agreed. "Kate, you’re a talented girl." Kate just blushed.

"What a wonderful gift." She gave Kate a big hug. "Thank you so much."

"Thanks, Kate", Warren said as he kissed her on the cheek. "This is fantastic."

Sophia was still looking at it in wonder. "You captured the joy," she said incredulously. "The joy we feel when we skate with each other. It’s all here. You got it."

"You’re absolutely right," Warren agreed.

Kate had the world’s biggest grin. "You ever get done with a dance, and say to yourself, ‘that was exactly right, that’s every step exactly the way it should be.’?"

"Sometimes," Warren said. "It’s what you shoot for. Doesn’t happen all the time."

"Right. Painting’s like that. And you telling me that I succeeded in capturing the joy—well, it’s like straight sixes for you guys. Thank you for noticing. That’s what I was trying so hard to do."

"You did it. We’ll cherish this forever," Warren said.

"Damn straight," Sophia agreed. "And I’ve got a hook right here." She hung the painting up, right above the bed.

Just then, Dan and Ellen rapped at the door. "We were wondering if we could see this painting that Kate worked so hard on."

Sophia opened the door, and pointed.

"Wow," Dan said after a minute. "Wow, wow, wow."

"Double Wow," Ellen agreed.

Kate was feeling giddy and embarrassed, all at once. "I’m so glad you like it. I need to go soak in a tub to wash this paint off." She giggled, and bounded out of the room and up the stairs.

"What a gift. She’s such a great kid." Sophia said.

"I think she got inspired yesterday," Ellen commented. "She was all dreamy while you guys were doing that dance."

"Yeah, and look at this painting—she captured the joy, and the passion. And that was second hand. Dan, if that daughter of yours ever falls in love you are in big trouble, because she is going to do so with the white-hot passion of a thousand suns." Sophia grinned at him.

Dan got a rueful look in his face. "Don’t you think I figured that out long ago?"