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check on her?" Violet asked, cutting into Sam's reverie. "I'll do it," Sam told her, starting that way, but Arcineh beat him to it. She was already coming down the stairs.
    "Can I have my dad's desk chair?" she blurted as soon as she saw her grandfather.
    "Certainly"
    Sam didn't know what she had expected him to say, but he could see that she was fighting tears. In his opinion, everything in the office already belonged to her.
    "When can I have it?" she choked out.
    "Today. I'll put it in my car and bring it to you:"
    Arcineh nodded, but the trembling was back.
    "It's all right:' Sam soothed as he went to her. "I didn't take you there so I could start getting rid of things. We'll bring it all here and tuck it away for you:'
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    Arcineh clung to her grandfather, so desperate to hug her father that she didn't think she would make it. Her little body trembled with the intensity of her feelings, and Sam closed his eyes in equal pain.
    Violet came from the kitchen just then to check on them both, spotted their embrace, and backed away. At the moment she felt as they both did: Life would never feel normal again.
    "Mr. Bryant?" his secretary, Carlee, said, ringing him in his office midmorning the next day. "There is a Ms. Geneva Sperry here to see you. She says she's Arcie's dance teacher:'
    "Please tell me you're joking," Sam said in a voice that told his secretary that he was in no mood for laughter.
    "What do you want me to do?"
    Carlee heard her employer sigh and waited.
    "Send her in, but beep me with something in about 20 minutes:' "Will do:'
    Carlee put the phone down and smiled at the interesting woman at her desk.
    "You can go right in:'
    "Thank you:' Geneva said sincerely, not having realized until she was in the building just how unlikely it was that Sam Bryant would agree to see her. Bryant Marble was on the top three floors of a huge office building, and Sam Bryant's own office was immense. The woman in the lobby had been hard enough to get past, but when Geneva spotted Sam's own secretary, she had all but given up.
    "Come Sam greeted, suddenly at the door. "I'm Sam Bryant:' "Geneva Sperry. Thank you for seeing me:'
    "Have a seat:' Sam invited without returning the compliment. He barely waited for Geneva to get settled in the sitting area of his office before saying, "What can I do for you?"
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    "I'm here about Arcie. She told me she doesn't want to dance anymore, but I must admit that I rather hoped she wasn't serious:'
    "And so you came to see me?" Sam asked, not rudely but with no enthusiasm.
    "Yes. I don't know if you realize Arcie's talent. She just can't give it up:'
    "You speak as though you've forgotten what she's lose
    "I haven't:' Geneva's voice and face were most sincere. "But I feel that dance is very therapeutic, and when someone with Arcie's natural gift understands that, it's also healing:'
    "Would it be just as healing if she were forced?"
    Geneva, as sure and polished as she was, did not expect this question. However, she answered honestly. "No, it wouldn't be healing at all. I guess I just wanted to be heard:' She stopped for a moment, but made no sign of leaving. "I've been dancing since I was three, and teaching for almost 30 years. Arcie's talent is remarkable:'
    Sam had heard the same from his son and believed it to be so, but he also knew dancing had to be his granddaughter's choice.
    "If you want my honest opinion, I think Arcineh will dance again, but I don't think she'll make a living with it as I suspect you are hoping:'
    Geneva nodded. He had read her very well. But Sam was not done.
    "I would wish for her to return to your studio, Ms. Sperry, but I need to know from you that whether it be next week or two years from now, she'll be welcome:'
    "What makes you think she'd be anything but?"
    Sam smiled a little. "The more time that goes by, the more she loses. Indeed her hip might have made that decision for her. If she doesn't return to you soon, I do not want her greeted with guilt or regret