"Yes, it seems to have been a false alarm," she said.
He nodded, and glanced across the room at her denim dress, folded over the seatback of a chair. "I saw Maggie out in the lobby. At first I wondered what she was doing here, and then she's the one who told me you were okay. And that she drove you here."
"That's right. I was at the studio."
"The studio? What were you doing there?"
She took a deep breath, knowing that he might not like her answer. "I had a lesson. I was dancing."
He sat motionless, expressionless, apparently allowing her words to sink in and percolate around in his mind before he acted. "A lesson?" He indicated her pregnant belly. "Why in God's name would you want to have a lesson?"
She reached over to give him a quick hug before she said anything. "Because I wanted to. I needed to." He responded to her hug, which she decided was a good sign.
As they spoke, he kept her close to him, another good sign. He had rested his hand on her shoulder. "Wasn't it…you know, kind of uncomfortable?"
"Yes, I would say so. The instructor and I couldn't do diaphragm, obviously. Other than that it wasn't too bad."
Stephen paused thoughtfully before continuing. "Honey I know you love dancing but couldn't you have waited three, maybe four months?"
"I wanted to dance now. I needed to dance now."
Stephen squinted and gazed away for a second, his lips opening to reveal his teeth as he pondered Linda's statement. "Linda, we've talked about this. We've got the kids now. The house. Better cars. Dancing is a luxury."
"I know. But it's how you met me."
She convinced him that she was well enough for them to go back to the parking lot near the studio to get the Jeep and drive it home. As she settled in for the drive home, she thought about what Stephen said. True, dancing wouldn't really fit into their budget. But she vowed to find a way to make it work, somehow.