Katie Fitzgerald
“Ouch, that hurts!” yelped seven-year-old Sophia.
Josh dropped the hairbrush as though it burned him and smoothed his hand over his niece’s scalp.
“I’m sorry. I almost had it that time.” He released the clump of hair he held between his fingers and sighed.
When his sister, Molly, a surgeon and single mom, got stuck at work, Josh promised that getting Sophia to her dance recital was no big deal. He figured doing a young ballerina’s hair was like changing a tire or fixing a bike chain—easily learned in minutes on YouTube. Nope. He could build almost anything, but apparently he could not fasten a bun.
Trying to remain calm, he swiped to wake up his phone display and searched for a different instructional video. As he scrolled through the options, a voice from across the classroom announced, “Just ten more minutes!” Josh groaned, and Sophia turned to frown at him.
“Hurry, Uncle Josh! I can’t dance with my hair down. It’s a rule!”
“I know, kiddo.” He did his best to sound calm. “Just hang on a second . . .” He was about to press play on yet another video, when a woman dressed in dance warm-up attire stopped in front of Sophia’s folding chair.
“Everything good here?”
Josh looked up to reply and realized he recognized this woman from the coffee shop where he often stopped for breakfast. “Tess. What are you doing here?”
“Josh.” Her surprised smile revealed perfect pearly teeth. “I’m an assistant ballet instructor. Is Sophia’s mom not with her?”
Her job certainly explained the svelte figure and long legs Josh had occasionally admired during his coffee run. Wow.
“She’s removing an appendix,” Josh explained. “I’m on uncle duty. And my big clumsy man hands are ruining everything. Any chance you know the secret to the perfect bun?”
“Of course I do,” Tess said, and she came behind the chair with Josh. “Hairbrush, please.” She put out a hand, and Josh scrambled to pick up the brush from the floor and place it on her palm.
Tess pulled Sophia’s hair back from her forehead in a sleek ponytail. “Hair tie?” she asked after a moment. Josh patted his pockets, realizing he had no idea where he’d put it.
“I know it was here somewhere.” He felt like a double failure now that he was disappointing both his niece and a gorgeous woman.
“No worries. I have an extra,” said Tess. “I just need you to hold our high pony in place while I grab it.”
“Do what now?” Josh shook his head. “I’m about to undo all your hard work.”
“Nonsense. Give me your hand.”
Josh normally didn’t think about his hands, but as Tess gently guided his fingers toward Sophia’s head, he hoped she wouldn’t notice the ghastly bruise beneath his thumbnail where he’d come down hard with a hammer.
“Okay, so just wrap your fingers here like this,” Tess instructed, and she placed her thumb right over his injured one. “And hold it for one second.”
Tess was so close, Josh could smell her shampoo. He was disappointed when she stepped away to take an extra hair tie from her purse. When she returned, he went to release Sophia’s hair, but Tess stopped him with a gentle press of her fingers. “Not so fast,” she chided. “You’ll never learn if I do it for you.”
“I’m so bad at this stuff.” Josh was sure every dance mom in the room was staring judgmentally in his direction.
“You can do it!” Sophia turned slightly to give him a reassuring grin.
“See?” Tess nudged Josh with her elbow. “We believe in you.” She fastened the ponytail in place, then slowly guided Josh’s hand in the careful maneuver he had not been able to master by following a video demonstration. With Tess’s help, he twisted the bun perfectly into place.
“I have the bobby pins!” Sophia announced, holding them out.
“Teamwork,” Tess said. “I love it.”
Josh didn’t know how much he liked this ridiculously hard task, but he sure didn’t mind being on Tess’s team.
With a minute to spare, Josh and Tess fastened the bun in place. When Sophia got in line with the other dancers, she blended in completely. Josh took a quick picture and texted it to Molly as evidence he had kept his promise.
“You are so sweet to come to her recital,” Tess told him. “I like the uncle side of you.”
Josh chuckled. “And you’re amazing to bail me out. I like this side of you too.”
On a sudden impulse, he reached down to the shopping bag he’d used to transport Sophia’s stuff to the recital and felt the petals of the bouquet he’d chosen for his niece. Gently plucking a rose from the arrangement, he turned to Tess. “Here,” he said. “As a thank you.”
Josh held his breath, worrying this was too much, until she reached out and clasped the stem of the flower. “That was pretty graceful for a guy who thinks he’s clumsy,” she said, sniffing the rose. “Come on, let’s go watch.”
During the recital, Josh’s attention was divided between Tess and the stage. Her lively expressions in response to the girls’ well-danced ballet performance were as satisfying as the dance itself.
At intermission, Sophia came barreling down from the stage. She flung herself between Josh and Tess and tugged them both into a group hug. “I did it!”
Josh ran a hand over Sophia’s still-smooth hair, then looked over her head to find Tess giving him an amused look. “What?”
“I’m just wondering if you know about the braids for the jazz number.”
Josh’s jaw dropped, and his blood pressure spiked.
Tess laughed. “You’re graceful now, remember? You’ve got this.”
“And if I don’t?”
Tess squeezed his shoulder. “You’ve got me.”
Josh relaxed into her touch. Whether he mastered braiding tonight or not, he was glad his evening had intertwined with hers, and he couldn’t wait to see what happened next.
A graduate of Vassar College and a trained librarian, Katie resides in Maryland with her husband and five kids. She can most often be found listening to audiobooks, wearing bookish tee shirts, and sharing song lyric jokes in her Instagram stories.
Connect with Katie at Substack, Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and Goodreads.
Spark Flash Fiction 