Trouble in a Fur Coat (The Fur Coat Society Book 1) by Sloane Meyers Page A

ninety-nine percent of the crowd out there would be just as happy watching her understudy dance as they would be watching Silver.
    Silver stood and started walking back toward the dressing rooms with a resigned sigh. She might as well pull out of the show and go home to rest. Mr. Astor could win this stupid little battle. Silver didn’t care anymore. She just wanted to sleep.
    Silver made it back to the little spot in the dressing room where her duffel bag was sitting, and she started digging in it for some street clothes. She would throw on a sweatshirt and then go tell the director that she was bowing out. As she was reaching for her sweatshirt, though, she felt a buzzing from her phone in the side pocket of the bag. She almost ignored it. After all, most of the calls she was getting these days somehow related to her breakup with Joe. But, for some reason, she decided to glance and see who was calling.
    When she pulled the phone out, she saw that it wasn’t a call, but a text from Jack. Despite how awful she felt, Silver couldn’t help but smile at his name on her screen. She had to admit that she had enjoyed seeing more of him than usual this week. He was so easy to talk to and hang out with, not to mention he was drop-dead gorgeous. Silver was pretty sure he didn’t look at her as anything more than a childhood friend, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t daydream about him, right?
    Silver opened the message, and her eyes widened in shock. Jack had written: Surprise! All the Fur Coats are here to cheer you on! Have a great show!
    Attached to the message was a photo. Jack’s arm took up a good portion of the screen, stretched out as far away from his body as he could get it so that he could get everyone in on the impromptu selfie. The whole group was there, grinning at the camera—Jack, Grant, Storm, Bash, and Juno. And it looked like they had seats really close to the stage. Silver whistled. She had no idea how they had managed to get that many seats together this late in the game. It must have cost them a fortune!
    Silver bit her lower lip in determination, and slipped her phone back into the duffel bag along with her sweatshirt. She stood up straight and took another deep breath. There was no way she could back out of this show now. Seeing her brother and her friends out there, sacrificing their Sunday evening and who knows how much money to watch her dance, gave her renewed energy. She was strong. She was a grizzly, after all. She could do this, no matter how sick she felt.
    Silver made her way back toward the stage, and stood in her position behind the curtain. She closed her eyes, and did what she always did when she felt scared or weak. She imagined her birth mother, who had died giving her life, and she channeled her spirit. Silver drew on the strength of the woman who had given up everything so that she could live, and she bit her lower lip with determination. She would dance tonight, for her mom, her family, and her friends. She wouldn’t let an evil man like Joe’s father hold her back, or keep her from her dreams.
    “Silver, it’s five minutes to showtime,” the director said, breaking into Silver’s thoughts. “I need to know if you’re going to be able to dance this show.”
    Silver opened her eyes and smiled at the director. “I can dance it,” she said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the understudy frown unhappily.
    “Are you sure?” the director asked. “I don’t want you crapping out on me halfway through.”
    “I’m sure,” Silver said. “Let’s do this.”
    Silver danced her heart out that night as she had never done before. The fever didn’t go away, and the aching in her bones continued to feel worse. But Silver ignored the pain in her body and dug deep down within herself to find the strength to keep going. Every time she was tempted to quit, she pulled up a mental image of the photograph Jack had sent her of the Fur Coats, all sitting out in the audience and cheering