Something Old - Dianne L. Christner [27]
Katy felt her face heat. “That’s what makes it so sad for me. That they’re just little girls being exposed to that kind of music.”
An angry flush colored Tammy’s cheeks.
Katy couldn’t believe she’d spoken up to an outsider like that. She remained silent, waiting for Tammy’s explosion.
But Tammy removed her designer glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, then replaced them.
Katy shot up a prayer. Help me, Jesus. I’m doing this for You. She lifted her chin, while mentally making plans to apply at an agency.
“What if you just dropped her off and picked her up afterward?”
The oven timer went off. “Bread’s ready.” Katy shot to the oven, avoiding Tammy’s gaze and especially her question. She grabbed a padded mitt and removed the garlic bread. When she turned back again, Tammy was amazingly calm, her eyes pleading.
“I need you, Katy. It’s only temporary.”
She wanted to help. And if Tammy was willing to accommodate her wishes and respect her beliefs, then maybe she could hang in there for a few more days, just until Tammy found another nanny. “All right. Just until you find another nanny.” She moved toward the coat closet. “You could apply at an agency.”
Tammy flinched but didn’t object.
Katy quickly waved. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“Okay. I’ll leave you a note again, and by the way, Sean will get home tomorrow night before I do.”
Dread bubbled up in Katy’s throat as she slipped her arms into her coat sleeves. “It’s not that I don’t like your children, but cleaning is what I do best.”
“I understand. I’m sorry about today.”
Katy left the house, and although she’d won the battle, she knew she had been outmaneuvered again.
In her room that night, Katy prayed her evening prayer with an extra dose of humility and several more entreaties for forgiveness. When she unpinned her covering, one of the pins dropped and rolled under the chest of drawers. Katy bent from her waist to retrieve it and found herself almost in one of the positions she’d seen at the studio. The instructor had told the girls it was a cambre. She liked the sound of it. Gripping the edge of her dresser as if it were a ballet barre, she touched her heels together bent at the waist and swept one arm through the air. She heard her sister giggle and went rigid.
Ashamed, she quickly bent, felt under the chest of drawers, and retrieved the pin. She placed it through the organdy and stared at the head bonnet. She wasn’t the woman who had been in the dance studio and moved with wondrous grace. She was the woman who kept herself separate from the world. Her sister Karen had already climbed into her side of the bed and was reading Little Women.
Katy removed the rubber band from her ponytail and shook her head. Her thick hair fell down the center of her back. Gently, she massaged her scalp. What a day. Premonition told her that the Brooks job was headed toward disaster. She hated when things got out of control. She had been too ashamed to tell her mom about the dance studio. When she asked how the nanny job went, Katy had replied it was unpleasant and she didn’t wish to talk about it. But the whole experience left her feeling like she had a sinful secret. She’d asked God for forgiveness now at least six times, so why wouldn’t the sad feeling go away? Maybe it lingered because she’d lost a piece of her innocence. That’s what the simple life was all about, keeping separate from the world, from temptation, keeping themselves pure.
She should have just quit. But Tammy needed help, and she could put up with it for a few days. Wanting to do what was best, she weighed aiding and abetting the sin by dropping Addison off at dance class against abandoning her employer in her time of need. The church forbade dancing, and the Bible talked about giving every job your best, doing it as unto the Lord. She didn’t like gray areas where she couldn’t decide what was wrong or right. She liked living above the fray in a place above reproach. She gained much pleasure in following rules.
She tried to block the image of what the next day