Something Old - Dianne L. Christner [41]
Katy noticed other churchmen who had heard about the fire were starting to mill about the parking lot. “Okay.”
“I’d feel better if you’d go home. Your mom’s worried.”
She realized that even with David’s coat, she was shivering. “Okay. But be careful, Dad.”
Off to the side, Will Landis was helping his wife to their car. Katy hurried over, asking Lil, “Your mom going to be okay?”
“I think so. It hit her when the firemen checked us over.”
“You didn’t get burned?”
“No.” Lil crossed her trembling arms.
“You in shock?”
“Just cold. My throat’s raw, too.”
“Want me to take you home?”
Lil’s teeth began to clatter. “No. I’m going home with my folks.”
Katy watched Lil get in the car. Turning her back to the surreal scene, Katy hugged her arms against the cold and trudged to her own car. Behind her, another crash sounded. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw more of the fellowship hall had caved in. Fire illuminated the winter’s night sky. She gripped her car’s door handle and instantly flinched at the pain. How would this fire affect their small congregation?
CHAPTER 10
A few nights later, Katy was rebandaging her hand when the telephone rang. From the living room, where she lay on the couch buried to her chin in a quilt and nursing a box of tissues, Mom called, “Git dat?”
Tearing off the medical tape and pressing it in place, Katy hurried to the phone and cradled it in the crook of her neck. David’s voice tumbled into her consciousness, low and masculine. “You busy?”
“No, I just finished the dishes.”
Her stomach did a little somersault until she remembered the coldness of their kiss. With his bravery at the fire, she had forgotten about that. She brought her attention back to what he was saying. He wasn’t saying anything particularly personal, he was just talking about the fire.
“Elizabeth’s fine”—David’s voice held a hint of hesitance or despondency—“fretting over some handmade blankets that got ruined in the fire, but otherwise good. She told me you got most of the gifts out of there.”
Twisting the phone cord, Katy replied, “I just reacted. It was weird.”
“You’re an angel. Elizabeth thinks so, too. Now she’s embarrassed about the way she acted, obsessed over the gifts. She’s going to apologize.”
“That’s not necessary. I’m sure it was just a mixture of shock and probably had something to do with being pregnant.”
“That’s what Ivan told her. But about the fire, the men are having a cleanup day this coming Saturday. It’ll be a long day, and my dad asked me to help with the chores afterward to make up for the time away from the farm. Guess what I’m getting at is, can we postpone our dinner date?”
Disappointment rushed over her. “Of course. We can do that anytime.” Unless…was he trying to break up? “Or we don’t have to go at all,” she added.
“Hey, I want to see you. It isn’t that.”
She didn’t reply because everything had become so confusing with David that she didn’t know what she wanted anymore.
After some silence, he asked, “Did you do your nanny thing today?”
Leaning against the wall, she worked the kinks out of the phone cord. Maybe he knew about the three-date proposition and wasn’t going to give her the third date. Maybe he was going to dangle it. She’d deserve that. “Yeah. Addison broke Tyler’s iPod.”
“How’d she do that?”
“I have no idea, don’t even know how they work, but there was some kind of struggle going on in the backseat on the way home from school. Tyler can be a real imp.”
“Boys will be boys. Maybe you need to pack Addison a bigger snack.” Katy couldn’t help but grin. David’s listening abilities amazed her. He really understood and remembered when she’d talked about work. “Did they get in trouble with Tammy?”
“Big-time.”
“Oh yeah? She take away his BB gun?”
“She promised him a new iPod. A better one. And Addison is getting her own so they don’t have to fight over Tyler’s.”
“That’s a little harsh.”
“I know. But I’m sure you’ve got better things to do than talk about a couple of spoiled kids.”
“Nothing’s more important