Something Old - Dianne L. Christner [78]
Walking to the car, Katy felt like King David must have after his war victories. How she could whip that broom around now! Why her feet were barely hitting the pavement. No more babysitting, and she hadn’t even lost her cleaning job! She didn’t know how the money would come in until she found another job to replace her loss, but she’d gone nose to nose with an outsider and just shed one hundred pounds of chains. Thank You, Lord!
CHAPTER 21
The next day, Katy and Lil headed to the kitchen door, snatched their coats off the coatrack Jake had dropped by earlier in the week, and started outside toward the washroom. Katy was relating to Lil how she’d stood up to Tammy and gotten rid of her nanny job. Lil set her basket down to close the door behind them and froze.
“What’s this? There’s a red envelope taped to our door.”
Katy’s heart thumped. “A valentine?”
Lil tore it free from the door. “Yep. And your name’s on it.”
Katy dropped her clothes basket, too, and tore open the envelope. Her heart sank. “It’s from David.”
Lil raised her brow. “Guess he didn’t get the message.”
Katy opened the envelope of the store-bought card. It was blank inside, but he had handwritten: Thinking of you and that popcorn! Or maybe dessert? She bit her lip. When was the last time she had thought about him? She tucked the card inside her wash and picked up her basket. “I hate hurting him.”
“Hey, at least one of us got a valentine. That’s something, huh?”
“I guess.”
They started out for the washroom again, using the sidewalk that connected the doddy house to the workroom that they shared with the main house.
“About our earlier conversation, I’m glad you finally got rid of that nanny job. Don’t worry. Something will turn up.” Lil plunked her clothes basket on the cement floor, then rifled through it once, then a second time, more thoroughly. “I’m glad you stood up to Tammy. She’ll probably treat you with more respect now.”
Katy sorted her clothes, making neat piles. “We may be okay with it now, but it will catch up to us eventually. I’ve got to get a real job soon. Especially if Megan goes on a summer mission trip and doesn’t move in with us.”
Lil upended her basket until all its contents rained onto the floor, then garment by garment replaced each article with growing frustration as Katy watched with amusement. When that didn’t meet Lil’s satisfaction, she exhaled angrily and stared at the door as if her missing garment had sprouted legs.
Biting back a smile, Katy poured detergent in the washing machine and added her darks. Then she dangled Lil’s work skirt in the air. “This what you’re missing?”
Lil snatched it, casting her a dirty look that dared her to make some remark about it. They both knew that if Lil didn’t throw her stuff all over the closet, she wouldn’t lose things, or at least they wouldn’t end up in Katy’s dirty clothes basket instead of her own.
“Oops, wait a minute.” Lil dug into her skirt pocket and tucked her cell phone into the hollow of her neck. “Hello?” As she talked, she tossed her darks in with Katy’s and set the dial.
“Here,” Lil shoved the phone in front of Katy’s face as they made their way back to the house. “Jake wants to talk to you.”
Frowning, Katy held the phone to her ear. “Can you meet me at the new fellowship hall? I’ve got a quick question about the kitchen cabinets.”
“I can be there in an hour.”
The fellowship hall carried the tangy smell of new lumber and in its skeletal state was as much a war zone as a construction site. Voices from the other side of a two-by-six frame wall stuffed with shiny insulation rectangles warned Katy of the presence of workers. “Okay, boss. See you tomorrow.”
“Don’t let that baby keep you up all night so that you come crawling in late again.”
“No sir. I’ll send the wife over