Sugar Plums for Dry Creek. Janet Tronstad

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СКАЧАТЬ to open her school. If there were more little girls and boys like this in the community, she’d have a wonderful time teaching them to love ballet.

      Chapter Four

      Lizette heard a sound and looked up to see a half-dozen men stomping down the steps of the hardware store and heading straight toward her new school. She wasn’t sure, but she thought every one of the men was frowning, especially the one who was at the back of the group. That man had to be forty years younger than the other men, but he looked the most annoyed of them all.

      “The children are still just on the sidewalk,” Lizette said when the men were close enough to hear. While she hadn’t thought anyone would want children to go into a building alone, she certainly hadn’t expected there would be a problem with them standing on the sidewalk and looking at something inside. If the citizens of Dry Creek were that protective of their children, she’d never have any young students in her classes.

      Lizette braced herself, but when the men reached her, they stood silent. Finally, one of them cleared his throat, “About this—ah—school—”

      “The children will all have permission from their parents, of course,” Lizette rushed to assure them. “And parents can watch the classes any time they want. They can even attend if they want. I’d love to have some older students.”

      The younger man, the one who had hung back on the walk over, moved closer to the open door. He seemed intent on the two children and did not stop until he stood beside them protectively. Lizette noticed that the young boy relaxed a little when the man stood beside him, and the girl reached out her hand to touch the man’s leg. She knew the man wasn’t the children’s father because she’d met that man already. Maybe he was their stepfather. That would explain why the father hadn’t known where the children lived.

      “Well, about the students—” The older man cleared his throat and began again. “You see, there might be a problem with students.”

      “No one has to audition or anything to be in the performances,” Lizette said. She wasn’t sure what was bothering the men, but she wanted them to know she was willing to work with the town. “And public performance is good for children, especially if it’s not competitive.”

      “Anyone can be in the play,” the boy said softly.

      The men had all stopped talking to listen to the boy, so they all heard the next words very clearly.

      “I’m going to be a Sugar Plum Fairy,” the girl said, and pointed to the costume she’d been admiring.

      Judd swallowed. Amanda never talked to anyone but Bobby, and then only in whispers. Who knew all it would take was a sparkly costume to make her want to talk?

      “How much is the costume?” Judd asked the woman in the doorway. He didn’t care what figure she named—he’d buy it for Amanda.

      “Oh, the costumes aren’t for sale,” the woman said. “I’ll need them for the performance, especially if I want to have something ready for Christmas. I won’t have time to make many more costumes.”

      “About this performance—” The older man said, then cleared his throat.

      Lizette wondered what was bothering the old man, but she didn’t have time to ask him because the younger man was scowling at her.

      “So the only way Amanda can wear this costume is if she’s in your performance?” he asked.

      “I wouldn’t say it was my performance.” Lizette felt her patience starting to grow thin. “All of the students will see it as their performance. We work together.”

      “About the students—” The older man began again and cleared his throat for what must have been the fourth time.

      “I’ll sign Amanda up,” the younger man said decisively. “If she signs up first, she should get her pick of the parts, shouldn’t she?”

      “Well, I don’t see why she can’t be the Sugar Plum Fairy,” Lizette agreed. After all, Lizette herself would be choreographing the part for the children’s ballet, and could tailor it to Amanda’s skills. She’d just gotten her first student. “She’ll have to practice, of course. And we’ll have to have a few more students to do even a shortened version of the Nutcracker.”

      The younger man squeezed the boy on his shoulder.

      “I’ll sign up, too,” the boy offered reluctantly.

      “There—I have two students!” Lizette announced triumphantly. “And I only just hung up my sign.”

      The older man cleared his throat again, but this time he had nothing to say. All of the older men were looking a little stunned. Maybe they were as taken aback as she was by the fierce scowl the younger man was giving them.

      “You might want to see a doctor about the cold you’re getting,” Lizette finally said to the man who had been trying to talk. “Usually when you have to clear your throat so often, it means a cold is coming on.”

      The older man nodded silently.

      “And you might ask him about taking up ballet while you’re there,” Lizette said. “Just to see if the exercise would be all right for you. Now that I have two students, I can begin classes, and you’d be more than welcome.”

      Lizette decided the older man definitely had a cold coming on. He had just gone pale. He even looked a little dizzy.

      “You’ll want to wait until you’re feeling better before you start though,” Lizette said to him. That seemed to make him feel better. At least his color returned.

      “I’ll think about it,” he mumbled.

      Lizette nodded. She knew she couldn’t manage for long on the income she’d get from two students, but just look how much people wanted to talk about her school. With all of that talk, she’d get more students before long.

      Lizette smiled up at the younger man. He might scowl a lot, but she was grateful to him for her first two students. “Your wife must be happy you take such good care of the children.”

      The young man looked down at her. “I don’t have a wife.”

      Lizette faltered. “Oh, I just thought that because their father showed me their picture that—”

      “You know the kids’ father, Neal Strong?”

      If Lizette thought the men had been quiet before, they were even more silent now.

      “No, I don’t know him. Some man just showed me their picture in Forsyth when he asked me to give him a ride out this way. He said they were his kids and he was trying to find them. He probably didn’t know the address or something.”

      Judd felt Amanda move closer to his leg, and suddenly he had as great a need to be close to her as she had to be close to him, so he reached down and lifted her up even though he had his heavy farm coat on and it probably had grease on it from when he’d last worked on the tractor.

      “Don’t worry,” Judd whispered into Amanda’s hair when she snuggled into his shoulder.

      Judd СКАЧАТЬ