Her Hometown Hero

by Margaret Daley

  Carrie lifted her head, her eyes glistening. “I can do that.”

  “You don’t have to make that decision right now. You’re still young. Give yourself time to be a child.” She’d given up a lot of her childhood because she’d been so certain that dancing was what she would do with her life, and in one instant all her hard work had been destroyed.

  Carrie’s bottom lip stuck out. “I guess I don’t have a choice. Madame Zoe didn’t want me.” A whimper invaded her last sentence, and she sniffed.

  “I want you.”

  “But you’re my aunt.”

  “I can help you with your dancing this summer. It’ll be fun, us working together.”

  Carrie knuckled an eye. “I thought you were helping Madame Zoe.”

  “I will some, but you’re more important to me.”

  “Where? This week we worked outside on the deck, but we can’t do that all summer. It’ll get really hot soon.”

  “I can come up with somewhere. My living room would work. Think about it. Talk to your mom and dad. You can let me know.”

  “Carrie. Carrie.”

  The sound of Nate’s voice reminded Kathleen that other people were searching for her niece. “We need to let everyone know you’re okay.”

  Carrie rose.

  Kathleen started to stand and realized in the small confined area with little to help her she would have trouble getting to her feet.

  “What’s wrong, Aunt Kit?”

  “I haven’t mastered getting up from the ground yet.”

  “I’ll help.”

  “Tell you what. Go let Nate know you’re okay and that I texted your dad to let him know I found you.”

  “I’ll get him to come help.”

  “No. You don’t need to. With more room in the alcove, I’ll be able to manage.”

  Carrie’s eyebrows knitted. “Sure?”

  “Yes.” Sort of. At the very least, she was sure she needed to try on her own. People wouldn’t always be around to help her.

  Once Carrie disappeared, Kathleen rolled onto her right side and put both hands on the ground. She pushed herself to a kneeling position, then using her good leg and clasping the brick edge of the alcove, she rose slowly. Leaning a little into the wall, she paused to get her balance before making her way out to the side of the school.

  As she emerged from the hedge, the first thing she saw was Nate rushing toward her. She held up her hand and said, “I’m okay,” then leaned over and brushed some dead leaves from her jeans.

  He slowed his gait, but now Kathleen noticed her brother and Carrie hurrying across the grass toward her. Embarrassment warmed Kathleen’s cheeks. She didn’t want to be a burden or concern for anyone. She wasn’t helpless. Didn’t they understand that?

  “What did Carrie tell you?” she asked when Nate arrived a little out of breath.

  “That you were on the ground and couldn’t get up. I thought you’d fallen.”

  Ten seconds later her brother and niece came to a halt in front of her. “Carrie Somers, you shouldn’t have worried them like that. I wasn’t hurt or in any danger, and I didn’t want any help. I just needed a little time and room to get up by myself.” Kathleen shifted to Howard. “I’ve had to relearn a few things. I can’t just pop up like I used to. At least not right now. But that doesn’t mean I can’t stand on my own.”

  “Sorry, Kit. I guess we all overreacted, but I’d rather do that than leave you somewhere hurt.” Howard pulled out his cell and called Beth to let her know Carrie was safe and with them.

  “I don’t know about you all, but I’m ready to go home.” The active day was finally catching up with Kathleen. “Ready, Howard?”

  Howard blushed. “I brought my truck. I forgot that you’d be riding back to the ranch with us. Nate, will you bring my sister home?”

  Nate pushed up the front of his cowboy hat, laughter dancing in his eyes. “Yes, but it isn’t like you to forget something like that.”

  “You try getting two females ready on time and out the door. I thought we were gonna be late for the audition.”

  Kathleen folded her arms over her chest. “Sure. Now that I think about it, I believe you’re up to something.”

  “Dad thought Dr. Nate could bring you home and maybe stay for dinner like he did the other night.”

  Howard snorted. “I didn’t say that.”

  “No, Mom told me.”

  Beth arrived. “I heard my name. I told you what? Not to run off like you did and scare your family silly?”

  “About Dad playing matchmaker.”

  Howard’s red face deepened in color. “C’mon. I have a few chores at the ranch.” Howard stomped off with Beth and Carrie trailing at a much slower pace, holding a whispered conference.

  A few yards away Carrie turned and backpedaled. “Dr. Nate, I’m having a family birthday party tomorrow evening. You’re invited. Aunt Kit will give you the details.” The child didn’t wait, but whirled around and quickened her step.

  “They all are conspiring together,” Nate said with a laugh.

  “I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what my brother, Beth or my niece think they’re doing. I’ll set them straight.”

  Nate tugged his hat down in place. “So will I. Well, at least Howard. How about we get some dinner on the way to the ranch since we didn’t have a proper lunch earlier? I know how much you can eat. What little we had before the auditions isn’t enough to keep you going, is it?”

  “That’s changed, too. When I was exercising and dancing eight or ten hours a day, I burned a lot of calories. Not anymore. And I was told to stay within about eight pounds of my current weight or I’ll have to get a new prosthetic leg.”

  “Really,” Nate said as he strolled toward his truck, “I guess I can see that. Will that be hard?”

  “Yes. I love food and have always been able to eat whatever I wanted because I knew I’d burn it off. Now I can’t.” Just another consequence of her accident she had to deal with. Since getting out of the hospital, she had put on five pounds. “In fact, I need to lose some weight. I want to keep on top of it.”

  “Let’s go to Carlos’s Mexican Restaurant. You used to love it, especially the salads, and the food is still delicious.”

  “I’m glad something is the same. But I can’t stay long. My exhaustion is catching up with me.”

  At his Silverado Nate opened the passenger door and took her arm.

  She looked at his hand on her. “I’m tired, but I can still get into your truck by myself.”

  He grinned, a dimple appearing in his cheek. “Sorry. My mama taught me to open doors for ladies. It’s a nasty habit that’s hard to break. I’ll try harder not to next time.” He winked at her and sauntered around the front of his pickup, whistling the title song from Oklahoma.

  When he sat behind the steering wheel, she asked, “Are you making fun of me?”

  “I’ve lost my touch if you can’t tell.” He started the engine and pulled out of the parking space.

  * * *

  Kit let Nate into her brother’s house Sunday evening. Her greeting smile instantly lifted his spirits—exactly what he needed after counseling Steven again today. The teen and his father still weren’t talking. Nate could see it at church earlier, sparking his own memories of the few weeks after he’d quit college football.

  “I hope Carrie likes my present.” Nate held up a hot-pink bag with bright-colored polka-dotted tissue paper.

  “What is it?” Kit tried to peek inside.

  He pulled the gift away. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “You sure know how to torture a gal.”

  “It’s not your birthday, but I seem to remember you have one in July.” He rubbed his chin. “Hmm. I’m going to have to think hard on what I
want to get you. I remember how important birthdays are in your family.”

  Kit swung around and strolled toward the back of the house, slanting a look over her shoulder. “Not to me anymore. My birthday is just another day.” She winked and disappeared into the den.

  He laughed. He liked this playful side of Kit. He hadn’t seen it in a long while. The more she became involved in her career the more serious she’d become. But the girl he’d fallen in love with all those years ago had loved to laugh.

  When he entered the room, he came to a halt a few feet inside. Obviously the rest of the Somers didn’t agree with Kit that birthdays were to be low-key. Dozens of multicolored streamers hung from the ceiling. A large banner hanging from the mantel proclaimed Carrie turned nine today. A long table in front of the fireplace held a feast. The centerpiece was a cake decorated in white frosting with hot pink, lime-green and turquoise glittery stripes across it. In the middle a ballerina wearing pointe shoes with her arms curved above her head drew everyone’s attention.

  When he saw the ballerina, he searched out Carrie to see how she was doing after the auditions yesterday. A huge grin plastered her face as she talked with her mother and Kit.

  Howard came up to Nate. “I’m glad you could make it.”

  “So I can give you another opportunity to fix me up with Kit?”

  “Yes. You would be good for her. You were years ago.”

  “Sorry. That didn’t work out. I’m not a young man anymore who thinks all you have to do is love someone and everything will work out.”

  “But you’re here. It must mean you still care.”

  Nate turned toward Howard. “I’ll always care, but that isn’t the same thing as being in love and marrying someone.”

  “If you say so,” Kit’s brother murmured and moved into the center of the room to get everyone’s attention. “It’s time for Carrie to open her presents because this guy here—” he pointed at himself “—is starved and wants to eat, especially the cake Beth made.”

  Everyone jockeyed for a seat on two couches facing each other. The gifts were stacked on the coffee table between the sofas. Nate waited for the family to sit, then eased down next to Kit, the only place left.

  Beth handed her daughter Nate’s bag first. He was amazed at the child’s restraint as she first opened the card, then carefully pulled out the tissue paper until she found the rectangular box at the bottom.

  Nate leaned toward Kit and whispered, “You certainly haven’t rubbed off on your niece. You used to tear into your presents. There were times I thought you might destroy what I got you in your haste.”

  “I’ve mellowed since then.”

  Carrie opened the box and lifted out a delicate silver chain with a cross on it. She smiled at Nate. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.”

  And from her expression, Nate knew she really meant it. Her smile, however, shifted into pure glee as she put down the necklace and grabbed up the next present. With each gift after his she ripped the paper off it and threw it over her shoulder behind the couch. She dove into the presents as though she was starved and a banquet was set before her.

  Kit murmured into his ear, her breath tickling him, “Beth told her she had to be polite and take her time with your present. This is her usual behavior. At Christmas she beats the whole family in getting her gifts opened first. A gal after my own heart.”

  “All’s well with the world. It has been righted again.”

  Kit playfully punched him in the arm. “I do believe you are making fun of me, or is it the Somers family enthusiasm you’re mocking?”

  “Neither. It’s nice to see that not everything changes over time.”

  Kit chuckled, her attention swinging back to Carrie as she reached for the last gift.

  It had to be Kit’s because everyone else’s was strewn in a chaotic mess about Carrie.

  The girl paused and eyed the big envelope, then peered at Kit. Their gazes locked and Carrie carefully worked the flap up and pulled out the card. Tickets fell onto the child’s lap. Her eyes lit up as she picked them up. “Season tickets to the Tulsa Ballet Company.” Awe caused her voice to slowly build to the last word. Carrie shot up and rushed around to Kit. “Thank you! This is the perfect gift. I hope you’ll go with me this fall.”

  “I will, if I’m here.”

  The corners of Carrie’s mouth drooped. “I thought you were staying. You’re helping Madame Zoe this summer.”

  “I’m staying for a while, mostly because I want to help you this summer.”

  Kit’s words hurt Nate. He knew she needed to reassure Carrie, but again he felt he came in second in her life. It was a tough pill to swallow, even though it shouldn’t have been. They weren’t a couple and Carrie was family.

  The girl’s smile returned. “Is it possible a couple of my friends could be part of the lessons? One tried out and didn’t get it. The other two wouldn’t even try out for the dance academy because they thought they didn’t have a chance. This would make their summer if you would let me.”

  “If I’d wanted to refuse I couldn’t after that plea. Sure. Let’s start our first class this next Saturday first thing in the morning, and then when school lets out the following week and I have my schedule from Madame Zoe, we’ll figure out when to meet. But I want you to remember I might not be here the whole summer.”

  Nate tensed at the repeated reminder that she might not stay.

  Carrie held up two fingers. “Twice a week?”

  “Are your friends serious about ballet?”

  Carrie nodded.

  “Then we’ll try three times a week if that’s okay with their parents.”

  Carrie jumped up and down. “That’s the best present ever. I’m gonna go call them right now.” The child raced out of the den before Beth could react.

  “I guess it’s okay if we dig in. But—” Beth looked pointedly at her husband, who had moved a couple of steps toward the food table “—the birthday cake is off-limits until Carrie returns.”

  Howard threw up his hands. “I know.”

  Seeing the playful teasing made Nate yearn for a family. He’d always thought he would marry and have children but after two attempts, he wasn’t sure if he was meant to be a husband.

  He stood and offered Kit his hand. Without hesitation, she clasped his and let him pull her to her feet. “Are you sick?”

  Her forehead scrunched. “No, why do you ask?”

  One corner of his mouth tilted up. “You let me help you up without a word about how you don’t need my assistance.”

  She moved into his personal space, her proximity causing his pulse to speed. “It’s been a long day with church, then riding with Carrie and Jacob. It was nice to have help—this time.”

  “Let me know, then, when it’s okay to offer,” he said with a laugh.

  She inched forward. He inched backward. “I know that I’ve been extra sensitive about trying to do things myself. I’m trying to learn to accept help graciously. It’s not easy. I’ve always been so independent.”

  “I know.” Nate stepped back again several feet, drawing Kit toward him. He didn’t want the whole family listening.

  “Then I’m asking you to have patience as I swallow my pride and accept assistance when I need it.”

  The beseeching look she sent him melted his heart. If everyone weren’t trying to stare at them, he’d be tempted to kiss her. He pressed his lips together and nodded his head once, his gaze fastened on her. The pull toward her was strong. He dragged his attention away and looked over her shoulder. All four family members quickly busied themselves with loading their plates with food.

  “Before we become the entertainment for your family, we’d better get our dinner.”

  A soft blush colored her cheeks.

  As she crossed to the table, Nate h
ung back for a moment, regrouping his scattered emotions. It didn’t take much for Kit to pull him back into her life and that scared him. Just ten minutes ago, she’d warned the group she might not be staying in Cimarron City.

  * * *

  Kathleen opened the door to her cabin, scooped up Lexie waiting in the entrance, then entered with Nate coming in right after her. Something had changed tonight at Carrie’s birthday party. When she placed her hand in his, something deep inside her shifted as though until that moment she hadn’t given herself permission to ask others to help her. She didn’t have anything to prove to her family or Nate.

  Nestling her dog against her, she started for the back of her place. “I want your opinion about fixing up the other bedroom as a dance studio. It’s much larger than my bedroom and with the furniture out of the room, I think it’ll work.”

  Inside her grandparents’ bedroom, she held Lexie in the crook of her left arm and swept her other across her body as if performing a ballet step. “What do you think? I’ll have floor to ceiling mirrors down this wall.” She pointed to the one that was long and uninterrupted by a door or window. “There would be a barre there and another one on the opposite side between the two windows.”

  Counting off footsteps, Nate maneuvered around the bed and went from one end to the other. “It’s about twenty feet by fifteen. Is that big enough?”

  “It is for small groups or—” She bit back the words she almost said.

  “Or what? You can’t tease me with half the sentence.” He closed the space between them.

  “Or if I want to dance for myself. Everyone tells me, you included, that I can still dance. I want to see if I can.”

  Nate swallowed hard. “Just so you realize it won’t be the same.”

  “I know that. But Madame Zoe wants me to choreograph a dance for the students at the Summer Dance Academy to perform at the end. I don’t want to run through it at her studio. I need my own space, especially with Carrie and her friends taking lessons this summer from me.”

  “If it meets your needs, go for it. Does this mean you’re thinking of staying longer?”

  “I’m not committing past the middle of July when the dance academy is over with. Honestly I don’t know what I’m doing from one day to the next, but as I become more proficient with my prosthetic leg and my strength and energy return, I have to do something with my time. I don’t like what I was becoming when left with nothing to do.” Why was she going to all this trouble if she wasn’t going to use it past the middle of July? She might teach after July, but if she didn’t, at least she would have a private place to dance for herself.