Dancing for the Lord The Academy - By Emily Goodman Page 0,4
to watch her back all the time anymore.
It was a lonely, empty feeling.
“Danni!” Her mother’s head poked out the front door. “Oh—hello, Michael.” She didn’t look surprised to see him—not any more than Danni really was. For the last four and a half years, wherever Danni had been, Michael hadn’t been far behind. “Breakfast is on the table. Come on inside.” She tactfully turned away then, easing the door closed behind her. Mrs. Wilkerson understood that there were things in the world that simply couldn’t be said in front of someone else.
“I’d better go,” Michael said roughly. All traces of teasing had disappeared from his face completely.
“Come in and have breakfast with us,” Danni offered. It wasn’t like it would be the first time. Michael frequently came over early, and left late; her mother often joked that it was like having a son around the house. Since he pitched in freely with the sorts of chores that a son would have managed—taking out the trash, helping with the heavy lifting, even washing the car on a sunny Saturday afternoon if he and Danni didn’t have other plans—no one had ever minded his presence.
“I can’t.” Michael swallowed hard; and in his eyes, Danni could see the truth that he couldn’t say aloud. If he went in there, the odds were good that he was going to end up crying over how much he was going to miss her; and that wouldn’t be appropriate, not as she embarked on her grand adventure.
He couldn’t stay and give her the hope that she needed. It would be the first time in their relationship that he hadn’t been able to do that for her.
Danni nodded, holding out her arms to him. He enfolded her in his quickly, even lifting her off the ground and simply holding her for several long minutes. There were no words for this bittersweet parting, and neither of them tried to say any. They just held one another, and let that be enough.
Michael didn’t say anything when he finally released her, just squeezed her one last time, stared into her face for an endless moment…and then let her go. Danni barely had time to see him as he turned to look over his shoulder at her and then, as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone.
Her feet dragged a little bit as she made her way into the house. Michael, gone…she already missed him. Never mind that she was the one who had made this decision. He was supposed to be going with her. It wasn’t fair.
Fair or not, it was what was, she reminded herself. She didn’t have any choice but to live with it, now.
Mrs. Wilkerson looked up, surprised, as only a single set of footsteps sounded on the kitchen floor—light, airy footsteps. Even in high heels, Danni rarely made much noise as she walked. In tennis shoes, as she was now, she barely seemed to make her mark on the ground as she passed by. “Michael decided not to join us for breakfast?” she asked cautiously.
Danni just nodded, her throat too full to speak. Her mother had prepared her favorite—waffles, with a side of turkey bacon for protein—but suddenly, she wasn’t sure she would be able to eat a single bite.
“Such a shame.” Tears sparkled on the older woman’s lashes before she turned away, hiding them from Danni. “It feels like I’m losing both of you, even though I know he’s not going anywhere.”
“You’re not losing me, Mama!” Danni hurried to her mother’s side, hugging her tightly. “It’ll be summer before you know it—and I’ll visit, or you can come and visit me.” But the visits would be few and far between, and they all knew it. Her father’s job didn’t allow for much travel; and her mother didn’t like to be away from him if it could be helped.
“Oh, I’ll probably see you all the time.” Mrs. Wilkerson’s voice was clearer now; she’d managed to set her own emotions aside. “You just—just eat up now, Danni. You don’t want your food to get cold, do you?”
“No.” Danni gave her a grateful smile. She wasn’t sure she could have handled much more emotion. Michael missing her was going to be bad enough; she was trying not to think too hard about what this would do to her mother.
At least her little sister, Lizzie, would still be at home—and Lizzie, at least, didn’t have any mixed feelings about the fact that Danni was leaving.