Dancing for the Lord: The Academy (22 page)

“You don’t owe me anything.”  She grinned.  “Though if you insist, I might take a partnership deal when
The Nutcracker
is over.”  The longer she danced with him, the
surer she was of this.  Nicholas was a good man, a good partner—and he was the one she wanted at her side.  He was the one she wanted to dance with for just as long as possible.

“You’d be willing to put up with me again?” He sounded a little bit incredulous. 

“I think so.”  Danni stood, albeit reluctantly.  “We need to go,” she told him.  “Allie’s going to be missing you.”

Nicholas made a face, easing the ice off of his shoulder.  “It would be really cruel to hold this for a few more seconds, then have hands of ice when I escort her, wouldn’t it?” he muttered.

Danni giggled—but she did take it away from him.  “You have to dance with me, too,” she pointed out.  “And I don’t need cold hands on top of compensating for your lack of balance.”

He stuck his tongue out at her—but he didn’t disagree.  He knew full well that he was off-balance on all of their lifts, and adding in new ones was just going to make things worse. 

“In the wings!” someone yelled. 

They exchanged a look; and then, as one, they set everything else aside.  It was time to dance. 

For the next little while, Danni was barely aware of anything but Nicholas.  The audience was there, but in a vague way.  Their fellow dancers were there; but again, she acknowledged them with only a passing familiarity.  She just danced her heart out—danced for an audience of exactly two.

She danced for Nicholas…and she danced, as always, for God.

Suddenly—too fast, it seemed—it was over, and Nicholas was leading her forward for that final bow.  The two of them linked hands.  His, she noted with amusement, were cool in spite of the fact that she’d taken his ice pack away. 

His smile was stunningly brilliant.

They’d managed every step of the dance perfectly, pulling off her changes as though they had done them a hundred times.  Never once had they missed so much as a step; and while Nicholas’s weaker arm might have trembled as he carried Clara back to the sleigh, Danni was sure that only she had been able to see. 

“We did it,” he whispered, relieved. 

“That we did.”  She squeezed his hand, realizing as she did that he’d instinctively given her the right, putting her on his bad side rather than allowing someone else access.  “Are you okay?”

“Hurting.”  He grimaced. “But I’ll be okay tomorrow.  It’s not nearly as bad as it could have been.” 

“Good.  I was worried about you.”  Danni tugged him a little bit closer as the curtain closed for a final time.  “What do you say we make our appearance at this little after party short?”

Nicholas looked deeply relieved.  “I’d say that sounds like a plan.”  He slipped an arm around her shoulders, ignoring the chatter of the other dancers around them.  “You sure you don’t mind?  I’ll stay if you’d rather.”

“My family’s not coming up anyway,” Danni reminded him.  “Dad didn’t have time to get the time off, and Mom didn’t want to make the drive without him.” 

“Rough,” he said lightly, draping his arm around her shoulders.  “If I admit to a heavy dose of relief, are you going to hold it against me?”  She let him.  It would take some of the pressure off of his shoulder—something that Nicholas tended to need desperately when he had pushed too hard. 

“To be fair, you could leave without me,” she pointed out.

He looked surprised.  “Do you know, I didn’t even think about it?”  He looked down at her.  “I’d rather have you with me,” he informed her.  “I could use the distraction tonight.” 

How could she turn him down, especially with that plaintive look in his eyes?  Danni nodded, her mouth dry.  “Your place or mine?” she asked calmly. 

“Kat should be here for awhile—we can go back to your place for a change,” he offered. 

She was about to agree with him—had even opened her mouth to do it—when a single bellow silenced them. 

“Danielle!  Nicholas!”  Mme Renault’s voice cut through the chatter backstage as if she had pushed an unseen mute button.

They jumped to attention, Nick removing his arm from her shoulder as if they had been caught doing something illicit. 

“Androv wants to see you as soon as you are changed.”  Her voice was ominous.

They exchanged a long look.  In the elation of knowing that they had managed to pull it off, they had both forgotten about the inevitable confrontation. 

“You’re going to get it,” someone whispered.  Danni turned her head just in time to look into Allie’s vindictive eyes. 

She and Nicholas exchanged a glance, immediately of one accord. They might be about to get chewed up one side and down the other, but they were going to do it with grace.  They weren’t going to slink in there like a couple of children. 

It wasn’t easy to follow Mme Renault with their shoulders back, their faces empty of all emotion.  Both of them really wanted to shake with the fear; but they’d long since learned to repress that particular emotion.  They had to be able to act as well as dance, and that meant not showing fear when it struck. 

Androv was waiting in his office, pacing behind his desk.  He gestured them around to the front; the two of them obeyed, standing shoulder to shoulder as though a united stance might somehow save them. 

“Which of you decided to mess with my choreography?” he bellowed. 

Nicholas winced, but stepped forward immediately.  “It’s my fault, sir,” he said firmly, his voice ringing in the sudden silence.  “I’ve been having some trouble with my shoulder, and Allie grabbed me to practice this morning—she pushed me past what I could deal with.” 

“But the changes were mine,” Danni said quickly, as soon as he stopped to take a breath.  She had made her decisions for herself; she wasn’t going to let him take all of the blame.

“I pushed her to it,” Nicholas protested.  “I told her I wasn’t going to be able to dance—“

“And I decided I didn’t want to do it without him.”  Danni’s expression was obstinate.  “I’m sorry if it was a problem, sir; but they teach us in partners’ class that we’re supposed to take care of each other out there.  If one of us gets hurt….”

“If one of you gets hurt, you are to take care of each other.”  Androv turned, and for the first time, Danni realized that there was a hint of a smile on his face.  “That was very quick thinking, Miss Wilkerson.  I’m suitably impressed.”

Her jaw dropped. 

“Not only did it flow so seamlessly that you might as well have practiced it that way, but it was close enough to the original choreography that there wasn’t even a chance that you would set someone else off—or worse, miss a cue in the music.  And you’re telling me that you came up with this on the fly?”

“At intermission, sir.”  Nicholas found his voice first. 

“Your partner told you at intermission that he wasn’t feeling up to dancing, and in that twenty minutes, you managed to completely re-choreograph your entire dance.”  Androv shook his head.  “And this from the girl who hadn’t even seen the steps until two weeks ago.” 

“I—“ Danni couldn’t think of anything to say. 

“I am suitably impressed, Miss Wilkerson,” he repeated, smiling faintly at her evident confusion.  “In fact, I would like for you to report to me during your study hours on Fridays for a choreography class.” 

“I—“  Her voice was barely working. 

“That would be…nine fifteen, would it not?” he suggested.  “And twelve thirty….”

He’d
checked
her
schedule
.  He knew when she was
free
. 
Androv
knew when she was free. 

“Let’s do nine fifteen the first week after break,” Androv continued.  “We’ll see about the other later.  I wouldn’t mind some help with the spring ballet.”

Danni nodded in all the appropriate places, but she wasn’t sure she really heard him.  Every word he said was just increasing her excitement.  Androv was the best choreographer in the school—maybe one of the best in the world.  Companies came from
everywhere
to ask him to write their ballets—and he wanted to work with her.

Nicholas slid his arm around her shoulders again, grinning.  “Tell the nice man you’ll see him in a couple of weeks,” he suggested quietly.

Danni managed to get the words out, though her voice was very soft.  She’d thought that
dancing
with the man was amazing.  Having the opportunity to
work
with him….

It was beyond anything she would have imagined for herself.

You always know, don’t you, Lord?
She prayed silently as Nicholas escorted her back to the party. 
You always know what I most need…and exactly when I most need it.

There was no way she could have been more overjoyed—until she rounded the corner and ran smack into her family. 

“Mom!  Dad!”  Danni was aware that she had shouted the words.  She stepped out from under Nicholas’s arm and bounded for them, hugging first one, then the other, in rapid succession. 

“Hey, baby!”  Her mother returned her hug with interest.  Her father was more stilted, but he warmed quickly under the force of her evident joy. 

“We got the news at the last minute,” her mother told her excitedly.  “Your father didn’t think he was going to be able to get off, but then he did—we decided to surprise you.”

“It’s so good to see you!”  Danni went back for another hug.  Had it really only been a month and a half since she’d left home?  It seemed like so much longer.  “And you saw me dance?  Really?”

“Really.”  Her father smiled.  “The Sugar Plum Fairy, Danni-girl—I’m proud of you.  You looked amazing out there.”  He looked back.  “And this is Prince Charming, huh?”

“Daddy!”  Danni still had her heavy stage makeup on—good.  It would conceal her blush admirably.  “Prince Charming is for fairy tales!  This is
The Nutcracker!
” 

“Oh, I’m sorry.  My mistake.”  But her father’s warm brown eyes twinkled as he looked over at Nick. 

Nick grinned back.  “Danni?” he prompted. 

“Oh—sorry.”  She bounded back to his side—displaying considerably more energy than he felt, after the amount of time they’d spent on stage that night.  “Nick, my mom, Sandra; my little sister, Lizzie; and my dad, Jeffrey.  Guys—this is my partner, Nicholas.” 

“It’s nice to meet you all.”  Nicholas didn’t extend his right hand, Danni noticed, concerned.  With his usually impeccable manners, that was a warning sign. 

“Nick?” she murmured, under the cover of conversation. 

He met her gaze and let his lips curl into a faint smile.  “You didn’t write them all out, Danni,” he pointed out softly.  “But I’ve got time for dinner.” 

“Are you sure?” she pressed. 

“I’m sure.”  He took her hand, squeezed it.  “We have to eat, right?”  And with all of the dancers either in the production or in the audience, none of the house mothers would have put dinner on the table. 

“Let me know, okay?”

Neither of her parents—used to these quiet exchanges, since she and Michael had had them all the time—seemed to notice anything.  Lizzie, on the other hand, stared down at their linked hands, a strange expression on her face. 

“Michael was
really
upset that he couldn’t come,” she informed them both.  “He was
desperate
to see you, Danni.” 

Nicholas’s grip on her hand tightened.  “It’s a shame he didn’t,” he said lightly.  “I’d really like to meet him—congratulate him on training her right.” 

Danni laughed.  If she hadn’t been on his right, she probably would have shoved into him; but she had the feeling that his shoulder was aching enough already, and she didn’t want to hurt him.  “Oh, please.  After your last partner, you would’ve taken anyone,” she informed him. 

“Didn’t your last partner get hurt?” Lizzie demanded. 

Nicholas shrugged.  “I wasn’t trying to get rid of her,” he joked, “but I’ve got to say, the new model is a serious improvement.” 

Danni relaxed.  It looked like Nick wasn’t going to take Lizzie too seriously—good.  It would be less painful for all of them in the long run. 

“So, what about your family?” Danni’s mother asked as they moved toward the reception area.  “Are they here?”

“My mom will be,” Nicholas agreed.  There was an odd tension in his face as he said it.  Danni wasn’t surprised.  She knew men often had issues with their sons being dancers, particularly ballet dancers.  Michael’s dad had had his fair share of issues with it; he’d just gotten over them over time.  “I’m hoping she’ll be able to find me.”  He grimaced.  “Though in this crowd, I suppose I probably ought to go hunting.” 

“Want me to come with?” Danni offered.  It was crowded backstage; the search would go easier with two—not to mention the fact that Nick would be a lot better off with her there to keep people off of his right side. 

“Do you mind?” Nick’s naked gratitude surprised her.  “It’s just—well—thanks, Danni.” 

She tossed a smile back at her family.  “Grab six seats in the dining room,” she told them.  “We’ll meet you there.”