The Daddy Dance by Mindy Klasky

stuffed animal to keep her company throughout the day. Kat had a plan—to bring order to Jenny’s life—and she was going to stick with it. If it took Jenny another day or week or month to get on board, it was just going to take that long.
    Not that Kat had any intention of still being in Eden Falls in a month.
    That morning, Susan had driven her to the studio. When her mother had put the car in Park and taken off her own seat belt, Kat had practically squawked. “You have to get back to Daddy!”
    “I can stay away for an hour,” Susan had said. “Let me help you here.”
    “I’m fine! Seriously. There’s hardly anything left for me to do.” Susan had looked doubtful, until Kat added, “I just want to have a quiet morning. Maybe do a few exercises. You know, I need to keep in shape.” Kat was desperate to keep her mother from seeing the devastation inside the studio. “Please, Mama. The whole reason I’m here in Eden Falls is so that you can rest. Take advantage of me while you can. Relax a little. Go back home and make yourself a cup of that peach tea you like so much.”
    “I did want to get your father sitting up for the rest of the morning. He’s feeling so much stronger now that he’s getting his sleep.”
    “Perfect!” Kat had said, letting some of her real pleasure color the word. If her father was recovering, then it was worth all the little struggles to get Jenny in line. “Go home. I’ll call Amanda to pick me up when I’m done here.”
    Susan had smiled then. “My little general,” she said, patting Kat’s hand fondly. “You’ve got a plan for everything, don’t you?”
    Planning. That was Kat’s strong suit. Over the weekend, she had written up a list of everything that had to be done at the studio, from computer repair to roofing. She had placed her initials beside each item that she was taking charge of, and she’d dashed off Rye’s initials next to his responsibilities. A few items—like the computer—needed to be outsourced, but she would take care of them one by one, doing her best to support the Eden Falls economy.
    Goals. Strategies. Rules.
    Those were the words that had brought her great success over the years. Sure, as a young girl, miles away from home in New York, she had wondered how she would ever succeed at National Ballet. But she had built her own structure, given her life solid bones—and she had succeeded beyond her wildest dreams.
    Okay. Not her wildest dreams. Some of her dreams were pretty wild—she saw herself dancing the tortured maiden Giselle, the girl who died when her love was spurned by the handsome Prince Albrecht. Or the playful animation of the wooden-doll-come-to-life in Coppelia . Or the soul-wrenching dual roles of the black and white swans in Swan Lake .
    All in due time, Kat told herself. As soon as she was out of her hated walking boot, she would exercise like a demon. She would get herself back in top dancing form in no time, transform her body into a more efficient tool than it had been before her injury. Goals. Strategies. Rules.
    She could do it. She always had before.
    Just thinking about her favorite roles made her long for the National Ballet Company. She hadn’t spent more than a weekend away from her ballet friends since moving to New York ten years before. Sitting down at the desk in the office, Kat punched in Haley’s phone number. Her roommate picked up on the third ring.
    “Tell me that they’re making you work like dogs, and I’m impossibly lucky to be trapped here in Small Town Hell,” Kat said without preamble.
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Haley responded with a mocking tone of wide-eyed wonder. “The company has been treating us to champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries. Free mani-pedis, and hot stone massages for all.”
    “I hate you,” Kat said, laughing.
    “How are things on the home front?”
    “Well, the good news is that my father seems to be doing better.”
    “I know you well