Chapter 22
Lily woke to a text from Nick.
Ended up taking Jessica to the hospital for x-rays. They couldn’t see anything, said it was a mild sprain. She’s acting as though she’s broken it. I’m tired since it was a long wait at the hospital. Can we catch up Friday night?’
Lily typed back quickly.
You’re so kind. I hope Jess is okay. What did she fall over?
His text came back quickly.
Nothing as far as I could see. One minute she was standing, next she was on the floor.
Lily said nothing but it was clear Jess wasn’t being entirely honest. She typed back:
Have a good sleep and I’ll see you on Friday.
Then she went downstairs to set up breakfast.
When Gran was up, she filled her in on the rehearsals and Jess’s injury.
‘It’s a reverse Beatrice Hawthorne situation,’ said Gran with a furrowed brow. ‘You watch her. She’s up to no good.’
‘Oh I’m not worried. She and Nick were never serious,’ she said as her phone pinged with a message.
She picked up her phone as Gran sniffed. ‘If it’s your mother and father, tell them I’ve run away to Spain with my new lover and won’t be back until I’m one hundred,’ Gran said as she buttered her toast.
‘No, it’s Jasper,’ she said, as she read aloud.
‘Cast bonding session Friday night, at The Crumpetty Tree pub for a night of laughs and karaoke.’ She made a face.
‘Mandatory fun – I hate things like this.’ She wanted to see Nick alone on Friday night and now they had to go and sing for their supper, as it were.
‘Don’t be a bad sport,’ said Gran.
‘I’m not,’ Lily said as she poured their tea from the pot but she couldn’t tell Gran about her and Nick in the field on their picnic. She couldn’t stop thinking about him, his mouth, his hands, their passion. Lily bit her lip. ‘I don’t want to leave you at home alone on a Friday night.’
‘Oh rubbish, don’t use me as an excuse. I’ve been at home alone on a Friday night for the past thirty years. Another one isn’t going to ruin anything. What are you avoiding? You’ve been lost in your own head since your picnic with Nick. Are you smitten, my love?’
Lily blushed. ‘I do really like him,’ she said. ‘But it’s not serious. I mean I’m heading back to London at the end of summer. It’s not a forever thing.’
‘It’s London, not Vancouver. Go out with him for goodness’ sake. Go tonight and have some fun and sing your heart out and see what happens. Take a chance, Lily.’
‘But—’ Lily began to resist.
‘No buts,’ Gran said, her eyes gleaming. ‘You are only young once. And it might be good for you to see if Jessica has stopped sticking pins into the doll she made of you in her spare time.’
Lily sighed, realising she had been out-argued. ‘Okay, I’ll go for a little while but not too long, and we have rehearsals the next day so we can’t go too mad.’
*
On Friday night, Lily stood outside The Crumpetty Tree, her palm resting on the tarnished brass door handle.
She adjusted her pink linen dress and ran her finger over her teeth to wipe off any pink lip gloss she might have on there and glanced inside the old pub.
The light from inside the pub’s windows was casting a warm glow onto the street and she could hear laughter and music drifting out into the night before she even opened the door. She took a deep breath and pushed it open, stepping inside.
She had never spent any time in the pub at Appleton Green. Neither of her parents were drinkers and she and Gran preferred to be outside on adventures by the creek or pottering in the garden than sitting in a pub.
Lily looked around at the interiors. It was an eighteenth-century pub, with low-beamed ceilings and the original aged wooden floors, recently refurbished, she noticed, and she wondered about the generations of village gatherings.
Had Beatrice, her grandmother’s nemesis, come here for a drink?
Or Raymond, her grandmother’s spurned suitor?
The pub was busier than she had seen before, but then again she wasn’t usually roaming the village on Friday nights.
‘Lily!’ Jasper’s voice echoed throughout the room. He motioned her over to a large table where the majority of the cast had already congregated – well, everyone except for Jessica. Hopefully she had a prior engagement so Lily didn’t have to worry about her. ‘So glad you could make it, darling!’
As Lily pushed her way through the crowd, she spotted Nick at the bar. Their eyes locked briefly, and Lily felt a flutter in her gut and he gave her a wink, which made her knees weak before returning to his talk with Sean.
‘Here,’ Sheila replied, placing a glass of wine in Lily’s hand as she sat down. ‘Liquid courage for later.’
Lily laughed uncomfortably. ‘Oh, I doubt I’ll need that. I’m not planning to sing tonight.’
‘We’ll see about that,’ David, their Henry Higgins, remarked with a wink. ‘I’ve got twenty quid riding on you being the first to take the stage.’
Before Lily could resist any further, the pub door flung wide and Jessica limped in.
She was dressed to the nines in a slinky black outfit that looked more appropriate for a London nightclub than a country bar.
She had an ornate walking stick with a silver topper, but still wore heels as she tottered into the bar.
Despite her injury, she still oozed a sexuality that the likes of The Crumpetty Tree regulars had probably never seen before, and Lily watched as every man in the bar watched her move.
Jess’s eyes narrowed when she saw Lily and she came straight up to her.
‘Well, well,’ Jessica remarked, approaching the table. ‘If this isn’t our star. Hopefully you don’t forget the words tonight. You’ll have to show us all how it’s done.’
Lily forced a smile. ‘Just here for a drink and some fun, like everyone else.’
Jessica lifted her eyebrow. ‘Of course you are.’ She looked across at Nick, who was now observing them with a wary look on his face. ‘I’m sure we all want to hear you sing. That is, if your voice doesn’t disappear. Hate to see that happen, here or on opening night.’
‘What do you mean?’ Lily frowned. How did Jessica know she had lost her voice once? She hadn’t told anyone at the play, unless Nick had told Jessica that her voice had been tricky.
The harsh remark stung, but Lily refused to let it show. ‘Maybe later,’ she replied carelessly.
As Jessica approached the bar, sidling up to Nick, Jasper clapped his hands to draw everyone’s attention. ‘Okay, my darlings! Let’s get the party started. Who is daring enough to kick off our karaoke extravaganza?’
There was a small audience already in the karaoke room when Lily walked into it and found a seat, as Nick came to her side and sat down in the chair next to her.
‘Hello, you,’ he said with a smile and Lily smiled back, knowing she was blushing but unsure why. It was just a simple hello, not a marriage proposal.
‘I’ve been looking forward to seeing you,’ he said in her ear. ‘I can’t stop thinking about us, in the field… ’ He left the rest of the sentence hanging and she felt herself almost faint with need for him.
‘What are you doing to me?’ she said back.
‘I couldn’t wait to see you,’ he added.
‘You would have seen me at rehearsals tomorrow,’ she said, turning slightly to him, so his mouth was so close to her skin that she felt a shiver run through her.
‘I know, but I can’t stop thinking about you,’ he said, closer again. ‘I want to kiss you again.’
She felt desire rush through her body and for a moment, she thought about kissing him then and there in the pub until she glanced around and saw Jessica glaring at them and her desire dissipated.
‘Why does she hate me so much?’ she said shaking her head.
Before Nick could answer, David, their Henry Higgins, was up at the microphone, singing a beautiful version of ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen, and the tavern exploded with applause when he had finished.
Sheila took to the stage next and sang ‘My Baby Just Cares for Me’ by Nina Simone.
‘She’s a bit more relaxed with a few wines,’ Lily whispered to Nick, who giggled as Sheila danced around the small stage.
As the night progressed, more cast members took turns at the microphone. Lily found herself unwinding, enjoying the company and the slightly off-key but enthusiastic performances. When Jessica took the stage, she was just beginning to believe she might be able to avoid singing altogether.
‘This one’s for you, Nick,’ Jessica said into the microphone as the opening chords began to play and then she started to sing ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’.
It was mesmerising and Jessica was surprisingly good. Her voice was better in this register and she certainly had passion, but she sang the entire song to Nick, her eyes on him with every word.
Lily felt her cheeks heat and had a gnawing in her stomach as she watched Jessica’s gaze fixed on Nick throughout the performance and at the end, Lily saw a single tear fall down her cheek, just like Sinéad O’Connor did in the film clip.
When she finished, the pub applauded respectfully, but there was an awkward atmosphere in the room.
Nick stood up and left the room and Lily looked around, as Jessica came down off the small stage and walked out, following him.
‘Oh dear, it’s all very difficult, isn’t it?’ Sheila said to Lily.
‘What is?’
‘Jess and Nick. They were engaged, and then he broke it off when she said she would be going to London. I don’t think she’s over him.’
Lily sat in silence. ‘All right,’ the karaoke host said, ‘how about a duet? Any volunteers?’
Before Lily knew it, Sean had taken her hand and raised it in the air. ‘Lily!’ he exclaimed.
Lily froze, her heart racing as Nick came back into the bar, his jaw set in an almost angry way.
‘And Nick,’ said David who was coming back from the bar and he grabbed Nick’s hand and put it up. ‘A duet.’
Nick looked a Lily, but she couldn’t say anything and he came towards her.
‘Shall we?’ he asked, but there was no smile.
‘I don’t want to,’ she said quietly.
‘Come on,’ called Jasper and he turned to the room. ‘This is our leading lady and gent from the production of My Fair Lady , which is soon to be staged in the village. Please come and see these wonderful performers.’
Jasper hissed at Lily, ‘It’s marketing. Now get up there.’
Lily looked at Nick and shook her head but he grabbed her hand and led her to the stage.
As if in a dream, she found herself standing next to Nick in front of the karaoke machine.
‘What should we sing?’ she muttered, suddenly conscious of the waiting audience.
Nick looked through the song list and smiled. ‘How about “Suddenly, Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors ?’
She shook her head.
‘“All I Ask of You”?’
A classic duet from Phantom of the Opera , one she could sing in her sleep, she thought. Actually, she wished she was asleep and this was all a nightmare. ‘Okay.’ She nodded and took the microphone.
Lily’s anxiousness dissipated as the opening chords sounded. This was neither an audition nor a performance; it was simply a song to sing, and as she looked at Nick and sang, everything else slipped away.
Their vocals melded perfectly, Nick’s warm tenor complementing Lily’s crystalline soprano. As they approached the chorus, Lily felt a rush of excitement race through her. This was why she enjoyed singing: the pure delight of creating something beautiful with another person.
Except Nick had lied to her. They had been engaged. She somehow managed to get to the end of the song but once it was over, she handed him the microphone.
The tavern had gone silent, with all eyes fixed on the pair on stage. Even Jessica was transfixed, her smugness replaced by a look of shock at their duet.
‘That was—’ he started to say, but she cut him off.
‘I don’t want to hear it,’ she said and stepped down off the stage and went to the table, people still applauding. She drained her wine and picked up her bag, left the pub and stepped outside into the night to make her way back to Gran.