CHAPTER FOUR
‘Maddy, for goodness’ sake stop chortling.’
‘I can’t help it, Clara.’ (More snorts of laughter.) ‘It just feels weird doing it in full view of passers-by and dog-walkers in the middle of the village green .’
‘Well, it was your idea,’ I reminded her. ‘So just forget everybody else and concentrate on what we’re doing. Think sensual and seductive.’
‘Ooh, you’re quite sexy, aren’t you, when you’re pretending to be a man?’
‘You need to get the box right first.’
‘Hey, that’s a bit personal. There’s nothing wrong with my box. In fact, I’ll thank you to leave my box out of this, please.’ (More helpless laughter with the addition of a pause to wipe tears from her eyes.)
‘The box step , Maddy. It’s the basics of a good rhumba. If you can master the box step, you’ve got the basics for most other Latin dances.’
‘Right. Well, that’s good to know.’
We got into hold again and she frowned and looked down at her feet as we went through the moves again.
I’d asked Maddy to meet me at the Little Duck Pond Café so we could chat over coffee, and I could ask her advice about my social media campaign. I was opening a new dance centre and I needed to get the word out, and I knew Maddy was good at that kind of publicity.
She’d been walking across the village green when I stepped off the bus, so I’d caught her up and we’d started chatting about dancing and she’d told me she’d always fancied learning the tango and would I teach her the steps?
I’d said of course I would. She could come to one of my classes when we opened.
‘No, I meant now.’
‘Right here?’ I’d grinned at her in disbelief.
‘Why not? There’s plenty of space. We’d be bumping into chairs and tables in the café.’
I’d chuckled, remembering how impulsive Maddy could be. ‘Okay. Just a quick demo, though, because I’ve got a million and one things on my to-do list before the grand opening of Magic of Dance!’
‘What’s that tune you keep humming?’ she asked now, as I continued to steer her through the basic steps.
‘ “You are the Sunshine of my Life”? Stevie Wonder? Great to dance the rhumba to. Love Stevie Wonder. He’s Irene’s all-time favourite artist so I’ve been listening to him forever.’
‘Does Irene dance?’
I smiled, thinking of my step-mum. ‘No. She says she wants to learn the tango and go to my classes. But I think she’s just being supportive.’
‘She might enjoy it.’
‘Hopefully. Now, come on. You almost got it that last time.’
‘Okay . . . serious now. Get the box right.’
Grabbing me in hold, she exaggerated her posture, elbows in the air, and made a comically solemn face at me.
At which point, we both collapsed with laughter.
‘Am I your worst pupil ever?’ Maddy asked as we walked over to the café.
‘Not the worst. Although the Cookie Monster did move a little more gracefully than you.’
‘I’m insulted. Hey, how many dancers does it take to change a lightbulb?’
I groaned. ‘I don’t know. How many dancers does it take to change a lightbulb, Maddy?’
‘ Five . . . six . . . seven . . . eight !’ She wiggled her hips in time to the rhythm.
I chuckled. ‘I’ve actually never heard that one. Which is surprising when you consider I’ve been mad about dancing since I was about five-and-a-half.’
‘ Strictly Come Dancing will be back on the telly soon.’
‘I know. I can’t wait. I love that show.’
‘I like “Blackpool week” best, when they dance in the amazing Blackpool Tower Ballroom. Have you ever been there?’
I sighed. ‘Sadly not. But I’d love to. I will one day.’
Maddy nodded. ‘How do you feel knowing your life-long dream of opening a dance centre is about to come true?’
I smiled, thinking about my baby which I’d named ‘Magic of Dance’. ‘Thrilled and excited, but pooping my pants at the same time?’
She grinned. ‘Fair enough.’
Magic of Dance – funded by my lovely great-aunt Freda, who’d danced on stages in New York in her younger day – was due to launch in less than two weeks, at which point hopefully all our hard work would pay off.
My stress levels had been rising steadily over the past month, to the point where lately, even my sleep was being affected. I’d been having horribly vivid dreams in which not a single person turned up on opening day and I ended up trying to drag people in off the streets.
In one particularly disturbing nightmare, a couple did turn up – but they were buff naked and dancing an enthusiastic Charleston in Studio One with bits flying everywhere.
My boyfriend Rory had laughed when I’d told him about these wild nightmares, and I’d shrugged and smiled because as he said, they were only dreams, after all.
Not a sinister warning of doom. But I couldn’t find it quite so funny.
Opening Magic of Dance meant so much to me.
After all that planning, I was desperate for it to be a success.
I’d long wanted to open a place where people could go to release their stress, lose their inhibitions in movement and build their self-confidence.
I’d struggled with shyness when I was little – especially after Mum died when I was four – and the thing that had helped me through those dark days had been dancing.
Discovering dance had been a revelation and my whole life after that seemed to have been leading up to this moment right here.
The dance studio, housed in a beautiful converted barn we were renting at nearby Brambleberry Manor, was part of a little retail community that included a variety of artisan craft shops and a café, and which was nestled in a leafy little corner of the estate.
Now, I glanced over as a familiar car drew into the Little Duck Pond Café car park and Rory got out. As I watched, he leaned back inside and I realised my sister, Lois, was his passenger. He seemed to be trying to coax her to come out.
My heart sank. Lois was in a bad way.
Her boyfriend, Mark, had ended their relationship a couple of months ago, informing her that she was impossible to be with and he’d had enough of her demands and tantrums to last him a lifetime, which I’d thought really harsh.
Naturally, I’d been on Lois’s side when she’d told me – or rather screeched at me – in floods of indignant tears. (‘How dare he finish with me !’)
Secretly, though, I couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for calm, endlessly patient Mark.
I’d been coping with Lois’s drama queen behaviour myself ever since we first met when my dad got together with her mum. But I’d grown to love my stepsister and after quite a few bumps in the road, we now had a great relationship.
Lois was an extrovert – the life and soul of every party – and the total opposite of me, really. She was supportive and fiercely loyal towards the people she cared about. But she could be quite self-centred at times. And if something had upset her, she was exhausting !
Rory emerged again, smiling across at Maddy and me, and my heart gave a little skip, the way it always did when he came into view. Even now, more than two years since we got together, I still couldn’t quite believe that this gorgeous man had fallen in love with me.
I’d had a mad, unrequited school crush on dark-haired, blue-eyed Rory Angel for a very long time and then we’d bumped into each other years later, and I’d really thought it might be our time – that we might finally, against all the odds, get together.
But then he’d met Lois and had fallen for her instead.
I obviously couldn’t show how devastated I was, so I’d plastered on smiles until my cheeks ached, and I’d bounced around looking so delighted for the happy couple, I’d felt constantly exhausted.
That had been a really dark time for me.
But somehow things had worked out for Rory and me, and Lois had fallen for Mark.
I suspected Lois was still madly in love with Mark – despite the fact that she was now calling him all the horrible names under the sun and stating loudly to anyone interested that she couldn’t imagine what she’d ever seen in him in the first place.
It was a defence mechanism, of course.
Lois could be her own worst enemy at times...
Now, I bent to the passenger seat and motioned for her to wind down her window. With an obstinate twist of her lips, she opened the door a crack but remained staring glumly ahead.
‘Would you like to join us?’ I asked her. ‘The cake and coffee is on me.’
‘Don’t feel like it,’ she snapped, not even bothering to turn her head. ‘I’d just have to smile and talk to everyone and I’m not in the mood.’
‘Lois’s car wouldn’t start so I’m taking her shopping,’ explained Rory, walking round to join me.
I stifled a sigh. Lois hadn’t been in the mood for anything since she split with Mark.
I totally sympathised with how she must be feeling – I’d be devastated if I lost Rory – but two months had passed and she didn’t seem to be even trying to get over the break-up.
In fact, it sometimes seemed like she was quite enjoying playing the hard-done-by victim and being abrasive and cutting towards people who were just trying to help.
She also seemed to be leaning rather too heavily on good-natured Rory, almost as if she was expecting him to fill the gap left by Mark. And today’s request for a lift to the supermarket was a case in point. Rory would have had to leave his busy stables to accommodate her during his lunch hour.
‘We’re on our way,’ added Rory, ‘but I just wanted to check in with you to see if Gerard had been in touch?’
‘No, he hasn’t. Not yet. But it would be so amazing if he could set something up for the launch day.’
‘What’s happening?’ asked Maddy.
I smiled. ‘Rory’s old college friend Gerard has danced in musicals in the West End. He recently set up his own dance troupe and Rory came up with the brilliant idea that maybe we could do a sort of joint promotion on the launch day of Magic of Dance.’
Maddy nodded. ‘Great idea. So they’d come and perform during your opening day celebrations?’
‘Exactly. It would be great entertainment for everyone, but it would also get Gerard and his dance team some fab publicity as well.’ I grimaced. ‘That’s if anyone turns up, of course.’
Smiling, Rory slipped his arm around me. ‘Don’t be daft. People are going to be queuing up to find out about this amazing new dance studio and to see what you can offer them.’
I gazed up at him. ‘I wish I had your confidence.’
‘So do I. You’ve worked so hard to set it up. I know this because I hardly ever see you these days.’ He frowned, leaning away from me. ‘Hang on, who the hell are you, anyway?’
‘Oh, funny.’ Smiling, I gave him a dig in the ribs. ‘Hey, listen, I hope you’re going to be following Irene’s example and coming to my dance classes,’ I said with a mischievous twinkle.
He snorted. ‘On the first of never, maybe.’
‘But why not?’ I chided him jokingly. ‘I can’t actually believe I’m setting up a dance studio and my own partner won’t attempt even a simple waltz with me.’
‘Look, Clara,’ he said gravely, ‘no dance is “simple” when you’ve been born with the rhythm of a lettuce.’
I laughed. ‘You’re not that bad.’
‘Er, yes I am. Shall I give you a demo?’
‘No!’ I feigned a look of horror. ‘But what about my “dancing in the dark” sessions? You won’t have to worry about what you look like there because no one will see you.’
He pretended to consider. Then he grinned. ‘And still I’m not tempted.’
We’d had this banter a few times already and we both knew by now how it went. Rory would support me in any way I needed him to – but I’d never, ever get him dancing!
‘It’s a phobia and it has actually got a name,’ he said, looking sheepish.
‘Choreophobia. I know. You have mentioned it once or twice.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s all Sandra Henderson’s fault.’
‘Sandra Henderson?’
‘Sandra the ego-basher. I must have told you.’
‘You haven’t told me ,’ pointed out Maddy, who’d been listening to our banter with an indulgent smile.
‘Well, Maddy... you see, I’m convinced my phobia of dancing stems from an end-of-term school disco when Sandra, who by the way was the love of my life at that point, left me stranded on the dance floor halfway through ‘Last Night a DJ Saved My Life’.
Just abandoned me right there in the middle of my favourite song looking like a proper saddo.
And then she told everyone, and I mean everyone , not to dance with me because I was too embarrassing and danced like a deranged muppet.
’ He grinned. ‘They were her exact words. Imagine having to go through life knowing that ever after.’
I laughed and snuggled my head briefly into Rory’s shoulder. ‘Never mind. You’re good at everything else.’
He raised his eyebrows suggestively. ‘Why, thank you.’
‘Right, I’ll head into the café,’ said Maddy. ‘See you in there, Clara.’
I was about to reply when the sound of an urgent honk on Rory’s car horn split the air, causing a dog on the green to start barking manically.
An unapologetic Lois had a face like thunder as she opened her door wider and enquired, ‘So are we going to the supermarket or what? Because if not, I’ll get the bus.’
Rory and I exchanged a knowing look, well used to her moods.
‘Yeah, no problem,’ he called back. Then he whispered in my ear, ‘See you later, gorgeous.’
My heart was full as I smiled up at him.
Rory was everything to me and I couldn’t believe how good he was being with my sister.
Nothing was too much trouble. Lois had called me in a panic late one night the previous week, just as we were going to bed at Rory’s place.
One of her taps wouldn’t stop leaking and she was scared that if she went to bed, it might end up flooding the house.
I’d tried to convince her that this was unlikely and she should phone a plumber first thing in the morning. But Rory, hearing what was going on, took the phone from me and told Lois he’d come straight over and have a look at the tap.
‘It’ll just be a washer needing replaced.’ He’d shrugged, getting back into his jeans. ‘She’s obviously panicking.’
‘I know. But you really don’t need to,’ I’d protested.
‘It’ll be the work of ten minutes if it’s a washer.’ He flicked his eyes to the ceiling good-naturedly. ‘And if it means Princess Lois will sleep easier in her bed...’
I chuckled. ‘You’re brilliant, do you know that? If you manage to fix it, she’ll owe you big time!’
He grinned. ‘She can buy us all a takeaway some time.’
He was back an hour later, having fixed the tap.
‘Chinese.’ He yawned as he flopped into bed and snuggled sleepily next to me.
‘Sorry?’
‘Takeaway. I extracted a promise.’
I chuckled and changed position so that we were spooning deliciously.
Rory was asleep and snoring gently almost immediately. But I lay awake for a while, revelling in the cosy bliss of his arms wrapped around me and wondering what I ever did to deserve such happiness...