5
Willow
Willow tugged Cody to one side in the old Scouts hut in Sandly. ‘I’ve hardly learned any of my lines.’
‘Don’t panic. No one has. That’s why we’re having rehearsals. Look around. Everyone is still acting with their scripts. It’s no biggie. It’s still early days.’ He gestured over to a makeshift stage that someone had created at the far end of the draughty hut. ‘Have you spoken to Snoozy yet?’
Willow widened her eyes in mock amusement. ‘No, but I’m going to later.’
‘Are you going to show him the drawing?’
‘Do you think I should?’
Cody shrugged, then smiled as Lavender skipped over.
‘Come on, handsome. We’ve got a scene together,’ she said sweetly, pulling his arm.
Willow shook her head at him as he was dragged away. There was no way she was saving him from the sickly-sweet clutches of Miss Lockwood. As far as she was concerned, Cody could suffer for his sarcasm aimed at her soulmate’s name.
Lance stepped onto the stage and tried to gather his troupes, but there was a lot of noise in the hut, and his slow and sedated tone just didn’t have the voice projection needed for the job.
Kip jumped up onto the large grey blocks and clapped his hands, gaining immediate attention. He proceeded to introduce Lance as though no one knew who he was, then bowed dramatically, rolling one arm around in the process.
Lance hit the audience with scene setups, pairings, and Willow wasn’t sure what else, as his voice kept fading towards the end of each sentence.
She left him to it, passing her attention onto Kip. Was he really the man of her dreams? How surreal. He had a height that topped hers but not enough for him to get backache each time he wanted to kiss her. She studied his plump lips. Definitely kissable. Mystic Maureen had said he made a fuss of his hair, so she glanced at his dark mop, noticing how preened it was. A good sign. She felt quite chuffed that her other half was so well turned out and was an actor.
Not bad, universe. Not bad at all .
Kip met her eyes, causing her heart to flutter and her head to dip.
Trying for cool and casual, Willow pretended to study her lines whilst half listening to Lance set up the first scene. She really did need to read through the whole script, as she had no idea what was going to happen in the story, apart from Cody having to kiss her at some point, but that would be okay, as he’d kissed her cheek numerous times. Even kissed her head.
Frantically, she started to flick through pages, speed-reading in case there was a scene where she had to kiss Kip. She was sure there wouldn’t be any scenes where she had to speak to his character, let alone anything else, after all, he was the main star.
‘You okay?’ The deep voice made her jump out of her thoughts.
Willow looked up to see Kip standing there, making suave seem natural. ‘Erm, yes. Just going over my lines.’ She held the script aloft as if needing to back up her statement.
‘I can see you’re new at this, so feel free to ask for help at any time. I’ve been acting since I can remember, and I’m twenty-four now. After this play, I plan to travel to America. Make my mark on Hollywood. I have some contacts out there.’
‘Oh, that’s good.’
He held a sexy side grin that Willow thought probably would help him become a superstar. ‘What are your goals?’
She suddenly felt quite boring after what he had just said and took a moment to reply. ‘I’ve pretty much already completed my goals. I have a degree in botany, and I now help run my grandparents’ farm and garden centre. We also have Christmas trees.’ It didn’t matter how she jazzed it up, he was Hollywood and she was sandalwood.
‘Sounds interesting.’
‘You can come and have a look round one day, if you like. I live at Silver Wish Farm. Where are you from?’
‘I was born in Norfolk, but then we moved to Hertfordshire when I was eleven, then South London, which is where I saw the advert for Lance’s production. We were supposed to put on a show in Christchurch, but Lance redirected us here after some mix-up.’
Willow held back a frown at how his nose seemed to turn up at being on the Isle of Wight. She let it slide, thinking he’ll love island life soon enough. At least she hoped he would, because how exactly would they work if he didn’t want to live on her farm?
Soulmates could be different. Somehow they just worked, so she had to have a bit of faith. It was early days, and Kip was still unaware of their special connection.
‘I’d like to speak to you about something afterwards, Kip.’
‘You can speak to me now.’
She looked around the busy room. Scenes were being played out left, right, and centre. It really wasn’t the time nor place to ask him if he believed in psychic abilities.
Kip gently tugged her sleeve as he nodded towards the door. ‘Come on. We won’t be missed for five minutes.’
A thrill of excitement whizzed through her as she stepped outside into the darkening evening.
‘You’ve got me intrigued, Willow Silver.’ Kip grinned as he lightly nudged her chin.
Willow swallowed hard, hoping her jelly legs would hold out. He was super smooth and had eye contact on point. ‘Well, it’s a little unconventional.’
‘Hit me.’
‘Firstly, I have to ask you a couple of questions?’
‘What do you want to know?’
‘Please don’t take this the wrong way, as people are mostly only asked this for one reason. It’s not my reason, I just have to ask.’
Kip laughed, flashing perfect teeth.
Willow thought it best to spit it out, because running away wasn’t an option now she had come this far. ‘As it stands, are you currently single?’
Kip bit his bottom lip as he smiled and nodded.
‘Okay, that’s good. I don’t mean good. I don’t know if you’re nursing a broken heart right now. I just mean I wouldn’t be able to tell you what I know if you were in a relationship, as it wouldn’t be fair on your girlfriend, and I’d never do that.’
Kip stepped closer, touching her elbow. ‘Hey, I’m not broken-hearted, okay. Stop worrying and tell me what you know that I don’t.’
Willow inhaled a large gulp of cool air. ‘Do you believe in psychic abilities?’
‘Sure. Why not? I’m open to anything.’
‘Okay, that’s good. So, here’s the thing. I’m currently looking for my soulmate, and I happen to know some stuff about him. I also have a picture. And, well, you kind of look a bit like him. So I was wondering, if it’s all right with you, if I could just tell you what I know about him, and you could tell me if that sounds like you.’
‘I see why you used the word unconventional .’ Kip’s full lips twisted to one side along with his gaze. ‘Okay, what you got?’
‘He’s personable and a good communicator. He’s passionate about his dreams, and he has a lot of charisma. He’s intelligent, with a good sense of humour, and he can be fussy about his hair. He has a youthful soul and loves positive vibes. He works in the creative field, and he’s a kind man.’
I think that’s everything .
Kip stepped back, rubbing one hand around the back of his neck. ‘Wow! You just described me.’
‘Really? Because it’s very important to me that I find the right man. I don’t want to waste time dating. I’m only looking for my soulmate now.’
And he has to be a hundred percent kind .
‘I’m not sure what to say, Willow.’
‘That makes two of us. Do you want to see his picture?’
Kip nodded and closed in as she whipped out her phone.
‘It’s a pencil drawing, but it’s really clear. Here.’ She angled the screen so he could see.
‘Oh, he does look a bit like me, doesn’t he?’
She looked back and forward between Kip and the picture. ‘He does.’
‘Maybe the nose is a little off,’ said Kip, touching his own. ‘But, I can see why you wanted to approach me with this.’
‘Well, yeah. Would you let a potential soulmate candidate pass you by if you had the opportunity to say hello?’
‘Candidate? Am I being interviewed?’
Willow shrugged as she smiled into his gorgeous eyes. ‘In a way. You see, I mean it when I say I don’t want to waste time with the wrong man. So I was thinking, how would you like to hang out with me sometime? No expectations or pressure. Just two people hanging out. A mate date. That way, we can see if there is a vibe between us, because energy doesn’t lie.’
Kip did his side grin, and Willow’s shoulders drooped a touch.
‘Look, Kip, I know not everyone is going to have the same beliefs as me, but I’m taking this stuff seriously. My grandad passed away this year, and it was all so sudden. That’s why I don’t want a life wasted going in the wrong direction. Life can be short, so I’m going for it. My last boyfriend wasted my time, and I’m not prepared to put up with that half-hearted crap again. I want real. I want the other half of me.’
Kip nodded. ‘I get it. I’m looking for love and respect too. I really hate players. Those that aren’t straight with you from the start.’
‘I know, right? I can’t be doing with mask-wearers, lying and pretending just to get what they want and sod the rest of us. That’s why I want my soulmate. I’ll be safe with him. Cared for and loved.’
‘In that case, I agree we should hang out. See if we gel.’
Willow lightly clapped her hands in front of her chest, not caring that she squealed. ‘I’d love that.’
Kip leaned closer to her face. ‘Me too. So how about tomorrow night? You can show me around town.’
‘Yes, tomorrow’s good. Do you like bowling? We could do that.’
‘Bowling sounds great. I’m looking forward to it. Do you want to swap numbers?’
Willow was so excited, she wanted to kiss him, but she composed herself and happily exchanged phone numbers.
Kip gestured to the hut. ‘We’d better get back to work. The show must go on, and all that.’ His smile and eyes hit a level of warmth that settled nicely into her tummy, soothing the butterflies.
Willow entered first and went straight over to Cody, as Kip headed for the stage, where Lance was twirling for some reason.
‘Were you just outside with Sleepy?’
Willow nudged him in the arm. ‘I told Kip about us.’
Cody frowned, amused. ‘You and me?’
‘No. Him and me.’
‘You told him he might be your soulmate?’
Willow nodded, tugging him further towards the wall. ‘Yes. How could I not? Anyway, he said the description of my soulmate sounded just like him.’
‘Of course he did.’
‘Sully, be serious. We’re going bowling tomorrow night.’
‘Do you want me to come with you?’
Willow raised her brow. ‘Really? Why would I take my mate on a date? Actually, scrap that. It’s not a real date. We’re just going to hang out to see if there’s a vibe.’
‘You didn’t pick up on anything outside then?’
The question got her cogs turning. There wasn’t anything immediate. Sure, he was making hot moves, touching her chin, leaning close to her face, but she needed to be sure. Besides, she was far too excited to connect with any other emotion.
‘I’ll figure it out as I go.’
Cody scoffed. ‘You would think soulmates would just know.’
Willow went to speak, but Lavender did her skippy thing, approaching them with a giggle.
‘Kip just said there’s a bowling alley around here. I told him we should all go.’ She squealed excitedly, clutching Cody’s arm as though she belonged there. ‘Do you want to meet me there or pick me up?’
Cody looked flabbergasted. ‘I, erm, I…’
‘We’ll all meet there,’ said Willow, happy to save her friend whilst unhappy that Kip had put out an ad. She assumed it would just be the two of them, but no.
Oh, well. At least we’re still hanging out. Might be easier this way to start with .
Cody grimaced as Lavender floated off to invite everyone. ‘I wish she’d stop touching me,’ he muttered.
‘She likes you. And seeing how you haven’t dated in… I can’t remember how long, it wouldn’t hurt you to ask her out. Ooh, we could double date.’
‘Nope.’
Willow laughed to herself as Cody marched off. He was extremely fussy when it came to dating, and she really couldn’t remember a time when he had been serious about someone.
Lance waved her to the stage to act out a scene, and Willow faced Cody with a grin, knowing he wasn’t amused in the slightest about having to give up computer games for ten-pin bowling.
They said some lines, which made no sense, questioned Lance and was told to get on with it, then went to jump off the blocks to let the next scene take place.
‘Erm, you haven’t kissed yet,’ said Lance, waggling his hand between them.
Willow and Cody stared at their scripts, then Cody stepped forward and planted a gentle kiss on her right cheek.
Lance huffed dramatically. ‘Not like that. It’s a kiss on the mouth.’ He turned to everyone else. ‘Can you all please read the script properly so you know what you’re doing.’ He shook his head and started mumbling before looking back up at the stage.
Willow swallowed hard, hoping Cody didn’t notice. He wasn’t making eye contact, which was a blessing, because she was sure her cheeks and neck had heated.
‘You don’t have to do it properly now,’ said Lance. ‘But practice, because I want to see the real thing when it’s dress rehearsals.’ He waved an arm in circles above his head. ‘And that goes for everyone.’
Cody glanced up, showing his warm smile. ‘We’ve been through everything, you and me. We’ve got this,’ he said quietly, adding a wink.
The funny thing was, Willow had the exact same thought.