Chapter 40
Nick wandered towards the village along the beach, enjoying the warmth of the evening sun and the way it cast pastel shades on the gentle swell.
Seeing Saffron Bay through Emily’s eyes had given him a new appreciation for the beauty of where he lived.
As if to drive the point home, a murmuration of starlings swooped across the water, twisting and swirling in unison towards the setting sun.
He kept his mind focused on practising lines in his head.
He’d been up way too late the night before, learning the lines by heart so he wouldn’t end up in the horrendous situation of being asked to read them aloud.
Or at least he could pretend to read them aloud while actually knowing them by heart.
It wasn’t a foolproof plan, but it was the best he’d been able to come up with at such short notice and with so much else going on.
Dinner the previous evening had been endless, his parents speaking in clipped sentences, barely addressing Emily at all, despite her being at her most charming.
The only comment his parents had made was about her politeness.
At this point, Nick would take any wins he could get, though he hated the disappointment on his daughter’s face as she tried and failed to make new friends.
The proper conversation he needed to have was impossible because they were giving him the silent treatment, as well as Emily.
And given his father was under strict instructions to get himself healthy as quickly as he could so they could return to the Caribbean, he was spending most days lounging around the house.
Therefore, Nick was finding as many excuses as he could to be out of it.
The community centre came into view, and Nick wiped his sweaty hands on his shorts.
Despite his best preparation, he didn’t relish the thought of an evening with Kitty.
It was going to be so hard to pretend to be normal, to not touch her, to not pull her into his arms, to act like she was an acquaintance at best.
By the time Nick arrived, the others were already assembled. They’d chosen to meet in a side room, given there were only five of them. Kitty had already dished out the scripts, and they all had their heads down, reading through.
‘Ah, Nicolas.’ Jack looked up from his piece of paper. ‘I’m glad you deigned to honour us with your presence.’
‘Yeah, leave it out, Jack,’ said Nick. ‘I’ve got a fair bit going on at the minute.’
‘That may be so,’ said Jack, ‘but we can’t actually put on Romeo and Juliet without our Romeo, can we?’
‘Give the lad a break,’ said Solly. ‘Ignore him, Nick. He’s grumpy because he’s been relegated to the position of Tybalt, Paris and director.’
‘Oh, you’ve decided on parts, have you?’ Nick sat at the table and risked a glance at Kitty.
‘Yes.’ She avoided his glance. ‘Solly’s going to be narrator, Friar Lawrence and Lord Capulet. Jack’s going to be Tybalt, Paris, and the director. You’re obviously Romeo. I’m Juliet. That leaves Mercutio and the nurse.’
‘Which, unfortunately for everybody, including myself,’ said Sylvie, ‘is going to be me.’
‘Really?’ said Nick, his eyebrows raised. ‘I didn’t think you wanted anything to do with this performance.’
‘I haven’t been given a choice,’ said Sylvie.
‘Nobody else stepped forward, and Solly did a good job of twisting my arm.’ She gave Solly a mock glare.
‘Kitty has reassured me she’ll help me get to grips with what I’m doing.
And you better hope for all our sakes I’m not as appalling an actress as I fear I might be. ’
‘You’ll be fine,’ said Solly, with emphatic loyalty.
‘You’re a good sport, Sylvie.’ Nick smiled at his best friend’s grandmother. He’d known Sylvie all his life and didn’t doubt she could turn her hand to anything she chose.
‘Right,’ said Kitty, ‘we’ve all got scripts.
’ She did a quick check, and Nick waved his script.
‘What I suggest now we have our roles, is to do a read-through. It won’t take long, it’s only three pages.
This is very much a whistle-stop tour of the play.
Once we’ve done that, we can decide what costumes we’ll need, what kind of set, and, most importantly, who we’re going to rope in to do those things. ’
‘Oh,’ said Sylvie, ‘you won’t have any problem with that. As long as it doesn’t involve getting on that stage, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of willing volunteers.’
‘May has said she’d help with costumes,’ Nick said. ‘And Luke told me today at work he’s happy to build some sets for us.’
‘Great,’ said Kitty. ‘I reckon I could rope Sam into helping him paint them. She’s got a real artistic streak.’
‘So does her husband Steve,’ said Solly. ‘He’s a graphic designer as well as running that shop.’
‘Is he?’ Kitty beamed. ‘We’ll definitely get him on board. He can help design some posters, for starters.’
‘I’ve already asked him, and he’s designing as we speak,’ said Margot, walking through the door.
‘Are you fully recovered?’ Jack leaned away from Margot.
Nick grinned. The man obviously had no desire to catch her germs.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘A little weak, but almost normal. How are you getting on?’ She began dishing out the coffees she’d brought with her in a cardboard tray. ‘I thought you might need sustenance, and the instant coffee they have here is disgusting.’
‘Grateful, I’m sure,’ said Jack, willing to risk the germs for decent coffee.
‘We’re not getting on too badly,’ said Kitty. ‘We’ve assigned all the roles. We’ve come up with ideas for who can help with the additional things we need, and we’re about to start a read-through.’
‘Wonderful.’ Margot pulled a chair into the corner of the room. ‘I’ll be your audience.’
‘I don’t think we’re quite ready for an audience yet, Margot.’ Nick shrank into his chair. When he picked up the script, his hands shook so much he had to set it down. He smoothed a hand across the page, hoping no one had noticed his nerves.
‘I tweaked the script a little last night,’ said Kitty.
‘You’ve what?’ snapped Nick, sounding harsher than he meant. His heart pounded. What changes had she made? If she’d changed any of his lines, he was going to have to back out of this, and sharpish.
‘Nothing major,’ said Kitty, sounding miffed. ‘I’ve given the narrator a few extra lines here and there to set the scene better.’
Nick breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Fine,’ he said. ‘Maybe run any future changes past me, if that’s not too much trouble, please?’
‘No problem.’ Kitty’s tone was clipped.
Nick silently cursed himself. He knew he was coming across as rude and pedantic. But sometimes self-preservation trumped politeness.
The read-through went well, and Nick was relieved that at no point was he caught out. Solly and Jack shone, switching between roles with ease and delivering their lines with a comic timing that fitted the whistle-stop nature of the play.
After an hour and a half, everyone had had enough for the night, and Kitty called time.
‘Anyone fancy a drink?’ asked Nick, desperate to delay the moment he had to go home. ‘Thanks to Paige and her babysitting skills, I don’t have to get back just yet.’ He glanced at Kitty, but she shook her head.
‘Sorry. I’ve got too much work on tonight.’
‘We’ll come,’ said Solly. ‘Won’t we, Jack? Sylvie?’
Sylvie shrugged. ‘I’d better be getting back. I’ve got baking to do for the summer fair at the school next week.’ She kissed Solly on the cheek. ‘Make it a boys’ night, why don’t you? No need to rush.’
Nick led the two brothers out of the community centre and towards the pub.
Part of him had hoped Kitty would join them, part of him was relieved she hadn’t.
The atmosphere between them was polite at best and could be described as frosty if you weren’t being so generous.
Mixing that atmosphere with alcohol wasn’t wise.
Jack offered to get the first round in and slipped inside the doors of The Ship, while Nick found a table and checked his watch.
Paige had offered to put Emily to bed, and just this once, he was happy to pass on the responsibility to someone else.
If he could delay his return until his parents were asleep, all the better.