Chapter 51
Even though the whole of Hartglove was glammed up in their Spring Ball finery, there was no dressing this up.
Alyssa’s final love task was set to be the most terrifying thing she’d ever attempted.
Surviving the death-defying hot air balloon and helping Nicole Pigman to give birth without squashing her piglets had nothing on this.
Alyssa looked around Apple Blossom Lane’s treasured hall.
The community had done an incredible job helping her to bring this together, and all without Devan hearing a peep.
She was proud of them, and enormously grateful.
But somewhere in the busyness of it all, she’d managed to ignore her fears of history repeating itself.
Until now. Seeing everything in place for her grand gesture of love to Devan made her heart-pounding, palm-sweaty dread come out to play.
Or maybe that was the fact she was dressed as a gigantic green sea turtle.
The idea for the big gesture had come to her, as clear as a flash, on the train back from London.
It might not be as swoony as those films where they decorated a dream house or bought all the daffodils in five states, but in terms of putting her heart on the line, this was everything.
And from the many romcoms she’d devoured with Devan, there was nothing more meaningful than making a fool of yourself for love.
Especially when you’d spent the last twelve years doing your damnedest to never look foolish, like she had.
With the town’s help, she’d recreated the night when she’d declared her love to Devan as a carefree nineteen-year-old.
The time when he hadn’t reciprocated, and her heart had been shattered.
She knew now he’d been called away in the middle of her love song to help Sylvie with chronic pregnancy sickness, and he hadn’t known Sylvie’s dad would drunkenly spout lies that he and Sylvie would later acquiesce to, for Emmalina’s sake.
But knowing the truth had simply got twisted back then didn’t make this evening less nerve-racking.
Alyssa had spent a huge chunk of her life avoiding her emotions and resolutely rejecting the notion of love.
And she’d certainly never imagined herself publicly declaring it again.
She’d hidden so much of herself behind a facade.
She’d kept her guard up. And now here she was, preparing to get on that stage and say that word, wearing the most embarrassing fancy dress costume and about to sing karaoke.
The same song as that night. The tune that had since made her squirm.
She paced up and down, repeating affirmations and trying not to trip over her flippers. It was just a stage. Just a song. Just the absolute love of her life. She tried not to think about their last awkward video call and the fact that her escaping to London might have ruined everything.
But what was a grand gesture if it wasn’t shrouded in enough uncertainty to give a girl palpitations and make her head swirl?
The Spring Ball used to happen every year in Hartglove, to mark the mid-point of spring.
Just like tonight, it had involved everyone dressing up in their finest. There would be dancing and revelry, and a whole lot of sausage rolls.
That one ill-fated night had been her first year of attending.
She’d misinterpreted Mrs Halfpenny’s questionable posters, not realising that fancy dress had meant come in a tux or ball gown. Alyssa had taken it literally.
Of course, she’d had good reason for going dressed as a water-dwelling reptile.
‘Happy Together’ by The Turtles had been her and Devan’s song.
It was a song about loving just that person for the rest of your life.
On that night, when she’d seen Devan appear at the back of the room, dressed in a smart tuxedo, having apparently understood the memo on fancy dress, she’d meant it.
Perhaps she always had. She’d stood up on that stage and had sung her heart out, albeit with the courage from one glass of cheap wine too many.
Only by the end of the song, he hadn’t been there, and she’d been completely humiliated.
She’d mistakenly thought Devan had heard her words and bolted.
And then the whispers had started, and Sylvie’s perpetually drunk dad had shouted that Devan wouldn’t be hooking up with an idiot called Beryl who dressed as a turtle and couldn’t sing for seaweed, because he’d got his daughter pregnant and would be sodding well marrying her.
Alyssa put a hand over her stomach, its contents churning. The music from the band was now belting out around her and a faint tang of wine and cooked crustaceans filled the air. She gulped in a breath. And then there was a warm hand on her back, rubbing her shoulder, trying to soothe her.
‘Tonight will be different,’ said Sylvie, her voice reassuring. ‘And I’m so sorry for my part in how it ended last time.’
Alyssa turned to her, waving away her apology. They’d talked about it a lot, and Alyssa didn’t blame anyone for the way things had worked out, other than perhaps herself for letting that night haunt her for far too long.
‘Will it be different though?’ Alyssa asked her best friend.
She couldn’t put into words how glad she was to be able to call Sylvie a friend again, after all these years.
But that wasn’t taking away her jitters.
‘I mean, Devan doesn’t even know this is happening.
He might be horrified. Maybe he’s already dumped me. ’
‘He’d be a fool to,’ said Sylvie.
Sylvie had done a brilliant job of arranging for Emmalina to distract Devan all day, while they prepared for the ball.
As far as he knew, they were having a daddy and daughter day in Taybury, and he needed to wear a decent suit to take his daughter to a football dance this evening.
Emmalina was more excited about the secretive plans than any of them and would hopefully keep things on track.
Sylvie grabbed a glass of fizz from a tray Jess was carrying, giving her girlfriend a peck on the cheek and passing the glass to Alyssa.
‘No, thank you. I’m doing it sober, this time. Whatever happens, I want to put my full self into this. It would be too easy to dull the pain with fizz.’
‘I can vouch that the wine is of a particularly good quality,’ said Alyssa’s mum, chinking her glass against her husband’s as they arrived to give Alyssa a good-luck hug.
Maybe she should have considered that embracing in a bulky padded costume was kind of tricky.
She’d spent years avoiding too much human contact, and now, when she was quite partial to a nice hug, she’d inadvertently scuppered herself with a green foam costume.
Perhaps not ideal for the ultimate romantic gesture.
‘We’re proud of you for facing your fears, love,’ her dad said, his pleased-father smile filling a small part of Alyssa’s quivering heart.
‘Proud as punch!’ Mrs Halfpenny added.
Unlike the others, Mrs H wasn’t dressed in a smart suit or ball gown.
She was wearing a T-shirt that said ‘Team Turtle’ on the front.
Alyssa chose to ignore the back, which read ‘Turtles don’t typically mate for life, but we believe in you.
And there’s always self-love.’ Not for the first time, Alyssa wondered what on earth the people at the T-shirt printers thought about Mrs H’s peculiar orders.
Alyssa allowed her nervous eyes to wander around the room, taking everything in.
The residents from Clucky Ducks Retirement had been thrilled about Alyssa bringing back the mid-spring ball and had made heart decorations from sparkly paper, which Sylvie had hung from the ceiling, earlier that day.
Horace had brought the outdoors in, with more of his potted apple trees now dotted around the room, their bright pink blossom looking pompom-like and ready to cheer them on.
Now the town had the newly renovated hall as a meeting place, Jess had set up her own macramé crafting group – The Macramé Army – and her members had been busy making bunting for tonight. And knowing Jess, she’d probably get them all dating, soon enough.
As Alyssa’s gaze settled on the various groups of people, she got the overwhelming feeling there was a whole lot more love in Hartglove than when she’d arrived.
Against everything she’d once believed, Devan’s app had brought people together and so had her own efforts in coaching more locals and bringing this hall back to life.
She had to admit ’Appy Together had set an impressive final task, in terms of stretching her.
If she’d been coaching a couple at this stage, she might have suggested a quiet meal for two.
But where was the life-changing experience in that?
At least she would always remember this – she just prayed it would be for good reasons.
Checking the clock again, she guessed she was about to find out.