CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE #2
‘We’re going to the cinema ?’ I glanced warily from Roz to Rory and back to Roz.
‘No, you’re not going to the cinema. I’m going myself for a few hours of bliss.’ She smiled knowingly. ‘You, my dear, are remaining here – in the beautiful Blackpool Tower Ballroom – and you’re going to be enjoying some afternoon delight with this gorgeous man here.’
I stared at Roz, gobsmacked.
She winked at Rory. ‘I love it when a plan works out! I’ll see you both later. Cheery-bye!’ And she walked off, leaving me gazing after her in wonder.
‘Well . . . wow. This really is a surprise.’
‘Good.’ He kissed me firmly on the lips.
‘You look really smart,’ I said, running my eyes over him in his dark, fitted trousers and white shirt. ‘I’d be thinking you dressed like that for the ballroom – if I didn’t know you absolutely hate dancing!’
He chuckled. ‘I’m not sure you’re dressed for it, though.’
‘Hey, you! The cheek of it.’ I laughed. ‘I happen to think my maroon tracksuit bottoms and grey top are perfectly elegant, thank you very much.’
‘I think you look gorgeous whatever you’re wearing. But...’ He swivelled and picked up a sports bag on the ground behind him. ‘You might find something more suitable for a ballroom in here?’ He unzipped the bag and showed me the contents.
‘My tango dress ?’ I squeaked. I ran my hand in awe over the frothy, sequin-sparkled fabric in a gorgeous sea-green colour. ‘It’s the dress I was wearing when I won a gold medal in that amateur dance competition years ago! And my shoes are in here as well? How on earth did you find them?’
He grinned. ‘You can thank Lois for that. It took her ages scrabbling about in the wardrobe in your bedroom and the one in Irene’s room before she finally tracked down your dress and shoes in a bag in that vintage trunk on the landing?’
I looked at him in amazement, remembering discovering her in my room, her nose in my wardrobe. ‘So Lois was in on all this?’
‘It was Lois’s idea. Well, not all of it, obviously.
But when I said I wanted to take you to Blackpool and the Tower Ballroom as a surprise, it was Lois who remembered that your friend Roz had relocated to Lytham St Anne’s, which was only a stone’s throw away from Blackpool.
’ He grinned. ‘We planned all this sitting in the supermarket car park one evening after I took her shopping.’
My eyes widened at this. ‘You were so late getting back that day,’ I recalled.
‘I did wonder where on earth you’d got to.
’ I shook my head in amazed disbelief. I’d jumped to so many wrong conclusions – probably because I was so stressed-out anyway getting the dance centre ready in time to open. ‘So that’s what you were doing?
He nodded. ‘We had to work out how to get in touch with Roz without you suspecting something was up.’
‘But how did you do that? Oh, hang on!’ A lightbulb had flashed on over my head. ‘Lois managed to get hold of my phone and found Roz’s number in the address book?’
‘She did. She said she was following you around at work for ages, hoping you’d put your phone down so she could grab it. But in the end, she was forced to set off the fire alarm to achieve her sneaky objective.’
I started to laugh. ‘That is just typical Lois. She never does things by halves, does she? Other people might have waited a bit longer. But no, Lois had to choose the dramatic option and smash the glass on a fire alarm sensor, evacuating the whole building in the process!’
Rory grinned. ‘She’s definitely one of a kind.
She actually loved doing all that cloak-and-dagger stuff to make this happen for you.
She told me it had really cheered her up, to be part of it, and it had snapped her out of the gloom she’d sunk into after splitting up with Mark.
’ He smiled. ‘She might not show it very often, but Lois thinks the world of you.’
I swallowed, my throat feeling suddenly choked up. I’d been suspicious of Lois, thinking she was up to no good, when all along she’d just been helping Rory to surprise me. I’d make it up to her somehow...
‘Come on. Let’s go. You can get changed inside.’ Rory took my hand and led me to the lift, where we climbed to the third floor and exited right outside the Tower Ballroom.
‘Go!’ he smiled, handing me the bag and pointing to the Ladies. ‘We’ve got afternoon tea waiting for us.’
I scurried off and got changed into the dress, which thankfully still fitted. It was a little tight on the bodice but maybe that was a good thing, I reflected, as I turned this way and that in front of the full-length mirror, loving the way the skirt flowed and shimmered around my legs.
I felt... sexy! In the mood to tango!
Of course, I’d be sitting watching, while everyone else was up dancing to the music of that glorious organ I could hear playing a waltz.
But really, that didn’t matter at all, because I was here with Rory and he’d planned this amazing surprise for me. With Lois! So it looked as if we might be back on track at last.
I still couldn’t imagine how the B&B in Lockley Meadow slotted into the puzzle. But I’d no doubt find out...
Rory was sitting at one of the elegant little tables when I entered the ballroom.
I’d touched up my make-up and I was feeling like a million dollars – and the look in Rory’s eyes when he first glimpsed me walking towards him made my heart miss a beat.
‘You look gorgeous,’ he murmured, standing up and taking my hand.
‘Thank you.’ I smiled shyly at him. ‘So do you. You look really handsome.’
‘Come on, then. What are we waiting for?’ He nodded at the couples whirling around the floor. ‘Let’s join them.’
I laughed, thinking he was joking. ‘Stop it! Let’s just sit down. I can’t wait to tuck into this gorgeous afternoon tea.’ I eyed the well-stocked cake stand and the delicious-looking sultana scones... the dainty dishes of butter and strawberry jam. ‘This is so lovely. Thank you, Rory.’
I sat down but Rory remained standing, folding his arms and looking down at me, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
‘Don’t you want to dance with me, then?’
‘Well, no. Because you really don’t like –’
‘That’s a shame. I won’t be able to show off my newly-acquired skills, then.’
I laughed. ‘What do you mean?’
He cocked his head, hearing the music change. ‘A tango, I believe?’
‘Yes.’
‘Come on, then.’ He held out his hand and feeling as if I was starring in a fairy-tale, I took it and stood up again. And Rory calmly led me onto the floor, where he took me in a firm hold.
I gazed up into his eyes. ‘How did you... where did you learn such good posture?’
‘Ah, well.’ He smiled. ‘A very nice woman taught Lois and me to dance.’
‘Does this woman live in Lockley Meadow, by any chance? And does she run a B&B as well as working as a dance teacher?’
I smiled at the surprise on his face. ‘Irene saw you and Lois disappearing into her house when she was at the Wednesday market there.’
‘Did she? Well, it was an hour’s lesson, once a week for three weeks.’
‘Right. So what can you do?’
He grinned. ‘The waltz, a quickstep and the basic tango steps. On a good day. Although you might have to make allowances for me as a more or less complete beginner.’
I chuckled. ‘I don’t care. Let’s go!’
So we did.
I danced a rather sexy tango with Rory and it was everything I could ever have dreamed of – even if he did go wrong a couple of times! Well, quite a lot, actually. But that just made us laugh, which was exactly what I needed after all my recent feelings of uncertainty and despair.
I’d never doubted Rory’s loyalty to me, although I’d definitely had my suspicions about Lois. But in the end, she’d only proved to me what a wonderful sister she was – by helping Rory organise this fabulous surprise for me!
As the music ended, I smiled up at him and turned to go back to our table, expecting Rory to follow.
But he grabbed my hand to stop me and I spun round.
He was gazing at me with such love in his eyes that my heart melted.
And then, as I stood there motionless, he dropped to one knee, still holding my hand.
He cleared his throat. ‘Clara, you’re the love of my life. I can’t imagine a future without you in it and I never want to be without you. So... will you consider making me the happiest man on earth by agreeing to marry me?’
I gazed down at him, tears of amazement and happiness in my eyes as I smiled and quickly nodded.
‘Yes, Rory. Oh, yes! I love you so much. You’re everything to me. Of course I’ll marry you!’
Smiling, he got to his feet and swept me up and spun me around in his arms while I shrieked with delight.
And then, with everyone in the ballroom cheering and clapping, Rory pulled me against him and kissed me for a very long time, as a blissful feeling of desire and elation pulsed through my entire body...