Page 30 of Teacakes & Tangos
‘Ah.’ He nodded. ‘Banged to rights. Sorry, officer.’ With a smile and a wink, he took a huge bite of his pastry and started chewing cheerfully.
‘We’ll miss the opening at this rate,’ I remarked, nodding at the remainder of the pile.
‘Nah! You do the talking and I’ll be ready to go in...’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Six minutes tops.’
Chuckling, I set the timer on my phone and watched, sipping my coffee, as he ploughed through his elevenses.
‘Lovely,’ he announced, crumpling his paper napkin into a ball just as my timer went off.
We were still laughing as we left the café and walked past the row of artisan outlets to the building at the far end, which housed the new dance emporium.
A group of little girls wearing ballet dresses were gathered with their mums outside the entrance and when we walked in, the reception area was filled with people of all ages milling about. Some were talking in groups and others were wandering around looking at the posters ranged around the walls that displayed the activities on offer for visitors to the centre.
As we walked over to a poster intriguingly headed, ‘Dancing in the Dark’, I glanced up at Xander’s profile, feeling suddenly grateful to have him as a friend.
He’d managed to make me forget my woes for a moment – and that was no mean feat considering I was constantly worrying about Dad and had a painful hangover into the bargain.
At that moment, a girl I recognised came over and handed us a one-page sheet showing the timetable for the day. Her badge read ‘Maddy, Little Duck Pond Café’ and I realised that’s whereI’d seen her. I sometimes met Lyndsay there for coffee on a Saturday morning.
Maddy beamed at us. ‘Welcome to the launch day! Are you into dancing at all?’
‘Well...Iam.’ I gave her a rueful smile. ‘I mean, I don’t dance myself anymore but my mum and dad were local Latin champions back in the day, so I know a bit about it.’
‘Oh, wow. Dance champions! Are they coming today?’
I swallowed hard.
How to evenbeginto explain about Mum and Dad without putting a dampener on the mood of the day?
Luckily Xander stepped in at that moment, saying, ‘No, no. Just us. But we’ll be reporting back on everything that’s going on today.’
I glanced at him gratefully as Maddy rushed on.
‘Well, there’s plenty to tell them! There’ll be a street dance performance by some talented youngsters from the local school in the main hall.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘In precisely five minutes, actually. And then we have a fabulous display by the women from the local WI, followed by a tango demonstration that’s definitely not to be missed if you like your dancing hot and steamy.’
I nodded. ‘Brilliant.’
‘I quite fancy going along to one of their tango nights,’ she confided. ‘It’s going to be held every Wednesday. Tango experts and complete novices all welcome. Clara’s mission is to get everyone joining in.’
‘Is there a café here?’ asked Xander, and I turned to him with a chuckle.
‘What?’ He shrugged, all wide-eyed innocence. ‘Got to keep the energy levels topped up.’
Maddy grinned. ‘Of course you do. Especially if you’re going to join in with the Dancing in the Dark event later.’
Xander’s eyes swivelled to mine, with a look that said,No way on this earth!
‘So yes, there’s a cute café that’s open for hot drinks and a variety of goodies, all supplied by the Little Duck Pond Café.’ She tapped her badge and leaned closer with a smile. ‘I made the chocolate chip shortbread myself and it’s very good, if I say so myself. The Little Duckling Café is just through there.’ She pointed to a door leading off the reception area. ‘So... have fun and I might see you later, dancing in the dark.’ She slapped her forehead. ‘Actually, no, I won’t see you, will I? Because... well, it’ll bedark!’
Grinning, she whisked off to deliver her speech to the next group arriving.
‘Phew, I wouldn’t mind some of her energy,’ I murmured with an admiring smile.
‘And enthusiasm.’ Xander grinned. ‘If she tells me to do the Dancing in the Dark thing, I’ll probably be too scared to say no.’
‘It sounds like fun, though?’
‘Er, no. No, it doesn’t. It sounds like a total nightmare.’
