Page 70 of Summer at Harbour View House
‘It’s just too much excitement!’ she cried.
‘Want me to get a hammer and some nails to pin the maid down?’ Lizzie asked.
‘I’m pregnant!’
Natasha stared. Even Lizzie looked shocked.
‘That was fast,’ Natasha said.
‘All that coconut milk and sun,’ Lizzie said. ‘Beats a barn and a pint of cider any time.’
‘I’m so excited!’
Natasha could only reach out her arms to pull Hannah into a hug. ‘Congratulations,’ she said. ‘It’s wonderful news.’
‘I’m going to name it after you,’ Hannah said. ‘You’re the reason I met Davey in the first place.’
‘Again, technically it was Mrs. Williams downstairs.’
‘Can’t go calling no kid “Mrs. Williams”, Lizzie said, taking her turn to hug Natasha. ‘You can call it after me. Middle name is Gwendoline.’
‘I’ll put it on the list,’ Hannah said. She let go of Lizzie and did a spinning pirouette. ‘Right, I have to go and tell the whole world!’
As she went dancing out of the pub, Lizzie turned to Natasha. ‘Pint of local?’ she asked with a sigh.
‘Sure.’
‘Great.’
Then you can help me move that jukebox back.’
At rehearsal that night, Eddie went so far as to get on the stage and stalk back and forth a little bit. Hannah’s singing elevated the backing vocals another notch, but behind the drums, Ben was starting to struggle. He wore a grimace after every song, and came off stage after the rehearsal was finished rubbing his shoulder.
‘Only three more days,’ Natasha said, pressing her fingers into the muscle as Ben sat on a chair in front of her. ‘Do you reckon you can do it?’
‘I might need a few painkillers,’ he said. ‘It’s not just my collarbone screwing with my movement, but it’s that I’m not used to drumming so much. I’ve hardly done it since school. I’m losing my timing and missing beats.’
Ryan, the keyboard player, wandered over. ‘You’re doing good, lad. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Col Morton wasn’t all that good back in the day, anyway. We used a drum machine in the studio.’
‘Thanks for your vote of confidence, I think.’
‘Bigger problem is the lead guitar. Curve might have been a prima-donna, but without him it’s just hollow. You sure he won’t do it?’
‘I’ll see if I can get Hannah to call him and sweettalk him again, but he wasn’t having any of it when I tried.’
‘A shame. If we’re gonna do it, might as well do it right.’
‘That’s the real reason Ed won’t sing,’ Mikey the bassist said. ‘He’s not being all egotistical. It doesn’t feel right without the Curve. He’ll never admit it, though.’
‘Perhaps we could put a life-sized cut out of him on stage or something,’ Natasha said. ‘It might be better than nothing.’
The community centre doors opened and Jago came in, clapping his hands. ‘Right, minibus for St. Austell. Who’s onboard?’
‘See you tomorrow,’ Ryan said, following Mikey. Mandy, who’d been munching on a scone, put what was left of it into her pocket and went after them. There was no sign of Carly, who had gone off somewhere with Eddie, perhaps to rekindle their old romance.
‘Ouch,’ Ben said, as Natasha jabbed a thumb into his shoulder muscle.
‘This is going to be a disaster, isn’t it?’ she said.
