Page 53 of A Christmas Celebration
Poor Brodie wasn’t receiving the warmest of welcomes back to Wynbridge.
‘There was a message for you from Tilly, on the answer phone,’ Brodie told him. ‘Here,’ he added, handing overwhat looked like a scribbled note. ‘I knew you were coming here tonight and when I couldn’t get you on your mobile, I thought I’d better bring it.’
Jack read the note, his brow furrowed and I guessed my former thoughts had been right.
‘Oh, well,’ he sighed, crumpling the paper up and stuffing it in the pocket which had formerly held his shirt. ‘Thanks.’ He didn’t sound particularly grateful. ‘You didn’t cycle in, did you?’
I was going to laugh, but then realized he was being serious.
‘No,’ Brodie told him. ‘I called an Uber.’
‘Well,’ said Jack in a slightly more conciliatory tone, ‘I really do appreciate it.’
‘No problem.’ Brodie shrugged. ‘I think I’ll head off.’
‘Oh, no,’ said Kathleen who had spotted him and caught him by the elbow just as he was about to turn around. ‘You can partner up with Paige for this next dance.’
Brodie looked stricken.
‘Let us see if you’ve got a bit more rhythm than your brother,’ she wheedled.
‘I’ll pass,’ he said, making me feel like a withering wallflower. ‘Sorry, Paige,’ he added. ‘Nothing personal.’
‘It’s fine,’ I said, with a shrug to show I didn’t care then added, ‘I’m all danced out anyway. Jack has really put me through my paces tonight.’
That made his jaw tense up, but I didn’t actually want to dance with him anyway. Why would I want to demonstrate to someone I liked, in spite of the fact that he’d just shunned me, that I couldn’t even manage the Macarena? I was stillfeeling hot and sweaty from my samba effort and just wanted to go home.
‘Come on then, bro,’ said Jack, clearly keen that I shouldn’t partner up with Brodie either which, given how he’d warned me off him earlier, was no surprise. ‘Let’s see if we can catch the Uber that drove you in.’
‘What’s with some of you men?’ tutted Kathleen, standing her ground and refusing to give in. ‘One dance won’t kill you, Brodie. And to be honest,’ she said, in a teasing aside, ‘you can’t be any worse than this pair were.’
‘Hey,’ said Jack. ‘What we lacked in finesse we made up for in enthusiasm.’
I had to laugh at that, but Brodie was set to full thundercloud mode again.
‘Come on then,’ he said to me gruffly, taking my hand and causing an unexpected ripple of pleasure to pulse through me as the music started. ‘Let’s get this over with and then Kathleen might let me go home.’
Had I not been so shocked by the sensations his touch had set off, I would have yanked my hand out of his grasp and told him to stick his dance where the sun doesn’t shine, but as it was…
‘Do you know how to waltz?’ he asked, his tone softer as he looked down at me and I felt his fingers graze my shoulder blade through the thin fabric of my blouse.
I closed my eyes for the briefest moment and swallowed.
‘Sort of,’ I said huskily. ‘It’s basically step, side, close… I go backwards and you come forwards.’
‘Oh, I know what it is,’ he said, with the smallest of smiles. ‘I just wanted to check that you did.’
I don’t really know what happened after that. Our eyes locked, our feet moved in perfect synchronicity and, as far as I was concerned at least, there was no one else in the Wynbridge town hall. There was just me, Brodie, the old-fashioned music and the increasingly overwhelming emotions I could feel building to a crescendo inside me. I felt as light as air, fluid, flowing and free. Some seismic shift seemed to have occurred between us as we moved effortlessly around the room.
There was none of my former clumsiness, no desire to giggle and no urge to run away. If I had had my way, the waltz would have lasted a lifetime and the look on Brodie’s face inferred he felt the same. Unless I was reading into his expression the emotion I wanted to see…
‘That was extraordinary!’ I heard Kathleen call out in surprise, once the music came to an end. ‘Extraordinary!’
Brodie and I sprang apart, both shocked by the rapturous applause and attention our foot-perfect waltz had prompted.
‘Goodness me,’ said Kathleen, fanning herself as she rushed forward. ‘Where on earth did that come from?’ Thankfully she didn’t wait for either of us to try and answer. ‘I’d love to see the pair of you tango!’
‘Hear! Hear!’ chorused lots of the other attendees.
