Page 76 of The Seaside Supper Club

Would this be the first of many, or the only dancing they’d ever have? So close, yet still so confused. She could feel the beating of his heart against her chest, as they swayed. What was his heart wanting to tell hers, was it very different from his mind? Cath took a long slow breath as the song moved to its finale. The music soon came to a close, along with the Tilldale Afternoon Tea event, and those on the dance floor stopped their swirling and looked to the stage, giving a hearty round of applause for the high-school musicians, who stood up to take a bow with broad grins on their faces. Kenneth was still dancing with Ruth, an interesting new development, giving her a final twirl, and then calling out, ‘Bravo’.

Cath and Will stepped apart, Will giving a careful smile, as Cath said a rather formal ‘thank you’, perhaps sensing how hard that had been for him. Despite those beautiful moments being held in his arms, he was still frustratingly unfathomable.

The raffle, which had been drawn a while before, had been won by a delighted and deserving Linda who was excited to take home her hamper prize. The tombola table had been stripped, the Brownies’ floral buttonholes were being jauntily worn as the guests prepared for home, and there were plenty of smiles.

Nikki’s lads were busy helping to gather jackets and coats ready to reunite with their owners. And Dan and Andreas were now escorting guests out of the hall and towards the main entrance doors, offering little cardboard boxes of spare scones and cakes to take with them. Kev was ready to do a return ‘taxi’ service along the street and out to the local hamlets, and was standing with his car keys at the ready. Now they’d had a moment’s pause, several of the elderly had realised the wonderful dancing had in fact taken it out of them, and were more than grateful for a lift up the street. Time for a late afternoon nap, in fact. And time to reflect on a gloriously sociable afternoon … for the supper club team as well as the guests.

In the midst of the farewells and thanks, Cath caught up with Reggie in the entrance hallway. ‘Thanks for coming, Reggie.’

‘Oh, Cath, you did it again! What a marvellous event, thank you so much.’ He was beaming away. ‘It really has been wonderful. And pass on my thanks to your friends. You’ve all worked so hard. I’ve so enjoyed being back here in the village again, and this hall … the dancing, it felt rather like the good old days.’ He gave a watery-eyed smile, the emotions of the occasion evidently catching up on him.

‘You are so welcome,’ said Cath, as she took him into her arms for a hug. When she’d moved into Cheviot Cottage, she’d never imagined that a magical friendship might develop with its previous owner. And, it felt all the more special having sadly lost her own parents a few years back. ‘And I’ll be there at the home to see you all next week, Reggie.’

‘Oh, and we’ll have lots to talk about after today, won’t we?’

‘Absolutely. You and Betty jiving for a start.’

Her regular visits to Kirkton Care Home had become part of her new life here in Northumberland. So much had happened in these past eighteen months, so much had changed in her life, that sometimes it was hard to comprehend. Even with the ups and downs with Will, overall, she felt so much happier of late. She felt like she was putting down roots, finding her way. Like somehow, whatever twists and turns that might yet come, life would work out okay.

Cath watched from the steps to the hall, her hand lifted ready to wave, as the first minibus was about to set off with its merry load of passengers. Andreas and Dan were standing out on the pavement, waving, where they’d been helping the elderly on board.

‘Bon voyage!’ called out Andreas as the vehicle started to moved off.

‘They’re only going five miles,’ chuckled Nikki, who’d appeared next to Cath.

‘Yes, but it’s been a momentous occasion for them,’ he countered jovially, having overheard.

And he was, in fact, right. Today would have been very special, and so unlike their normal day-to-day routine at the home. Cath filled with pride thinking how they’d managed to do that for everyone, given them a day to remember.

‘You all right, hun?’ asked Nikki.

‘Yes, of course. It’s all worked out lovely, hasn’t it?’

‘Yeah, the do’s been brilliant.’ That evidently wasn’t what she was getting at, however. ‘Ahm, I saw you and Will dancing … but that was after he’d been avoiding you all afternoon.’

Oh, it hadn’t gone unnoticed then, this ongoing rift between them. But of course, their friends were invested, they’d given her and Will the final matchmaking push to get together, after all. And they cared … ‘Oh, Nikki, things are a bit tricky just now. But hey, we’ll work it out, I’m sure.’ Cath kept her response short. She appreciated her friend’s concern, but this really wasn’t the place to go into details about her love life.

Nikki added warmly, ‘Well, you know where I am if you need to chat, hun.’

‘I do, and thanks.’ Cath put an arm around her pal’s shoulder.

After waving the second minibus off, Cath turned to go back in, heading for the kitchen and the no doubt mountainous clearing up. She discovered Will there, drying and stacking up plates. His movements had slowed, and she couldn’t help but notice that he was looking pretty shattered. She walked on over to him, feeling a little hesitant in case he felt she was treating him like an invalid again, but concerned enough to ask, ‘Hey, are you feeling okay?’ She was about to place a hand gently on his arm, but held back. Still unsure as to where they now stood.

‘Bit tired, but I’m all right.’ He carried on with his drying up.

‘Honestly, get yourself away,’ she urged, feeling worried that he’d overdone it. ‘Time to head on home.’

‘But there’s all the clearing up to do. I can’t just up and leave.’

‘Yes, you can. We can take it from here. The others are around to help. You look whacked.’

‘I’ll be okay,’ he persevered, stubbornly.

‘You might well be okay, but there’s no point pushing it.’ Cath was adamant. It was great that he had turned out to help, but not at the expense of his ongoing health.

‘Okay.’ He caved in. ‘Well, I suppose I’d better go and say bye to the others.’

Shortly afterwards, Cath followed him through, intent on seeing how much clearing up there was left to do. The hall had emptied out, other than Kenneth – the first and last – who was saying his farewells. Kev was about to set off with him.