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‘It was awful.’
‘Oh no! Not another one! What happened this time?’
How could Sophie even explain? She had spotted him long before he saw her, and she’d known instantly it would never work. He’d pitched up with a bunch of balloons, for goodness’ sake. After an hour of sitting in a crowded, noisy pub, batting away the offending items, she’d made a feeble excuse, given him a fake number and left.
‘In every possible way,’ Sophie said dramatically. ‘It’s likely I’ll be single for ever and to be honest, I think it’s probably for the best – especially for the men of this town.’ She was only half joking.
‘Not true. You’re a catch.’ Kate waddled over to the bin to dispose of her coffee cup. ‘You’ll bump into someone one day. I mean, a bakery is hardly the most romantic place in the world, but look at me and Gav!’
‘I know,’ Sophie said, remembering Kate’s story of how Gav had swiped the last Christmas fruitcake from under Kate’s nose and she’d made a joke about how she’d have ‘stollen’ it back. They’d moved in together by the end of the following month. Sophie sighed. If only it could be that easy for her.
‘I’m hardly likely to meet anyone at school, though. The only person who ever visits Cranswell Primary is Reverend Williams for assemblies, and I was kind of hoping for someone a little less wrinkly.’
They both laughed.
‘You go other places than school.’
Sophie raised an eyebrow.
‘OK, good point. Anyway, enough moping,’ Kate said, settling back into her chair. ‘Chalk it up to experience and move on.’
Kate would never let her dwell on a bad dating experience for too long. Secretly, Sophie enjoyed a little mope when things didn’t quite go her way. It was cathartic.
‘I was wondering about the charity for the concert.’ Sophie changed the subject and was relieved to do so. ‘I’d really like to donate the money we raise to Mum’s charity this year. What do you think?’
‘Sounds like a lovely idea.’
‘I’ll have to add it to the list of nominations but hopefully people will realise it’s important.’
‘You’re in charge, Sophie. You could just make the decision yourself.’
‘No, I need to put it to the vote. I don’t want anyone to think I’ve gone behind their back.’
‘You care too much about what other people think.’
Sophie ignored Kate’s comment. She knew she overthought things occasionally, but this was important to her. And she wanted to do it right.
‘Nigel will have to wheel the piano out of the cupboard when he gets here. It’s too heavy for me.’ She flopped down in the chair and took her coat off, warm from lugging around the furniture. She rested her head on Kate’s shoulder.
‘Do you think you’ll audition for the solo?’ Kate asked.
Sophie laughed. ‘Definitely not.’ There was no way she would ever volunteer to sing a solo.
‘Why not? You need a distraction from your horrible dating life,’ Kate said with a cheeky smile.
Sophie sat up and protested, but fell silent at the sound of the outside door banging open and the other choir members arriving.
It was a good job she’d pulled out her thick Fair Isle jumper. Sophie had been warm setting out the room, but by the time everyone else had arrived, the temperature in the draughty old church hall had dropped. She rubbed her gloved hands together and let out two deep breaths to test whether she could see them in the air. Her coat went back on.
‘Right, let’s get started.’ Sophie stood and used her teacher’s voice to get the attention of the group. They were mostly seated, and the stragglers shuffled through the rows to sit down once she’d spoken. Sophie looked out at the choir. It was made up of every type of person imaginable – including an eclectic range of singing abilities … but she loved this amazing bunch of people. They’d saved her when she’d first arrived in Cranswell a year ago.
‘Lovely to see you all.’ She smiled nervously. It didn’t matter that she did this all day, every day with the children in her class; addressing an audience always got her heart racing. ‘Today we’re going to start working towards the songs for the Christmas concert, just a general rehearsal this evening. Solo auditions will be next week. I believe Nigel has the list, so speak to him before the end of the evening to sign up.’ There was a general mumble of interest. ‘Also, we need to vote for the charity we’ll be supporting this year. I know we had a couple of nominations last week.’ She looked down at her notes. ‘The Blue Cross centre over in Sheepham and Children in Need, which happened last Friday. I’d also like to throw my mother’s charity into the mix. They support mothers who have suffered a miscarriage. Shall we vote?’ she said, an ever-so-slight catch in her throat.
Recovering, Sophie listed the charities again, and the group raised their hands. Sophie’s mother’s charity was the runaway winner and Sophie made a note of it, as if she’d ever forget. She breathed out and smiled.
‘OK. We’ll wait for Nigel to finish setting up and wheel the piano out and we’ll make a start. Last wees and teas before we start, folks.’ It sounded flippant, but for some of the town’s residents, they wouldn’t be able to begin without a final opportunity to visit the bathroom.
‘Sure I can’t convince you to audition?’ Kate asked, as Sophie sat down again.
