Page 76 of The Dance Deception
‘What’s this?’ Aleksis asks, taking it from her.
‘It’s a text from Olivia. Our flight home’s been cancelled. She’s trying to find us another one, but there might not be anything till tomorrow.’
I look at Aleksis in alarm. ‘But we have to get back – we can’t miss any more rehearsal time.’
‘She says she’ll call as soon as she’s managed to sort something out,’ he says.
‘I guess we just carry on practising here till we hear from her.’
But my concentration is even worse while we wait for news, and I know I must be covering Aleksis in bruises while I try to get my leg flicks right. Not that he complains.
‘Just remember to wait till your knee is touching mine before you kick up,’ he advises.
‘Got it,’ I nod, though I’m not sure I have.
When Sarah’s phone finally rings, she puts Olivia on loudspeaker so we can all listen in. Olivia confirms that she can’t get us on a flight back till the same time tomorrow evening – which means we’re going to lose another whole day in the studio.
‘I’m sorry it’s not better news,’ she apologises, then tellsus we don’t need to worry about finding somewhere to stay – she’ll look for a hotel nearby and text us the details when she’s booked it.
Aleksis thanks her, then does his best to stop me freaking out.
‘We can make this work, Kate. We’ve got our makeshift studio here, we’ve got our shoes, we’ve got our music, Olivia’s sorting us out a place for us to sleep. All we need is a couple of toothbrushes. So why don’t we go and see if your sister has any spares and if not we’ll nip out to buy some. Then we can come back here and practise for as long as we need to. It’ll be fine, I promise. What about you, Sarah? Is it going to be a problem for you not getting back till tomorrow?’
‘They’ll have to send Steve and Andy out on their own to film Dean and Jessica, but other than that no, no problem. I might have to put in a few extra hours in the editing suite when we get back, but if it means I get to sit in the sun with a beer all day tomorrow while you rehearse, I can’t say I’m too upset about it.’
‘We might start wondering if you sabotaged the plane,’ he laughs. ‘Okay, let’s go and ask about those toothbrushes. And maybe Dee can recommend a local restaurant we could all go to for dinner later. If we’re going to be sticking around, we might as well make an evening of it.’
We find Mum and Dee sitting in the shade on the terrace, watching Dad and Pete having a water fight with the kids.
‘Are you done already?’ Mum asks hopefully when we join them.
We tell them about the flight cancellation and I can tellMum is trying not to look too pleased that we no longer have to dash off so quickly.
‘You don’t have to stay at a hotel, though,’ Dee says. ‘You should all stay here. We could do a barbecue.’
‘You don’t have any spare rooms,’ I point out.
‘You two can have mine and Pete’s room, Mum and Dad are in the guest room, Sarah and I can have the kids’ rooms and Pete can pitch a tent with the kids in the garden. They’re always going on about camping out here overnight. They’ll be ecstatic and we’ve got the weather for it.’
‘Pete might not be so keen,’ I point out.
‘And it wouldn’t feel right kicking our hosts out of their own bed,’ Aleksis says.
‘Pete won’t mind at all. It’s only for one night and the kids will think he’s Superdad for the rest of the week. I’ll be perfectly comfortable in one of the kids’ beds. What about you, Sarah?’
‘Sounds good to me.’
‘What time is it now? Three-thirty. Perfect. Mum, why don’t you and I pop down to the supermarket to pick up some nice meat and salady bits, and I’ll get Pete to dig the tent out. Dad looks happy chasing Nathan and Daisy around, and Kate and Aleksis can get some more practice in. Then I’ll get Pete to fire up the barbecue around sixish – that’ll keep him happy. What does everyone reckon – does that sound like a plan?’
‘If you’re sure you don’t mind,’ Aleksis says. ‘It would be nice for Kate to get to spend some more time with you.’
‘Then it’s decided. Pete!’ she calls, and when she’s gothis attention, she says, ‘Can you grab the tent out of the shed please, love? There’s a problem with the flight so everyone’s staying over. Me and Mum are going to nip to the shops to get some stuff for the barbie.’
‘Oh right, who’s sleeping in the tent?’ he asks, before the penny drops. ‘Ohhhh, I see. Right, come on then, kids! Who wants to help me put the tent up?’
They squeal with delight when they realise what this means.
Sarah disappears off to let Olivia know we don’t need hotel rooms after all, leaving Aleksis and me alone back in the dining room, where we finally make some progress with our tango. By the time the first wafts of barbecue smoke catch our attention, I’ve memorised the first half of the routine and we’ve started working on the second. We’re a bit behind schedule, but our cancelled flight no longer feels like a catastrophe.
