Page 39 of Could It Be Magic?
‘Just don’t make me regret it.’ Tristan’s face was gravely serious before he broke into a wide smile. ‘She might be four minutes older than me but that doesn’t mean I can’t take on angry big brother duties if a guy messes her around.’
‘Duly noted,’ Nick said wryly. ‘I’ll, er see you at Cherry Tree Court, then.’
‘See you later.’
Nick watched Tristan pulling carefully out of the driveway and then turned his attention to the bow tie in his hands. His only immediate concern now, apart from getting to Thea’s on time, was trying to remember how to tie the damned thing.
33
It had been ten minutes since Charlotte and Tristan had left for the ball, and Thea couldn’t stop watching the clock. She also couldn’t decide if she desperately needed the loo again, or if it was just nerves.
‘This is stupid,’ she muttered, leaning against the back of the sofa in her cosy living room. ‘It’s Nick Saint for goodness’ sake; you’ve known him since you were five.’ But they weren’t the little kids sitting on the carpet in Mrs Rossiter’s Red Reception class any more. The first day of school, he’d tugged the pink ribbon out of her hair and made her cry. After that, she’d ignored him pretty much until Christmas. Gradually, they’d become friends, and, barring the did-it-happen-or-didn’t-it moment during the house party when they were sixteen, friends had been what they’d remained.
Maybe that was the problem, though. Maybe she’d kept Nick in the friend zone for so long that she had absolutely no clue what to do now she was beginning to encourage him out of it. You’ve done a bit more than that, she thought. That kiss in the car park, light and fleeting as it was, had sent a very definite signal to him that she wanted to change the boundaries of their relationship. The problem was, she really wasn’t sure how much more. But kissing him had been lovely, and she absolutely knew she wanted to try that again.
Thea glanced at the clock again and decided she really did need that wee. But before she could dash to the cloakroom under her stairs for the fifth time in half an hour, the doorbell chimed.
‘I’ll get it!’ Cora yelled, thumping down the stairs and flinging open the front door before Thea could teeter there in the silver stiletto heels. ‘Oh, hi Gran…’
Thea let out a breath, and once again told herself to relax. It’s Nick. Nick likes you. He wouldn’t have invited you tonight if he didn’t.
‘Hello darling!’ Lorelai’s cheery voice cut through into her reverie. The old lady, still spritely although she was heading towards her eighties, strode into the living room, Cora chatting nineteen to the dozen at her side about how she’d given Thea and Charlotte ‘the best makeovers in the world’.
Lorelai turned her attention to Thea, who was standing stiffly by the window, trying not to look as though she was going through the roof with nerves.
‘Darling, you look fabulous!’ Lorelai exclaimed, hurrying over to plant a careful kiss on Thea’s freshly made-up cheek. She glanced back at Cora. ‘You’ve done a great job on your mother,’ she confirmed. ‘I barely recognised her.’
Thea smiled at Lorelai’s indulgence of her great-granddaughter, but a small part of her hoped it wasn’t just that. She smoothed the blue velvet over her hips again and scrunched her toes up in the silver stilettos. Her feet were already starting to ache, and she hadn’t even left the house. Her blondish brown hair was swept up in a messy bun, and Cora had taken great delight in pulling strands down and using Thea’s ancient curling tongs, which hadn’t been out of the drawer for years, to give her some wavy tendrils to soften the rather dramatic makeup.
‘Thanks, Gran,’ Thea replied. ‘I hope it’s not too over the top.’
‘The Midwinter’s Eve Ball is the poshest do of the year, as you well know,’ Lorelai replied, ‘and, from what I can recall from the last time I went, there’s no such thing as over the top when you get a bunch of country dwellers together for an evening.’ She smiled again at Thea. ‘That’s to say that you look wonderful, and I really do wish you’d make the effort with yourself more often.’
Thea laughed. ‘I’m not sure what my class would make of me if I rocked up in silver stilettos and blue velvet on a Tuesday morning.’
‘You know what I mean.’ Lorelai’s smile assumed a slight sadness.
‘What is it, Gran?’
‘Oh nothing.’ Lorelai paused. ‘I can see so much of your mother and father in you. I suppose it hits harder at Christmas, even now.’
Thea reached out and gave her gran a hug. ‘I know. I miss them too.’
‘But enough of all that,’ Lorelai continued, a brisker tone in her voice. ‘Tonight is all about making new memories, not dwelling on old ones.’ She turned to Cora. ‘And you and I, and your brother of course, can argue over which film we want to watch while Mum’s out having a nice time.’
‘Oh, I’ve already sorted us a playlist on FilmFlix,’ Cora replied breezily. ‘Dylan’ll just have to suck it up if he doesn’t like it.’
Lorelai laughed, and Thea felt herself relax a fraction. She could always count on her gran and her daughter to raise her spirits. She glanced at the clock again, smothering a spark of irritation; Tristan had mentioned Nick was on his way when he’d picked up Charlotte earlier. Why wasn’t he here yet?
As if summoned by her emotions, the doorbell rang again.
‘I’ll get it!’ Cora grinned, jumping off the sofa.
‘No, you won’t.’ Thea threw a warning glance at her daughter, who’d been ridiculously excited about her mother actually going on a proper date. ‘I don’t want to frighten Nick off before we even get to the ball.’
Cora slunk back to the sofa, where Lorelai was already scrolling through the playlist. Thea gave her a conciliatory smile. ‘You’ve been so helpful, darling. Now you can just relax with a huge bowl of popcorn and watch all those movies I wouldn’t normally let you.’
Beaming, Cora blew Thea a kiss before settling back with Lorelai to choose what to watch.
