Page 63 of The Little Island Flower Stall
‘Dance? But when will you ever get to do this again? This night, these celebrations – they happen once, and then that’s it, gone forever. You and me right now in this moment. Gone too after tonight. Do you really want to wake up tomorrow morning wishing you’d danced but knowing it’s too late?’
‘I don’t know how to dance to this music.’
‘Neither do I! Does it matter? We just do what everyone else is doing, right? How hard can it be?’
Bella shook her head. ‘I feel stupid.’
‘You look incredible; you shouldn’t feel anything but incredible. I won’t allow it. How about I make an effort to look more stupid to make you look even better?’
Bella giggled, and though the thought of dancing here made her self-conscious, she got up. The second she’d put her cider on the chair, he grabbed her hand and dashed for the dance floor. He’d shown enthusiasm before during their brief time together, but he’d never shown outright excitement like this. She couldn’t do anything but love it.
It was a fast-paced song. Bella began to hop up and down, looking around at the other dancers, who all seemed to have some idea of the correct moves. It seemed simple enough, a bit like she’d seen on TV where people were kind of jiving or bopping. Rory was kicking his legs everywhere, making it up as he went along, grinning at her as he did his best to copy but not really getting it right.
‘See!’ he yelled over the music. ‘Now I look like a total tool, so whatever you do is going to look amazing!’
‘You’re mental!’ she yelled back.
‘It’s been said before!’
He grabbed her hand and pulled her this way and that, flinging out his feet and twirling her around. Bella kept the beat but was certain she didn’t look anywhere as good as she might have hoped. Many of the other dancers had clearly done this before. She had to marvel at their energy as they twisted and twirled this way and that, legs and arms all over the place. Every so often she’d catch a friendly smile from someone, and it was amazing how it warmed her. She felt a part of something in a way she hadn’t done in many years. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this. Nobody was judging her. She didn’t have to watch what she did or said; she didn’t have to care about how she looked. She could simply be, and that was enough.
She looked up at Rory to find him smiling down at her. He pulled her in, ready to fling her back out again, but before he could, before she knew what she was doing, she reached up and kissed him.
‘Oh my God! I’m sorry, I didn’t?—’
‘Don’t be sorry,’ he said, pulling her into his chest now, his lips close to her ear. ‘Please don’t be sorry. I liked it. Ilovedit.’
He held her in that warm gaze. They slowed, until they were swaying to music that was too fast. He paused, the question in his eyes, and Bella nodded and let him kiss her this time. It was less frantic, less impulsive than hers had been. It was gentle, but it was intense, like the way he looked at her when she talked to him, like he thought she was the most interesting and clever woman he’d ever met. She never believed for a minute he thought that, but as he kissed her now, she could fool herself that it was true.
But when he pulled away, the music and dancing still boisterous all around them, she didn’t have to fool herself. She could see it in his smile, that admiration, the affection was real. He liked her and she liked him. Why did she still feel she had to deny that?
The song came to an end, and the pace slowed. Bella wondered whether she ought to suggest they leave the dance floor and find somewhere quiet to talk, but when he folded her into his arms and began to sway with her, she didn’t want to. She wanted to be here forever, wrapped in his embrace with her head against his chest, moving lazily to the music with a bright moon above them and his scent seeping into her soul.
The moment ended as the music stopped and the bandleader announced the countdown for the fireworks. Everyone hurried to get a view of the sky over the bay. Then the display began, bursting sparks of colour raining down over them. Bella chanced a look at Rory’s face as he watched to see him smiling up. Andthen he looked down at her and caught her watching, and his smile grew.
‘They’re good, aren’t they?’
‘Yes,’ she said, but she wasn’t thinking of the fireworks at all.
‘What a night, eh?’
Bella nodded again. It certainly hadn’t ended in the way she’d expected it to.
They watched the display until it was over, and then the crowds started to thin.
‘Looks as if that’s about it,’ Rory said.
Bella wondered what would come next. But when he continued, even though she felt it was the right call, it wasn’t what she wanted.
‘I’d suggest going on somewhere,’ he said. ‘But I suppose you want to check on your aunt. And I think…’ He rubbed a hand over his chin, seemingly less certain now. ‘I think…don’t get me wrong, I’ve had the most amazing time tonight, but…well, I didn’t see how it was going to go, and I don’t think you did either. I don’t want to pressure you. If you need time to process…You said you weren’t looking for…I mean, if you want to go home and sleep on it and maybe meet me tomorrow so we can talk about it.’
‘We can talk about it now, can’t we?’
‘We could, but I can’t help feeling you might see it differently tomorrow, regardless of what we say tonight.’
‘This isn’t your way of saying thanks but no thanks?’
‘God, no!’ He placed a hand on each of her shoulders and turned her to face him. ‘No way! I really like you, but I’m also thinking of things you’ve said since we met. I know you’ve only just left your marriage, so…’
