Page 34 of The Twelve Dates of Christmas
“So, what’s the next date?” asked Evelyn.
Kate had popped in to the shop to get one of Carla’s ready meals and a bottle of wine. She raised her eyebrows.
“Does thewholevillage know about my twelve dates?” she asked.
“Oh yes, dear,” said Evelyn merrily. “We’re all very excited for you.”
Kate shook her head and picked up a chocolate bar. There was a sign on the counter that readOrder your late Christmas tree here.
“Have you gone into business with Patrick?” Kate asked, pointing at the sign.
Patrick rented extra land from the Blexford estate to grow Christmas trees.
“Didn’t you hear?” asked Evelyn, delighted that she had news. “Patrick’s run out of trees!”
“You’re kidding,” said Kate.
“I’m not,” said Evelyn. “Fresh trees have become all the rage; everyone wants one. He ran out on Friday, so we’re doing a little business venture together; we’re going up to Covent Garden market on the fifteenth with his van to buy a load and we’ll sell them from the shop here.”
Evelyn was a canny businesswoman. There was a list with names on it by the sign. Kate hadn’t gotten around to getting a tree yet, so she wrote her name and the size tree she’d like on the list.
She noticed Matt had his name down for two trees. She couldn’t imagine where he’d fit them; the whole of one corner of the Pear Tree was already taken up with a large Norwegian spruce, dripping with ornaments and gaining more each day as children brought in more homemade baubles to hang on it.
“Well?” said Evelyn.
“I’ll have one seven-footer, please,” said Kate.
“Not the tree,” said Evelyn. “The date!”
“Oh, yes. Sorry.” Kate laughed. “The next date is salsa dancing.”
“Oh, well, Kate, that’s marvelous,” Evelyn gushed. “You’re on safe ground there, dear. Gosh, I remember you on Saturday mornings, always rushing off to the Big Town for ballet lessons, and you did tap too, didn’t you?”
“Yup. And jazz, and I tried my hand at contemporary modern when I was at university,” said Kate.
“Have you ever salsa danced?” Evelyn inquired.
“I have, actually,” she said. “I signed up for classes when I first movedto London; there was a great salsa club just off Regent Street that I used to go to quite a bit. You should try it! It’s great for keeping you limber.”
Evelyn pondered as she rang Kate’s shopping through the till.
“Maybe I will,” she said. “I’ll see if there are any evening classes in the Big Town. Does Mac dance?”
•••••
The club was forty-five minutes away. Her dad had offered to take her, but Kate wanted to drive. After the overindulgence of the last date, she had decided to stick to lemonade this time. The snow had held off, but the temperature had dropped and the night sky was thick and starless.
She was supposed to have received details and a photograph of her date via email, but the Lightning Strikes website had gone down. Instead they had tweeted to say that the date was still going ahead and that the reps would assign them their dates when they arrived.
In the foyer, three tables had been hastily set up and three nervous reps handed out name tags with a slip of paper attached to each, which had the name of their date scrawled on it in ballpoint pen.
Kate handed her coat and jumper in at the cloakroom and shivered in her strappy vest top and skinny jeans; she expected to get hot later from dancing, but for now, with the door to the foyer constantly opening, she felt goose bumps burst out over her arms.
Latin beats furled out from the club entrance, and Kate felt her hips twitch as she waited in line. The closer she got to the door, the more distinct the sounds; the siren call of saxophones and the sexy throb of bongos pulled at her body. Kate spotted her name tag and the scrap of paper attached that readDrew. She scooped them up and pushed at the red velvet doors to the club.
The sound swept over her. The bass pounded through the soles of herfeet and thrummed up through her body. It was impossible to stay still and Kate found herself wiggling where she stood. She ripped off the piece of paper that readDrewand fastened her name tag to her vest top.
The club was dark and hot. The dance floor was beginning to fill; couples locked into each other and moved with the music, swaying and grinding together as if under the spell of a snake charmer.
