Page 81 of Merrily Ever After
She smiled fondly at me and squeezed my arm. ‘That’s your maternal instincts kicking in,mein Schatz.’
But there was no time to go anywhere, because the next second, the teacher raised his hands in front of the choir and pointed at the student in control of the music and a few cheers rang out as the audience recognised the first few bars of ‘White Christmas’.
As the music rose in volume and the children began to sing, every single person was mesmerised. Teaspoons stopped rattling on saucers, feet stopped shuffling across the carpet and conversations all around the room came to an abrupt halt.
Gradually, the audience started to join in, their older voices uniting with the young ones to produce such a joyous sound that within seconds the tissue I’d had at the ready was damp. There was a booming tenor somewhere behind me and a tremulous soprano from a glamourous silver-haired lady on the sofa. Even Astrid was humming softly under her breath.
‘They are amazing,’ I whispered, brushing tears from my face.
‘Wunderbar,’ Astrid agreed, blowing her nose.
It wasn’t just their voices, it was the way some of the kids were performing, as if they were on stage at Wembley singing to an adoring crowd. A couple of the smaller ones had bells, which they shook with great enthusiasm. There were even a couple of lads who grabbed their crotch and pointed a finger out to the audience, which was all kinds of inappropriate but hilarious too.
The stallholders, the visitors, the residents, even the staff had stopped to listen. The music had brought everyone together.
And then the next verse began.
The choir fell silent all except one person: Harley.
Astrid and I gasped in unison and glanced at each other.A solo?
‘Meine Gute,’ Astrid muttered.
‘Oh my goodness,’ I said at the same time.
I held my breath, one hand pressed to my chest and the other gripping Astrid’s arm as I willed him on.
The audience stopped singing so as not to drown out this young voice as it rang out across the room, so clear and pure, with just the occasional wobble when he hit the high notes. The girl beside him slipped her hand into his, her face glowing with pride.
When Harley got to the line about your day being merry and bright, he looked my way and smiled, and I tried to smile back, but it was virtually impossible because I was trying so hard not to sob. I only managed a grimace, but it didn’t matter; he could see I was proud of him. Probably the proudest I’d ever been of anyone.
Harley’s solo ended, and everyone came together again to belt out the chorus and I finally let out the breath I’d been holding and blinked away the tears. Harley exhaled and pulled off his hat to rake a hand through his hair and the sight of his dark red hair, just like Cole’s, brought a warm smile to my face. I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a photo, sending it in a WhatsApp message to Cole to share the moment with him. Out of the corner of my eye, another woman raised her phone to do the same. Another emotional mum presumably. Or stepmum, I thought with a grin.
It had been worth coming to this fair just to witness this moment. I didn’t care if I didn’t sell another candle; seeing that Harley had found his tribe and was finally fitting in at school was all the reward I needed for today.
‘He is a black horse,’ said Astrid, shaking her head. ‘He kept that talent hidden.’
‘A dark horse indeed,’ I replied, correcting her. ‘I can’t wait to tell Cole how magnificent he was. And Lydia too.’
The song came to an end, and I jumped to my feet, my arms raised above my head, and shouted for more, until Astrid tugged my sleeve and made me sit down.
The next song began and the choir, buoyed by the success of their first number, linked arms and began swaying side to side, belting out that it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. A male member of staff asked one of the residents to dance and then other staff followed suit. Before long, there were quite a few up on their feet, moving in time with the music, and a new party atmosphere took over the room.
My cheeks were still wet with tears, and I was so wrapped up with finding a dry tissue to mop them up that it took me a while to notice that I had a new customer.
‘Hello,’ I said, quickly blowing my nose. ‘Sorry, I didn’t see you there, children singing gets me every time.’
‘Hello, again.’ The blonde woman in front of me smiled shyly. ‘I don’t know if you remember, but we’ve met before. My name’s Emily.’
Chapter Twenty-Five
Emily
12 DECEMBER
Emily’s heart was racing, and her stomach was in knots; she’d done it, she’d introduced herself to her sister.
She’d given herself until the end of ‘White Christmas’ to decide whether to approach her or not. Her head had told her to stay sitting by her dad, to do nothing and say nothing. Because if she walked up and started to talk without having prepared first, it could go terribly wrong. Unfortunately, as soon as the music stopped, Emily’s heart took over.
