This Could Change Everything(59)

‘And I wish I could wave a magic wand that would make everything better, but I can’t.’ Zillah paused. ‘Do you remember Elspeth asking you yesterday about the happiest day of your life?’

‘I do.’ Barbara was smiling. ‘And there was only one answer.’ She looked up at Zillah. ‘She’s already told you, hasn’t she? I can tell. Is that why you’re here?’

‘Like I said, I can’t produce a miracle.’ Zillah perched on the chair next to the bed. ‘But let’s just say I happen to know the place you mentioned to Elspeth, and I do have the beginnings of a plan.’

Outside the Frog and Ferret in Pucklechurch on Thursday night it was cold, miserable and raining cats and dogs.

Inside, it was raining men.

Conor shook his head with amusement as the multicoloured lights around the stage flashed in time with the music blaring out of the speakers and Caz, wielding her microphone with panache, gave the song her all.

Next to him, Belinda was clapping along and joining in with the chorus, as was everyone else in the pub. Of course ‘It’s Raining Men’ was Caz’s signature song; she was never going to be the ‘Ave Maria’ type. She was also wearing an eye-poppingly low-cut silver-and-white jumpsuit reminiscent of Elvis in his later years. But even Conor had to admit that she didn’t have a bad voice. She could hold a tune and entertain an audience. They were loving every minute.

And it was her birthday, so Conor had vowed to be nice to her for the entire evening. Which might be a stretch, but he was going to give it his best shot.

The song finally ended, to wild applause, and even Conor clapped. See? He could be nice. Up on the stage, Caz chose this moment to thank everyone for coming along tonight to help her celebrate and for letting her hog the karaoke.

‘. . . Still, if you can’t have everything your own way on your birthday, what’s the point of it all, eh?’ Her spiked-up hair quivered as she laughed. ‘Anyway, just to say thanks again to all of you, and here’s to the next year. Cheers!’

‘Cheers,’ echoed her captive audience, raising their glasses.

‘And while I’m up here, can I also say how brilliant it is to have my friend Belinda here tonight looking so happy. All thanks to me for finding her that guy over there with her. Give us a wave, Conor, so everyone can see you!’

‘No,’ said Conor to general laughter. ‘Stop trying to show me up.’

‘Ha, but it’s fun.’ She turned back to address her audience. ‘It’s OK, Conor doesn’t like me much and he gets right on my nerves, but that doesn’t matter because he and Belinda like each other a lot. And I’m just glad she’s found someone after all this time. Evie, do you like him? What’s your verdict, babe?’

Evie, allowed to join them because it was a special occasion, gave a thumbs-up. ‘I approve! He helped me with my maths homework last night, so he’s definitely all right with me.’

Which was embarrassing but also kind of nice at the same time, because Evie leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Everyone in the pub said, ‘Ahhh,’ and Belinda whispered, ‘Caz wouldn’t be doing all this if you got on her nerves. She loves you really.’ After a pause, she added, ‘And she’s not the only one.’

Which startled Conor until he saw her incline her head to the left and realised she meant Evie.

Someone else took to the stage and began belting out ‘Bat Out of Hell’, and Caz danced with Evie in front of the speakers. As he sat there watching them, his fingers entwined with Belinda’s, Conor realised that this was what it must be like to be a Z-list celebrity; despite never having met most of the other people here tonight, he was aware that they were watching him and talking about him.

Well, looked like he and Belinda were now officially a couple.

And really, who would have thought it? But then you never did know, did you, until it happened to you?

It still seemed impossible to believe that just two weeks ago, they hadn’t even been on their first date. Belinda’s endearing openness that evening had enabled them to admit that the attraction between them was mutual. The second date had taken place the next night, swiftly followed by date three the night after that. And now here they were, a recognised two-for-one item. Apart from the times spent working and sleeping, they’d scarcely been apart since.

It was a happy situation to be in. Belinda was great and so was her niece; getting along with Evie had been easy and a definite bonus. Although as Belinda had already told him, it was just as well. There was no way she’d be interested in a relationship with someone who wasn’t prepared to love Evie too.

Smiling to himself, Conor watched as Evie and Caz stomped their way around the dance floor Meatloaf-style while the music blared out. His phone began vibrating against his chest and he took it out of his shirt pocket. When Zillah’s name flashed up on the screen, he showed it to Belinda and mouthed over the blare of the karaoke machine: I’ll take it outside.

The music was still so loud in the corridor that Conor needed to step into the adjacent deserted skittle alley to escape it.

He pressed Answer and heard Zillah say, ‘Hello there, stranger! How are you?’

‘Everything’s great.’ He’d barely seen her this week, what with getting home so late each night and leaving early for work the next morning. ‘All going well.’