A look of confusion crossed Barney’s brow before he told her, ‘I was younger when I first started organising it. Maybe someone else needs to take over, or it should be stopped all together.’ He didn’t let her get another word in. ‘I’d like to go inside now.’
‘I can’t see it,’ said Harvey, who had gone back to working, moving the new hinge into place while he addressed Barney. ‘I can’t see you leaving Heritage Cove, let alone living with a load of people way older than you.’
While the sounds of a drill filled the air Melissa helped Barney stand up and take hold of the walking frame.
‘You kids hang out here as long as you like.’ Barney brushed away her hand again when she tried to accompany him. ‘I’m fine to go back to the house on my own.’
‘We can’t let him do this,’ she told Harvey the second Barney was out of earshot, across the courtyard and in through the door. How could Barney even think of leaving his home with its special memories, the times he treasured as much as they did?
‘Stubborn as anything, that man.’ Harvey shook his head and fixed the last screw in place. He tested the hinge by closing the door on that side.
‘He was never that pig-headed before, was he?’
‘You must’ve been away so long you’ve forgotten.’ He held up both hands, the old hinge clasped in one before he dropped it into his toolbox. ‘Not having a go at you, just saying. He’s always been determined.’ His brow creased. ‘But never quite this adamant on doing something so out of character.’
Looking around the barn as she wondered what to do to convince Barney he wasn’t too old for any of this, she spotted a collection of black-and-white photographs lining the wall behind the stage. She went past the hay bales on one side and started working her way along the pictures. Each had a date on the top. There was the summer Wedding Dress Ball of 1997, the first in the collection that she could remember. She would’ve been ten years old then, too young to attend but not too young to admire those who did. She moved along, recollecting a few of the other occasions, some faces old, some new, and stopped in her tracks at one year’s photograph, of a crowd of people dancing. Her parents were in the middle, smiles on their faces, sharing a look only between themselves. She put her fingers to their faces, she knew they’d hate to know she’d left Heritage Cove behind so brutally without turning back.
She moved along, taking in all the scenes, and stopped when she got to the picture of the ball the summer before she left. She was wearing a white dress with a halterneck that she’d found in a charity shop. Harvey’s mum had sewn delicate little flowers all over it for her and it felt as special as something she’d had designed for herself. She and Harvey were dancing in this photograph, their faces full of excitement at their adventures ahead. They’d not only talked about moving away and European sights they could finally see, but also about settling in this part of the country, perhaps even back in Heritage Cove, when they returned.
Melissa took another step so she was facing the photograph of the following year. She knew she wouldn’t be in that one or any of the subsequent pictures either. ‘When did Barney put all these up?’ she asked Harvey, who was packing up the last of his tools as she got to the end of the collection.
‘I did it for him last year for his birthday.’ He came to stand by her and look at the photographs himself. ‘This barn has been many things over the years, but its biggest claim has to be the ball.’
‘Barney has to see it through again this year and every year.’
‘I don’t know, maybe he’s right, maybe he’s getting too old.’ When she shot him a look he smiled, ‘No, you’re right. The Wedding Dress Ball is a part of him as much as he’s a part of it.’
‘What can we do?’
‘To make him change his mind? I’d say, not a lot.’
‘Then we’ll have to help. With the ball. Between us we’ll have to put the event on.’
Harvey laughed until he realised she wasn’t joking. ‘I’ve never organised an event in my life – unless you count my mum’s sixtieth, which was tea and cakes for a group of eight.’
‘Come on, how hard can it be?’
‘I’m not being funny, but you’re only here for a few weeks, aren’t you? So who’s going to take charge when you run off again?’
She ignored the low blow. ‘I’ll hang around for longer.’
‘Don’t you have a job? A boyfriend? A life?’
‘All of that can wait, this is more important.’
He stood staring at her as though he couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth and she only hoped it showed how much she still cared, how much she loved Barney and this village despite turning her back. A person could have both, couldn’t they? They could have roots and wings. You didn’t have to sacrifice one for the other.
‘Come on, Harvey. We have to do this. What do you say?’
‘I say I wouldn’t even know where to start. If you want to organise it then go ahead, but count me out.’
She ignored the resistance. ‘We could talk to Barney, find out all we can. I think if he sees the event going ahead he won’t be able to help himself. He’ll want to be involved, he’ll realise it can’t be the end. And, I think it might stop all this talk of moving into an old people’s home.’
‘You always did get carried away with plans,’ Harvey grinned. ‘All right, you talk to him. But I’m not committing to anything.’
‘Fine.’
As they walked outside to the courtyard and over to Harvey’s truck, where he put his toolbox into the tray at the back, she asked, ‘What made you come here so quick today? When I saw you in The Street earlier I got the impression you wouldn’t be over for a while. Were you checking up on me, to see if I’d been able to get Barney to at least look at the list of exercises he should be doing?’
