Grandpa cast me an uncomfortable look and fiddled with the red bow-tie I’d found him. ‘Let’s hope she’s not able to see me at the Senior Tea Dance.’
‘What do you mean?’
He grinned and gave me a wink. ‘I’m in the mood for a bit of romance.’
I let out a silent groan. Maybe I should have followed Aunty Karen’s advice and kept excitement to a minimum. It was too late now. As we turned to leave the master bedroom, I took another look around the impressive room. Once again it felt very Frank-inspired. There were so many personal touches for him and his late mother. It was like Maddie had been forgotten.
‘Are you coming?’ Grandpa asked, gesturing towards the bedroom door.
I nodded and suppressed the familiar knot of unease.
We made our way downstairs. I helped him put on his smart black shoes. As I was tying the last shoelace my phone began to ring. I grabbed it and saw that it was an unknown number. Maybe Humphrey had been found?
A woman answered. ‘Is that Rachel, the owner of the brown spaniel? One of our regulars saw a post on Facebook about your dog.’
‘Yes, it is.’
‘We have your dog. Come down to the Senior Tea Dance in the church hall. One of the ladies has him as he turned up at her house.’
‘What?’ I screeched. ‘I am coming down now.’
‘Grandpa, Humphrey is at the Tea Dance.’
Grandpa began to clap his hands. ‘That dog knows how to enjoy himself.’
I needed to grab my car keys and they were in the kitchen. ‘Let’s go get my keys.’ We made our way into the kitchen, and I looked up in shock as I saw Ben and Tom standing sipping cups of tea.
Tom’s face lit up at Grandpa in a designer suit. ‘Great suit.’
Loving the attention, Grandpa did a twirl and then a couple of model poses that made Tom and Ben laugh.
‘I’ve borrowed it from Frank,’ announced Grandpa. ‘It was Rachel’s idea. Don’t tell him. I am off to the Senior Tea Dance to break a few hearts.’
As I snatched my keys from the island counter, I noticed Ben giving me a worried look. Inside I was a ball of nervous energy. Letting Grandpa borrow one of Frank’s suits was a risk – but what I didn’t need was a smart-ass builder looking at me like I was a naughty child. ‘Mr Baxter loves his suits,’ exclaimed Ben. ‘Do you think that’s wise – letting your grandfather borrow it?’
Irritation at Ben the builder prickled at my neck and cheeks. Who the hell did he think he was? Had I asked for his advice? I snapped, ‘You stick to building the kitchen out there and I will sort out Grandpa.’
Tom turned away to chuckle and Ben stared at me.
As I drove us into Harp Brook, I couldn’t shake an uncomfortable feeling I had about the Christmas Senior Tea Dance. Grandpa was sat in the passenger seat of my car, dressed in Frank’s suit, and practising complicated arm gestures. His movements flooded me with worry: Grandpa was not going to sit on the sidelines.
We parked the car and Grandpa was like an excitable child in his eagerness to get inside. ‘Come on, Rachel, let’s go large at the Senior Tea Dance.’
In the little hall attached to the church, a six-piece band was setting up. Chairs and tables had been set out around the edges to make a dance floor. Under the twinkly lights, I could see a lot of senior partygoers in some fabulous and colourful outfits: lots of sequinned dresses, silver shoes, and multi-coloured bow ties.
I immediately felt underdressed in my jeans, an old blue shirt, boots, and coat.
Grandpa nudged me and pointed. There was Humphrey gazing up at an older lady in midnight blue, who was sitting on her own at a table. Grandpa and I made our way through a throng of tea-dance goers.
The band started to play, and the church hall came alive. A few couples left their chairs and walked onto the dance floor. I’d been aStrictly Come Dancingfan for years and I found my gaze drawn to the dancers.
Once the band finished their first song, I joined Grandpa who was standing by the older lady. Now I was closer, I could see that her midnight blue dress really was beautiful and she had grey curly hair which was pinned up at the back.
Grandpa outstretched his hand and introduced himself. ‘I’m Eric.’ He pointed at Humphrey. ‘That’s my granddaughter’s dog and he’s been missing all morning.’
The lady beamed at Humphrey. ‘This dog is the reason I am here.’
Grandpa asked if we could sit at her table. She nodded and smiled at the prospect of our company. ‘My name’s Dorothy. My husband passed away ten years ago, and we both enjoyed ballroom dancing.’ Dorothy gave Humphrey a pat. ‘I’ve been feeling a bit lonely lately. My daughter saw this event advertised and she’s been urging me to go.’ Dorothy smiled at Grandpa. ‘But it felt too overwhelming to come here so I’d decided to stay at home and carry on being lonely.’
