It was eight o’clock and I was helping the band set up. They’d brought their own kit, but were using the hotel’s microphones. There was a bit of a wobble when a lead didn’t quite reach a socket, but an extension cord was produced by the hotel manager after lead singer Sienna offered him tickets for their next London show.
Sean, the drummer, was being an incorrigible flirt – telling my mum that she had to be my sister because there was no way she was a day over forty. She was chuffed, but I’m not sure I was.
Lucy, Gav and Mike arrived after dinner. Pete had insisted they come once he knew the lengths they’d gone to to find a band for him. My dad hassled the waiters for three extra meals, and like magic, another threepoulets à la provençaleappeared.
I was sitting by the side of the stage when the band struck up.
‘How are you doin’?’ yelled Sienna, like she was addressing a stadium of paying fans. ‘You ready to rock this fucking place?’
Oops.My parents hated swearing. But when I looked over at their smiling faces, they were obediently nodding their heads like everyone else.
The band played a couple of their own songs, then switched to a Rolling Stones medley that even had the oldies on the dance floor. They ended with ‘Wild Horses’, which had everyone pairing off to slow-dance, including my parents. Pete was in the middle, swaying to the music with Alice. When he caught me looking at Mum and Dad, he mouthed ‘Wow!’
As the chorus began, Lucy slumped into the seat next to me.
‘You okay, Luce?’
She let out a long breath. ‘Yeah.’
‘Thanks for your help in finding a band.’
‘It was fun. People were surprisingly helpful. I must have left messages for twenty-five people and they all got back to me within half an hour. Everyone except Nick Jones.’
The mention of his name made me stiffen, but Lucy didn’t seem to notice. ‘He didn’t get back to me at all,’ she went on. ‘Bit rude.’
‘He’s out of the country,’ I said, as casually as I could.
She turned to face me, but didn’t say anything.
We were into the second verse of ‘Wild Horses’. It really was a pretty song.
Gavin was nursing a drink a couple of tables over. He was wearing jeans and trainers, but in his defence they were his smartest jeans and his cleanest trainers. The white soles looked showroom clean.
When I turned back to Lucy, she was looking at him and frowning.
Poor Gav. Lucy really wasn’t interested. I waited for her to comment on something he’d done that had annoyed her, but instead, she took the wine glass out of my hand, downed it, then strode over to Gavin.
I couldn’t hear what she said to him, but I didn’t need to. The look of amazement on Gav’s face told me everything. She pulled him to his feet, walked him to the dance floor and wrapped her arms around his neck. Gav’s expression had meanwhile morphed from abject disbelief to pure joy. He gingerly placed his hands around her waist, and the two of them started swaying to the music.
If I hadn’t witnessed the entire thing with my own eyes, I’d have never believed it. I felt ridiculously proud, like a mother hen watching her hatchlings find their feet.
When the song ended, and the band launched into their own material, Gav and Lucy stayed on the dance floor. They might not have been locked in an embrace any longer, but their shoulders and hips were angled towards each other even if their heads were turned towards the band.
After a quarter of an hour, as the set was coming to an end, I went to the corner of the room to ready the next playlist. But lead singer Sienna seemed to have other ideas.
‘And now, we’ve got a very special treat for you,’ she shouted over the noise of the crowd. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for Miss Marcie Tyler.’
I froze.
Whatdid she just say?
A roar went up from the assembled guests as a tall figure in a long black dress climbed onto the stage from the opposite side.
Jesus. It was really her. Marcie Tyler singing at my brother’s wedding.
She beamed at the audience. ‘What a good-looking bunch you are.’ She pointed at Pete. ‘Especially you, young man, but I gather you’re taken.’
Pete went red and everyone laughed.
