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Alex looked at her watch. Twelve thirty, and the barn was already filling up. They’d decided to use the larger area because of the number of people coming today, and she had taken the previous day off work to help clear the space. Early this morning, a group of men had turned up with a van and erected a stage, messed around with amplifiers and microphones until everything was exactly to their liking and then left again. And now nothing seemed to be happening.
‘Where is he? Suppose they don’t turn up?’ she whispered frantically to Rhona.
‘You said it yourself—Leo’s never early. We’ve got another half an hour.’
/> ‘Yes, but...’ They’d brought all of these people down here on the promise of an unspecified music performance, after Leo had pointed out that making what they were planning public was likely to bring an influx of outsiders that they couldn’t cope with. They had a sound stage and equipment, but there had been no word from Leo.
She pulled out her phone and looked at it. Nothing. And it was impossible that Leo didn’t have his phone with him. He’d call if there was a problem.
‘You just want to see him,’ Rhona observed sagely.
‘No...’ Yes, actually. ‘At the moment I’d just like to see someone on that stage...’
Suddenly the door at the far end of the barn, next to the stage, opened. Her father ushered Leo through it and Alex’s heart thumped in her chest. Then a young man walked through the door, climbing up onto the stage.
Bobby Carusoe. The name was passed around the scattered audience like a brush fire. Six number one hits in a row. The young star who had taken both America and Europe by storm and who was in the UK for six weeks between tours. Every teenage girl’s dream.
Every head turned towards him, mouths gaping open. Bobby picked up a microphone and addressed the stunned crowd.
‘Is everyone here yet?’
‘No...’ Rhona shouted at the top of her voice, from where she and Alex were standing at the back. ‘It’s supposed to start at one o’clock...’
‘Then there’s time to meet everyone.’ A communal gasp went up. ‘But first I’d like you all to meet a good friend of mine.’
‘Friend?’ Alex hissed at Rhona, ‘What’s he done now? Leo didn’t say anything about a friend.’
‘Oh, my giddy aunt...’ Rhona nodded towards the stage, where Leo was helping a young woman in high heels and a shimmering dress up the steps. She ran towards Bobby, smiling up at him when he put his arm around her shoulder. ‘It’s Aleesha.’
Bobby and Aleesha waved and everyone waved back. Then Aleesha put her finger to her lips, and everyone fell silent.
‘Bobby and I have a new album, due to come out next week. And we thought you might like to be the first to hear some of the songs.’
A deafening ‘Yes!’ sounded through the barn, and Alex nudged Rhona in the ribs.
‘I didn’t know that. What on earth are they going to sing together?’ Bobby was known for his soulful love songs, but Aleesha’s style was more upbeat. It didn’t seem as if they had an awful lot in common.
‘Who cares? They’re here, aren’t they?’
Bobby jumped down from the stage and lifted his arms to swing Aleesha down next to him. Alex moved forward, afraid that there might be a crush around them, but Leo was there with another man and the carefully calculated child to helper ratio meant that everyone kept relatively calm. Bobby and Aleesha split up, obviously intent on getting to speak to everyone, however briefly.
Alex was trembling. She’d been unsure about Leo’s idea at first, knowing that it might be difficult to control a barn full of teenagers in the presence of a pop idol. But they’d talked it through and Leo had answered all of her questions. Bobby’s people would be instructed to stay back, and treat the kids with care and respect, and there would be enough adults there to make sure that there was no risk of injury to anyone. And he’d been right. Although everyone was excited, the event was well under control.
Leo was making his way over to her, stopping briefly to exchange a few words with some of the teenagers and their parents. The thought that Bobby and Aleesha were here, in her dad’s barn, and that they were going to sing, paled into insignificance. Leo was here, and he was making straight for her.
‘You made it.’ She smiled up at him.
‘Always do.’ He grinned back.
‘What are they going to sing? I can’t imagine that they’d find anything that they both liked, let alone could sing together.’
‘The new album’s all oldies. Some rock and roll, a few ballads, done in their own way. It’s interesting.’
‘You’ve heard it?’
‘They played it in the car on the way down.’
‘How did you swing this, Leo? Bobby and Aleesha?’
