Where did your heart go? (The Heart Trilogy Book 1) (57 page)

             
“Dear James

Sorry for the delay in replying but as you can imagine the closer we get to the big event the more work I have to do just to stay ahead of the game. I have to admit that at this stage I am starting to feel very nervous as well as excited too. I hope that I will be able to find the time to see and speak to you but honestly don’t count on it if things get chaotic on the day!!

Just been down to check on progress on site and the stage is up and the dance floor has just been tested by Charlie and Mitchell – honestly you can’t take them anywhere without them spontaneously breaking into a dance routine!

I will arrange for Charlie to be at our place when you arrive on Saturday, I hope you were able to book some rooms at the nearby Premier Inn for the rest of the lads as undoubtedly I will be river side from around 7am in the morning to ensure everything is going to run smoothly. HELP!!!

Thanks for letting me know about your ex, I just needed to know as unfortunately I just don’t think I can ever forgive her for what she did to us. Although I am hoping that time will heal and I will be able to forget eventually.

Hope you are well, sorry I haven’t had much chance to talk or even to play you a song on the radio. I hope that some of the songs being played are reminding you of us??

If I’m not too frazzled I will give you a quick call on Friday night just to finalise everything and look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

             
Hectically yours

             
              Stephanie”

Closing up my laptop I noticed how late it was and I had yet another early start down by the river. Looking around I realised that Charlotte had done a great job on the cleaning and I had forgotten to thank her. Upstairs I paused by her door but as it was all silent I didn’t want to wake her to say goodnight. Slipping into my bed I heard my phone beep

“Goodnight Stephanie, I’m thinking about you”

It was from James so I sent the same words back and then closed my eyes. I was too tired to even dream as I slept soundly.

Chapter 67

At last some sunshine greeted me as my alarm went off just after six. Keeping my fingers crossed that this was a sign of the impending weekend weather I headed for the shower. Once again I walked down to the river and spotted John and another couple of guys from the electrical side of things. They all seemed on top of it so I left them too it and headed back through the town that was just starting to wake up. I paused and headed to the prospect to get a better view and snapped a picture on my phone, ready to share with the guys at the station later. I quickly sent it to James too.

“Here it is – the event of the century”

“Morning you early riser, it looks great. I can’t wait” he replied.

I smiled at the early riser mention and blushed as I thought about the many times I had woken to his early riser. The more I thought about the good times, the brighter they seemed and the bad times seemed to be fading more and more. I knew I would never forget that moment, how could I with scars that I could see? Saturday was going to be our moment as I knew already that I was going to agree to try again. In my mind I could hear George Michael speaking to me through the lyrics of Faith. Back at home I had enough time to prepare breakfast as I cooked some scrambled eggs and gave Charlie and Mitchell a shout.

As we all sat and ate in the kitchen Paul announced that my secret admirer was very early this morning with his request for “Nothings gonna stop us now” by Starship. Instantly I was transported to the evening we had watched “Mannequin” together. I closed my eyes even though I knew that Charlie and Mitch had stopped eating and were watching me as I mouthed the lyrics in time with the music.

             
“Let the world around us just fall apart

             
Baby we can make it if we’re heart to heart

             
And we can build this dream forever

             
Standing strong forever

             
Nothing’s gonna stop us now”

Grabbing my phone I quickly tapped in my reply, I knew that it couldn’t be anything other than the song that Paul started to play in reply. Leaning against the worktop I closed my eyes again as the emotions over took me. I could feel the tears of joy and relief starting to sparkle in the corner of my eyes. The wonderful combination of George Michael and Aretha Franklin as they sang “I knew you were waiting”

             
“Somehow I made it through the heartache

             
I escaped

             
I found my way out of the darkness, kept my faith

             
Kept my faith”

Perhaps deep down I had known that somehow by keeping my memories and heart locked up all this time that this moment of release would appear. Like a knight in shining armour galloping towards me, thundering hooves as my heart drummed. I had waited for so long. I experienced a moment of sheer release from all the darkness, hurt, anger and tears of my past. As the song came to an end, I wanted to hear it over and over again as I felt arms wrap themselves around me. Four arms as I opened my eyes to see my daughter and behind her Mitchell hugging me tightly. Tears of happiness were reflected back at me from the glistening green eyes of Charlie, my wonderful daughter Charlie.

Eventually we pulled apart and Mitchell handed me a nearby box of tissues as I watched him wipe the tears from Charlie’s cheeks. There was no need for me to say anything so instead I just smiled at both of them. Heading off to work I still heard the song playing on a continuous loop all the way in and then throughout the day. The whole office and studio were strung up on nerves as I seemed to just float through the day. After my show I popped out to do some shopping for the weekend before heading to the pub to meet Jack, Paul, Mark and Ian for our final discussion before the big day tomorrow.

When I walked in I spotted Jack and Paul already deep in conversation. I grabbed a drink at the bar and headed over as we waited for Mark and Ian to arrive.

“Hi Guys” I beamed, sitting down next to Jack.

“Hi Steph, you are looking radiant today” Jack said, kissing my cheek.

“Yes, you have been very weird all day” Paul said, grinning at me “Can’t you please tell us why” he pleaded.

“All will be revealed tomorrow” I said, feeling very smug.

“I’m sure Steph knows who her mystery man is as the requests this week have been too odd for people who don’t know each other” Paul continued.

“Have they” Jack asked “Sorry I’ve been too busy to hear any of them except for the two this morning” he finished. As Paul headed to the bar to get some more drinks as Ian and Mark joined him there Jack leaned over.

“Is it James” he whispered
.

“Yes it is, but don’t tell them” I replied.

With all of us now seated around the table we discussed the running order for the day.
As we were going to be broadcasting from the site for the whole day we split it all up into different two hour sessions. As I lived in Ross I would start in the morning and then do another couple of hours later in the afternoon. Finally Rick would finish things off with an hour long set from nine thirty until ten thirty before we wrapped things up at eleven.

“So should we do the Blind date thing before your daughter’s last dance which is before Rick?” Paul asked.

“That’s fine with me” I said, smiling.

“You don’t seem very nervous about meeting your mystery man?” Ian said.

“There’s too much to worry about for the rest of the day to that one moment. I’ll be fine, in fact I’m looking forward to it” I finished. Standing up I reached for my bag.

“Well, I’m heading home for a final site check and sound check before I get an early night” I said.

“See you in the morning” they all chorused and I left them ordering more pints.

Checking my phone before I set off I spotted a message from Charlie.

“We’re practising on the dance floor and they’re using our music to check the sound system, its brilliant”

“I’m heading home now so I’ll call by” I texted back, before I jumped in the car. As I nearer the car park I spotted that the pub was already busy with people enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. I walked along the path and I could hear the music floating through the air. A few people were walking along the path and many had stopped to take in the spectacle of the stage. I spotted Sarah and Chris heading in the same direction and hurried over to meet them.

“Charlie dropped us a text to say they were practising so we decided to come down” she said.

“I’m feeling really nervous now with it literally only being hours away when things get started” I said.

We paused to watch the girls start their new dance to “Troublemaker”. I spotted Mitch lounging on the grass, his eyes firmly routed to a single dancer. We wandered over and watched them all dancing.

“Hi Stephanie, Sarah, Chris” Mitchell said, standing up.

“Hi Mitch, how are things going” I asked.

“I wish the guys were here so we could have a full practice” he said “Would we get chance to have an early one tomorrow morning if they c
an make it down for between eight?”

“Yes, I’ll be here broadcasting from our bus over there” I pointed just to the side of the stage our large studio on the move.

“Great, I’ll let them all know, and Dad of course” he said. Pulling out his phone he got started as the girls moved on to “Sky fall”

When the music died Charlie raced over to us all and flopped down on the grass next to Mitch.

“Does it look ok” she asked
.

“Yes, but you need to extend more when you prepare for the splits” Mitch calmly mentioned. He pulled her close and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“From an audience point of view it was excellent” Chris said “I’m not as technical as Mitchell but I know what I like” he laughed.

“Anyone want a drink” Sarah asked. Everyone nodded as Mitch pulled Charlie back up and said
.

“Shall we have another practise” he asked.

“Yes” she breathed, as they handed a disc to the sound man and took to the dance floor. I watched as Mitchell danced alone to “Suit and Tie” before Charlie crossed from the far edge of the flooring, swaying her hips before reaching for an imaginary tie.

Suddenly my phone started to ring so I walked a little further away and noticed it was James calling.

“Hi James, how are you” I asked
.

“Fine Steph, I’ve just been trying to get hold of Mitchell but he’s not answering” he finished.

“He’s busy on the dance floor at the moment” I replied.

“Ok, just let him know that I will have
the lads over for around eight in the morning. Do I come straight to the river?” he asked.

“Yes, they’l
l be plenty of people around and I’ll be broadcasting until ten in the large bus” I said.

“Ok” he said “I’ll bring coffee and a bacon sandwich” he finished.

“Sounds great, I’ll tell security to let you in”

“You have security?” he asked in amazement
.

“Tomorrow I do, after all I have a blind date to meet who could be a deranged psychopath or axe murderer” I giggled.

“You never know, he might just turn out to be your hero” James said. I could hear him laughing too.

Hanging up the call I spotted Sarah heading towards me carrying a large glass of wine.

“I really need that” I said, taking it from her.

“Who was on the phone then” she asked.

“Just James trying to leave Mitchell a message” I said
.

“Anything else I should know about” she pushed.

“I have made up my mind to say yes” I said.

“You’re going to start dating again” she breathed, pulling me carefully into a hug as we avoided dropping our wine glasses.

“Do Charlotte and Mitchell know” she asked.

“I think they may have guessed this morning. I had a rather emotional epiphany in the kitchen this morning as Paul played
‘I knew you were waiting for me’ by George and Aretha”

“Does James
know?”

“I think the songs I have been playing for him this week may have hinted at the fact” I replied.

Heading back towards Chris we watched Charlie and Mitchell finally finish dancing again and head over for their drinks.

“I’m so excited Mum, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight” Charlie breathed, in dramatic fashion.

“I’d better get you drunk then” Mitch joked, as he reached over and squeezed her hand “Otherwise perhaps we’d better stay here and dance all night instead” he finished.

“Maybe” she said, a blush tinted her cheeks with a rosy glow.

As it was a nice evening we headed over to the benches outside the pub and ordered some food and more drinks. I found that I would occasionally drift off into my own p
rivate day dreams, imagining my joyful reunion tomorrow.

As we headed back through to the car I offered Sarah and Chris a lift home. Charlotte and Mitchell decided to walk.

“You should go through the churchyard to the prospect, the view of the set up looks fantastic from there” I said.

“Sounds good Mum” Charlie replied “We’ll see you in a little while” she finished. Linking hands they headed further along the river and then up into town. In the car Sarah and Chris said they would head down at around eleven. Dropping them off Sarah smiled broadly at me.

“I’ll let Chris know, just so he doesn’t say anything tomorrow. He’s still upset over what James did to you” she finished.

“I think he spoke to James at the bar in the hotel and warned him” I said.

“Well, good luck in the morning. We’ll be listening in as much as possible” Sarah finished. She kissed me though the open window of the car and then I pulled away. I raised my hand to wave and then headed slowly through the streets and home.