Dirty Dancing at the Picture House By The Sea

by Holly Hepburn

  ‘I don’t believe this,’ Ben said, staring at the static seat with an incredulous expression. ‘What use is a swivel seat that doesn’t swivel?’

  The delivery man shrugged. ‘Must be a faulty batch. You can order some more online.’

  Ben stared at him. ‘And risk the same thing happening again? No thanks. Besides, these need to be in place for Saturday – we haven’t got time to re-order.’

  Gina gave the seat an experimental prod. It didn’t move. ‘What we need is an expert in mechanical engineering,’ she said with a sigh. ‘How about your mates at the Bodmin Railway Preservation trust? They seem to know a lot about this kind of thing.’

  ‘Steam mechanics, yes,’ Ben replied, doubtfully. ‘But swivel seats might be a different kettle of fish entirely.’

  ‘Ask, please,’ Gina suggested and passed a weary hand over her eyes. ‘They might be our only hope before Saturday.’

  She left him working his way through his contacts and went to find Gorran. He was in his newly redecorated office, gazing at the plain white walls and bank of filing cabinets with a bemused expression. ‘You look like a character from one of your arthouse flicks, Gorran,’ Gina said, when he failed to turn around as she opened the door. ‘Is everything okay?’

  ‘Hmmm?’ he said, twitching at the sound of her voice. ‘Sorry, Gina, what can I do for you?’

  ‘Stop staring at the wall and start sorting out all these papers,’ Gina said, waving a hand at the boxes of papers that Gorran needed to put away. ‘If this place catches fire after all this hard work, I will not be happy.’

  After lunch, she and Gorran and Ben went on a tour of the building, looking for issues. And they found plenty, from faulty toilet door locks to a sticky curtain mechanism that meant only half the screen could be seen. There were still a few finishing touches to be made to the gilt-work, although Ben and Davey both assured Gina it would be finished by the end of the day, to allow time for it to dry and the paint fumes to dissipate.

  ‘This is the list of things that need attention,’ Gina said, holding up a page of an A4 notepad that was almost filled with items to be fixed. ‘We’ve got a lot to do.’

  ‘Top of the list are the seats,’ Ben said, glancing towards the screening room. ‘I’ve got some friends on their way who might be able to help.’

  ‘And if they can’t?’ Gorran looked alarmed.

  ‘Then we can’t re-open this Saturday,’ Ben said, with a sigh. ‘We’ll have to postpone.’

  ‘Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,’ Gina said. ‘I’m not sure I can cope with another week of this.’

  Ben caught her arm as she was about to go back into the screening room. ‘Hey, is everything okay? You’ve very quiet.’

  Gina tried her hardest to smile. ‘It’s nothing. Stress, mostly. You know it’s bad when you dream about snagging.’

  ‘Welcome to my world,’ Ben said, pulling a face. ‘I have those dreams all the time, although I’m usually naked too. But I’m sorry you’re stressed – is there anything I can do to help?’

  For a heartbeat or two, Gina wondered about asking Ben to talk to Max, to make him understand that he had no reason to be intimidated or threatened, and to explain that Gina’s version of events was the right one. But she knew it wouldn’t help; her problems with Max were for the two of them to work through. And Ben had enough on his plate here at the Palace. ‘Honestly, I’m fine,’ she told him, doing her best to smile. ‘Just get the seats sorted by Saturday and I’ll be even better.’

  He touched her arm and lowered his voice so that Gorran wouldn’t hear. ‘It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me what’s wrong right now. But I will always be there if you want to talk.’ He paused and sighed with what sounded like extreme embarrassment. ‘Except for when I fall asleep on your sofa.’

  *

  ‘Gina, mia bella, how are you?’

  Elena slipped a sympathetic arm around Gina’s shoulders and squeezed as they stood outside the Palace.

  Gina did her best to smile. ‘I’m fine, Nonna. Don’t worry.’

  ‘You are not fine,’ Elena clucked. ‘You are brave but you are not fine.’

  It was Saturday afternoon and the stage was finally set for the Palace grand re-opening in just over an hour’s time. The paint was dry, the seats finally swivelled where they were meant to, thanks to Ben’s colleagues at the Bodmin Railway Preservation Society who’d identified and fixed the problem on thirty chairs, and the gremlins in the electrical system seemed to have finally been evicted. The building wasn’t quite snag free but Gina knew when to quit; it was as close to perfect as it was going to get.

  The mayor of Polwhipple was due to attend the re-opening ceremony, along with half the town, and Nick Borrowdale had agreed to cut the ribbon. It was the moment Gina had been working towards for the best part of two months and she wished she could enjoy it. But she still hadn’t heard from Max and was now see-sawing between inconsolable misery and rage that Max could put her in such an impossible position. There wasn’t even any way she could talk it through with him; he was still ignoring her messages and refusing to take her calls. Nonna was right – she wasn’t fine. But at the same time, she didn’t have the luxury of being able to wallow in misery. She had too much to do for that.

  ‘Is everything ready over at Ferrelli’s?’ she asked.

  Elena nodded and for the first time in Gina’s life, she thought her grandmother looked nervous. ‘I think so. Today is a big day for me too.’

  Gina nodded. After decades of refusing to allow his wife to have any input into the gelato recipes he served at Ferrelli’s, Ferdie had finally relented and allowed her to make a Tiramisu flavour. Today was its debut and both Gina and Elena hoped it would prove popular with Polwhipple’s residents. ‘It’s going to be fine,’ she assured Elena. ‘Just wait and see.’

  Ben appeared around the corner, smartly dressed in a crisp white shirt and dark jeans. ‘Everything is set,’ he said, once he was close enough to Gina. ‘Tash has the film all ready to run, just as soon as everyone is settled into their seats.’

  ‘And Nick?’ Gina asked, certain that they were going to lose their guest of honour before he could cut the ribbon and open the cinema.

  ‘In the Mermaid’s Tail, discussing cider with Jory and most of the women in the county, I think,’ Ben said, grinning.

  Gina wanted to smile too but her face felt permanently frozen into a frown these days. ‘What about Gorran? Where’s he?’

  ‘Last time I saw him, he was inside with Tash.’ Ben aimed a concerned look her way. ‘Relax, Gina, it’s all going to be fine. Look, here comes Nick and his fan club now.’

  Sure enough, there was the star of Smugglers’ Inn, surrounded by a large crowd of adoring fans. ‘I’d better go and rescue him,’ Ben said, hurrying towards the actor.

  Elena leaned closer to Gina. ‘Ben doesn’t know about you and Max?’

  Gina shook her head. ‘No. It seems simpler this way. Besides, what can he do? Max and I need to work through this on our own.’

  Her grandmother pursed her lips, as though there was something she wanted to say, but Ben was on his way back, with Nick in tow, and there was no time.

  Gina dredged up a friendly smile. ‘This shouldn’t take too long, Nick. All you need to do is cut the ribbon, using the scissors Gorran passes you, and say something along the lines of “I now declare this cinema open” and then there’ll be a few pictures for the local paper.’

  Nick smiled. ‘Got it.’

  ‘After that, you’re free to hang about for the screening we’ve got planned, or you can head off if you’d rather,’ Gina said.

  ‘What film are you showing?’ Nick asked, looking interested.

  ‘We’ve gone totally old school,’ Gina replied. ‘It’s Casablanca, which was actually the first film the Palace ever showed, back when it first opened.’

  ‘Perfect,’ Nick said, and he raised one perfectly arched eyebrow. ‘Play it again, Sam.’

  Gin
a was sure she heard Elena let out a tiny sigh beside her. ‘The crowds are starting to build up,’ she said, nodding at the tape they’d strung between poles to create a perimeter. She checked the time – less than half an hour to go. ‘Okay, let’s get everyone into place.’

  ‘Good luck,’ Elena whispered.

  ‘Thanks,’ Gina muttered in reply. She’d planned almost every detail of the re-opening and gone over it in her mind a hundred times; she might not be able to control her personal life but she was determined to keep her work running smoothly. Nothing could go wrong today – she wouldn’t allow it…

  *

  ‘Anyone who knew me growing up knows that I spent every spare moment in a cinema like this one,’ Nick said to the enormous crowd gathered outside the Palace. There were so many people there that they spilled along the promenade and the car park, and even down onto the beach. ‘I can honestly say that without that cinema, I wouldn’t be the actor I am now. So I’m especially delighted to be helping this building to re-open and inspire even more cinema-goers.’

  Gorran passed the actor a large pair of sliver scissors and he cut the ribbon that was placed between the Art Deco panels of the cinema’s silver and glass double doors. ‘I now declare the Palace open all over again!’

  The crowd burst into applause as Gorran heaved the doors back and began to usher people inside. ‘Those of you lucky enough to have tickets, please don’t forget to visit our world-famous ice-cream concession, Ferrelli’s, to try their delicious new flavour,’ he said jovially. ‘Do help yourselves to complimentary cocktails from the bar. And finally, when you’re ready, please take your seats for Casablanca at the picture house by the sea.’

  Gina hung back, watching the ticket holders file into the refurbished cinema, while Nick chatted to those who didn’t have tickets. Ben watched her watching him. ‘Can you believe it? We did it – we actually pulled this crazy job off.’

  Gina laughed. ‘I must admit, there were times when I really thought we’d bitten off more than we could chew.’

  ‘Honestly?’ he asked. ‘I had plenty of moments when I thought we were doomed. But we got through them.’

  ‘We did. I’ve told you before, we make a good team. I knew we’d get there in the end.’

  Ben smiled. ‘But it was mostly down to your skill and determination. Has anyone ever told you you’re a remarkable person, Gina Callaway?’

  To Gina’s horror, her eyes started to fill with tears. ‘Not recently.’

  ‘Well, you are. And I’m not quite as suave as Nick but—’ He reached down and took her hand. ‘Here’s to a wonderful friendship.’

  Gina blinked as hard as she dared and did her best to smile. ‘Thanks, Ben. You have no idea how much that means right now.’

  ‘You’re welcome,’ he said. And, hand in hand, they walked in through the double doors to watch Casablanca.

  End of Part Three

  COMING SOON

  SOME LIKE IT HOT AT THE PICTURE HOUSE

  BY THE SEA

  by

  HOLLY HEPBURN

  Holly Hepburn has wanted to write books for as long she can remember but she was too scared to try. One day she decided to be brave and dipped a toe into the bubble bath of romantic fiction with her first novella, Cupidity, and she’s never looked back. She often tries to be funny to be funny, except for when faced with traffic wardens and border control staff. Her favourite things are making people smile and Aidan Turner.

  She’s tried many jobs over the years, from barmaid to market researcher and she even had a brief flirtation with modelling. These days she is mostly found writing.

  She lives near London with her grey tabby cat, Portia. They both have an unhealthy obsession with Marmite.

  Follow Holly on Twitter @ HollyH_Author.

  First published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2017

  A CBS company

  Copyright © Tamsyn Murray, 2017

  This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.

  No reproduction without permission.

  ® and © 1997 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

  The right of Tamsyn Murray to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-4711-6396-8

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.