Snowflakes Over Bay Tree Terrace (Willowbury)

by Fay Keenan

  He belted off to grab a glass of water before he was needed for the next act, which was a much more terrifying prospect, being that he had to ‘overhear’ the other men discussing Beatrice’s love for Benedick and then react accordingly, declaring to the audience that he, too, felt the same. Suddenly, flying helicopters on and off ships in stormy seas seemed like a much easier prospect. He wondered if it was too late to re-enlist before the second half started.

  ‘All right, mate?’ Rob asked on his way back to take position for the next act.

  Sam nodded. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the onslaught of Act Two. Remembering, as the curtain went up, that in half an hour he’d be kissing Florence in public in front of most of Willowbury, he felt his stomach flip again; but this time, he wasn’t sure if was nerves or excitement.

  21

  ‘Breathe,’ Florence whispered to herself from the other side of the wings. The play was almost finished, and in a moment she and Sam would be onstage performing their final scenes, including the kiss that they’d never really committed to in the dress rehearsal.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Amy, the student playing Hero glanced at Florence.

  Going into teacher mode, Florence tried to smile reassuringly. ‘I’m fine.’

  But, inside, all she could think about was the kiss that was coming. The prospect of locking lips with him on stage in public was terrifying. She tried to keep telling herself that real actors did it all the time; that kissing someone while acting was just work for them. Somehow, though, given the unexpected circumstances, this felt about as far from work as it was possible to be.

  ‘Come on,’ Amy said, taking Florence’s hand. ‘We’re up.’

  Florence took a deep breath and strode onstage for the final scene, which, in this version of Much Ado involved a proposal of marriage, the villain being ducked in a pan of cider and a tentative but not definite reunion between the play’s other couple, Hero and Claudio. There was no doubt that the marriage proposal was the centre of the action, though, with Beatrice and Benedick literally centre stage for it.

  ‘Take the man away… he needs to dry off before we decide what to do with him tomorrow,’ Sam, as Benedick, intoned from the other side of the stage.

  A dripping-wet Chris Charlton was pulled from the cider pan and led offstage by Aidan to boos and cheers from the audience.

  ‘And now,’ George, the older man who was playing Leonato, said, ‘don’t you think it’s about time you confessed to Beatrice exactly how you feel about her?’

  Sam paused for a moment, and Florence’s heart lurched as that moment extended into two or three more beats. Had Sam forgotten his line? Had he frozen up now, at the very end of the show? Was it the thought of the stage kiss that had thrown him?

  She drew a deep breath as she stood, stage left, waiting for Amy to pull her forward to the centre so that she and Sam could play their final scene.

  Just as Chris Charlton, who was waiting soggily in the wings, was about to open his mouth to prompt Sam, he finally spoke. ‘I don’t know what you mean. There’s nothing between Beatrice and me.’ He took a step forward, and Florence’s knees went weak with relief.

  ‘Of course not!’ Rob ‘Don Pedro’ Henshaw laughed, grabbing the prop mobile phone from the back pocket of Sam’s trousers. ‘That’s why you’ve been drafting lovey-dovey texts to her ever since you found out she loved you.’ There followed a couple of great belly laughs from the audience and the actors themselves as Rob improvised a couple of lines to represent the texts.

  ‘Well, I don’t fancy him!’ Florence said, when the laughter onstage and off had abated. ‘I wouldn’t marry him if he was the last person on Earth!’

  ‘Sure,’ Amy, as Hero, responded. ‘But even you can’t argue with the pictures on your Instagram account – or are you going to tell me you’ve been hacked?’ She waved another mobile phone out at the audience. ‘This meme in particular’s very telling… “Love is best when it’s found in unexpected places”. Awww!’

  A hush descended over the audience and the players on stage as Florence took the phone from Rob and Sam took the other one from Amy. Circling around each other, initially with their backs facing, they came together, smiling at the screens, as directed by Josie, for a count of three. Then, in perfect harmony, they raised their heads, their eyes locked and their hands fell to their sides again.

  ‘I think it’s time we stopped pretending,’ Sam said softly as he slipped an arm around Florence. ‘And admitted to everyone how we really feel.’

  ‘I will if you will,’ Florence replied, her voice channelling Beatrice, but her pulse jumping wildly in counterpoint.

  ‘Then let’s stop talking,’ Sam said. And with that, his mouth was upon hers and he was kissing her. Florence gasped as she realised that this wasn’t quite what she’d been expecting. Whether Sam was carried away in the moment, or whether he’d just forgotten what they’d talked through, Florence found she didn’t care. Responding with equal passion, she kissed him back, until his arms slid around her and, thankfully, as actually rehearsed, he lifted her off her feet. As the hackneyed strains of the ‘Wedding March’ echoed through the priory performance space, Sam returned her to her feet, and, both smiling, they turned to face the audience, all of whom were applauding rapturously.

  As the cast took their bows in turn, the whoops and cheers from the crowd intensified, and Florence was glad to be joined onstage by the rest of the cast, and then Josie. She realised that Sam still had hold of her hand, and she gave him a sidelong glance, tickled and exhilarated to see the relief and enjoyment on his face. They’d done it!

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ Josie called over the applause as it started to die away. ‘Thank you so much for coming tonight. As I’m sure many of you know, there was a last-minute change of cast, and Sam Ellis here has been thrust into the spotlight.’

  Cheers and more whoops greeted this news as Josie turned and gestured to Sam to come forward again.

  ‘I think you’ll all agree that he did an excellent job at the eleventh hour, and with great reluctance, so thank you, Sam.’

  ‘Bravo!’ came a voice from the front row.

  Florence grinned as she saw Tom waving one of his crutches in the air in appreciation. She was glad that he’d taken it all in good humour, given that this should have been his moment in the local limelight.

  Florence felt a warmth spreading through her as she saw Sam’s smile of embarrassment and pleasure at the recognition. As he stepped back to join the rest of the cast behind Josie, she squeezed his hand again.

  ‘I’m delighted to announce that we’re well on the way to raising two thousand pounds from tickets and refreshment sales from tonight, which will benefit the very worthy cause of the Somerset Air Ambulance.’

  More applause, and Florence’s eyes were drawn to the back row of the performance space, where a small group of people was waving wildly in Sam’s direction.

  ‘They must have got wind that I was actually going to be in it,’ Sam murmured into Florence’s ear as he gave a slight wave back to the other members of the SAA crew. ‘I’ll never hear the end of it at work!’

  ‘You were great,’ she whispered back. ‘Really. Well done.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Sam’s breath tickled her ear. ‘So were you.’

  The cast headed off stage, and Florence’s spine started to tingle. As relieved as she was that the performance was over, she couldn’t help feeling a sense of disappointment, too. That kiss onstage with Sam had been breathtaking; but was it the end of something, or just the beginning?

  22

  ‘Darling, you were spectacular!’ Florence heard Tom say as she saw him rushing as fast as he could to her side as soon as he’d got backstage. Sending several cast members flying with his crutches, he flung his arms around her.

  ‘Thanks,’ Florence gasped as Tom finally released her.

  ‘Of course, if I hadn’t had to bow out at the last moment, we’d have been epic together,’ Tom grumbled, b
ut he brightened visibly when he spotted Sam hovering by the wall with Aidan, both of them cradling glasses of sparkling wine.

  As Florence looked on, Tom, who seemed to flush slightly, hotfooted it, despite the heavy cast and his crutches, over to the boys, ostensibly to congratulate them. Florence trailed in his wake, keen to get closer again to Sam after that passionate onstage kiss.

  Now that she was away from the stage lights, she felt suddenly chilly in her thin white summer dress. Referencing Tuscany in the summer was one thing, but there was no getting away from the fact it was still wintry outside.

  ‘Well done, mate,’ Tom said. Florence had to suppress a grin at the way Tom’s voice still dropped in pitch when addressing the two other men.

  ‘Thanks,’ Sam said. ‘We had one or two hairy moments, but we got through it.’

  ‘More than that,’ Tom said, still heartily. ‘You did brilliantly under the circumstances.’ He grinned. ‘Of course, I’d have been better…’

  Florence laughed too. ‘We’ll never know, though, will we?’

  ‘There’s always next year,’ Tom said. ‘I quite fancy Oberon if you want to be my Titania, Florence.’

  Florence smiled and shook her head. ‘I think that’s me all acted out for at least the next ten years. What about you, Sam?’

  Sam laughed nervously. ‘I hadn’t even expected to be acting in this one, let alone the next. I think I might have to avoid Josie for the foreseeable future.’

  ‘Easier said than done, for me,’ Florence said. ‘Working with her as well as doing this.’

  ‘Good luck,’ Sam’s laugh got more confident.

  Yet again, Florence thought back to that sizzling not-at-all-fake kiss they’d shared onstage. She could feel her face starting to burn at the memory.

  ‘Well, I’d better go and schmooze our director,’ Tom said, seeing Josie coming into the room. ‘After all, she’ll probably never want to cast me again after this.’ Moving remarkably swiftly on his crutches, he homed in on Josie as she was getting a drink.

  ‘I almost feel sorry for her,’ Sam said wryly, ‘except that she got me into this!’ He took a sip of his drink and, as he leaned forward to put his now empty glass on the table, Florence could feel the heat of his body, still warm and exhilarated from the final scenes of the show. She felt her own body responding instantly to his proximity.

  She drew a deep breath. Perhaps it was the euphoria of a successful performance, but Florence suddenly felt like taking a risk. As Aidan had wandered off in Tom’s wake, they were, temporarily, in their own little space, as they had been during the chapel scene.

  ‘Did you enjoy it, in the end?’ Florence asked. Her voice had dropped a little, and all she could think about was that final, delicious kiss as the curtain had come down.

  Sam’s eyes had darkened, his pupils widening as he gazed down at Florence. ‘I did,’ he said softly.

  And with those two words, Florence felt her insides turning to liquid. She’d willingly have done anything at that moment to feel his lips on hers again.

  ‘Florence,’ he whispered, drawing so close to her that she could feel his breath growing shorter, the heat emanating from his body, which was only clad in his costume of flowing white shirt and tight naval trousers. The boots he was wearing elongated his legs to an astonishing degree, and Florence felt like some Regency heroine, bosom heaving as her own breaths came more quickly.

  ‘Yes?’ she whispered.

  ‘Do you want to—’

  ‘Hey there, lovebirds!’ Aidan was back, and Florence felt herself being pulled forcibly from the moment that had enveloped her and Sam. It had been as if no one else in the world had existed until Aidan had broken in. ‘Are we going to a post-mortem at the pub? Tom’s asked if we fancy it.’

  Sam’s eyes were still locked on Florence’s, and she could feel her own desire to prolong their separateness mixing with his. ‘You can go if you want,’ he said to his brother, not taking his eyes off Florence. ‘I’ll see you at home, OK?’

  ‘OK,’ Aidan said.

  Florence didn’t want to risk breaking eye contact with Sam, but if she had, she was sure she’d have seen Aidan grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Had she been thinking straight, she might have wondered about Aidan’s sudden interest in Tom, but at the moment Sam was all she could think about.

  ‘Do you want me to walk you home?’ Sam said, his voice loaded with promise.

  ‘I’d like that,’ Florence replied. ‘Do you think you know the way?’

  Sam laughed at the joke they’d made a thousand times. ‘I should do by now.’

  Not bothering to change – after all, the dress was hers anyway – Florence shrugged on her coat. Just as she was contemplating whether she should dash to the loo and see how her face looked (flushed, she suspected), Sam emerged from getting his jacket. She prayed her stage make-up hadn’t run under the lights.

  They walked briskly home together, the tension palpable between them. Their breath steamed in the frosty night air, and Florence shivered at the sudden drop in temperature. Not missing a beat, Sam slid an arm around her waist, which brought her out in goose bumps that weren’t at all related to the outside temperature. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck rising as he pulled her closer and she felt once again the heat of his body.

  It didn’t take long before they were at Florence’s front door. She fumbled for her key, which was buried somewhere deep in her coat pocket, and with not entirely steady hands thrust the key into the lock, before pushing open the door.

  The minute the door closed behind them, Sam had pushed her back against the wall of the hallway and was kissing the life out of her. His mouth was hot, and tasted sweet, and Florence’s knees started to buckle as the sensations of heat and rightness washed over her.

  ‘I have been wanting to do this since the curtain fell this evening,’ Sam murmured between kisses. ‘You have no idea how being so close to you on stage has made me ache.’ He pushed closer to her, and she felt the sudden, white-hot heat of her own arousal as his became immediately obvious.

  ‘You’re not the only one,’ Florence replied. She had a hand in Sam’s hair, and the other one slid down to the small of his back, pulling him closer to her as their kisses deepened. ‘Christ, I just want to have you inside me.’

  Sam pulled back slightly. ‘There’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now.’

  With both of them clearly on the same page, Florence pulled Sam’s mouth towards hers, shrugging out of her coat as she did so, and thanking her lucky stars she’d left the heating on in the house and the wood-burning stove smouldering away in the lounge. She wrapped a thigh around Sam’s waist, and for a moment wondered about the wisdom of making love up against the wall of her great-aunt’s hallway. Perhaps it would have been better to at least get up the stairs first. But there was a passion and a desperation in both of them, formed through weeks of dancing around each other, and stoked by the up-close-and-personal nature of the performance tonight, and the kiss at the end of it.

  Sam also seemed as carried away as Florence was, and he groaned as Florence pulled him in closer and closer to her body. There were only a couple of layers of material between them and ecstasy now, and the tantalising prospect of making love drove all sense from her mind. The temptation to shed those last layers right there was overwhelming, and as Florence fumbled with the zip on Sam’s flies, she felt his hand come down to still hers for a deliciously agonising moment.

  ‘We should probably go somewhere a little more comfortable,’ he murmured, pulling back to allow them both to catch their breath.

  Florence, lips tingling from the kissing, was more than happy to continue up against the wall, but the practical side of her remembered she had condoms in her bedside drawer. ‘Let’s head upstairs,’ she said, legs still like jelly. She took his hand. ‘Come on.’

  Needing no further encouragement, Sam allowed Florence to lead him up the steep stairs of the house and across the landing into her bedroom. Flor
ence thanked her lucky stars she’d changed the sheets and hoovered that morning. Pulling the curtains closed, she left the hall light on, and the door open, so it cast a warm glow on the bed. The climb to her bedroom seemed to temper their up-against-the-wall frenzy of a few moments ago, and Florence felt her stomach flutter as Sam paused, glancing at her bed. His hand was still warm in hers, and as he turned to her, she saw the faintest flicker of nervousness in his eyes.

  ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ he asked.

  Florence smiled. ‘More than anything.’

  She stepped out of her shoes and turned so that they were facing each other. Her heart was beating faster and faster, as was a deep, throbbing, insistent rhythm between her thighs. She brought Sam’s hand up to her chest, sliding his fingers underneath the thin linen of the white dress until his fingers encountered the peaking hardness of a nipple. She knew he could feel her heart beating, and as his warm hand cupped and caressed her breast, a moan escaped her lips. With eyes half closed, she saw him move closer towards her, until she felt his lips kissing her neck. Glancing down his body, she could see how aroused he was, and as they moved closer again, she could feel his cock pressing through his dark blue trousers.

  ‘Come on,’ she murmured, feeling a primeval need to have him inside her. She led him to the bed and, ever in control, she pushed him down onto it, straddling him for a long, delicious moment with just the remaining few layers of fabric between them. As she ground down onto him, she felt his cock move, and the sensation turned her insides even more to liquid. ‘I need you,’ she said.

  She moved down until she was able to unbutton his shirt and then unzip his trousers fully, and as he wriggled out of them, revealing a pair of blue checked boxer shorts which left very little to the imagination.

  Not wanting to be outdone, Sam sat up and, with warm hands, slid Florence’s partially unbuttoned dress from her shoulders, brushing her nipples with his fingertips as he did so. Still straddling him, she wrapped her legs tightly around him and kissed him fiercely, relishing the sensation of his warm, bare skin on hers as they drew closer so that there wasn’t a breath between them.