62
‘All set?’ Jason’s beaming smile appeared on the other side of the door to the Star and Telescope’s single ground-floor guest room which Paddy and Jen had given Bella to get changed in.
Bella nodded. If she opened her mouth, she was worried she was going to throw up. She’d been fine for most of the afternoon – a large bowl of porridge for lunch with a generous sprinkling of dried cranberries and a tablespoon of local honey to line her throat had mostly settled her nerves, but now it was crunch time. Sipping the pint glass of water she’d brought into the room with her, she wondered for the umpteenth time why she hadn’t seen Noah. He’d said he’d be back on Saturday morning, but he hadn’t showed. Perhaps he’d changed his mind and hadn’t bothered to tell her? Part of her was hurt that he’d cry off something that was so important, not only to her but to Purrfect Paws, but another part of her was relieved. In a way, she didn’t want him there to distract her. She needed to be fully focused on the night ahead if she was going to get through it successfully.
‘As set as I’ll ever be.’ Bella checked her face in the mirror one more time, and then, on shaky legs, walked out of the guest bedroom. She could hear the throng of the crowd, happy, sun-soaked punters, milling around in the garden outside, and she swallowed hard. There was a bottle of water onstage for her, next to her acoustic guitar, should her throat go dry. It felt like she’d eaten half the Sahara, and she hadn’t even started yet.
‘You’ve got this, Bels,’ Jason murmured into her ear. ‘You’re Isabella Indigo, remember? Go out there and rock their socks off.’
‘You were born in the wrong decade, Jase,’ Bella grinned shakily at him. ‘You sound like you should have been on Radio 1 in the eighties with lines like that!’
‘What can I say? I’m classic vintage.’ Jason winked at her. Paddy, who was acting as compère for the evening, led the crowd in an appreciative roar of, ‘Isabella, Isabella!’ as Jason pushed open the door to the garden, and the roar became a series of whoops as the crowd caught sight of her.
‘Bloody hell, Jase, where did all these people come from?’ Bella stammered.
‘I guess some of your TikTok fans have decided to roll up, as well as the locals,’ Jason replied with a twinkle in his eyes. ‘You can thank me later.’
‘I’ll bloody well brain you later.’ Even though Paddy had told her they’d sold out of tickets, Bella had only expected about fifty people to actually show. The crowd here looked more like three hundred and fifty. The pub garden, which led directly out into an open field via a low fence and a gate, was packed, and there were people standing five deep behind the fence, too.
‘It’s for Mollie and the cats,’ she muttered grimly as she prepared to take to the stage. She’d played to much bigger crowds than this at the height of her fame, but that was years ago. As she stepped up onto the stage area, there was another roar of appreciation, and a wave of applause.
‘Good evening, Lower Brambleton!’ she shouted into the mic, and, with a nod to Jason, who cued in the backing track, she was off. As the introductory bars of her first number played, Bella felt that flood of adrenaline, felt the hairs on the back of her neck rising, and sucked in a lungful of the sweet summer evening air, ready to expel it all in the opening words of the song.
As she relaxed into the familiar track, she began to sway to the music, and much to her delight and amazement, the crowd started singing along with her. There were, of course, a fair few bemused locals who obviously hadn’t heard any of her music before this and had only bought tickets to support a worthy cause, but even they seemed to be getting into the spirit of it by the middle eight. And by the time the song was over, both she and they were having a great time.
‘Thank you!’ Bella gazed out at the crowd again and smiled to see Marieke and Gerard beaming back at her. Marieke had always known about Bella’s musical past, of course, but it had come as a surprise to Gerard, who looked almost unflatteringly surprised to see his girlfriend’s ex-housemate bringing the house down. Near to them were Thea Ashcombe and Nick Saint, and Thea’s two teenage children, all grinning from ear to ear. Next to them was Thea’s twin brother, Tristan, and his partner, Charlotte. As Bella started her next number, she could see Charlotte’s face lighting up as she began to sing along. She smiled to herself. She’d definitely have had Charlotte James pegged as a fan, but it was nice to have it confirmed. She wondered why Charlotte hadn’t twigged that Isabella Indigo was bartender Bella West’s alter ego, given that she’d been in the pub enough times, but Charlotte did tend to have her head in the stars.
A couple of songs later, and Bella was having the time of her life. She didn’t even mind that there were a lot of phones being pointed in her direction. Back when she’d been touring a decade ago, phone cameras hadn’t been so prevalent, but as night began to fall, the lights were like torches, guiding her through the songs she’d once consigned to the past. And the audience were loving it.
At the halfway point, Bella paused. ‘Now I’d like to introduce someone to the stage who a lot of you already know. He’s a familiar face in these parts, and I’m sure he’s got a huge future ahead of him. Jason, come out here.’
With a wave and a dip of his pork-pie hat, Jason ambled onto the stage and Bella put her arm around him. ‘Ready for this?’ she whispered, off mic.
‘I was born ready, babe.’ Jason gave her a wink, picked up his guitar, which was on a stand next to hers at the back of the stage, and, waiting for her to sit on one of the bar stools before taking a seat on the other, began to strum the opening bars of ‘Heartbreaker’.
Bella had to admit that, in the open air, it sounded even better than the version he’d done in the pub. She waited for her cue, and then harmonised with him on the chorus, before taking over for the second verse. As they continued to sing the unplugged, less frenetic version of her biggest hit together, Bella knew that, even if it meant smaller gigs like this, she wanted, and needed, to create music again. It was in her soul, and in her heart, and it had taken Jason pushing her to make her realise it.
And won’t you come to me
Ooh baby set me free
You are the one who’ll be
My only lover.
I never knew before
When you were knocking at my door
My heart got oh so sore,
You heartbreaker…
Bella turned away from Jason, who was revving up for the final chorus, and as she looked out into the sea of phone torches and happy faces, she almost stumbled on the last line. There, standing off to one side, with a pint of cider in his hand, and a look of absolute admiration on his face, was Noah. His eyes were bright in the fading evening light, and he was staring intently at her, as if he was willing her to sing just to him.
Bella couldn’t help it, her gaze locked with his as she began that final, powerful chorus, and it was as if the rest of the audience faded away, and it was just the two of them. As her voice soared with Jason’s to reach the last notes, Noah’s eyes never left hers, and when the song finally ended, it took her a second to come back to earth.
The applause was rapturous. Snapping back to reality, Bella turned back to Jason, and put her arm around his waist. ‘It works brilliantly as a duet,’ she said, having to raise her voice above the cheers and whoops from the crowd. ‘I don’t know why you didn’t try to talk me into this years ago!’
