‘Yes.’ Isabel wasn’t sure where this was headed.
‘Well tonight’s her farewell drink, and we thought it’d be a bit of fun to pop in here and have a go at the karaoke. Linda’s moving to the mainland with her husband, Rob for work reasons.’
Isabel nodded wishing Alice would get to the point.
‘Well, having heard you sing, we wondered whether you might like to audition for our group. We liked your voice and thought you’d be a great fit.’
She hadn’t expected that and she stared blankly back at Alice.
‘Look, there’s no pressure, but we meet at seven pm every Monday night to rehearse at Melton Hall on Dover Street. If you’re interested why don’t you pop down this Monday and check us out, see what you think?’
‘Okay well, I’m—’ Isabel cast around for an excuse as she processed what Alice had said.
‘She’d love to,’ Rhodri interjected.
‘Great. Well, we’ll see you Monday night then.’ Alice gave her one last grin and made her way back to her fellow singers.
Isabel closed her mouth and swung around to look at Rhodri intending to tell him off for speaking on her behalf, but he cut her off.
‘Well, that voice of yours is too lovely to do nothing with it except give private bathtub performances,’ Rhodri said his breath whispering on her neck as he leaned down to be heard.
A tingling ricocheted up her spine, and she chewed her bottom lip. It had been a long time since she’d felt a sensation like that and it unnerved her. She told herself he was her landlord and to stop being silly, but the feeling persisted.
‘Did you ever think you might be a team player and not a diva? What have you got to lose?’
Isabel looked up at him and took a steadying breath deciding to focus on being annoyed with him, but it was no good. She couldn’t be mad not after the way he’d helped her out tonight. Besides, he was right; what did she have to lose? Monday was her night off and just because she popped along to check the group out didn’t mean she was making a lifetime commitment to sing with them. A jostling nearby caught her attention, and she looked around. The crowd was getting restless. It was time to get on with the show. Isabel pushed her conflicting thoughts aside and drained her juice.
͠
The Angels of Wight were bringing the house down with their rendition of “Bootylicious”. Isabel was standing to one side of the stage, grooving along and mouthing the words, watching them do their thing. They were good. They were better than good—they were bloody great, she thought watching them.
A bubbling feeling she recognised as excitement, surged. These girls, up dancing and singing, were having a fantastic time together. It was fun pure and simple, and they wanted her to be part of all that. She let herself get pulled up on stage to shake her backside with the best of them for the last few lines of the Destiny’s Child hit.
Chapter 36
‘Last orders!’ Brenda shouted posturing about the pub as she rang the bell. She was in great form after the runaway success of the karaoke night, Isabel noted. She watched her in amusement from behind the bar where she’d begun clearing up. She was obviously feeling magnanimous having asked Rhodri, Delwyn, and Nico if they’d like to stay for an after-hours tipple seeing as they were friends with Isabel and all. Delwyn and Nico had demurred. Rhodri had accepted though, and she was pleased. She fancied a celebratory drink and who better to clink glasses with than her singing partner in crime.
Brenda, who’d broken her no drinking when on duty rule in the excitement of having a full house, had also asked another chap if he’d like to stay behind for an on the house tot. Isabel was guessing given the way his headful of shaggy blonde hair had shaken with enthusiasm at her invitation, that a drink wasn’t the only thing Brenda was offering. It hadn’t escaped her notice that Brenda had been draping herself over the bar to take his orders throughout the night. She’d let him cop an eyeful of Wonderbra each time he’d asked for a pint. Ah well, she thought, beginning to load the dishwasher, each to their own. If you ignored the missing tooth and if you were three sheets to the wind as she was beginning to suspect Brenda was then he did have a vague look of Rockin’ Rod about him.
‘Night!’ she called over the top of a few die-hard drinkers’ heads to where Delwyn was waving out. ‘See you tomorrow at eleven.’
Delwyn gave her a thumbs up and then followed Nico’s lead toward the door. Who’d have thought those two would be thick as thieves? Isabel thought, picking up an empty glass and wondering if it bothered Nico that her boyfriend was staying on at the pub for a drink with her. Probably not, she decided, Nico was far too bohemian to be jealous.
Half an hour later, the pub was empty except for the four of them. The tables had been wiped, and the dishwasher was grinding away. Brenda had kept her promise, and Isabel had stuffed the additional rumpled notes she’d produced from the till into her jeans pocket. Rhodri was sitting on a stool at the bar with a tumbler of whisky, courtesy of Brenda in front of him and Isabel perched next to him, glad to take the weight off her feet.
She was shattered; it had been a huge night, and her drink of choice was a vodka lemonade. She hadn’t let the spirit mixer pass her lips in a long time, not since a particularly big
