A Christmas Carol In Romance (Christmas In Romance Book 5)

by Franky A Brown

  He blinked. Andy had no idea Granny had advanced to group messages. She hadn’t known how to text for very long. He shouldn’t have been surprised, though; Granny was as sharp as ever in her eighties.

  He continued on, wondering if he could manage to catch something horribly contagious before that night. Dancing wasn’t his talent any more than acting was. He was much more comfortable playing music for other people to dance to. Why couldn’t Granny have asked him to do the music? Instead she was playing a CD and she’d only asked him to provide the sound system for the show. Someone else would be running it.

  As Andy walked through the town square at dusk, the hundreds of lights adorning the gazebo came alive. It was wrapped snugly in greenery and accented with large red bows. Cassie sat inside it, hugging herself in a thin jacket.

  Andy sighed, watching as the crisp wind tossed her hair. He wanted to wish away the desire to hold her close and forget everything that happened. He knew her history better than anyone, knew why she was afraid to get married. But it still hurt that she couldn’t trust him, that she believed even a marriage with him was doomed to fail.

  He walked over and stepped up into the gazebo.

  “Hey, it’s pretty cold to hang out in the middle of town.”

  Cassie shrugged. “It’s surreal to be back here, even after a few weeks.”

  Andy nodded. “I can’t imagine Romance would be more exciting than anywhere you’ve been this past year.”

  Cassie smiled. “It was fun, yes. But Romance is a wonderful place to be during holidays. I’ve really missed this town.”

  “We do go all out for holidays around here.” Andy’s phone buzzed again with another text from Granny.

  “Have you checked your messages? Granny wants us over at her place tonight to practice waltzing.”

  “Really?” Cassie pulled her phone out of her purse and looked through the messages. “I thought maybe we could get away with an online tutorial.”

  “Maybe with someone else’s granny.” He watched Cassie shiver, and he fought his instinct to wrap an arm around her to warm up. Instead he stood.

  “Her house isn’t far from here. Walking will help you warm up.” Andy offered her his hand.

  Cassie accepted it and her warmth had his fingers tingling. He let go once she was on her feet.

  They walked side by side out of the gazebo and across the square. The evening grew darker and the town brightened up as all the Christmas lights around downtown gradually blinked on.

  “It’s beautiful. Did they have this many lights up last year?” Cassie turned in a circle as she walked, taking in the sights.

  “I think they sneak in a few more each year. Soon we’re going to be that movie where the guy’s house can be seen from space.”

  Cassie chuckled, then her teeth chattered. “It’s crazy cold this evening.”

  Andy threw out his judgment and slipped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer and rubbing her arm with his gloved hand. Her nearness had his heart thundering in his chest.

  “This coat is too thin, Cassie.”

  “Yeah, I should have known better than to wear it tonight. I’ve spent too much time in the Mediterranean.”

  “Granny is probably going to wrap you in some ridiculous layers before she lets you walk out of her house like this.”

  They continued on with his arm around her, Andy not wanting to let her go. He needed to be careful, he knew that. But his arm didn’t care.

  Chapter Nine

  Cassie was practically lightheaded by the time Andy dropped his arm from around her at his grandmother’s house. Being so close to him had always warmed her inside and out. She’d missed him with all of her soul. Why had she been so afraid to marry him when Aunt Sue was absolutely right about him? Andy was the most loyal person she’d ever known. He’d been there through her parents’ bitter divorce, and through every other up and down in her life since she’d known him. He even told her in the bookshop that morning that he would have followed her if only she’d asked. It was such a mistake to leave him. Maybe coming back was a mistake.

  Granny Mary opened the door before they could ring the bell.

  “Get in here out of this wind.” She grabbed Andy and Cassie by an arm with her firm grip and led them inside.

  “I’m hoping that you’re lighter on your feet than Andrew is, Cassie.”

  Cassie merely smiled, her cheeks rosy from the frosty air.

  Granny patted Andy’s cheek. “Give it a solid effort, my boy, and there’s a lovely Christmas cake in the kitchen for ya.”

  “Oh, it smells delicious in here, Granny Mary.” Cassie inhaled deeply. The air was filled with the delightful spices of Mary’s holiday baking.

  “Thank you, lass. There are some warm mince pies on the counter if you’d like to have one before we get started.”

  “Hey, can I get one before we start?” Andy gestured toward the kitchen, but Granny Mary pushed him over to the center of the living room. Her furniture was pushed out of the way to maximize the floor space.

  “You need to warm up, Andrew.”

  “With a warm mince pie?” Andy gave her a boyish grin.

  “Warm up your muscles. The others will be here soon, but you’ve a wee bit of time to practice how not to step on Cassie’s feet.”

  Andy folded his arms and glanced at his feet. “How do I practice not stepping on someone?”

  Granny waved a hand. “Quiet now, listen to the music a bit and try to feel it in your bones.”

  “Granny, I really don’t know how to put more feeling into my acting or to my dancing.”

  Cassie listened to their exchange as she devoured a delectable mince pie in the nearby kitchen. Granny Mary had the most delicious ones she ever tasted. Better than the ones she’d had while traveling around the British Isles. The beautiful Christmas cake smelled delightful as well. It sat on the table smothered in white icing.

  The doorbell rang as Cassie walked into the living room to spy Granny leading Andy around in a very sloppy waltz.

  Granny was a petite woman, only as tall as the middle of Andy’s chest. The bell rang again and Cassie shouted, “I got it!”

  “Come now, lad! It’s like you’ve got four left feet like yer Grandpa Angus, God rest him.”

  Cassie answered the door to a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties like she was. Behind him were four teens texting and laughing.

  “Hello, I’m Cassie Winston.”

  “Hi, I’m Mark Howell.” A man with a bright, dashing smile offered her his hand. “These are a few of my show choir students, Carl, Tyler, Annie, and Keri.” He waved them forward with a hand. “Come on, guys, put your phones away.”

  “Hi, nice to meet you, come in.” As the teens walked by, Cassie recognized Carl from rehearsals. “Hey, Carl, you’re in two scenes?”

  Carl nodded. “Yep, I’m the Ghost of Christmas Future and ‘man at Fezziwig party.’” He made imaginary quotation marks with his fingers.

  “Both very important roles.” Cassie gave him a smile of encouragement, then turned to Mark. “So you direct the show choir at the high school?”

  “Yes, it’s my second year there.”

  “I always loved watching show choir perform; never could sing myself, but I could have danced.”

  “I look forward to seeing you waltz.” Mark winked at Cassie and she wondered for a moment if Aunt Sue’s crazy plan would help her situation with Andy. Mark was clearly flirting with her, but encouraging him wouldn’t be right.

  They gathered in the living room and watched Andy stumble along with Granny.

  Mary halted the dance and switched off the CD player.

  “Andrew, have you met Mark?”

  “Um…”

  “I heard you’re AJ McKay.” Mark offered Andy his hand.

  “Yep.” Andy shook Mark’s hand.

  “I listen to you every morning on the way to work. Nice to meet you.”

  “Thank you, nice to meet you.” Andy nodded
his appreciation.

  “Oh, man!” Carl started laughing while pointing at Andy. “That show you did for Valentine’s Day was awesome, so funny. We actually tried to call in one day with our ‘Romance Is Dead’ story.”

  “Romance is dead?” Cassie lifted her eyebrows and looked to Andy for an explanation. “What’s that about?”

  “Ugh, it was this stupid Valentine joke.” Keri sounded like a valley girl from an eighties movie. “All these losers would call in with their breakup stories. So not funny.”

  “What are you talking about?” Carl’s eyes were wide. “It was hilarious.”

  Cassie stepped closer to Andy and nudged him with her elbow. “This was your Valentine’s Day stunt? Romance is dead?”

  “I was in a bad place.” Andy shrugged.

  “Did you propose to anyone during that show?” Cassie grinned, intending it as a joke; but Andy’s expression was not amused.

  “My grandson has an odd sense of humor, to be sure.” Granny clapped her hands. “All right then, everyone partner up and watch my feet.”

  Cassie reached a hand out to Andy, but Granny pulled him toward her. “No, Cassie, yer dancing with Mark when young Scrooge walks in. There’re those few lines you have with Fezziwig where he wants you to stop working and have a little fun.”

  “Yes, I remember, Granny. We always skipped to the next scene after that.”

  “Now’s the time to work out your dance, and next rehearsal we’re going through the whole party scene.”

  Mark took Cassie’s right hand and placed a hand on her hip. He stood entirely too close for her comfort level. Tyler and Keri teamed up, then Bree and Carl.

  “Now the six of you are dancing while Scrooge and Fezziwig are having their exchange. The music will stop after they’ve said their lines and yer all to clap for the musicians.”

  “Who are the musicians?” Tyler asked.

  Granny Mary tapped the CD player on the floor with her toe. “I’ll be playing a lovely waltz with this. You’re to act as if there are musicians right behind you to clap for. So clap in that direction.” She pointed to the wall behind them.

  “The waltz keeps this rhythm.” Granny Mary tapped her foot. “One, two, three; one, two, three. Watch me.”

  Granny danced with Andy as their example to follow. Andy was catching on a little better than she’d seen him earlier. Cassie and Mark began to dance and she felt Andy’s eyes on her. She could see him staring from her peripheral vision. He was staring at her. Could he be bothered by the fact she was in Mark’s arms? Mark was attractive, but he certainly didn’t make her heart skip along the way Andy did.

  As she danced with Mark smiling at her, she couldn’t help wishing it was Andy who was excited to be holding her.

  ***

  Andy didn’t like the way Mark was looking at Cassie. Like a man who was definitely interested in her.

  “Ouch!”

  Andy realized he’d just stepped on Granny’s foot. “Sorry, Granny.”

  “Andrew, get your head out of the clouds, laddie. Listen to the tune and…one, two, three; one, two, three…”

  Andy thought he was finally getting the hang of it, then Granny stepped away from him to turn the music off.

  “Looks great, everyone. Especially the young ones, Mark, they are fantastic.” Granny picked up a stack of papers from a shelf behind her. “Andrew, I’ll read Fezziwig’s lines and you recite yours. Then I’ll turn off the music, everyone claps, then you’ll walk over to Belle like so…” Granny slowly went to Cassie, bowed and held out a hand to her. Cassie accepted it as Granny stood up. “Then you make a lovely curtsey, lass.”

  Cassie did so and Granny smiled. “Splendid. Then I’ll be starting another song and everyone dances again.” She pointed to Mark. “Except you, Mark, you’ll exit stage left once Scrooge walks up to Belle. This is a scene I added myself. This isn’t in the novel.”

  Mark stared at Cassie, and Andy didn’t like it. Andy eyed him with tight fists as Mark whispered something in her ear that made her laugh.

  “All right, dancers, take your partners,” Granny said. “The Ghost of Christmas Past and old Scrooge have their lines; imagine they’re over to the left of you all watching the party. Now Andrew, imagine that I’m Fezziwig.”

  Andy was listening to Granny, but his eyes never left Mark and Cassie, who were apparently chatting about something hilarious.

  “Hey, guys, time to dance.” Andy hadn’t meant his voice to sound so menacing, but they all turned to look at him funny.

  “We’re just having some fun.” Mark waved Andy’s comment away.

  “Don’t be a stick-in-the-mud, Andrew.” Granny lifted a finger. “Say yer lines through without any prompts and you’ll have a nice slice of me Christmas cake.”

  “All right, dancers.” Granny switched the music back on and Mark pulled Cassie close to him, then they and the teenagers waltzed with the music.

  “Granny, isn’t Mark standing too close to Cassie for a proper waltz? That’s not how you showed us.”

  Granny winked at him, then whispered in his ear, “I think Mark fancies her. I’ll correct him shortly.” Granny lifted her script and adjusted her glasses. “It’s a Christmas party, Ebenezer.”

  Andy was still focused on Cassie, who seemed to be enjoying her dance with Mark a little too much.

  Granny poked him. “It’s a Christmas party, Ebenezer.”

  Andy faced Granny and took a deep breath. Pretending she was the Fezziwig character was certainly odd. “But Mr. Fezziwig, there is so much work to be done.”

  “There’s to be no work at Christmas. Join in the dancing and make merry with our guests.” Granny switched off the song. “I’ll start this song towards the end instead of turning it off like this.”

  “I can make you a CD to play with the end of this song and the next one so you can just play it.”

  “Thank you, sweet boy.” Granny patted his cheek. “Now, Fezziwig will go and watch from the back curtain while yer all clapping towards the musicians. Clap!”

  Everyone started clapping in the direction of the imaginary musicians and Granny nudged Andy’s elbow.

  “Now you approach Belle.”

  Andy strolled over to Cassie and tried to bow the way Granny had demonstrated.

  “Lower, Andrew.”

  Andy bowed down a little further, then reached out his hand to Cassie. She took it and he held her firmly, feeling electricity buzzing through his fingers.

  “You get up now, Andrew, you don’t remain that way for but a second or two.”

  Andy stood up and met Cassie’s beautiful eyes. She curtseyed and Andy pulled her closer as Granny started the next waltz.

  Andy’s feet seemed to move themselves. He didn’t look down at them once, his eyes were locked with hers. His heart thundered in his chest. He watched her lips a moment, then pulled her closer toward him, hoping Mark was watching.

  All too soon, the music stopped and Granny announced the scene would end there with the lights going off.

  “When the lights come back on, it’s only Scrooge and Belle for their breakup scene.”

  Andy stepped back a little from Cassie, but didn’t let go of her hands and grinned. “The best part, right?”

  Cassie gave him a sideways smile, then laid a hand across her forehead and tilted her head back in a semi-dramatic pose. “It matters little. To you, very little. Another idol has displaced me.”

  “A wee bit over the top, lassie,” Granny said. “But you two can practice this at rehearsal with the whole cast. Tonight is about dancing. One reminder, all.” Granny raised her voice and seized everyone’s attention. “You’ve all heard the phrase ‘the show must go on,’ I assume.”

  The group nodded.

  “Aye, you’ve heard me tell the cast that a number of times now. But I want to clarify it for ya. The show must go on even if you take a tumble over yer own feet, and if yer costume rips and falls clean off yer bahoochie.”

  “Bahoochie?” C
assie raised an eyebrow at Andy.

  Andy whispered back, “Your backside.”

  “I don’t care if yer bruised and standing there in the buff.” Granny placed her hands on her hips. “I expect ya to keep the show going. So no matter what yer dance partner does, or what line goes wrong, the show goes on.” She surveyed the group, making eye contact with everyone. “Any questions?”

  Cassie moved a hand over her mouth and her humor shined through her eyes.

  Andy raised his hand. “Have I earned a slice of Christmas cake, Granny?”

  “Not yet, Andrew. You need a wee bit more practice.” The music came on again and Granny shouted, “From the top, everyone.”

  Mark stepped in between Andy and Cassie and took her in his arms again for the dance. Andy felt his blood burning hot through his veins, and he resisted the urge to snatch Cassie away from him.

  “Andrew, it’s yer line.” Granny poked him in the side, then read Fezziwig’s part again.

  Andy did his best to focus. This was a play. Mark was acting…but he was about to get pummeled if he didn’t give Cassie some space.

  Chapter Ten

  Cassie couldn’t imagine being able to eat anything for dinner after Mary’s rich, thickly iced, fruit-filled Christmas cake. She rubbed her stomach on the way out the front door once they’d been released from dancing practice.

  Mark dashed out, followed by Andy. The four teens headed toward the only car in the driveway besides Granny Mary’s old Lincoln Continental.

  Mark caught up with Cassie first and pulled his car keys out. “It’s freezing out here. Did you walk here? Do you need a ride home?”

  “Oh, thank you, Mark, but I’ll be fine.” With the teens in his car, Cassie didn’t think there was room for her anyway. She wondered where Mark was planning to put her.

  Andy stepped up. “Cassie and I walked over together,” Andy said too loudly as he stepped beside Cassie. “Anyway, good to meet you, Mark. See you at rehearsal.”

  He shook Mark’s hand, slipped an arm around Cassie, and steered her toward the sidewalk.