The Songbird and the Soldier (8 page)

Andy pointed to the pile of bedding still hanging over the banister behind her. “I forgot…”

Sam picked the pile up and walked the few steps over to where he was waiting and Andy climbed the final step to meet her. In such proximity, Sam could no longer think, nor move. The smell of him aroused her senses. It was a distant memory of familiar aftershave and the heat of a body. Her stomach trembled.

Andy took the bedding from her. “Goodnight,” he said softly.

“Goodnight,” she whispered. They stood there gazing at each other for a minute, sparks flying in all directions. Sam’s heart was pumping faster now, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright, and then Andy went back down the stairs and Sam walked into her bedroom and collapsed onto her bed, screaming in silence.

God, he was beautiful. She was a good girl, she really was, but she had never felt so tempted as right at that moment and it was all she could do to stop herself from rushing down there and throwing herself at him. She rolled over. No, this was better. In a way she was relieved the pressure was off. At least if he got to know her better first he might more easily forgive her shortcomings later.

Sam prayed for a good night’s sleep so that she might look her best the following day, but the gorgeous man sleeping only metres away from her was not conducive to a night of rest. Sam lay in her bed, craning to hear any sound from downstairs. He had been such a gentleman. He hadn’t tried anything on. Or maybe he wasn’t interested in her like that, now that he had actually spent some time with her? But surely it hadn’t been just her that felt that charge between them? No. He had to have felt that. It was undeniable.

She tossed and turned for hours, worrying about how it was going and what would happen next, eventually falling asleep in the early hours of the morning.

When she finally emerged the next day, bleary eyed and straggly haired, she found the living room already packed away and Andy, looking fresh as a daisy, standing in the kitchen eating toast.

“Morning, Beautiful,” he said. “Cup of tea?” Andy poured her a cup and popped another couple of slices of bread in the toaster. Sam sipped cautiously. “Bad night?” he asked, drinking back his tea and watching her closely.

How dare he look so gorgeous at this time of the morning after spending the night on her battered old futon? It just wasn’t fair. She was the one who needed the help looking good, not him. He was looking as great as ever and she had had her worst night’s sleep in years and had struggled downstairs looking like the bog monster.

“No, I’m fine,” she said, too embarrassed to explain why. “You?” Great deflection, she thought. The very idea of admitting the truth, that knowing he was lying so close to her had kept her awake half the night was horrific. Maybe she was more awake than she felt.

“I slept like a baby,” he said.

Okay, so he obviously hadn’t been kept awake by the thought of her luscious body lying so near to his. Well, there was no need to rub it in.

“What have you got on today?” he asked. “Anything in particular?”

“Well, we are definitely going to have to go to Sainsbury’s to get some food in. I’m going to need someone with strong arms to help me carry the bags back.” She blushed, realising she had made reference to the muscles of his arms and looked at the floor.

“Okay. What else?”

“I don’t know. What would you like to do?”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing the park you cycle through. You know, the one you told me about in your letters.” Humphrey barked as the word ‘park’ was mentioned. “Humph could come, couldn’t he?”

Sam looked out of the window at the grey sky. “The old one? Yes, okay, maybe, if it cheers up a bit.”

Sam marched Andy around Sainsbury’s, reminding him that it was his fault he was being forced to do the shopping with her, and steadfastly refused to let him pay for anything.

Back home, she laid out a picnic on a rug on the living room floor, with cold beer and chunky sandwiches, fresh fruit and sausage rolls. If the weather wasn’t going to play ball, then at least she had tried. She found Andy in the back garden on his phone. Sam opened her mouth to speak but Andy quickly put his fingers to his lips to stop her. She mouthed across that lunch was ready and he gave her the thumbs up. A few minutes later, he walked back in and his face lit up.

“Sorry about that. I told my parents I was just going home for a few days to sort out some things before I went back. Hey, you’ve done a picnic!”

“But I thought you said you didn’t have to go back until after the weekend?”

“Yes, but they don’t know that. Oh, wow. You have no idea how much I’ve missed fresh fruit,” he said, quickly picking up a nectarine and biting into it.

“Beer?” she asked.

“Love one.”

Sam took a swig from her bottle of beer.

“You drink beer too?” he said. “Beautiful, intelligent and drinks beer? You don’t happen to watch football too, do you?”

“No. Sorry.”

“Oh well, three out of four’s not bad.”

When they had finished their lunch, they sat and talked for a while before clearing away. Washing up afterwards, Sam looked out of the kitchen window at the sky and noticed that it was looking brighter.

It was a long walk from her new house back to the old park, but the weather was changing for the better and they were in no hurry. By the time they got there, Sam had warmed up enough to take off her cardigan and wrap it around her waist.

They walked through the park hand in hand as Sam described the things she had seen there. The ducks dozed on the banks of the pond, sleepy and full of bread, more of which lay scattered all around them.

“That duck looks a lot like you did this morning,” Andy teased.

Sam looked over to where he was pointing and saw a tatty duck with feathers sticking out everywhere and its beak tucked in under its wing. She looked around and spotted a mother duck trailed after by four little ducklings. “Well I guess that must be you then, bossing the others around.”

“I do not ‘boss the others about.’”

“I bet you do.” Sam laughed and Andy grabbed her and started tickling her. “No, stop!”

“Absolutely not. Not until you take that back.”

Sam was breathless and wriggled to try and escape, but Andy was relentless. Humphrey joined in and barked at Andy protectively.

“Take it back. Come on, before I get savaged by a little white dog.”

“No.” Tears were welling in her eyes, she was laughing so much, and then she broke free. Sam ran with Humphrey alongside her, but Andy gave chase. He caught her with ease and pulled her into his arms, holding her against him. “Okay, okay, I take it back!” Sam gasped. A moment passed when Sam thought Andy was about to kiss her, but it passed and he released his grasp and took a step back. They walked on, hand in hand, when suddenly Sam remembered what day it was. She stopped. “Shit.”

Andy looked amused. “You swore. Samantha Litton, you swore.”

Sam blushed. “I’m sorry, but I just remembered that I’m meant to be going out with the girls tonight. It’s okay; I’ll cancel.” She pulled out her phone.

“No, don’t do that. Who are you meeting?”

“Just Chloe and Kate. It’s our night to go singing down the Crown.”

“Singing? Can I come?” he asked.

“You want to go to a karaoke night with three girls?”

“Do I have to sing?”

“Can you sing?”

“No, tone deaf.”

“Then no, you don’t have to sing.”

“Will
you
sing?” he asked.

Sam thought about the words of the song she had been practising. She had been listening to Will Young over the past couple of weeks and she had a mind to sing ‘All Time Love’. It said the words she wanted to say to Andy but wasn’t brave enough to speak. Was it too much to mention those words so soon? Would it scare him off? Sam wasn’t sure. She was happier right now than she had ever been. Being with Andy felt right and she was afraid of doing anything that might jeopardise that.

“We’ll see,” she said.

That evening, Andy and Sam arrived at the Crown and Anchor and Sam lead the way through to the room at the back. She paid the entrance fee and then walked inside. Kate and Chloe were already there. They stood up, waving her across happily when they saw her arrive. But their mouths dropped open in amazement when from behind her shadow, Andy emerged and smiled at them shyly.

“Hello,” he said. “Hope you don’t mind me tagging along.”

Kate was the first to regain her composure. “It’s good to see you again, Andy. Chlo, this is Andy.”

Chloe closed her mouth and shook his hand. She turned to Sam and lowered her voice. “Wasn’t he meant to be arriving tomorrow?”

Sam smiled and looked back at Andy with tender reproach. “Yes, he was.”

“I hope this is all right, me being here I mean?”

“The more the merrier,” Kate said. “Are you going to sing?”

“No,” said Sam and Andy together.

“That bad, eh?”

Andy turned and addressed the other two girls. “Apparently Sam isn’t sure whether she wants to sing tonight or not, which would be a crying shame if you ask me. I was hoping you two could help me persuade her.”

“What have you been practising?” Kate asked. “She never sings unless she’s practiced something a lot. Not like the rest of us. That’s why she always gets the biggest cheer of the night.”

“What about Will Young?” Andy asked.

Sam looked surprised. “How did you know I-”

“I saw the empty case beside your music system.” Andy looked around. The room was starting to fill up. “It’s popular here, isn’t it?”

“It’s the best karaoke in town,” Kate told him. “They run a night every other Thursday. They’ve got the best selection and the best sound system of all of them.”

“And believe me, we’ve tried them all,” Chloe added.

Andy went to get a round in, and the moment he was out of earshot the torrent of questions began. The girls wanted to know when he had shown up, how it was going and how long she had with him before he had to go again. Sam tried to tell them as much as they needed to know, while still retaining her thoughts and feelings for herself.

Andy returned with his hands full of drinks and Kate excused herself. Sam studied her wonderful man as he talked easily with her friends. She was falling for him, hook line and sinker. She already knew deep down that he was going to be the big love of her life, the one all other men would be measured against, but was she going to be brave enough to sing him a love song after such a short time?

“So have they managed to persuade you to sing for me yet?” Andy asked her, waking her from her reverie.

Sam shook her head. “They’ve just been grilling me about you,” she said.

Kate sat back down.

“Oh dear,” Andy said. “Nothing bad, I hope.”

“No you’re okay. She didn’t say much at all really. Nothing juicy, anyway. What have you done to her?”

Andy squeezed Sam’s hand as it rested on the table. He looked into her eyes and spoke softly. “Not nearly enough.”

Kate wafted some air about her face. “Wow, is it me, or has it suddenly got very hot in here?”

Sam blushed.

The host for the evening tapped the microphone and the room settled down. He welcomed everyone and read out the name of the first to sing. A rowdy group of thirty-somethings stood up to riotous applause and they walked over to the stage area and picked up their microphones.

One by one the groups, duets and solos took the stage to sing their hearts out, but Sam would not be moved. And then her name was read out. Sam’s heart stopped. Kate grinned over at her and she knew who the culprit had been. She was far too scared to sing decently tonight. She knew he was worthy, but ideally she would like a few more months before she made such a bold gesture. But then again a few days was all she would have, for now.

Her body was cold. She shifted in her seat and a rousing cheer went up, followed by a chorus of ‘Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam.’ There was nothing for it. She had no choice.

“Go on, Sam. Your man wants to hear you sing. Get on up there!” Kate called over, winking at Andy.

Sam looked at him. He was smiling at her hopefully. She took a deep breath and stood up. Applause buzzed all around. She made her way to the front of the room and told the man the name of her song. Sam stood, trembling, in front of the room full of people, adjusted the microphone to her height and the music began.

Sam started to sing and the crowd hushed. The words flowed effortlessly from her lips. For a while she hid herself in the words of the song, but before the end she managed to lift her gaze and focus on Andy’s face. She saw his reaction and knew that nothing had been spoiled. She finished and stood there in the spotlight of sixty or more gazes and the crowd erupted. Sam smiled and blushed. She set the microphone back in its place, thanked the man who organised the music and walked back to her seat.

Andy stood up and kissed her briefly on the lips in front of everybody there and Sam’s whole body was tingling. A second cheer went up almost as big as the first and they retook their seats with Sam blushing profusely. Now Andy was not letting go of her hand. The crowd died down, ready for the next name to be read out. “You were amazing,” he whispered.

Walking back from the bus stop later that night Andy held onto her hand. “Thank you for tonight,” he said. “And for singing. You sang beautifully.”

“It wasn’t too soppy?” she said.

“No.”

Back home, Sam felt tense. This was big and they both seemed to feel it. They talked about nothing much for a while, but when Sam went out to make them some tea, she could barely hold the cups for the trembling in her hands. She knew he was in the next room, waiting for her to return. She had never felt so totally insecure. Her pitiful experience with men consisted of one long-term boyfriend, with the physical side of things always leaving her cold, and a few brief disasters. Bugger, she thought, bugger, bugger, bugger. She was probably about to make a complete mess of things.

Andy appeared behind her and put his hands on either side of her body. “You’re shaking,” he murmured, his warm breath tingling the back of her neck. Sam couldn’t say a thing. She couldn’t even move. Slowly, Andy turned her around to face him. He held her head gently in his warm hands and tilted her face to his. “You’re so beautiful,” he said. Leaning closer, Sam felt like the moment stretched on forever, but then their lips met.