CHAPTER 41

 

“I can’t believe she just left,” Ben shook his head wearily after Cate and Liv had finished telling him what had happened at the airport with Ruby.

“She really believes that they are in love,” Liv said sadly.

Cate settled back against the leather seat. Guillermo had been there to meet them when they’d arrived in L.A. and they were in the car travelling from the airport to the studio.

“I want to be angry with her. I mean, she knew Declan was married and yet she still slept with him. For me, that’s unforgivable. But after hearing her talk about him this morning… Liv’s right, she truly believes that she and Declan are in love and are going to live happily ever after. I don’t know why Declan had an affair with Ruby but I’ve seen the way his eyes light up when he talks about Hadley and their close-knit Catholic families. He’s never going to leave his wife for her.”

“We’re her siblings,” Liv said. “I feel like we should have done more to stop her leaving. Cate’s right, this affair with Declan is only going to end in heartbreak for Ruby.”

“I get that,” Ben frowned, “but realistically what could we have done? She’s a grown-ass woman.”

“I feel like I owe you an apology,” Cate turned to Ben. “When Kian…” She couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud. Ben nodded in acknowledgement. “When I found out that you’d known all about what happened at the World Cup and you hadn’t told me, I was so angry with you. Even when I began to forgive Kian, I still couldn’t bring myself to forgive you. But that wasn’t fair of me.”

“When I first found out about Declan and Ruby, I was so tempted to call Hadley and tell her the truth. I felt like it was my duty since she’d been inducted into the not-so-exclusive Betrayed Wives’ Club. I didn’t want her to feel like I did when I walked into that Christmas Eve party – it felt like everybody was staring at me and whispering behind my back.”

Liv gave Cate’s hand a squeeze. Cate would be forever grateful that her sister was one of the few members of her family who hadn’t helped Kian try to cover up his indiscretion.

“But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that it wasn’t up to me to tell Hadley what Declan had done. It was his responsibility; he was the one who’d broken their vows.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered who’d told me that Kian had cheated on me at the World Cup; I still wouldn’t have thanked them for doing so. You might be my brother but you weren’t there when Kian and I took our vows in that quiet chapel in Las Vegas. Kian was. He was the one who should have told me what he’d done as soon as he came back from the World Cup. But he didn’t and that put you in an impossible situation. I’m sorry that I punished you for doing what you thought was best for me.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ben shrugged.

“The trouble with Ruby is that she’s never wanted something that she can’t have before,” Liv mused. “She might be our sister but we haven’t had the same life experiences. While the four of us and Mum lived in a cramped two-bedroom student flat in Withington, Ruby grew up in that big house on the hill in Calder Harbour with two parents. If we were really lucky, we went on camping trips to North Wales while Ruby’s parents took her to Disney World to meet Mickey freaking Mouse.”

“That doesn’t excuse what she did,” Cate said defensively, thinking about her children. “You can have great privilege and still have morals; the two things aren’t exclusive.”

“I know and I’m not saying this because I’m jealous of Ruby. I can guarantee you one hundred percent that I’m not. After finally meeting the cold-hearted bastard that is unfortunately our biological father, I’m thankful every day that he left us when he did. All I’m saying is that growing up like that, pampered and spoiled; it doesn’t prepare you for the real world. If your daddy always fixes everything, how are you supposed to learn that your actions have consequences?”

“We’re here, Mrs Warner,” Guillermo said, lowering the privacy screen. After he’d dropped Cate off at the studios for her costume fitting and band rehearsal, he was going to take Liv and Ben to their hotel.

“Thank you,” Cate smiled warmly. “But please call me Cate. Mrs Warner is my lovely mother-in-law, Jean.”

She gave her brother and sister big hugs before stepping out into the warm L.A. sunshine. “Did you get your tickets for tomorrow night’s show?” Cate asked Guillermo. He had to work that night but she’d arranged two tickets for his wife and daughter to attend the grand finale.

“I did,” Guillermo nodded. “You’re too kind.”

“Nonsense,” Cate shook her head. She was really going to miss him when Stepping Out was finally over in about thirty six hours.

When she walked into Wardrobe, the normally unflappable Hope was looking stressed. “Is everything OK?” Cate asked.

“Too much to do,” Hope grabbed Cate’s wrist and quickly pulled her behind the curtain. Backstage was busier than it had been in weeks with all of this year’s contestants and their professional partners returning for one last group dance. It was really nice to see everybody again but they didn’t have time to properly catch up because they were all being pulled in a hundred different directions.

After her costume fitting, Cate was taken straight to Ludmila’s lair for her last ever spray-tan.

As she tugged on her clothes, trying not to gag at the strong smell of biscuits emanating from her strangely-coloured skin, she checked her phone and Annie had texted her.

“After band rehearsal, meet me by the supply closet, I’ve got something I want to show you.”

“Is everybody decent?” Greg, one of the runners asked, poking his head around the door. He had his fingers over his eyes.

“Yep,” Cate laughed, “we’re done here.”

“Excellent, we need to get you to the main stage then. It’s time for your band rehearsal.”

Cate and Vladimir had been allotted an hour in the main studio so they could practice the dances they would be performing on Saturday night for the first time with the live band. Although there were lots of crew milling about, checking the lighting and camera positions, it was strange doing their routines in front of a mostly empty studio. It felt so much smaller without the audience being there.

Cate craned her neck, “where’s Alyssa?”

Vladimir jerked his hand towards where the judges normally sat during the show. Alyssa was sat cross-legged on the desk, filming them with a small camcorder. “It will help me determine if I need to make any last-minute adjustments to our routines.” Cate gulped; she was already terrified that she’d forget the choreography Vladimir and Alyssa had relentlessly drummed into her all week.

“We’re not going to practice the lifts,” Vladimir said as he led Cate into the centre of the dance floor. “I want them to be a surprise for everybody on Saturday night.”

“As long as the surprise isn’t me falling on my head on national TV,” Cate muttered.

Vladimir raised his eyebrows. “Believe me, that would not be such a surprise.”

“Hey,” Cate frowned. “You’re supposed to be building up my self-confidence.”

“Nonsense. I’m supposed to be teaching you how to dance, that’s all. Besides, you don’t work well with compliments,” Vladimir shrugged dismissively. “You much prefer it when I criticise you because then you can prove me wrong.”

“That’s not…” Cate gaped but she couldn’t deny that it was true. She’d always found it much easier to disprove a harsh criticism than to live up to the pressure of a compliment.

After the band rehearsal, Cate met up with Annie by the supply closet. “What are we doing?”

“Follow me,” Annie giggled. She pulled open a door which had a huge “No Entry” sign emblazoned across it.

“It’ll be worth it, I promise,” Annie said when Cate hesitated in the doorway. “Look at it this way, if we get into trouble for this, what’s the worst that they can do? We’re the two finalists; they can’t exactly kick us off the show now, can they?”

Cate followed Annie up a flight of dark metal steps and there was another door at the top with another big “No Entry” sign. Annie ignored it, pushed open the door and they were immediately bathed in the bright L.A. sunshine.

“Wow,” Cate said, stepping out on to the empty rooftop. In the far distance, she could just about make out the Hollywood sign standing proudly up in the hills.

“We deserve this, Cate,” Annie beckoned Cate across to a couple of discarded deckchairs. “It’s so hectic downstairs. I’ve been pushed and pulled here, there and everywhere this morning and I’m sure you have too. I just thought we should take a moment to really appreciate where we are right now. We’re in Los Angeles for the grand finale of Stepping Out. I never expected this when I signed up to do the show all those months ago.”

“Me neither,” Cate said, letting the warm sunshine kiss her skin. “I’m glad that we did it together.” It might sound corny but there was nobody else she’d rather be in the final with.

“Me too,” Annie said, squeezing Cate’s hand.

They sat for a few minutes in silence, just enjoying the peace and quiet.

“So this is where you’ve both been hiding?” George chuckled.

“How did you find us?” Annie asked, shielding her eyes from the sun.

“Don’t tell Richard but I used to come up here for a sneaky cigarette. He thinks I gave up smoking after my heart attack but she’s a tough habit to break.”

“I see,” Poppy pretended to be angry, “you’re all hanging out without me now.”

“We wouldn’t do that, popsicle,” George reassured her.

“Is it awkward for you that I’m dancing with Vladimir?” Cate asked Poppy as she sat down in the deckchair next to Cate.

“It’s beyond fine,” Poppy insisted. “When I got voted off Stepping Out, it was the happiest day of my entire life.”

“I don’t mind Vladimir,” Cate shrugged, “he might have the personality of a World War Two dictator but at least he’s honest.”

“Do you miss him?” George asked, taking a long drag from his cigarette. “Declan.”

“I don’t know,” Cate said honestly. She was pleased that she could talk about him and he wasn’t just this silent sceptre looming over the final. “It feels strange that he’s not here.”

Thick splodges of rain fell on the concrete beneath their feet. “No,” George cried, “it’s not supposed to rain in L.A.”

Cate lifted her face to the sky and enjoyed the cool rain on her skin. As a Manchester girl, she’d always been more comfortable with rain than bright sunshine.

“I’m melting,” George yelped as rain splattered his pale-pink cashmere sweater.

“Stop being such a drama queen,” Poppy teased, “it’s just rain.”

“The door’s locked,” George pulled frantically at the handle but it stubbornly refused to open.

“Come here,” Annie said, nudging him out of the way, “let me have a go.” But she wasn’t any more successful than George had been.

While George huddled by the locked door trying to shelter from the pouring rain, Annie, Cate and Poppy checked out the rest of the rooftop to see if there was any other way they could get down.

“Any luck?” George asked hopefully when they returned looking bedraggled.

“Nope, that’s the only way down,” Poppy said.

“They’ll come looking for us eventually,” Cate said, “we’re the two finalists, remember.”

“Except that the final isn’t until tomorrow night,” George grumbled. “Oh my goodness, anything could have happened to us by then.”

Annie rolled her eyes, “we’re not in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, George. We’re on a rooftop in L.A.”

“But it’s raining,” George pouted.

“We could use the deckchairs to give us shelter until the rain stops and we can get help?” Cate suggested. She and Poppy braved the rain again to retrieve the deckchairs.

“We must look ridiculous” Poppy giggled as they each held a folded up deckchair above their heads.

“It’s doing wonders for my bingo wings,” Annie chuckled.

When the rain finally stopped, they each ran to a different side of the rooftop to call for help. “Help!” Cate yelled as loudly as she could. Her voice bounced off the empty parking lot.

“Cate,” Vladimir looked up at her with complete disdain, “what on earth are you doing up there?” Of course, it would have to be Vladimir that rescued them and not somebody kind like Mickey or George’s husband, Richard.

“We’re um… stuck up here,” Cate stammered. “The door’s locked.”

He went back inside and Cate assumed that he was either going to rescue them or he was going to tell everybody that the four of them were stuck up there so they could all come outside and have a great, big laugh at their stupidity.

“I’ve got help,” Cate said, deciding to give Vladimir the benefit of the doubt. He would probably choose to rescue them if only because Cate was his dance partner and he needed her not to have hypothermia if he was going to win the trophy again tomorrow night.

“That’s fantastic,” Poppy clapped her hands together, “who is it?”

Cate winced, “it’s Vladimir.”

“Ha,” Poppy scoffed, “we’d better start calling for help again. There’s no way Vladimir will come up here and rescue us.”

The door swung open and Vladimir stood there, looking harsh and imposing. “You were saying, Poppy?”

George made a dash for the sanctuary of the open door, “she was just saying what a lovely man you are for coming to rescue us. If you weren’t so scary, I’d give you a great, big kiss.”

Vladimir snarled, “it’s a good job I’m so scary then.”

“Link arms with me,” Poppy urged Cate. “I’m scared that if I’m not attached to you, he’ll find some way of leaving me on this rooftop.”

Cate had almost reached the bottom of the stairs when Vladimir gripped her elbow. “No more of this nonsense.” She could see the fury sparking in his crystal blue eyes. Cate felt like she was about to be given detention, or at least what she thought that would feel like; she’d been such a goody two shoes at school that she’d never actually been in detention.

“Your driver is waiting for you,” he nodded at Guillermo. “Go back to your hotel, change out of those damp clothes and have a hot bath – I do not want you catching pneumonia before tomorrow night’s show. I would very much recommend an early night. Alyssa and I will see you at the gym at your hotel at nine am for one final practice.”

“So bossy,” Cate rolled her eyes but the truth was that all sounded really good right now. Well, apart from the final practice with Vladimir and Alyssa.