‘I don’t mind,’ he said firmly.
‘Then I’ll stay so,’ she said happily, hopping back on to her stool.
Daniel leaned his hands against the taps in a typical barman pose. ‘So now that that’s settled, what can I get you?’ he said smiling.
‘Well, this is great, no queuing or shouting my order across the bar or anything,’ she joked. ‘I’ll have a sparkling water, please.’
‘Nothing stronger?’ He raised his eyebrows. His smile was infectious; it seemed to reach from ear to ear.
‘No, I’d better not or I’ll be drunk by the time everyone gets here.’
‘Good thinking,’ he agreed, and reached behind him to the fridge to retrieve the bottled water.
Holly realised what it was that made him look so different: he wasn’t in his trademark black. He was wearing faded blue jeans and an open light blue shirt, with a white T-shirt underneath, that complemented his blue eyes so that they seemed to twinkle even more than usual. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to just below his elbows, and Holly could see his muscles through the light fabric. She quickly averted her eyes as he slid the glass towards her.
‘Can I get you anything?’ she asked him.
‘No, thanks, I’ll take care of this one.’
‘No, please,’ Holly insisted. ‘You’ve bought me plenty of drinks. It’s my turn.’
‘OK, I’ll have a Budweiser then, thanks.’ He leaned against the bar and continued to stare at her.
‘What? Do you want me to get it?’ Holly laughed, jumping off her stool and walking round the bar. Daniel stood back and watched her with amusement.
‘I always wanted to work behind a bar when I was a kid,’ she said, grabbing a pint glass and pulling down on the tap. She was enjoying herself.
‘There’s a spare job if you’re looking for one,’ Daniel said, closely watching her work.
‘No, thanks, I think I do a better job on the other side of the bar,’ she laughed, filling the pint glass.
‘Mmm … well, if you’re ever looking for work you know where to come,’ Daniel said, after taking a gulp of his pint. ‘You did a good job.’
‘It’s not exactly brain surgery,’ she smiled, bouncing across to the other side of the bar. She took out her purse and handed him money. ‘Keep the change.’
‘Thanks,’ he smiled, turning to open the cash register and she scorned herself for checking out his bum. It was nice, though – firm, but not as nice as Gerry’s, she decided.
‘Has your husband deserted you again tonight?’ he teased, walking round the bar to join her.
Holly bit her lip and wondered how to answer him. Now wasn’t really the time to talk about something so depressing to someone who was only making chitchat, but she didn’t want the poor man to keep asking her every time he saw her. He would soon realise the truth, which would cause him even more embarrassment.
‘Daniel,’ she said softly, ‘I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable but my husband passed away.’
Daniel stopped in his tracks and his cheeks blushed slightly, ‘Oh, Holly, I’m sorry, I didn’t know,’ he said sincerely.
‘It’s OK, I know you didn’t.’ She smiled to show him she wasn’t upset by his mistake.
‘Well, I didn’t meet him the other night but if someone had told me, I would have gone to the funeral to pay my respects.’ He sat beside her at the bar.
‘Oh no, Gerry died in February, Daniel. He wasn’t here the other night.’
Daniel looked confused. ‘But I thought you told me he was here …’ he trailed off, thinking he had misheard.
‘Oh, yeah,’ Holly looked down at her feet with embarrassment. ‘He wasn’t here,’ she said, looking around the club, ‘but he was here.’ She put her hand on her heart.
‘Ah, I see.’ He finally understood, ‘Then you were even braver the other night than I thought, considering the circumstances,’ he said gently.
Holly was surprised at how at ease he seemed. Usually people stuttered and stammered their way through a sentence and either wandered off or changed the subject. She felt relaxed in his presence, though, as if she could talk openly without fear of crying. Holly smiled and briefly explained the story of the list.
‘So that’s why I ran off after Declan’s gig that time,’ Holly laughed.
‘It wasn’t because they were so terrible, by any chance?’ Daniel joked, then he looked lost in thought. ‘Ah yes, that’s right, that was the thirtieth of April.’
‘Yeah, I couldn’t wait any longer to open the note,’ Holly explained.
‘Hmm … when’s the next one?’
‘July,’ she said excitedly.
‘So I won’t be seeing you on the thirtieth of June then,’ he said drily.
‘Now you’re getting the gist,’ she laughed.
‘I have arrived!’ announced Denise to the empty room as she swanned in, dolled up to the nines in the dress she had worn to the ball last year. Tom strolled in behind her, laughing and refusing to take his eyes off her.
‘God, you’re dressed up,’ Holly remarked, staring her friend up and down. In the end Holly had decided to wear a pair of jeans, black boots and a very simple black top. She hadn’t been in the mood to get all dressed up after all, especially as they were only sitting in an empty club, but Denise hadn’t quite grasped that concept.
Tom and Daniel greeted each other with hugs. ‘Baby, this is Daniel, my best friend,’ Tom said, introducing Daniel to Denise. Daniel and Holly raised their eyebrows at each other and smiled, both registering the use of the word ‘baby’.
‘Hi, Tom.’ Holly shook his hand after Denise had introduced her and he kissed her on the cheek. ‘I’m sorry about the last time I met you. I wasn’t feeling very sane that night.’ Holly blushed at the memory of the karaoke.
‘That’s no problem,’ Tom smiled kindly. ‘If you hadn’t entered then I wouldn’t have met Denise, so I’m glad you did.’
After a while Holly discovered she was enjoying herself; she wasn’t just pretending to laugh or finding things mildly amusing, she was genuinely happy. The thought of that made her even happier, as did the knowledge that Denise had finally found someone she really loved.
Minutes later the rest of the Kennedy family arrived, along with Sharon and John. Holly ran down to greet her friends.
‘Hiya, hon,’ Sharon said, giving her a hug. ‘You here long?’
Holly started laughing. ‘I thought it was on at eight o’clock so I came at half seven.’
‘Oh no.’ Sharon looked anxious.
‘Don’t worry, it was fine. Daniel kept me company,’ Holly said, pointing him out.
‘Him?’ John said angrily. ‘Watch yourself with him, Holly. He’s a bit of an oddball. You should have heard the stuff he was saying to Sharon the other night.’
Holly guessed she’d caused this confusion, and quickly excused herself from their company to join her family.
‘Meredith not with you tonight?’ she asked Richard.
‘No she’s not,’ he snapped back rudely, and headed over to the bar.
‘Why does he bother coming to these things at all?’ she