The Songbird

CHAPTER 12

Cate

My life had changed so dramatically and Jack was the catalyst. I had a new slant on my singing career and with him I had found the love that I had craved ever since I was a teenager. As I thought about it I was slowly coming to the conclusion that if the one was to flourish then the other had to be abandoned. I could not give myself one hundred percent to both. There was no contest. If I continued singing and all the travel that incurred, my relationship with Jack would be put under strain and I wasn't going to allow that to happen. This thing with the Stela Swing Band was an episode and like all episodes there would be an end to it. I decided that when that happened I would retire from singing completely and make my life with Jack.

We went up to Blackpool two days before the show. Much as I tried I couldn't get a ticket for Jack. They were reserved for relatives of the celebrity dancers and those who had applied for tickets months in advance and had been lucky in the draw.

A programme assistant explained how we would fit in. Dave Arch and his musicians played for the actual dancing and exhibitions and took a break when the results were scrutinized. That's when we came on. Our performance was recorded and shown during the results show. It was panic as we set up and got everything in place as we didn't have too much time. However the staff at the BBC seemed to know what they were doing so it all happened. When the recording was shown it would appear seamless. We were given some rehearsal time. The dancers needed that time as well to choreograph their routine. I was very impressed by the couple, Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag. I was told by someone there that if you wanted a foxtrot exhibition then this was the couple who you chose.

Jack

I did not usually tune in to 'Strictly Come Dancing'. My usual routine for a Saturday evening was listening to music and reading. Although Cate was performing her spot on the show would not be broadcast until Sunday evening. So I settled for my usual evening, being rudely interrupted by the phone at eleven p.m. It was Cate, bubbling with excitement for their spot and the dancing. She was about to tell me who had been eliminated from the show when suddenly she stopped. "Oh! I can't tell you. It's a secret until Sunday evening." She went on to describe how it all went together, and that whilst their rendition of 'Why do Robins sing in December' would be the only recording broadcast, they had in fact performed three songs, the third being 'You do something to me' when Dave Arch and his band had jammed with them. Then she took breath. "Now for the best news, Jack. The Tower wants to book us for a regular spot, three nights every month. They reckon that with Strictly, there will be an upsurge of people dancing and they want a competent band for people to dance to."

"Sounds great. Perhaps I can get there and we can dance together."

"I can't dance this stuff, Jack."

"Neither can I."

"I don't believe you. You can do everything."

"Good of you to recognise my talents, but that isn't one of them."

"I know of one that is very satisfactory."

"Possibly, but I do need help for that."

"I'm the helper and don't you forget it." She hesitated for a moment. "Jack. I have four days free from Monday. Any chance I..."

"Come. I'll pick you up at Derby station and I'll re-arrange my appointments. Just let me know what time you get to Derby."

"Brilliant! I'll call you with the times."

I watched the programme when it was broadcast on the Sunday evening. It seems silly really as almost everyone knows that the result show is recorded on the Saturday evening, yet everyone involved goes to great lengths to support the fiction that the results are not known until the Sunday evening. I wasn't interested in what couples would be through to the next stage, I wanted to see Cate performing. I set my recorder up so that I would have a permanent record. Of course I had watched the rehearsals; yet the performance with Cate wearing a lovely cream full length dress was something else. If I had any doubts why she had segued from Rock Chick to an accomplished balladeer that programme was all the proof that anyone would need. Of course some would say that I was biased. I wouldn't argue, of course I am biased.

I managed to clear Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. The Tuesday I had one appointment I couldn't get out of. Luckily it was in Long Eaton, so it would only take a morning to complete. It always surprised me that some celebrities could walk through a crowded place without being recognized. Cate had that ability. The glamorous woman I had seen on the TV just the day before was unrecognizable in jeans, sweat-shirt and a brown leather jacket amongst the bustle of a busy train station. That is until she saw me waiting, then her smile flashed and she ran to me. She dropped her hold-all, jumped into my arms and immediately our mouths and tongues connected. She talked continuously on the journey back to Hulland recounting the show and snippets of gossip from and about the celebrities and the professional dancers until I drove over the cattle grid, then there was silence. I looked over and she wore a small peaceful smile and a visage of peace and contentment. Once inside she seemed to relax completely. "How does it happen, Jack? The first time I came here I had this feeling of peace and welcome. It happens every time."

"Because you are welcome. Anytime and for as long as you want."

She nodded. "Yes, I get that feeling. It seems to enfold me as soon as I enter. It happened the first time I came here, just walking in I could feel the house saying, 'hello, I have been waiting for you'." Cate grinned slyly. "I decided then that I would have to seduce you, so that I could get visiting rights anytime."

"I see. So it's not me it's the house you want."

"Now what gave you that impression?" She pulled her sweat shirt over her head."I am going for a shower." Cate then flipped the waist button on her jeans as she climbed the stair. "If someone would like to help me, like washing my back...and my front...and anything else he wishes to, I would be very grateful." She stopped, pulled off the jeans and threw them at me. "Coming?"

"Try and stop me." I kicked off my loafers and started up the stair.

The action started in the shower and when our fingers were wrinkled from the water, we transferred to the bed where the action started all over again.

Later after we had leisurely taken a lunch, we relaxed downstairs. With music playing we watched the sky darken as night encroached. I could feel that Cate had something on her mind and waited patiently till she felt it needed airing. "I have been thinking, Jack. My bookings for Rock are few and far between now. The band has quite a few bookings for late November and December but the new year apart from one booking in Birmingham and the Tower Ballroom, there is nothing else on the horizon. There will be bookings I know, but they will be for the Swing band. So I have decided not to accept any bookings but with the Swing Band. So in many ways I shall be semi-retired." She stopped and took a deep breath, more like a gulp. "Do you think..."

"Yes."

"You don't know what I was going to ask?"

"I thought, perhaps, that you wanted to come and spend more time here."

"Well that was the gist of it. You don't mind?"

"Not at all. In fact I positively encourage the idea. You should know by now that you are welcome, whether I am here or not." I had picked up on the Birmingham booking. "This booking in Birmingham. Where is it?"

"It's the Hippodrome, just the one night, but it's a good venue."

"Any possibility of my getting a ticket?"

"Of course. I was going to suggest it anyway. I'll get you a comp."

The four days that week were good. We seemed to move together around the cottage, preparing meals together, talking, listening to music and later being very much in sync when we went to bed.

I was not one to make too much of Christmas apart from spending too much on presents for Ellen and now Cate. I had always believed that many of the Christmas shows were pre-recorded with celebrities offering fulsome Christmas greetings to all and sundry long before the actual day. However I found that entertainers such as Cate and the band were so busy leading up to that time of year that the actual day came in a blur. Our greetings on Christmas day was made by telephone, with a very tired Cate in her flat and me at the cottage describing to her the countryside crisp with frost. We agreed that we would celebrate the festival early in January. New Years Eve was the same. Revellers, revelled, Cate and the band worked! We got together early in the New Year and just enjoyed being together, relaxing and talking.

I was very busy in January as the Furniture Show loomed; making sure that my customers had the fabrics they had ordered and that they also had swatches of the new fabrics. With the experience of past years I had booked a hotel room close to the National Exhibition Centre well in advance. The four days of the Show was hectic. I wandered around the displays keeping an eye out for any designs that could become best-sellers and fending off manufacturers who wanted to know why I hadn't offered them designs that their competitors were showing. I was very interested in two Turkish gentlemen who were visiting the furniture manufacturers with samples of their production. One of my good customers' spoke to me about them, asking why I wasn't representing them. It turned out that these gentlemen were from the Mill that had missed the appointment with me when I was in Turkey. It was with some glee that I passed on the advice from the Turkish Commercial Bureau about the unreliability of this Mill.

No sooner had the Furniture Show finished that I had just a few days to prepare for Cates' show at the Hippodrome. Ellen was not returning to Durham until the last days of January so I asked Cate if she could get a ticket for Ellen as well. She was delighted that Ellen would like to come and promised the comp. Tickets would be in the post that day. I booked a room at the hotel where Cate was staying for Ellen, as Cate had told me without argument that I was staying in her room. With that settled I had to go shopping in Derby.

Ellen and I were surprised when we arrived at the Hippodrome. Our comp tickets gave us a front row seat next to the central aisle. We were literally just five feet from the stage! I was very happy to see the auditorium filling up. The Hippodrome can seat just under two thousand and to my eyes it looked as if would be a full house. I had to admit my stomach was rolling over hoping that everything would go to plan. Cate had given me a run-down of the show and I knew that it could be a really good evening. Close to eight o' clock the audience chatter softened and died away completely as the lights dimmed. Then the first strains of 'Moonlight Serenade' filled the air and the curtains drew back to reveal the Stela Swing Band. Many of the audience clapped to welcome them. As the last few notes of the first refrain were heard Steve lifted the radio mike. "Ladies and Gentlemen. Please welcome Kat Lacey!" Cate came on from the right, wearing a full skirted long dress in pale green. The audience clapped again over the first line of the song but died quickly as Cate sang the first line.

The programme was varied, it wasn't just Glenn Miller, nor was it all swing. The band had been augmented with extra trumpets and trombones, using mutes to give the softer sound that Miller sought. After the first three numbers Kat left the stage and the band played Artie Shaw's 'Tangerine' and then 'Pennsylvania 65000'. Kat came back in Rock mood singing 'Chain Reaction' and a superb rendition of Hazel O'Connors 'Will you', complete with the sax solo which brought the house down. Kat paid tribute to Sally Watts, who played the tenor sax and the audience gave her prolonged applause. Then she went into the swing version of 'I Follow' which personally I believed to be better than the recorded version.

The last segment of the show started with the band playing a fantastic version of 'Perfidia' and then Kat came back with 'I know why and so do you'. Kat had always worked the audience and this time was little different, apart from introducing the members of the band. She then went on. "Many music fans wondered why I have changed my style to Swing. Well I met this bloke. He's here, but I won't point him out. Girls! You know how embarrassed they get. Well this bloke was into swing and once he had played some of his music for me, I was in it too. Then as I got to know him, I guess I kind of liked him. Actually it's far more than like. I think this one is a keeper."

I had intended to propose to Cate once we were back in the hotel but this seemed the perfect time for me. I took the little box out of my pocket and got up, walking the short distance to the apron. Cate noticed me and watched warily. My stomach was rolling over and over, even so I opened the box and proffered it to Cate. Her eyes were wide and glistening as she came over to where I stood and knelt. She looked at me and with the biggest smile said. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes."

She took the ring and slipped onto her finger. "Yes. Definitely." And blew me a kiss. She got up and went back to centre stage. She held her hand up and cried. "Hey, look Girls. I've just got engaged." The auditorium erupted and I sat down quickly blushing profusely..

Ellen grabbed my arm. "Good move, Dad."

Cate went to Steve and whispered, he then sent a message to the band and they moved their scores around. When they were ready Steve tapped the time and they went into the opening of 'Night and Day'.

Like the beat beat beat of the tom-tom

When the jungle shadows fall

Like the tick tick tock of the stately clock

As it stands against the wall

Amidst the cheers of the audience , Cate walked over to where I was sitting and sang,

'Night and day, you are the one'

'Only you beneath the moon and under the Sun.'

A week before we married we had driven up to Frinton so that I could meet her parents. When her father, "call me Ed," found out that I had no connection with the music business he seemed pleased. His comment on the music business was succinct, "never trusted any of those buggers." As Cate had forecast her mum, Enid had prepared a meal, Steak and Kidney pie! It was delicious.

Cate lived in Chelsea and we married at the Chelsea registry office, which was the scene for many celebrity marriages. It was no surprise that when we came out of the registry office there were Press. I doubted they were there especially for us, I think it was a happy hunting ground for them. I had never been in the situation of having flashes firing at me from many cameras and to me it was daunting. Cate had no problem fending off the personal questions that the press seemingly thought was their right to know. One reporter wanted to know if Rick, her first husband knew that she was getting married again. Cate replied curtly. "Why should he?" Another asked her where she was going to live. "Somewhere in the country." She said abruptly

"Whereabouts."

"Somewhere." With Cates' terse replies that gave little information sufficient for an article the questions dried up and we got into the taxi which was waiting for us and we were driven quickly to a Italian restaurant where the reception was being held. We entered to the strains of 'Love is the Sweetest Thing' played by the Stela Swing Band in the style of Al Bowlly. I asked Steve later if he was an archaeologist.

"No." He answered bemused. "What makes you think that?"

"That Al Bowlly number. You must have dug deep to get that one."

Steve laughed. "Ah. I was thinking that Kat may like to make a follow-up C.D. I thought that 'Love is the Sweetest Thing' would be a good number for her."

I thought about that and I made a suggestion. "How about 'A Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square' and 'A Foggy day In London Town'."

He thought for a moment and understood my thinking. "I like that. Make it British-themed throughout. Possibly some of the Vera Lynn classics as well."

"I think that would work."

He nodded. "Perhaps you could talk to Kat about it. She will listen to you."

"Later. Let us go on Honeymoon first."

Ellie had stood as my witness and she was with us as we arrived at the Italian restaurant. During the meal she revealed that she had told her mother that I was getting married again. Roger, Ellen's step-father maliciously suggested that at my age I had found some desperate granny to look after me. Ellie then related the conversation telling Roger that she didn't think that Caitlin could be described that way.

"Caitlin?" He had asked. "Not many women called that. Is she Irish by any chance?"

"No." Replied Ellen. "Amongst her friends and family she is called Cate but many people know her as Kat."

"Kat!" He was surprised.

"Yeah." Ellen had kept the best bit until last. "You may have heard of her, Kat Lacey." Ellie took great delight in relating how Roger, who had always been dismissive of me, sat open-mouthed upon hearing who I was marrying.

"Kat Lacey? The singer?"

"Yeah!" Ellen had told him with relish. Cate and I laughed as Ellie went on. "Dad I have never seen Roger lost for words, and the look on his face was priceless."

Cate had an idea. "Perhaps we should send them a copy of our wedding photo?"

"That." I said laughing, "would be evil, wouldn't you say?"

"Just deserts." Opined Ellie.

The End.