Once Mum and Dad and Sadie Lee and Sadie Lee’s friend Betty have headed off to Times Square, Noah asks Bella what she’d like to do.
She tilts her head to one side and thinks about it for all of a second before answering, “Please can we play princesses?”
Noah laughs. “Oh man. Who do I get to be? Princess Noah?”
Bella shakes her head. “No, silly. You’re the famous rock-star prince.”
“Good role,” I say, nodding my approval to Noah.
“Right,” Noah says, looking distinctly unimpressed.
“And Penny is Princess Autumn and I’m Princess Bella the Third.”
Noah looks at me and raises his eyebrows. “What happened to Bella the First and Second?”
“They were killed by an alien pig.”
I bite down on my bottom lip to stop myself from laughing.
“Go and get your guitar then,” Bella says to Noah. It suddenly dawns on me that I haven’t seen Noah play the guitar since the day we met.
“And, Penny, you have to dress up like a princess.”
“I don’t think I’ve got any princess clothes.”
“What about the dress?” Noah says. “The one you were wearing the night of the wedding party.”
“Oh yes.”
I run upstairs to Mum and Dad’s room and find the dress in Mum’s luggage. This time I don’t put the shoes or headband on. I stay barefoot and let my curls tumble loosely over my shoulders.
When I get back to the living room, Noah is sitting on the edge of the sofa strumming a beautiful black guitar with a pearly white fret board.
“OK, still majestic,” he says as soon as he sees me.
“Why, thank you, Prince Rock Star.”
“You’re welcome, Princess Autumn.”
Bella, who has gotten changed into a gorgeous satin princess dress in deep purple, looks at me and claps her hands. “This is going to be so much fun!” She turns to Noah. “Play her the song.”
“Which song?”
“The song,” Bella says, looking at him pointedly. “You know, the one you wrote about her,” she whispers loudly.
Noah’s face flushes. “Oh, no, I can’t, it’s not finished yet. How about I do one from Frozen? Bella’s seen the movie Frozen about seventy million times,” he says to me with a grin.
Bella claps her hands together. “Yes! Sing ‘Let It Go.’ Please!”
Noah plays a few chords on his guitar, then starts to sing.
Bella starts dancing around the room with her teddy bear. “I love this song,” she says to me breathlessly.
And as Noah carries on singing, I fall in love with it too. His voice is so beautiful, so soft and husky. The kind of voice that really makes you pay attention. I glance over at him and see that he’s staring at me intently while he sings. Is he singing it to me? Does he actually mean the words he’s singing? As the song builds and he gets to a line about overcoming your fears, he looks straight at me and I feel shivers run up and down my spine.
“Dance with me,” Bella says, pulling me up from the sofa.
I hold her hands and we start spinning around and around, faster and faster. It’s as if Noah’s voice is carrying us and it makes me feel powerful, invincible, fearless, and free. It makes me feel head over heels in love.
Chapter Thirty-Four
After two hours of singing and dancing and acting out elaborate storylines involving beautiful princesses and rock-star princes and alien-pig invasions, Bella is limp with tiredness.
“I think somebody might be ready for bed,” Noah says, putting his guitar down.
“No!” Bella cries, but it’s really halfhearted and she rests her head in my lap.
“I tell you what, why doesn’t Penny read you a bedtime story while I do a bit of clearing up down here.”
Bella immediately springs upright. “OK!”
Noah looks at me and smiles. “Take your time,” he says. “I’ve got a few things to sort out here.”
I nod and pick Bella up. “Come on then, Princess Bella the Third.”
Once I’ve gotten Bella in bed, I put Princess Autumn on the pillow next to her.
“I’m gonna be so sad when you go,” Bella says in a tired little voice.
“I’m going to be really sad too,” I say, smoothing down her hair. “I was thinking—maybe Princess Autumn should stay with you.”
Bella’s eyes open wide. “For real?”
I smile. “Yes. I think she’d be happier here.”
Bella nods. “I think you’re right. And that way, every time I feel sad about you I can play with Princess Autumn instead.”
“Exactly.” I tuck Princess Autumn in next to Bella and start telling her a story about Prince William and Princess Kate and the day they had to rescue the Queen from an alien-pig invasion. Eventually, she falls asleep. I kiss her on the forehead and I’m just about to leave when Noah comes in.
“Good work,” he whispers as he sees her asleep. “I’ll just kiss her good night. I’ll see you down in the basement.”
I nod and a weird sensation of excitement and fear courses right through me to the soles of my feet. Finally, Noah and I are going to be alone together.
As I go down into the basement, I see some twinkling fairy lights at the far end. At first I think it’s coming from a Christmas tree but it’s the wrong shape. I go past the sofas and see that the lights are coming from the pool table. But it doesn’t look like a pool table anymore because it’s got blankets draped over it and fairy lights strung all around it.
I hear Noah coming down the steps behind me.
“I built you a tent,” he says. “I remembered what you said about it being your favorite place when you were younger, where you felt safe and . . .” He breaks off, looking embarrassed.
Completely without warning, my eyes fill with tears.
“Was it a dumb idea?” Noah asks, looking at me. “Oh crap, you’re crying. It was a dumb idea. I’m sorry, I—”
“No,” I interrupt. “It’s one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me.”
Noah smiles. “Seriously?”
“Yes.” I look up at him. “Thank you for listening to me. For remembering what I say to you.”