A Brambleberry Manor Christmas - Rosie Green Page 0,28

teach Jenny and I will spin around the floor with Noah.’ She turns and smiles up at Noah, reaching up to pat his cheek. ‘You remind me so much of my nephew. Come along.’

Noah’s face is a picture and I almost laugh out loud at his panic.

‘Rhoda, I’ve never done ballroom dancing in my life!’

‘Well, that’s good.’ She waves away his protests with a smile. ‘That means you won’t have had a chance to develop any bad habits. Right, put your hand right here…and we’ll get into hold…that’s right…now, just follow my feet. The waltz is easy-peasy, once you get the hang of it.’

I watch in amusement as the two of them start moving slowly and awkwardly round the floor. At one point, Noah looks over at me and mouths ‘Help!’ – but I know he’s only joking. He actually looks as if he’s enjoying himself, and so is Rhoda.

I look at Bob.

‘Shall we?’ His kind eyes crinkle into a smile under his bushy grey brows and he holds out his hand.

Laughter bursts out of me. ‘I’d be delighted.’

I feel safe and secure in Bob’s firm hold, and he sweeps me along, not seeming to mind when I accidentally step the wrong way or squish his toes, which seems to happen far more regularly than I thought it would.

‘This dancing lark is actually quite tricky,’ I say, smiling up at him, and immediately standing on his foot because I’m not concentrating. ‘Oops, sorry. Again.’

‘You’ll get the hang of it.’ He smiles. ‘You already are. You’ve got good timing.’

‘I love this kind of music. I thought I knew all the steps, just from watching every episode of Strictly a hundred times over. But it’s a different matter when you’re trying to perform them. Do you and Rhoda take classes?’

He shakes his head. ‘We’ve just always danced. I suppose we come from the generation that remembers the predecessor of Strictly. It was simply called Come Dancing and it was a real favourite when it was on TV in the 1950s. It ran through the 60s and 70s as well, but it was never celebrities learning to dance. It was the country’s top dancers competing against one another for the trophy.’

‘Well, this is lovely.’ I smile up at Bob, getting into the swing of the dance, loving the Big Band music, and finding I can actually do the moves without having to look at my feet. ‘I hear you’re an artist? That you’ve won prizes for your art installations? I’d love to see them. You must be so talented.’

‘That’s very kind of you to say so. I was an engineer for a long time, but I used to like making sculptures in my spare time.’ He grins. ‘Rhoda got so fed up not seeing me from one mealtime to the next at weekends, she decided she’d learn to paint. So now we share a studio.’ He sends his wife a heart-meltingly fond glance. ‘She’s actually very good, but don’t tell her I said so, or her hats won’t fit her anymore.’

I laugh and he twinkles at me, then he twirls me around without warning. Amazingly, I manage to stay upright and end in the right place. Laughing with delight, I glance over at Rhoda and Noah, and Noah gives me a thumbs up of approval. He must have seen my twirl, and my heart takes flight as we exchange a smile.

All too soon, the music draws to a crescendo, and at the end, Bob performs a solemn bow and I do my best attempt at a curtsy.

My heart is racing as Rhoda walks over with Noah to join us. He looks so attractive, especially now that he’s loosened his tie. I only wish I was wearing something a little more glamorous than black trousers and a black top. But it almost doesn’t matter because Noah’s smile, combined with the buzz I got dancing with Bob, are making me feel more alive at this moment than I’ve felt in a very, very long time…

‘Well.’ Rhoda smiles at Noah. ‘Now that you’ve learned the basics, it’s probably time you took Jenny for a whirl around the floor, wouldn’t you say?’

I smile nervously and I’m about to say, ‘You really don’t have to do that,’ when Noah takes a step towards me. His eyes burn into mine as he holds out his hand and murmurs, ‘Shall we, Jenny?’

My heart is beating crazily as I take his hand and he pulls me into hold rather dramatically, a