Christmas at Lilac Cottage - Holly Martin Page 0,37

doing that badly that she was keeping everyone entertained with her wobbly gait? She flushed with embarrassment.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘People are staring.’

‘They’re not, don’t be so self-conscious.’

She glanced around again. ‘No, they’re definitely staring.’

Henry looked around as well, and she saw him frown as he saw all the eyes that were watching them.

‘They’re probably looking at me, you know the new guy in town, people are curious,’ he said, trying to placate her.

She looked at some of the townsfolk. Some were smiling at her encouragingly and Suzanna, one elderly lady she knew quite well, gave her a big thumbs up and a toothy wink as they passed. Suddenly Penny realised why they were getting all the attention: they thought she and Henry were a couple and they were all smiling because it was the first time that Penny had been with a man in over eight years. It was embarrassing because it wasn’t true.

‘They think we’re together,’ Penny said, quietly. ‘Sorry, these guys don’t get out too much and me holding hands with a man is big news.’

Henry smiled. ‘I’m not remotely bothered by it, so you shouldn’t be either. If they want to think I’m going out with a beautiful woman, then I’m totally fine with that.’

Penny flushed again at the compliment.

‘Right, start picking your feet up a little like this, so you can practise distributing your weight onto your different feet.’ He demonstrated lifting each of his feet off the ice ever so slightly and repeating it several times.

Penny blocked out the stares and studied his feet and attempted to do the same. It was surprisingly easy.

He gave her a few more pointers about pushing her legs back so that soon she was propelling herself across the ice. Even though he was still holding her hands, she felt like she was doing most of the work. He was a great teacher, so patient and demonstrative.

He stopped her and moved to her side, still holding one of her hands. ‘Let’s try it like this for a while, I won’t let you fall.’

She knew he wouldn’t. She tentatively pushed off and was pleased that she seemed to have the hang of it, though her legs felt like they were shaking under the strain. Her feet were still hurting and there were muscles screaming in her legs that she never knew she had. She caught sight of Daisy, staring at them. The last thing she wanted was for Daisy to feel left out so she pulled to a stop, clinging on to the side.

‘I’m just going to have a rest for a little while. Why don’t you skate with Daisy for a bit and I’ll get back on in a few minutes?’

Henry nodded and escorted her safely off the ice, before tearing after Daisy and chasing her round the rink.

Penny sat down on a bench, took her skates off and leaned back against the sea wall. The waves were crashing onto the rocks about twenty metres below and she looked out at the little red and white striped lighthouse warning ships of the rocky islets that surrounded the bay.

Over the sound of the waves, she heard a shout of laughter come from the other side of the sea wall.

Penny knelt up and peered over the wall. The slipway behind her, used for the launch of boats, looked empty, but suddenly movement at the very bottom of the slip where it joined the water caught her eye.

She squinted against the bright lights of the ice rink to see two boys, Sam and Alex, playing just a few feet from the water’s edge. The waves were crashing theatrically against the sea wall, mere inches from where they were standing, and the boys didn’t seem fazed at all.

Where were Mike and Pippa, the kids’ parents?

Loads of kids played on the slip during the day, but normally only when the tide was out. Three big shipwrecks had happened in the cove over the years and wonderful little treasures like cups, plates, coins, jewellery and various sailing paraphernalia washed up on the slip on an almost weekly basis. Most of it was completely worthless, but for the children of the town it was like a little treasure trove down there. She watched Sam and Alex now, filling their buckets up with bits of sea glass, and other wondrous delights.

She looked around for Mike and Pippa. Surely they hadn’t let them go and play down there when the tide was in?

Suddenly a huge wave crashed against the slip, covering