Page 23 of Christmas Joy at the Cornish Bakery

‘I...’

‘Aw, don’t you two look good together?’ Lizzie called across as she and Terrence breezed past them. ‘All of those dancing lessons your nan gave you have paid off, Jasper.’

Letting her hand fall to her side, Jasper tugged on the neck of his Christmas jumper before taking her hand again.

Robyn smiled at Lizzie and Terrence before turning back to Jasper. ‘It was because you really did blame me for my car scaring him, wasn’t it?’

Slowly, he shook his head. ‘It was because of her.’

Robyn glanced across at Lizzie. ‘Because of Lizzie?’

‘No.’ He cleared his throat. ‘It was because of my nan. Dasher was her dog and when she moved in here three years ago, she entrusted me with him. He’s the one thing which makes me feel close to her again.’

‘Oh.’ Robyn could almost feel the blood rush from her face. She hadn’t been expecting that answer. ‘So, not only did I insult your nan’s jumpers - although I honestly didn’t mean what I said, it’s just the whole Christmas thing - but you blame me for you almost losing your nan’s dog too?’

‘Yes.’ He kept her eyes on hers as he spun her out, waiting until she’d twisted back into his arms before continuing. ‘But I see I may have overreacted.’

‘You do?’

‘Now I understand why you hate...’ He smiled. ‘Sorry, I mean, now I know you’re not a big fan of Christmas. I understand why you’re not the biggest fan of my jumpers.’

‘And the car? You don’t blame me for backfiring it now?’

‘No, I can see you’re a decent person.’

‘You can see I’m a decent person?’ She smiled as she noticed his cheeks begin to pink. ‘You’ve worked out that I’m not this awful human being who drives around searching for animals I can scare with my car?’

‘Exactly.’ He smiled as he drew her closer, gently guiding her arms around his neck as the music slowed.

Keeping her eyes on his, she smiled. She couldn’t ignore the feeling of a connection between them, the electricity, the way his touch caused her stomach to flutter. All feelings of animosity between them faded into nothingness, making way for something else entirely. She could feel his breath on her face, they were that close. After all that had happened between them, the misunderstandings, the awkwardness, the anger even, she shouldn’t be feeling like this. At the very most, she should only feel forgiveness. Not this. Not feeling as though being here in his arms was the most natural thing in the world. The room seemed to fade into the background; the music growing quieter, the other dancers a million miles away from the two of them.

Reaching his hand up, Jasper tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before resting his thumb on her cheek. ‘May...?’

Without waiting for him to finish his question, she nodded.

Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against hers before drawing away again, tilting his head as he watched her reaction.

Stopping in the middle of the dance floor, Robyn moved her hands to the nape of his neck and pulled him towards her again, closing her eyes as their lips touched once more. How had they got to this point? A complete one-eighty turnaround? She wasn’t quite sure, but in that moment, she didn’t care.

Chapter Eighteen

‘Thank you.’ Taking the money, Robyn passed over the cake box full of red and green iced cupcakes. She nodded towards the tables in the coffee and cake area, which they had set up with blank lanterns, felt-tip pens, and an assortment of other crafty bits. ‘Are you staying to make a lantern?’

The young boy looked up at his dad, who nodded enthusiastically. ‘Yes, please.’

‘Great. Find yourselves somewhere to sit and give one of us a shout if you need anything else.’ She smiled as the dad and boy sat at the table in the window.

‘I love lantern parade day.’ Brooke grinned as she sidled across to her and plucked a bread roll from the breadbasket before bagging it up. ‘There’s something about us and the cafe next door opening our doors to people to decorate their lanterns. Not to mention the actual parade itself.’

‘What exactly is it?’ Robyn asked, as she began serving her next customer.

‘It’s a lantern parade.’ Diane stated and shrugged.

‘Haha, I know it’s a lantern parade, but where do people parade to? And why?’ Robyn smiled at her customer. ‘Sorry, was it two or three gingerbread Santas you wanted?’

‘Three please,’ the woman smiled back.

‘We. Not people. We.’

---