Page 25 of Autumn at the Cornish Garden Café

‘They could have.’ She checked her phone but held it up to show him there were no messages.

‘Do you want to look for them?’ he asked.

‘No, it’s fine. I’m sure they’ll come down when they’re ready. They could still be sleeping.’

‘Went for a nap, did they?’

‘Christopher was exhausted and I think Vinnie was grateful for the excuse to grab forty winks himself.’

Henry laughed. ‘Nothing like an afternoon nap.’

She gestured at the dancefloor where people were gathering. ‘Shall we go over?’

‘Sure.’

When they got there, two women were handing out cowboy hats, so they accepted one each.

‘I’m not sure about the colour.’ Henry eyed the bright blue of the hat he’d been given.

‘It’s not very authentic looking, is it?’ She giggled as she placed the emerald green hat on her head.

‘It suits you, though.’ He smiled because she looked good with the hat on top of her long white-blonde hair. ‘Shall we take our jackets off?’ he asked, realising they’d likely get warm.

‘Good idea.’ She removed hers and handed it to him, then he took them over to a rock where others were leaving their coats and set them on top of the pile.

‘Right then. Here we go.’ He flashed her a wink, and then they stood waiting while everyone lined up.

She looked up at him; excitement and uncertainty filling her eyes, as if she wanted to look forward to this but feared fully letting go.

‘Hey…’ He held out his hand. ‘It will be fun. I promise.’

She looked at his hand, then entwined her fingers with his. ‘What if I make a fool of myself?’

‘We can make fools of ourselves together, so don’t worry at all.’ He squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back.

The band started to play a familiar country song, and a woman strode onto the stage, then waved at the crowd. ‘Hey y’all! Are you ready?’

‘We are!’ everyone chorused back.

‘Well come along then. Let’s get dancing!’

She led them through the moves: clap, stomp, turn, and back. They practised it a few times and then once they’d got the hang of it; they got going for real. Henry lost his rhythm a few times and went the wrong way, which made Rosa giggle. He bumped into her and a few other people several times when he wobbled, but he eventually found his rhythm and Rosa found hers. She was a natural and he couldn’t help watching how she swung her hips and relaxed into the music, how she stomped her feet with determination and clapped with gusto.

Soon, they were dancing in tune with the music, the crowd, and each other. Their hands brushed together a few times and each time, he got a jolt of electricity up his arm. Whenever their eyes met, a similar jolt passed between them, fusing them physically and emotionally, igniting sparks like mini-fireworks.

As the music sped up, so did the dancing, and soon they were whirling around on the dancefloor, the wooden boards bouncing beneath their feet, the cheers of the dancers filling the evening and their breath emerging like puffs of smoke into the cold air.

There was just the sky above them, the pulse of the beat, and their warm bodies, and they danced like the weight of the past had lifted — if only for the time of the dance.

When the music ended, Henry took Rosa’s hand, and they stood facing each other: breathless, chests heaving, grinning like they’d just learnt how to be happy for the first time.

‘Wow!’ she said eventually, her fingers still entwined with his. ‘That was really something.’

‘You were amazing.’

‘I wasn’t as bad as I thought I’d be, but I don’t know about amazing.’

‘Believe me, you were.’ He stepped closer to her, so close their fronts nearly touched and he gently stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb. He almost leant forwards to kiss her, then he realised what he was doing and where he was. As a teacher in the village, it wasn’t a good idea to kiss Rosa in public, and so he sighed inwardly and stepped back a bit. Besides which, perhaps Rosa didn’t want to be kissed, and he was merely following his instincts and not thinking about her feelings.

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