Page 22 of The Twelve Dates of Christmas
“Fair enough,” she said. “Okay, I guess we’d better get these monsters on me.”
“You don’t sound too keen,” said Anthony.
“I can’t skate,” she confessed. “At all.”
“So you picked an ice skating date?” said Anthony.
“It was the best of the three dates on offer,” said Kate. “And I never shy away from a challenge.”
“Neither do I,” said Anthony.
His tone was suggestive. It made Kate feel a bit giddy, and she guffawed loudly and finished with a piggy snort.Keep it together, Turner!she thought, and mentally shook herself by the shoulders and slapped her face.
Anthony led her to a bench and began loosening the laces on the skates.
“My main concerns are breaking my legs, breaking someone else’s legs, or causing an ice rink pile-up,” said Kate.
Anthony chuckled, a low chuckle that seemed to rumble around like thunder beneath his pectoral muscles.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t let you fall.”
He smiled. Kate blushed; it was quite the most romantic thing she’d heard in years.
To her surprise, he took control of putting her skates on, taking her feet in his large hands and gently pushing them into the stiff boots, pulling the laces tightly to secure them. She hoped her feet weren’t hot and sweaty. She hoped they didn’t smell.
Kate suddenly felt all hot, despite the cold of the place. She dearlywished she weren’t wearing her Rudolph socks with glittery red noses. It was such an intimate act. She didn’t know where to look. She’d never had this problem in Clarks shoe shop. When he’d finished he looked up at her with a wolfish grin, and Kate felt sure steam was rolling off her cheeks.
The hockey teams relinquished the ice and when the Zamboni had smoothed the rink to a glassy precariousness, the Twelve Dates gang descended onto the ice with whoops and screeches.
They were a distinctly mixed-ability bunch, for which Kate was greatly relieved. Although some couples instantly took off arm in arm like Torvill and Dean, there were plenty of wobblers, huggers-on-for-dear-lifers, and clingers, who inched their way around the edge, never releasing their white-knuckle grip on the rail; it was to this last group that Kate firmly belonged.
“I’ll just go around the edge for a while,” said Kate. “You can wave at me as you go past.”
They had teetered their way to the gate and Kate found herself hanging onto the edge of the Perspex window, afraid to step out onto the ice.
“It’s not really a date if we don’t skate together,” said Anthony. “How are we supposed to get to know each other if we can’t talk?”
“I’ll shout interesting facts about myself as you go by,” said Kate.
Anthony laughed a deep, friendly laugh, like the Jolly Green Giant, only Anthony was much better looking. He put one arm firmly around Kate’s waist and pulled her tightly into his side, almost lifting her from the ground.
“I told you,” he said. “I won’t let you fall. Trust me, I’m a fireman.”
As Kate did her best not to dissolve into a puddle, Anthony pulled her onto the ice. True to his word, he held her so tightly to his side that despite her legs moving in opposite directions, she did not fall.
After a couple of laps Kate began to relax; she stopped squealing and began to enjoy the skating, or at least going through the motions of skating.
“If I’d known all I needed to skate proficiently was a six-foot-three fireman, I’d have done it more often,” said Kate.
Anthony’s laugh rumbled through her. After a couple more laps Kate felt confident enough to hold a conversation on the move and they talked a bit about their jobs and gave a brief précis of their respective singleness.
Anthony had the children Sunday night to Friday afternoon, and his ex-wife had them every weekend.
“That’s unusual, isn’t it?” asked Kate.
“It is,” said Anthony. “But it shouldn’t be. Her job is better paid than mine. She works longer hours and I’ve got a really close-knit family who help out when I’m on shift. She doesn’t have anyone. It makes sense for me to have them more. But it doesn’t mean she loves them any less.”
“No, of course not,” said Kate.
