Page 45 of Love in the Air at The Cornish Bakery

‘Too right it is, but we’ll show him.’ Taking Rowan’s hand, she jutted her right foot out and pulled her left one towards it.

‘Great job.’

‘Why, thank you.’ Grinning, she repeated the action, only this time her left leg decided to shoot out from beneath her and she grabbed hold of Rowan’s jumper to steady herself. As she clung to him, she felt him sink beneath her, and they both landed in a mess on the floor.

‘You okay? No broken bones.’

‘Not yet.’ Nina watched as the little kid zoomed past them once more, jumping and twisting mid-air before landing smoothly and continuing his lap around the hall floor. ‘I think we showed him.’

‘Most definitely.’ Chuckling, Rowan stood up, regaining his balance for a second before landing with a thump next to her again. ‘I think we’re stuck. Destined to forever be lying in a heap on this hall floor.’

‘Huh, I wanted to watch that film tonight.’

‘The one with Sandra Bullock?’

‘That’s the one.’

‘Maybe I can get it on my phone.’

Shaking her head, Nina laughed. ‘Come on, let’s try again.’

‘Hey, do you two need a hand?’ Brooke spun to a stop in front of them, shortly followed by Max.

‘Yes, please. Quite literally.’ Holding her hand up, Nina gripped Brooke’s hand and staggered to standing whilst Max helped Rowan to his feet. ‘Thank you. It’s been a while since I last skated.’

Brooke grinned. ‘No worries. Do you need a quick refresher?’

‘A quick refresher would be great, please.’ Still gripping Brooke’s hand, she let herself be led towards the outside of the floor.

‘Okay, watch what I’m doing and see if you can copy. Start off with your strongest foot and glide. Bring the other foot in front of you. That’s it.’

‘Glide one foot forward. Glide the other...’ Nina stubbed the rubber brake on the toe of the left roller skate on the floor, causing her to trip forward.

‘Don’t worry, just try again. Remember to glide your foot. You don’t need to take a big step like you do when you’re walking.’ Brooke skated slightly in front of her, turned and held her hands, pulling Nina gently forwards as she glided with her roller skates. ‘That’s it, you’re doing well.’

Nina looked down at her feet. She was doing it. She was actually roller-skating.

‘Look up at me. Don’t look down. That’s it. Great work!’ Brooke grinned as she fell back in time with Nina’s skating again. ‘Okay, now try to let go of my hand. Use your arms to steady yourself and to propel yourself forward.’

‘No...’ Reaching ahead to grab Brooke’s hand as she let go, Nina had to readjust her footing but kept going. ‘I’m roller-skating.’

‘You are.’ Laughing, Brooke kept in pace with her. ‘Do you know how many times in my life I’ve wished for a sibling or a cousin?’

‘No.’ Nina looked across at her.

‘Millions of times. And, you know, I’d accepted that I’d never have one, so you turning up in the bay and turning out to be my cousin, well, it’s unreal.’ Brooke grinned.

‘Thank you.’ Nina smiled. ‘You can’t imagine how terrified I was telling Ian. I thought I’d lose you, who I’d felt I was really getting to know, Ian, Elsie, and everyone else. I thought they’d be so disappointed in the fact that I hadn’t told you sooner...’ She shook her head.

‘Sorry you felt that way. It must have been really difficult working up to the point to speak to Ian.’

‘It was.’

‘Look!’

Following Brooke’s gaze, Nina grinned. ‘Wow, Rowan’s got the hang of it. I don’t know why I’m so surprised because he was always the one better at roller-skating than me.’ Nina laughed.

‘Nina?’

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