Oh yeah, that was going to help. The feel of his hands, even though cushioned by the layers of clothes, and his breath on the back of my neck, set my knees trembling again as the real reason for not telling Jonathan about my new friend became more obvious with every passing second.

‘Better?’ Beamish asked, his voice was deep and so close to my ear it made me shiver, but not with the cold.

‘Yes.’ I squeaked. ‘Great.’

The set up didn’t work particularly well because I was as rigid as an ironing board. With Beamish’s hands on me, there was just no bend in me at all. He changed position again.

‘Sorry,’ I said, shaking my head.

‘You’re doing really well,’ he said kindly as he unravelled his scarf.

I really wasn’t but he was too much of a gentleman to say otherwise.

‘Here,’ he said, ‘try hanging on to the end of this.’

‘But then I won’t have hold of you,’ I swallowed.

I didn’t much like the idea of relinquishing my safety blanket.

‘Trust me,’ he smiled, his uninjured eye imploring me to believe in him.

So, I did.

And we had almost made it around, a little faster now, with him towing me along before I fell in a heap for the final time and a buzzer announced that our time was up.

‘Did you enjoy that?’ I asked Dolly once we had returned our skates and had a warming mug of marshmallow-topped hot chocolate and a ringside seat.

It was a silly question. Her glowing cheeks and bright eyes were testament to the wonderful time she’d had. By contrast I was as white as a sheet and having a job to stop my legs from shaking. It hadn’t been that long since I’d stretched my muscles, surely?

‘I felt about fifteen again,’ she breathed. ‘I felt just how I used to when I was a girl.’

‘You were amazing,’ said Beamish. ‘So elegant, Dolly. You cut quite a figure out there.’

Dolly nodded and wiped away a tear which Beamish and I pretended we hadn’t seen.

‘That’s one wish from the list well and truly fulfilled,’ I told him with a gentle nudge. ‘Thank you, Beamish.’

‘You’re very welcome, Hattie,’ he said, nudging me right back.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It felt good to wake up in Wynbridge without that heavy weight on my chest, but the morning after our skating session it was more than obvious that the pain had simply transferred further down my body. My legs felt as though they had been struck by the Harry Potter Leg Locker curse and for a while, I didn’t think I would ever be able to move them again.