Chapter Seventeen

‘ O h, your favourite, Lizzie, love.’ Terrence nodded towards the stereo at the front of the room and stood up, holding his hand out towards his wife. ‘Shall we?’

Holding her hand against her chest, Lizzie looked up at him. ‘What? Dance? We can’t dance!’

‘Why not?’ Terrence held his hands together, pleading Lizzie to stand.

‘Nope, nope, nope.’ Lizzie shook her head violently and looked pointedly at the empty floor. ‘I’m not being the only couple dancing.’

‘Then don’t be.’ Terrence shrugged and nodded towards Jasper. ‘Jasper will ask Robyn, won’t you, lad?’

With his coffee mug halfway to his lips, Jasper paused, his eyebrows raising.

‘Go on, lad. Ask her.’ Terrence jabbed his finger in Robyn’s direction.

‘Oh, I don’t think he wants...’ Leaning her elbows on the table, Robyn cradled her hot coffee mug in her hands.

‘Course he does. Go on, Jasper. We know you can dance; you and your nan were always the first ones up there, whatever the excuse.’ Terrence jabbed his thumb towards the stereo. ‘It is Christmas, after all.’

Sighing dramatically, Jasper stood up slowly and looked across at Robyn. ‘Shall we?’

‘Umm...’ The last thing she wanted to do was to dance. Especially with Jasper, but as she glanced between Terrence and Lizzie, she couldn’t every well say no. Pushing her chair back, she held her hand out, letting Jasper lead her in the direction of the stereo. Once they were in the empty space reserved for dancing, Robyn stood awkwardly, clasping her hands in front of her. She could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on them. She should have made an excuse, told him she needed to use the ladies’ room or that she’d twisted her ankle. Anything.

‘Ready?’ Jasper held his arms out, ready for her to step closer.

She shrugged. ‘I don’t know how to dance.’

The flicker of a smile flashed across his face. ‘It’s a good job I do then. May I?’

Nodding, Robyn took a small step towards him and paused as he placed one hand on her hip and then took one of her hands in his other one. As he closed his fingers around her, she held her breath. He was going to dance-dance, like properly dance, not just sashay around the dance floor as though they were at some bar or club, their shoes sticking on gummy carpet. She followed his lead, trying to copy his moves. Standing on his foot, she grimaced. ‘Sorry.’

‘Hey, Robyn. Keep your eyes on mine.’ Pausing for a split second, he crooked his finger beneath her chin, lifting it until she no longer had her eyes glued to their feet and instead was meeting his gaze. ‘That’s it. Just keep your eyes on mine.’

Her breath caught in her throat as she focused on his eyes, his irises were a deep brown, flecks of gold surrounding his dark pupils. She could feel his hand, warm, on the small of her back now. And he could dance! As he led her across the floor, she did as he’d instructed and kept her eyes focused on his, instead trusting her feet to follow his direction. As she stepped back from one of the twists, she lost her footing and instead of slowing as he pulled her back towards him, she slammed straight into him, placing her hands against his chest to stop herself from falling.

‘Oops.’ Instead of pushing her away, Jasper clung to her, steadying her.

‘Sorry, I...’ Blinking, she swallowed. He was right there, his face merely a few centimetres from hers. Shaking herself, she inched backwards, forcing a laugh. ‘I did warn you I couldn’t dance.’

‘Haha, you did.’ Repositioning himself as the tune ended and another began, he slowed the tempo in time to the music. ‘Can I ask you something?’

What could he possibly want to ask her? They’d hardly exchanged two words before being thrown onto the dance floor together. There was something playing on her mind though, one thing she wanted to ask him. ‘Uh-huh. If I can ask you something in return.’

A small smile fluttered at his lips before his expression became serious again. ‘Fair enough. You can go first. Ask away.’

She shook her head. ‘No, you go.’

He shrugged. ‘Okay. Do you truly hate Christmas?’

She laughed. ‘No, I don’t truly hate Christmas. I just don’t particularly like it, that’s all.’

‘You could have fooled me, the way you were talking back there. The other day you told everyone you thought people just pretended to enjoy themselves and now today you made it clear once again.’ He nodded towards the table as he swung her around.

She sighed. What was she supposed to say? Make some reason up? ‘My parents argued when I was growing up. Like, all the time and since their divorce, they still argue and bicker over everything whenever they’re in the same room as each other.’

‘And, I’m assuming you and your brothers and sisters, if you have any, still get together with them over Christmas? Hence, the hatred?’

‘I have a sister. And no. Quite the opposite, actually. They normally avoid each other like the plague.’ She bit down on her bottom lip as they side-stepped together. ‘No, that’s not entirely true. Cathy, my sister, and I go out of our way to make sure they don’t breathe the same air as each other.’

‘You don’t celebrate Christmas altogether, then?’

She shook her head vehemently. ‘Nope, we haven’t for years. Wherever we celebrate Christmas, usually at Cathy’s house, is like a revolving door. One in, one out, and making sure they don’t cross paths.’

‘That must be stressful.’ He frowned, his forehead creasing in what she could only decipher as pity.

She gulped. The last thing she wanted from him was pity. Yes, it was rubbish. Yes, both she and Cathy often spoke about how wonderful it must be to have parents, divorced or married, who were at least civil and tolerated each other, but it was what it was. ‘It’s not all bad. I mean, who else gets two Christmas dinners in one day?’

‘Ha.’ He let out a quick laugh at that. ‘It sounds like a positive to the situation, at least.’

‘Umm, but this year, we haven’t exactly been successful in our planning and I’m afraid it’s all my fault.’

‘Your fault?’ He tilted his head as the music changed again, and he led them at a slightly different tempo yet again.

Robyn glanced down at their feet, trying to work out what Jasper was doing and immediately regretted not following his advice about keeping her eyes on him as she messed up and they began to careen off course.

‘I’ve got this. I’ll lead you.’ Tucking his finger beneath her chin again, he waited until she was looking at him before taking another step.

After a few steps, she settled into the rhythm again. He really was good at this. ‘Yes, my fault. I normally stay at my dad’s house on Christmas Eve, just so he’s not alone on Christmas morning as my mum has remarried.’

‘But you’re here.’

‘Yep, I escaped this year.’ She took a deep breath, anxiety clutching her stomach as she thought back to the conversation she’d had with Cathey. ‘And so he’s staying at Cathy’s house and then my mum and her new husband will be joining them for dinner. All of them, Dad included.’

‘Ah,’ Jasper raised an eyebrow. ‘They might surprise you.’

‘I doubt it, but I do feel guilty for leaving my sister to deal with it all.’

‘I’m sure she’ll cope.’ Jasper’s voice was firm, as though he had more faith in her parents than she herself did, despite him never having met them. ‘Plus, perhaps this Christmas, being away from what must be a difficult situation, will show you another side to the festivities. A side which brings family closer together rather them forcing them apart?’

Robyn scrunched up her nose. After all these years, how was spending one Christmas away from home, away from her parents, going to change her mind about a celebration she’d got into the habit of dreading decades ago? ‘I doubt it.’

Jasper smiled, his eyes sparkling as he looked at her. ‘You know what they say, never say never.’

‘Umm.’ She needed to change the subject. If she spent another second thinking about Cathy and how she’d left her in the lurch by running off to Cornwall, she’d probably run straight outside, jump in her car and head home. ‘Anyway, time for my question.’

Jasper nodded.

‘Why were you so cross when I returned Dasher?‘ She felt his grasp tighten hers ever so slightly, but she continued. ‘If I hadn’t run after him, he might not have been caught and returned to you. Not so quickly, anyway.’

‘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.