“Simon, let go of the rail!” Sam sniggered.
“At least while I’m holding it, I’m upright. And whose daft idea was it to come to an ice rink in the first place?” I asked, letting go for a moment just to see if I could remain on my feet.
“That’s it!” Billy said, coming to support me on my other side. “You’re getting the hang of it now.”
By the end of an hour I was able to move in one direction and stay on my feet. However, I hadn’t mastered turns, and braking was problematic, too. The others seemed to be having a whale of a time. Sam and Billy were weaving all over the place. The rink was crowded, it being the weekend, so none of us were able to get up much of a head of steam. Not that I had any intention of going fast.
Each time Mark’s eyes met mine across the ice, my insides warmed. St
