Page 48 of The Summer Inn on Plum Island
“Why thank you,” Liam teased, giving her a slight bow before offering her his arm. “Shall we go collect the teens?”
“We shall,” Dawn said, immediately wanting to kick herself.
But she forgot about her dumb comment when she linked her arms through his and felt her pulse instantly pick up speed, and the flutter bugs in her stomach came alive, making her catch her breath.
Thirty minutes later, they drew up to the ice rink in Newbury Port with two excited teenagers bounding out the door the minute Liam had switched off the engine.
“Can I take my new skates, Aunt Dawn?” Harper asked, and as soon as Dawn nodded, she dug into the tote and pulled the figure skates out.
“These are awesome.” Harper’s eyes lit up, and she hugged Dawn as soon as she stepped out of the car. “Thank you so much, Aunt Dawn.”
“They are really nice,” Lila agreed and pointed to hers, already hanging over her shoulder by the laces. “They’re just like mine.”
“I know,” Dawn told Lila with a warm smile. “Mary told me what pair to get for Harper and said they were the same as yours.”
“I see you got the same pair; only yours are completely white, and mine have a pink stripe through them,” Harper pointed out as she handed Dawn the tote bag from the back seat and closed the door.
“Are we supposed to sling the skates over our shoulders by the tied laces?” Dawn teased as she looked at her three companions, whose skates were displayed that way. “Oh, you have hockey skates.” She pointed to Liam’s skates, which he’d retrieved from the trunk.
“Yup,” Lila answered for him. “My dad used to play hockey but gave it up to surf.”
“Really?” Dawn looked curiously at Liam as they followed the excited teenage girls into the center.
“Yeah.” Liam walked closely beside her. His scent of sandalwood tickled her senses. “I was torn between two sports I loved, but my love of surfing won the battle.”
“I want to say that you chose the less dangerous sport,” Dawn said as they walked into the ice rink, “but I’m torn over which is the more dangerous sport.”
“I was young,” Liam defended his actions, smiling, his eyes twinkling with humor. “I didn’t see the danger in either of them. I was led by my passion.”
“My passion was show jumping,” Dawn told him as they found a booth. She put her tote down and pulled her skates out.
“Really?” Liam looked at her in interest. “Did you do show jumping?”
“I did,” Dawn answered with a nod. “I had a few show jumping horses and two dressage horses.”
“You did dressage?” Liam’s eyebrows rose. “Isn’t that very British?” he teased.
“It’s actually Greek,” Dawn told him. “It traces back to classical Greek horsemanship. It was significantly evolved during the Renaissance period in Europe. It was prevalent in Italy and France, where it became part of military training and was used to put on shows for royalty.”
“Huh!” Liam said, pulling on his last skate. “I did not know that.”
“Sorry.” Dawn snorted as she shoved her foot into her last skate. “I didn’t mean to bore you with fun facts about dressage.”
“Not at all,” Liam told her. “I love hearing about your passions. I knew your one true love was for writing, but now I know you have three others.”
“Three others?” Dawn looked at him curiously.
“Yup.” Liam nodded, standing without even a wobble. Like he didn’t just have two deadly blades holding him up. “Dressage, show jumping, and obviously horses.”
“Of course.” Dawn laughed, wondering if she was going to be able to stand up and at least manage to wobble her way to the ice.
“Are you ready?” Liam asked.
Dawn’s eyes traveled behind him to where Lila and Harper were already skating around the ice like ice ballerinas, spinning, gliding, and jumping like pros.Show-offs.
“Sure.” Dawn sighed, pulling herself up on the table. “I have to warn you, though.” She felt her cheeks start to heat and was glad the lights were dimmer near the tables. “I’m not that good.”
“You should’ve said.” Liam looked at her with concern. “We don’t have to skate if you don’t want to.”
