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“Don’t tell me we have to dress up in medieval attire too.” Hattie taps her forefinger against her mouth thoughtfully. “Actually, wait, do tell me that. It sounds like fun.”

Hattie moves to link her arm through Susan’s and they all head toward the outdoor ice rink and into the reception area, which smells of a mixture of sawdust and socks. They are greeted by a rather muscly man, his coat seeming to strain at the seams, who looks them up and down as a line, then nods, as if he is doing some kind of assessment. He reels off their shoe sizes to the girl behind reception—who has to be no older than eighteen—and manages to get everyone’s right without asking them, with the exception of Dylan, who he sizes one size too small.

“Well, you know what they say about small feet…” Hattie says, raising her eyebrows.

He shakes his head. “You know for a fact that’s not true.” He immediately flushes, like he’s only just realized who he’s standing near. Finn catches Mel’s eye, and she can’t help the lip twitch.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Susan says, while Freya asks, “What do they say about small feet?”

“Nothing, sweetie,” Kristen says as Freya looks suspiciously between Dylan and Hattie.

Luckily, Mr. Muscle claps his hands, and they all sit down on the benches to switch their shoes for their skates, drawing Freya’s attention away.

“Right, then,” he says in a heavy Scottish accent. “I’m Mike and I’ll be your curling instructor today. Can I just ask, have any of yeh ever curled before?” Resounding silence from all of them. “An’ what about skating—would yeh say you’re beginners or experienced?”

“Well, I—” Hattie begins, but Susan silences her with a look.

“Beginners,” Susan says firmly. “Definitely beginners.”

“Aye, then.” Muscle Mike shows a flicker of disappointment at that, but carries on. What was he expecting, Mel wonders? A ready-made curling team? “Well, you’ll need t’ be in teams.”

“I’ll go with Mel,” Hattie announces immediately, and Mel glances at her.

“Ah, sure.” Though she has a feeling she’s being dragged into the middle of something here.

“No, you’ll go with me,” Dylan says firmly. Probably as firm as Mel has ever heard him. “We are a team.” He leaves no room for argument there, and Mel thinks, from the various looks he gets, that she is not the only one guessing he doesn’t just mean here and now.

“I should have said—teams of four,” Muscle Mike says, not seeming bothered by the family drama unfolding in front of him.

“Perfect,” Finn says. “Looks like we’re a team, then.”

And Mel, apparently, has no say in the matter.

“Are you ready to do some sweeping, Freya?” Susan asks, winking at her.

“Sweeping?” Freya’s voice is suspicious.

Muscle Mike clears his throat. “Aye, though before we get t’ that part, if I could just explain the rules…” He proceeds to tell them about stones—eight of them, apparently—and various roles within the team, including a “second,” which Mel thinks sounds ominous, but in all honesty after the five-minute speech she has to admit that she’s totally lost. And, judging by the nods along the benches, Mel knows it’s not just her.

“Right,” Hattie says when no one else speaks. “Got it. Stones and sweeping and…” She gestures in the air. “Stuff.” Muscle Mike gives her a narrow-eyed look—clearly curling is nothing to joke about—but Hattie just offers him a winning smile.

As they all head out onto the ice, Mel moves over next to Kristen, feeling incredibly ungainly, and gently takes her elbow, pulling her to one side, while Mark carries Freya out to the rink.

Kristen looks at Mel in question, and Mel bites her lip. “Are you definitely sure you should be, you know…?”

Kristen rolls her eyes, then glances at the others, who are all making their way on to the rink. “I’m pregnant,” she whispers. “Not an invalid.”

Mel wrinkles her nose—she doesn’t actually know what the rules are. No hot tubs, she’s pretty sure she’s heard that. But ice? Not so sure. But, still, being the only person who knows about Kristen’s pregnancy is making her feel like she ought to say something—given she’s the only one who can say something, isn’t she?

“I’ll be careful, Mel,” Kristen says, as if she can see what Mel is thinking. “But not taking part would look weirder. Plus, I can actually skate, believe it or not.” She lets out a little sigh. “I’m not the one we should be watching out for, trust me.” Mel frowns, not quite sure what she means by that, and Kristen catches it, smiles. “I feel sure that Hattie is going to be an absolute disaster, despite what she says.”

Mel snorts quietly, then glances at the family, who are crowding around Muscle Mike. “You still haven’t told Mark, then?”

Kristen hesitates, then shakes her head. “I’m going to—but after Christmas.”

“Why? Is it…Do you think he’ll be disappointed?”

“No, I imagine he’ll be thrilled.” She starts to toy with a button on her coat, twisting it one way then the other. After a second, she seems to realize what she’s doing and stops. “I was going to start applying for jobs in the new year. You didn’t know me, before Freya, but I used to be a project manager.”