Page 64 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

‘If you think it’s so easy, you give it a go,’ he replied. ‘Go on. I dare you.’

She shrugged her shoulders. ‘OK.’

Figuring that she couldn’t be as bad as Alex had been, she carefully knelt onto the top of the board, steadying herself with the oar. Then, once she had her balance, she looked at him with raised eyebrows.

‘Show off,’ he muttered. ‘OK. Second time lucky.’

Once more, he went too fast and went over the front of the board that time and not the side.

Hannah had only just stopped laughing when he had surfaced in the shallow water once more.

Meanwhile, Tiny thought it the best game that he had ever seen and was barking joyfully as he bounced around in the water, splashing them both.

From his prone position sitting down on the sandy bottom, Alex looked up at Hannah, who was floating nearby.

‘Well, it’s obviously not as simple as it looks,’ he said, with a sheepish grin. ‘Let’s be honest, you’ve taken the easy route.’

‘Have I?’ she teased him, feeling more confident about her chances by the minute, compared to his disastrous efforts. ‘How do you get to that conclusion?’

‘Because you’re kneeling down which is the safest way and therefore your balance threshold is nearest the board,’ he told her.

‘I see.’

She shot him another smile before she clutched onto each side of the board with her hands and drew herself up into a standing position. She then picked up the oar and slowly spun the board around in the water to face him.

‘How are you doing that?’ he spluttered, looking amazed.

‘Have we actually found something that the great Alex Grant can’t do? A sport that he isn’t good at?’ Hannah laughed. ‘Oh, this wonderful. How does it feel to be just like us other mere mortals?’

He grinned at her teasing before he stood up and grabbed hold of the board.

‘I can do this,’ she heard him muttering to himself. ‘I can.’

‘Can you?’ she teased him before deciding that he actually needed her help, for once. ‘OK. I can’t be mean to you after all the kindness you’ve shown me. So here’s what you’re going to do. Take it slow. And by slow, I mean slooooow.’

Step by step, she told him exactly what to do and finally, although still looking somewhat unsteady, he was kneeling on the paddleboard.

‘There!’ said Hannah, clapping. ‘That’s it! You’re off and running now.’

‘Am I?’ asked Alex, pulling the oar around him and looking unsure. ‘So why do I feel like I’m still going to fall off?’

‘You’ll be fine,’ she told him. ‘You really have no gift of balance, do you?’

‘I’ve never needed it before now,’ he replied, clutching onto the board as a ripple threatened to unseat him once more.

‘You rode a bike in every race,’ she reminded him.

‘Yes, but that had wheels and nice flat tarmac,’ he told her. ‘This is a whole different matter. Much harder on water, it turns out.’

‘Then how come I have mastered it first time?’ she asked, with a wide smile.

‘Well, I guess you’re just special,’ he told her, shooting her a grin.

She blushed at his words. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘How are you going to run a water sports centre looking like that?’

He was clutching onto the side of the board for dear life and, after a moment, reluctantly let go, looking unsteady once more.

‘I’m going to practise every evening when there’s nobody about,’ he told her. ‘I’ve never yet come across a sport I can’t master.’