‘And who is this?’ Miranda had spun around and was looking at Holly.
‘Holly,’ replied Holly.
‘This must be your daughter,’ Miranda said as she looked between Holly and Libby. ‘Such a resemblance.’
‘I’m not Holly’s mum, just a good friend,’ Libby quickly corrected her, gesturing towards Guy. ‘Guy is Holly’s father.’
‘So sorry, my mistake.’ Miranda held her hand out. ‘Pleased to meet you.’
Holly stared up at Miranda’s hat. ‘That’s a very big hat.’
‘It is and it keeps me very warm.’
‘Kids, they always say what they think. Please accept my apologies,’ Guy jumped in quickly.
‘There’s no need to apologise, itisa big hat,’ Miranda replied with a warm smile, taking the mulled wine from David and glancing across the ice rink. ‘And where have all these people come from? We thought the rink didn’t open until tomorrow.’
‘Flynn organised it with the agency in town. They’re extras—actors. You can hire them to make an event look professional for shooting videos, et cetera,’ Libby explained.
‘Isn’t that a good idea?’ she replied, still looking out over the rink.
‘I’m all set here,’ Guy confirmed. ‘I can film you walking towards the skate hut and lacing up your skates. Dare I ask, can you both ice skate?’
‘It’s been a while,’ admitted David. ‘But I’m sure we will be able to lap the rink a few times.’
‘And how long have we got the extras for?’ asked Guy, looking towards Libby, who was checking her watch.
‘Flynn booked everyone for an hour. All the huts and lights will close and turn off just after they leave.’
Guy nodded. ‘Plenty of time to get a few laps of you both skating. Make sure you keep interacting with each other, talking and laughing. Are we ready?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ chorused Miranda and David, both swigging back their mulled wine before heading to the skate shack hand in hand.
‘You stay there with Libby for a moment,’ said Guy to Holly.
‘Daddy, I’m getting cold.’
‘I’m not surprised. It does feel a lot colder than when we first came out. Keep shuffling your feet from side to side. I’m just going to follow Miranda and David to the skate shack and then I’ll be back.’ With the camera on his shoulder he called, ‘Let’s roll!’
Right on cue, Miranda and David walked hand in hand, in joyous conversation, to collect their ice skates.
Libby and Holly sat back down on the bench, both swinging their legs to keep warm.
‘Are you Daddy’s girlfriend?’ asked Holly, looking up at Libby.
‘No, we’re just friends,’ Libby reassured her, smiling.
‘You make him smile. I know he likes you.’
‘He makes me smile too and is good fun to work with.’
‘I like it when he smiles.’
Libby studied the little girl closely. Her face had saddened.
‘It seems hard being a grown-up.’
‘It is sometimes,’ replied Libby.
