Free Luna Tango by Alli Sinclair Page B

surprise Carlos. My cousin, he expects a lot from people. With good reason.’
    â€˜What does that mean?’
    â€˜Let us concentrate on this first. Worry about your questions later, sí ? Chin up. The floor is Medusa. You look at it and you turn to stone. Feet together. Left forward. Draw in right to left.’
    Her temples throbbed from concentrating but she allowed Gualberto’s smooth voice to guide her.
    â€˜Right foot step to side. Draw in left to your right. Step back on left.’ He paused and let her catch up. ‘Let us continue. Step back on right. Cross left in front of right.’
    She looked down to find her feet in what can only be classified as a dance position. Dani met Gualberto’s eyes.
    â€˜You have completed some of el basico .’
    â€˜And I didn’t hurt you! Yay!’ She let go and clapped her hands together. ‘More! More!’
    â€˜You are ready?’
    â€˜Yes!’ Adrenalin pumped through her body, spurring her on. It briefly crossed her mind that her mother may have felt the same way when she first learnt tango, but rather than wallow in sadness, Dani chose enjoyment. Musings about her errant mother could be left until the wee hours of the morning when insomnia came to visit.
    â€˜You need to finish el basico .’
    â€˜But I thought I’d just learnt a step?’
    â€˜It is the first part. This is the next. Do it all together and you can ask Carlos a question.’
    â€˜Got it.’ The way she was going, these articles would be complete by the end of the week.
    â€˜Back to the cross over. Step back on the right foot. Draw back the left next to right. Step with left to the side. Bring your right foot in. ¡ El fin !’
    â€˜That’s it?’ He nodded and she let her excitement bubble over. ‘Let’s do it again!’
    Gualberto counted and she followed diligently, revelling in learning the first ever dance step in her life. She counted her lucky stars that her grandma Stella couldn’t see her now. Her grandma had refused to speak to Dani since she’d announced her business trip to Argentina and the hurt hadn’t subsided yet. She closed her eyes briefly, remembering Stella’s angry words: ‘If you go to Argentina, do not expect me to talk to you again. When your mother left, you and I made an agreement—we will not have involvement with tango, ever . If you see Iris, you’ll only end up more hurt than you already are.’
    It didn’t matter how much Dani had promised she wouldn’t track down her mother, Stella wouldn’t sway. So now Stella wasn’t on speaking terms with her own daughter and granddaughter. Dani still couldn’t comprehend how her grandmother could be so extreme, especially as Stella had brought her up when her father passed away a year after Iris had left. But Stella’s steely rule over her prevailed, even though Dani was an adult and lived on the other side of the world. Sure, her grandma had given up a lot to raise Dani and whether it was from guilt or a sense of duty, Dani usually did as Stella wished—except for this trip to Argentina. It took a long time to learn, but some things took precedence over pleasing others and finding out about her mother and gaining insight into the dance that enchanted her was Dani’s ticket to understanding herself. If Stella did miraculously show right now, Dani would be hauled off the dance floor and subjected to a lecture on why dabbling in the tango was like courting the devil. Until this moment, she would have agreed, but the thrill of learning a step, even if it was the most basic, almost outweighed Stella’s potential wrath. Almost.
    â€˜Come. We show Carlos.’
    They squeezed through the crowd until they reached the other side of the dance floor. Carlos was deep in conversation with a gentleman in his early sixties. His well-tailored suit and perfectly styled hair gave the impression he