About the Authors

Cursed with a poor sense of direction and a propensity to read, ANNIE CLAYDON spent much of her childhood lost in books. A degree in English Literature followed by a career in computing didn’t lead directly to her perfect job—writing romance for Mills & Boon—but she has no regrets in taking the scenic route. She lives in London: a city where getting lost can be a joy.

MEREDITH WEBBER lives on the sunny Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, but takes regular trips west into the Outback, fossicking for gold or opal. These breaks in the beautiful and sometimes cruel red earth country provide her with an escape from the writing desk and a chance for her mind to roam free—not to mention getting some much needed exercise. They also supply the kernels of so many stories that it’s hard for her to stop writing!

Also by Annie Claydon

Healed by the Single Dad Doc

From Doctor to Princess?

Firefighter’s Christmas Baby

Resisting Her English Doc

Festive Fling with the Single Dad

Best Friend to Royal Bride

London Heroes miniseries

Falling for Her Italian Billionaire

Second Chance with the Single Mum

We hope you’ve enjoyed

Conveniently Wed in Paradise Meredith Webber’s 100th book!

Also by Meredith Webber

A Sheikh to Capture Her Heart

Healed by Her Army Doc

New Year Wedding for the Crown Prince

A Wife for the Surgeon Sheikh

The Doctors’ Christmas Reunion

The Halliday Family miniseries

A Forever Family for the Army Doc

Engaged to the Doctor Sheikh

A Miracle for the Baby Doctor

From Bachelor to Daddy

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Winning the Surgeon’s Heart

Annie Claydon

Conveniently Wed in Paradise

Meredith Webber

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-0-008-90228-5

WINNING THE SURGEON’S HEART & CONVENIENTLY WED IN PARADISE

Winning the Surgeon’s Heart © 2020 Annie Claydon Conveniently Wed in Paradise © 2020 Meredith Webber

Published in Great Britain 2020

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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Table of Contents

Cover

About the Authors

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Winning the Surgeon’s Heart

Back Cover Text

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

EPILOGUE

Conveniently Wed in Paradise

Back Cover Text

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EPILOGUE

About the Publisher

Winning the Surgeon’s Heart

Annie Claydon

The ultimate prize?

Capturing the guarded bachelor’s heart…

Entering the “Hospital Challenge,” the last person single mom paramedic Hannah Greene wants to be partnered with is Matt Lawson! She’d planned on winning the competition, not getting distracted by a sexy surgeon! But forced to put her trust in lone-wolf Matt, Hannah uncovers the compassion behind his charisma and can’t help inviting him into her world. They make the perfect team. Could they also be the perfect family?

CHAPTER ONE

SILENCE FELL. FROM the thirty people who had entered the challenge, there could only be two winners, and it looked as if the judges were ready to announce who they were.

Hannah’s friend, Sophie, was bent forward, clutching her knees and stretching the muscles in her back. The most challenging task in a long and challenging day had been saved until last, an obstacle course that had drained everyone. But they’d done it together. Hannah laid her hand on Sophie’s shoulder and she looked up, grinning.

‘I think you’re in with a chance. Not so sure about me.’

‘We’ll find out soon enough. Are you okay?’

Sophie nodded, straightening. ‘We’ll all be aching tomorrow.’

This was more than just a matter of winning for herself. Hannah and Sophie had worked together for five years, crewing an ambulance that worked out of Hamblewell Hospital. When the hospital had entered Arial TV’s Hospital Challenge, lured by a generous cash prize, they’d decided to enter together. The selection day had involved both physical and mental challenges, and was designed to whittle thirty entrants down to two, who would go on to represent the hospital in the televised challenge. Hannah had set her heart on winning with Sophie.

She caught Sophie’s hand, squeezing it. A stage had been erected on the open space behind the hospital building, and in the heat of a summer’s day there was almost a carnival atmosphere amongst the spectators. The chairman of the judging panel had picked up the microphone and was tapping it to see whether it was working. A frustrated murmur travelled through the crowd that had come to watch and cheer the competitors on.

‘Get on with it, mate.’ Sophie whispered, and Hannah nodded. The suspense was getting to her as well.

‘The judges have come to a decision—’

The microphone cut out suddenly, and Hannah rolled her eyes. If they’d wanted to keep everyone on tenterhooks for as long as possible, this couldn’t have been planned any better.

There was a short pause as the microphone was inspected and pronounced fit for use, without the need for any further tapping. The judge smiled, turning once more towards the crowd.

‘Sorry about that… As you all know, today’s winners will go forward to represent Hamblewell Hospital in the Hertfordshire heats of Hospital Challenge, the first of which will be hosted here next Saturday. We hope you’ll all be here to cheer our team on. We’ve been obliged to choose just two winners today and our task hasn’t been easy…’

There was a pause. Everyone was holding their breath already, and if the guy didn’t get on with it, someone was going to pass out. It was just as well that there were plenty of medical staff on hand…

‘Hannah Greene!’

Hannah heard a cheer go up, somewhere far away. She felt Sophie grab her, hugging her tight. Suddenly it felt as if her legs weren’t going to carry her.

‘Go… Go.’ Sophie had freed her now, and was pushing her towards the stage, where the judges were all on their feet and joining in with the applause.

‘Sophie…’ Hannah didn’t want to go alone. She’d thought that both names would be announced together, and taking this walk without her friend seemed impossible.

‘You’ve won, Hannah. You’ve got to go and shake the man’s hand.’ Sophie gave her one last push, and a path opened up in front of her through the other competitors. She walked towards the podium in a daze.

Then it hit her. Sophie was going to be next, it was impossible that the judges hadn’t seen the way they’d encouraged each other in completing the challenges. They were already a team, used to going together into every kind of situation. Hannah climbed the steps onto the stage, shook the judges’ hands and then turned to the crowd, throwing her arms up. Everyone cheered wildly, and she could see Sophie jumping up and down, suddenly finding that last bit of energy.

‘We’ve obviously made a popular choice.’ The judge smiled, waiting for the cheering to die down, and there was silence again. ‘And going on to join Hannah for Hospital Challenge is Matt Lawson…’

What?

Hannah tried to smile, but it felt as if her own achievement had suddenly turned to dust. She didn’t even know Matt Lawson. She looked for Sophie, and she was cheering along with everyone else, seeming not to notice that it was her name that should have been called.

The crowd parted, and a man began to walk towards the stage, stopping to shake a few hands as he went. Hannah did know him, although not by name. He had a reputation as being an excellent surgeon, but many of the female staff ignored that and concentrated on his looks. Hannah herself had been guilty of a little objectification on that score…

His sun-coloured hair and the tan gave him the look of someone who spent more time outdoors than inside. Probably blue eyes. Hannah had imagined the blue eyes and then consigned the whole image to the look-don’t-touch category.

She felt herself blush as he shook the judges’ hands, and then grinned at her. Blue. They were blue, the shade more intoxicating than she’d imagined. Dark, like a Mediterranean sea.

That was where he belonged. On a holiday she had no intention of taking. Not here, not in her real life. He congratulated her, and then turned to wave to the crowd. This was not happening.

She stood, trying to smile, for what seemed like an age, until they were allowed to climb down from the stage. Sophie was the first to get to Hannah and hug her.

‘I’m so excited… And you’ve got the dreamboat as a partner!’

Hannah felt tears of exhaustion and disappointment in her eyes. ‘I don’t want him. Why didn’t they pick you?’

Sophie puffed out a breath. Hannah was about to get one of her friend’s reality checks.

‘Look, I’m not going to pretend that I’m not disappointed. But you did a lot better than me, and so did he. Did you see the way he got over that climbing wall?’

Yes. Hannah had looked, just as Sophie had. Matt Lawson had been in the second group around the obstacle course, and they’d both seen the way he’d negotiated the steep wall. And she’d dared to notice that he looked just as good—better actually—in action than he did when she’d seen him walking along the corridors of the hospital.

‘I can’t do it on my own, Sophie. We’re a team.’

‘Well, you’re just going to have to get used to being in a new team, aren’t you? I’ll be cheering you on all the way.’

‘But…’ This sounded a lot like self-pity. She should be thinking about how Sophie must be feeling, not having been chosen after all the effort they’d put in. ‘I’m so sorry…’

‘Nonsense. We said that we’d be happy if just one of us was chosen, didn’t we? This is my achievement as well, we did it together. Give me a break, will you?’

They’d said it would be enough if just one of them won. Hannah hadn’t actually meant it. But Sophie was glowing with joy, and it would be unfair if she didn’t feel it too.

‘You’ll stick with me, won’t you? I can’t do this without you.’

‘Are you kidding? I’ll be with you all the way. You’ll be there for both of us, eh?’

Matt hadn’t seriously expected to win this thing. As the only member of the surgical team who’d had any chance of being able to negotiate a climbing wall, he’d been strong-armed into signing up for the challenge by his colleagues, who had all been keen to have someone represent them. He’d stepped up his gym routine a bit for the last three weeks, and that had been about it.

He’d seen Hannah and her partner, making their way around the obstacle course. They were both fit, and both up for the challenge, but Hannah was clearly the stronger of the two. Although the tasks they’d encountered today were meant to be done individually, he’d seen Hannah slow a little once or twice, waiting for her partner to follow so that they could pace each other around the course.

They were a team. They wore matching T-shirts, emblazoned with the logo of the ambulance service. He knew that the nature of their job meant that they had to rely on each other, and that the ambulance crews had a fierce sense of pride. He wondered how Hannah felt about being teamed up with a complete stranger.

She’d seemed less than enthused about the judges’ decision when he’d been called up to the stage. But as she walked towards him across the grass, she was smiling. Matt had to admit that it was a very nice smile, at that.

‘Congratulations.’

‘That was a surprise…’ He felt strangely at a loss for words. ‘For me, I mean. You were a dead cert to win.’

She blushed a little. It was a fine accompaniment to her smile. ‘You made it over the climbing wall in one go. I took two.’

Matt was privately of the opinion that she could have done it in one. His automatic assessment of her mobility and strength told him that the wall shouldn’t have been a problem for her and that her partner was the one who’d taken two goes. The judges had clearly seen that as well, and Matt decided not to mention it.

‘I’m looking forward to the next round.’

Hannah nodded. ‘Me too. Would you like to meet up? To train?’

That sounded rather more enticing than Matt had supposed it might. Hannah’s was the kind of beauty that was enhanced by the application of a little grime and sweat. This morning, he’d noticed her chestnut hair tied back in a shining plait at the back of her head. And, of course, her smile. But as the day had gone on, he’d started to appreciate her fearlessness and tenacity. She was messy and exhausted, but she still shone.

‘I’m afraid I can’t this week, I have a pretty full schedule at work. I imagine they’re going to be throwing the unexpected at us next Saturday, so I guess the best we can do is just keep up the fitness training and get a good night’s sleep on Friday.’

That obviously wasn’t the answer that Hannah was looking for. It was too bad, because he couldn’t just put off a few operations because it happened to suit him. She should understand that.

‘Okay. Well… I’ll keep training with Sophie. As long as you don’t mind.’ She motioned towards her partner, who was walking towards them.

‘Why should I? If it works, don’t mess with it.’

She and Sophie had the kind of partnership that Matt had observed in others, and had never really experienced for himself. He was part of a team at work, in just the same way that she was, but he confined that to knowing the strengths and weaknesses of his colleagues and what they could reasonably be called on to do during working hours. Hannah and Sophie were obviously friends, and he almost envied it.

‘Hi. I’m Sophie. Congratulations. You did a great job and you really deserved to win.’ Sophie held out her hand and Matt took it. Her manner was a little more open than Hannah’s and her grin a little easier, but somehow it didn’t reach into the corners of his soul the way that Hannah’s did. But then no one had any business with his soul, that was his to contend with.

‘Thanks. You and Hannah are a great team…’

Sophie threw her arm around Hannah’s shoulder, laughing. ‘I think I’ve hit my limit today. You and Hannah can go on and win this thing.’

That was obviously important to both of them. Matt hadn’t really thought much about it, he’d reckoned on giving a reasonable account of himself and then going home. But suddenly he wanted to be a winner. And he wanted Hannah at his side, winning with him.

‘The hospital could do with the money.’

‘We’re all relying on you two.’ Sophie laughed. ‘No pressure, obviously.’

‘Pressure? What’s pressure?’ Hannah murmured the words quietly.

Sophie chuckled, nudging her friend in the ribs. ‘Don’t listen to her, Matt. Hannah’s very focussed at times.’

He could see that already. And he liked Sophie immediately, she was the kind of woman that he usually chose to spend his free time with. Conventionally pretty, with blonde hair and blue eyes, she seemed easygoing and uncomplicated. Hannah, on the other hand…

Hannah was compelling. Beautiful. Almost certainly not the right kind of woman to get involved with, because bonds made with Hannah might not be easy to break. Matt dismissed the idea. No one was going to get involved with anyone, he should relax and look at this as an extension of his work. Money for the hospital was an extension of his work.

‘We’d better get going…’ Hannah was scanning the crowd intently, obviously looking for someone. ‘I’ll see you next Saturday, then?’

A whole week suddenly seemed a very long time to wait. But Matt hadn’t planned on winning today, and he was going to have to fit his training sessions in whenever the opportunity presented itself.

‘You know where to find me if you want me?’

Hannah nodded quietly, and it was Sophie who answered. ‘Yes, we know. We’ll leave a message with the surgical unit…’

Matt watched as the two women walked away from him. Sophie was obviously reliving one or other of the obstacles, tracing shapes in the air in front of her to illustrate the point. Hannah was listening intently. He wondered if she ever gave herself a break and loosened up a bit.

‘Mum…!’

A small boy, of about six, was running across the grass towards them, followed by an older woman. Even if he hadn’t called to her, Matt would have guessed this was Hannah’s son, his tawny eyes and red-brown hair matched hers almost exactly. Hannah stretched out her arms in an expression of joy, falling to her knees, as the boy ran straight into her arms.

If she’d employed half the exuberance that she’d shown just now, she would have floated over the obstacle course, instead of battling her way through it. Sophie and the older woman were chatting and laughing together, and Hannah was doing a little victory dance with her son. The thought that he wanted to do a very different kind of victory dance with her was enticing and entirely inappropriate, but it was the kind of image that was difficult to erase from his memory.

It would fade. Memories did fade when you were a stranger, always on the move. Matt had learned to travel light, making no lasting personal attachments to hold him back.

He’d been travelling light since he was eight years old. Always running, always trying to leave behind the bad memories. But they were the ones that had caught up with him now, crowding in and obscuring the sun. As clear as if it had all happened yesterday, and blocking the view of Hannah and her family.

Matt had known that his father had an uncertain temper and that he’d sometimes hurt his mother and made her cry, but he knew now that his mother had protected him from the worst of it, locking him in his bedroom or sending him to a friend’s house to spend the night. Afterwards he’d seen his mother wince in pain as she’d bent or reached for something. There had never been any bruises on her face, but as he’d got older Matt had begun to understand that was the one place his father had never hit his mother.

His father had hurt him once. Just once, but Matt still remembered the pain and the terror of being unable to escape the hand clamped firmly around his arm. Now he thought of it as a good thing, because it had been the final straw that had made his mother pack their bags and leave.

At first it had been exciting, a taste of the kind of freedom that Matt hadn’t even realised existed. They’d changed their names, using his mother’s surname instead of his father’s, and had embarked on a new life, in a new town. And then his father had found them and they’d run again. Another new life in another new town. Matt had forgotten how many there had been. In the end he hadn’t bothered to make new friends, because he’d known that he and his mother would be moving on again soon.

Matt watched as Hannah played with her son in the late afternoon sunshine. They seemed happy, carefree. No looking over their shoulders…

Until Hannah did look over her shoulder, straight at him, and caught him staring. Matt raised his hand, giving a smile, and she returned the gesture. Then he turned and walked away. He had no business wanting Hannah’s warmth. He needed her as a teammate, and that was just for the next few weeks. After that, he’d be moving on again.

CHAPTER TWO

LIGHTS, NO SIRENS. There was no lack of urgency in getting their patient to the hospital, but Hannah needed to be able to hear his laboured breathing. And Sophie needed to be able to hear if Hannah called out to her to stop.

The ambulance swayed a little as it turned into the hospital. Sophie specialised in giving their patients a smooth ride, but speed was of the essence. She’d radioed through to the hospital, asking for immediate assistance, then put her foot down.

They drew up outside A and E, and Hannah concentrated on monitoring their patient, a middle-aged man who’d been hit by a bus. Sophie climbed down from the driver’s seat, opening the back doors of the ambulance, and Hannah saw a tall figure in surgical scrubs waiting outside.

‘What are you doing here?’ As usual, Sophie voiced the question that was on Hannah’s mind. Matt Lawson should be in the operating theatre, not A and E.

‘Just helping out.’ Matt was smiling and relaxed, but when Sophie and Hannah manoeuvred the stretcher out of the ambulance he moved quickly, his eyes on their patient as he guided them through the melee of people in A and E to an empty cubicle. It wasn’t unusual for the doctors in A and E to place a call for specialist help from other departments when they were busy, and Matt must have been the one to answer.

Matt had clearly been told about her provisional diagnosis, and everything necessary to confirm it was laid out ready. He pulled on a pair of gloves, listening as she relayed Ben’s name and what she’d already observed about his condition. Taken together, his symptoms indicated that Ben might be in the early stages of a tension pneumothorax, and if it went unchecked the progressive build-up of air in his pleural cavity could prove fatal.

‘I’ll need you to help me lift him. I appear to be flying solo.’ Matt murmured the words to Hannah quietly, so that Ben couldn’t hear.

‘I’ll stay. Sophie and I are on our lunch break now.’ It looked as if everyone was busy with other patients, and Matt would need her help.

‘Thank you.’

The warmth in his smile prompted an inappropriate thrill in Hannah’s chest as her heart beat a little faster. She pulled on a disposable apron and gloves, trying not to think about how Matt’s assessment of her actions seemed suddenly all-important.

They lifted Ben onto the bed, and Sophie folded the ambulance stretcher, ready to take it back out to the vehicle. Matt was talking to Ben as he quickly examined him, and Hannah readied the ultrasound machine, handing the probe to Matt as soon as he turned around to look for it.

‘Great, thanks.’ Even that small approbation meant more than it should. Matt was studying the screen on the ultrasound carefully, his brow furrowing for a split second before he made his decision. ‘You were right, this is a tension pneumothorax. I’m going to do a thoracostomy—can you assist?’

Hannah nodded. Ben was conscious and Matt had undoubtedly left out the word emergency in describing the thoracostomy for his benefit. But they had no time to lose now. Hannah had taken Ben’s shirt off in the ambulance, and now she raised his arm, smiling at him as she placed it behind his head.

‘What’s…happening…?’ Ben began to move restively. Breathlessness and agitation were two of the symptoms that Hannah had already noted.

‘The doctor’s going to do a small procedure that’ll help you to breathe more easily. We need to you stay as still as you can.’ Hannah tried to reassure Ben and hold him still without getting in Matt’s way. She’d never before felt so conscious of the touch of another body, working next to her.

Ben flinched as Matt swabbed the area at the side of his chest, moving again so that he could see what Matt was doing. Hannah couldn’t blame him, but he had to keep still.

‘Ben, this will be over soon. I’m going to inject an anaesthetic now. Look at Hannah, not me.’

Matt’s voice was relaxed and calm. The kind of voice that you needed to hear when you were afraid and in pain. Ben quietened, his gaze fixed on Hannah, and she gave him a reassuring smile.

‘Very still now.’ She heard Matt’s voice behind her and leaned forward, preparing for the inevitable reaction when the needle went into Ben’s chest. Matt was working quickly and deftly, but no amount of skill could render the procedure painless.

Ben groaned, gripping her hand tightly, and Hannah heard a tell-tale hiss of air as the tension in the pleural cavity was relieved. Matt withdrew the needle carefully, taping a plastic cannula in place.

‘All done. You did really well.’ Matt smiled at Ben as he started to examine him again, to check that the procedure had relieved his symptoms. ‘Hannah and I are a team, you know. We’re entering a competition to win money for the hospital.’

This wasn’t just idle talk. Matt was assessing Ben’s ability to understand and reply.

‘Yeah? You’re lucky to have her.’ Ben’s face was less ashen now.

‘Don’t I know it.’ Matt smiled, and tingles ran down Hannah’s spine. She reminded herself that Matt’s sudden impulse to chat was for Ben’s benefit, not hers. ‘I’m rather hoping that she’ll keep me in line.’

Keeping Matt in line felt like a delicious and yet difficult prospect. Hannah shot a smile in Ben’s direction. ‘It looks as if I’m going to have my work cut out for me.’

‘Just let me know if he gives you any trouble.’ Ben’s hand found hers again and Hannah gave it a squeeze. ‘I’ll sort him out for you.’

‘Thanks. I might take you up on that.’

Matt chuckled, and his glance of approval told Hannah that he’d seen exactly what she had. Ben was much less breathless now, and he was more alert. As Matt set about checking Ben’s blood pressure, one of the A and E doctors arrived with a nurse, ready to take over from them.

Matt briefed the doctor, while Hannah said goodbye to Ben. When she left the cubicle, she saw that Matt was already at the far end of the busy space outside but he’d stopped by the door and was waiting for her. Hannah stripped off her apron and gloves, and went to join him.

‘Spotting the early signs of a tension pneumothorax isn’t easy in the best of circumstances, let alone in the back of an ambulance.’

Hannah nodded. Matt’s easygoing humour had given her no clues about what he thought about the course of action she’d taken, but she was pleased that he approved.

‘We were close to the hospital, and the symptoms were inconclusive. Doing a thoracostomy in the back of an ambulance isn’t ideal, and I decided it was better to keep going so that Ben’s condition could be properly confirmed…’ She bit her lip. Matt’s gaze was making her feel very nervous.

‘You don’t need me to tell you that you made the right decision, do you?’

‘No, I don’t.’ She really wanted him to, but that had more to do with his blue eyes and his smile than it did with any medical considerations.

Those eyes, and the thought of how it had felt working next to him, were playing havoc with her senses. And Ben wasn’t here to concentrate her mind on other things. Suddenly it felt as if she was standing too close to Matt, but stepping back now was only going to betray her embarrassment.

‘I should be getting along now. Sophie’s probably waiting for me, with some lunch.’

Matt nodded amiably. ‘I’ll see you on Saturday.’

‘Yes. Saturday.’ Hannah tried to think of something friendly and encouraging to say, and came up empty.

As he walked away, she couldn’t resist watching him, telling herself that assessing the width of his shoulders was something to do with deciding on Matt’s ability to handle whatever they were confronted with on Saturday. She jumped, as Sophie seemed to appear out of nowhere and caught her staring.

‘I’d say you don’t have too much to worry about on the teamwork front.’

Hannah shrugged. ‘It’s different. We both knew what had to be done…’

‘Yeah. Keep telling yourself that. You two looked as if you were reading each other’s minds.’ Sophie grinned at her. ‘Come on. Let’s take our break while we can. I could murder a cup of tea.’

Hannah nodded. There was a lot to do before Saturday rolled around, and she could begin to feel nervous about that later.

The four teams had started to gather on the open space behind the hospital building at seven thirty, for the first of four Saturdays that were intended to single out one team to represent Hertfordshire in the finals of Hospital Challenge. Many of Hannah’s friends and workmates were there to watch, and the other teams had brought carloads of their own supporters.

Hannah had been issued with three red T-shirts, with the name of her hospital emblazoned on the back, and she was wearing one. The other teams were wearing blue, green and yellow, so that they could be picked out easily by the cameras. There was a large marquee that no one was allowed access to, and everyone was eyeing it with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.

Matt was nowhere to be seen. Hannah had greeted the other teams, shaking hands with them and keeping her eye out for the splash of red that she hoped might announce his arrival.

Finally she saw him. Strolling across the grass towards her, wearing the same red T-shirt, with a pair of cargo pants and trainers. They hadn’t been told what to expect, other than that anything might be thrown at them today, and Hannah had made the same decision.

‘Hello.’ She wanted to ask where the hell he’d been, but that might not be the best start to this new partnership.

‘Hi. Sorry I’m late.’ He looked at his watch. Matt wasn’t late, it was just that everyone else had been half an hour early. ‘I stopped by my office…’

‘Doing real work, then.’ Hannah tried to smile.

Matt shrugged. ‘This feels surprisingly real at the moment.’

One hint that he wasn’t as laid-back about all of this as he made out. ‘I’m a bit nervous, too.’

He laughed suddenly. ‘Did you get the pep talk from Human Resources?’

‘The one about how everyone’s going to be watching, and the good name of the hospital is on our shoulders? And how much the hospital can do with the cash prize, if we win?’ Hannah quirked her lips down. ‘Yes, I got it.’

‘And of course we both feel a great deal better after that.’ There was a twinkle in his eye, and Hannah felt herself relax.

‘So much better. Nothing like the weight of expectation to give us wings. I wonder what the other teams have up their sleeves.’

He nodded, motioning quietly away from the groups of people that surrounded them. Hannah followed him to a quiet spot in the shadow of the hospital building.

‘My office window is just up there.’

Hannah followed the line of his finger. The windows of the second-floor surgical suite looked out over the people milling around the marquee. It occurred to her that Matt hadn’t been up there, working.

‘What have you seen?’

‘I reckoned that the first thing we needed to do was assess the competition. We’re not the only team who don’t know each other all that well. Look at the blues and the greens.’

Hannah looked. The two green T-shirts were giving each other a high five, which she’d seen them do before, and it was obviously for the benefit of the people around them.

‘I’d agree with you about the greens. Too demonstrative.’

He nodded. ‘And the blues have their backs to each other most of the time.’

‘The yellows seem pretty tight.’

‘Yes, they are, I know them. Jack and Laura crew an ambulance, working out of Cravenhurst Hospital.’

Matt looked suddenly uncomfortable. Hannah had tried to hide her feelings but he must know that she’d wanted to be partnered with Sophie.

‘So we reckon that two of the other teams are like us, and don’t know each other too well. But the yellows are already very used to working together…’ Matt’s brow puckered in thought. ‘Maybe we just pretend we have a tension pneumothorax to contend with. We did pretty well there.’

Looking beyond the personal, and functioning as a team. A self-contained unit, relying on each other and seamlessly compensating for each other’s weaknesses. That was so easy to do with Sophie, and so very challenging with Matt. Relying too much on him seemed like stepping into a vortex, which would claw her down into the kind of relationship that she’d promised herself she’d never have with a man again.

So don’t look at him as if he’s a man. He’s a person, a fellow competitor.

As soon as the idea occurred to her, Hannah dismissed it as ridiculous. Matt was all man, and every nerve ending was urging her to be all woman in response.

‘Perhaps for a start we should tell each other our greatest weakness.’ Hannah puffed out a breath. You couldn’t just ask that of someone without being willing to go first. ‘I’ll start—’

He shook his head, laying his hand on her arm, and suddenly her greatest weakness wasn’t her tendency to plan everything down to the smallest detail. Her greatest weakness was Matt’s touch…

‘Why don’t you tell me what my greatest weakness is? When you find it. In return, I’ll tell you yours.’

That was a great deal more challenging. But this was supposed to be a challenge after all.

‘Okay. That could work.’

‘And in the meantime, concentrate on our strengths. We’ll need those if we’re going to win.’ He gave her a gorgeous smile. ‘And we are going to win, aren’t we?’

‘Yes, we are. Do you want a high five?’ Hannah had just seen the greens do it again, and this time it seemed a little less confident than it had before.

‘Is that your thing?’ He turned his gaze on her, and she shivered as the vortex seemed to beckon her once more.

‘No, not really.’

‘Right, then. Let’s disappoint Human Resources and dispense with that.’

She liked his quiet humour. The way he looked for real answers, and didn’t just follow what everyone else did.

Then she saw it, glistening in his eyes. Despite all of his outward unconcern, Matt wanted to win too. He wanted to make them into a team that could win together. She’d been too quick to jump to conclusions about him.

‘How long do you suppose we’ll have to wait?’ There was obvious activity going on amongst the production crew, but no one seemed very interested in rounding up the contestants yet.

Matt chuckled. ‘Probably until our nerves are just hovering around fever pitch.’

He didn’t seem to be anywhere near fever pitch at the moment. If Hannah hadn’t known better it would have infuriated her, but Matt was obviously working things through in his own way. Maybe they’d just taken the first step in their team-building exercise.

Matt was used to waiting. The quiet, measured activity of the operating theatre, where lives hung in the balance and the slightest slip could make a world of difference to a patient, had taught him that being ready wasn’t a matter of straining at the leash.

The competitors had been called to a roped-off area to one side of the tent, but it didn’t look as if anything else was going to happen any time soon. Matt sat down on one of the benches that had been provided and Hannah sat next to him, fidgeting. He could almost feel the tension radiating out of her.

‘The little boy you were with last week. He’s your son?’ Maybe talking would calm her a little.

‘Yes.’ She smiled suddenly, that wide open, joyful smile that he’d seen last week. ‘His name’s Sam.’

‘How old is he?’

‘Six.’

That got the basics over. ‘Where is he today? With his father?’

Hannah’s smile slid from her face. That clearly hadn’t been the right thing to say, and Matt wondered why on earth he’d made the assumption. He should have just come out and asked if Hannah had a partner, if he’d wanted to know so much.

‘No, with my mum. She’s going to bring him along here later to hear the results announced. It’s just me and Sam. His father isn’t on the scene.’

‘I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to pry.’

‘That’s all right.’ Mischief kindled suddenly in her eyes. ‘If we’re going to be a team we should get to know each other.’

Matt laughed. ‘Okay. Matthew Robin Lawson. Thirty-six years old, born in Newcastle, single. I’ve been here for a year, and before that I was working in Glasgow.’

‘You’ve moved around a bit?’ Matt shot Hannah a questioning look and she smiled. ‘You don’t have a Newcastle accent.’

‘Yeah. The only family I’m in touch with is my mother, and she lives in Devon. I go wherever there’s a great job that will challenge me.’

It sounded suddenly as if the life he’d made for himself was missing something. The vital ingredient that Hannah seemed to possess, a family and good friends. But this was what he knew. He’d grown up as an outsider, and that was how he felt comfortable now.

‘And you watch people.’ It came unerringly out of the blue, and combined with the warmth in Hannah’s eyes it carried a momentum that almost knocked him backwards.

‘I guess so. We used to move around a lot, and I found it pays to sit and watch for a while when you’re the new kid in school.’

She seemed to see more in that then he’d said. It felt good to be accepted, but Matt knew that being accepted wasn’t everything. Being safe was everything, and he didn’t want Hannah to know about that.

‘And you?’

‘Ah. Hannah… Do I have to tell you my middle name?’

‘You do now. How bad can it be?’

She grinned. ‘Hannah Eloise Greene.’

‘What’s wrong with Eloise?’ It suited her softer side perfectly.

‘It’s…well it’s a bit girly, isn’t it? I’d prefer something a bit more…’ She waved her hand, as if she were groping for the right word. ‘Adventurous, maybe.’

‘Flash? Jet?’

Hannah laughed, and Matt warmed to his theme. ‘How about Olympia, if you want to go classical? Or Juno?’

‘No! Olympia and Juno are far too elegant for me. And one of my friends called her little boy Jet.’

Matt chuckled. ‘Flash it is, then.’

‘Okay. Hannah Flash Greene…it’s got a ring to it. Twenty-six years old, born right here in this hospital. My father died six years ago, and Sam’s father and I split up before he was born. My mum and I bought a house together, and she looks after Sam when I’m at work. I’m lucky, because it’s a good arrangement for both of us.’

‘I imagine it’s great for her to be able to spend time with her grandson.’ Matt hadn’t had too much contact with his family. Staying below the radar had meant that his mother had considered it unwise to visit either set of grandparents, and his aunts and uncles had been just names to him.

‘Yes. She didn’t know what to do with herself when Dad died. I was away, and…’ Hannah shrugged. There was something she didn’t want to say, and Matt didn’t intend to press her. This had just been something to talk about, he hadn’t meant to share any secrets.

‘Contestants! This way, please.’ One of the production assistants called out suddenly and they both jumped.

They’d been told that there would be cameras in the tent, and that they should do their best to ignore them. Inside, there were four sections, each screened off from the others. A smiling woman handed Matt an envelope.

‘Everything you need is in here. Follow the red markers.’ She gestured towards the canvas door that bore a red flash. ‘You can go now.’

Hannah unzipped the doorway, and Matt saw trestle tables, piled high with medical equipment. He watched as another canvas door at the far end of the tent was opened, revealing a carport with a small red car parked in it. They stepped inside and someone zipped the doorway closed behind them. It was an odd feeling, being completely alone with Hannah, but knowing that they were being watched by cameras. He opened the envelope, sorting through its contents.

‘Car keys and a map… Phone… Ah. Instructions.’ He handed the sheets of paper to Hannah, craning over her shoulder to see.

‘Okay…’ She scanned the paper quickly. ‘We’ve got to take the things we think we might need, and wait for the phone to ring. The red car’s ours, and we’ll use it to get to a medical emergency that’s happening somewhere inside the red ring on the map. We don’t know where yet, or what kind of emergency…’

‘Sounds like a normal day for you.’ Matt grinned at her, spreading the map out on top of one the boxes that were heaped on the trestles.

Hannah studied the map, frowning. ‘The red ring’s a good thirty miles from here.’

‘Which means we have to make a decision. We can’t get everything here into the car, so we either take what we think we’ll need and make a start, or we wait here for the phone call and risk being delayed in traffic.’

Hannah nodded, looking up at him. Perhaps she was waiting for him to make the call.

‘What do you say, then, Flash? This is your area of expertise, not mine.’

She grinned suddenly. ‘I say we go. We can open up the boxes and take just the amount we might need from them.’ She pointed at the large box of dressings. ‘Even if we need all that, there are only two of us and two people can’t apply that many dressings.’

‘Agreed. Why don’t you make a selection and I’ll put everything into the car.’

She raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re sure about that?’

‘Positive. I’m used to having whatever I could possibly need within reach. I’ll go with your best guess over mine.’

‘All right, Robin…’ He raised his eyebrows and Hannah chuckled. ‘You asked for that. You can start with the defibrillator and the oxygen kit—we should definitely take those.’

Fifteen minutes’ concentrated work, and they were ready to go. Hannah had used plastic bags and torn wrappers to contain reasonable amounts of as many different things as possible, repacking boxes and labelling them with a marker pen. She’d added a couple of large zipped bags to their provisions, commenting that they were obviously there for a reason, and picked up the bag of sandwiches and the six-pack of water bottles, stowing them in the footwell of the car.

‘Can you see what the others are doing?’ Matt drove out of the carport, and he caught an enticing trace of her scent as she craned round in the passenger seat, trying to see what was going on behind them.

‘Yep. Yellows have gone already. Since they’re an ambulance crew I wouldn’t be surprised if they haven’t done the same as us. Blues and greens look as if they might be staying put.’ She twisted back round in her seat, surveying the road in front of them. ‘I hope we’ve done the right thing.’

‘We’ve done it now. We look forward, not back.’ Matt could feel a tightening excitement in his chest. This wasn’t just about winning, not even just about bringing home the cash prize for their hospital. Suddenly, it was Flash and Robin, on the road together. Ready to face whatever was thrown at them.

CHAPTER THREE

HANNAH HAD PICKED a spot that gave easy access to main roads in all directions, and was approximately at the centre of the circle. They got out of the car, stretching their legs, and even though it was only ten thirty, she broke open one of the packets of sandwiches. Who knew when they’d get a chance to eat later on? After ten minutes, the phone rang. Matt answered it, listening carefully and scribbling notes on the back of the map.

‘It’s at Lloyd Court. Apparently there’s someone who’s collapsed. No further details at the moment.’

Hannah rolled her eyes, spinning the crust of her sandwich into a nearby waste bin. ‘What, like where he is or what might be wrong with him?’

‘I suppose they think that’s far too easy. They’ll pass further information through to us in the next half-hour. Do you know Lloyd Court?’

She nodded. ‘Yes, it’s a country park. And it’s huge, it’ll take us all day to find someone there.’

Matt handed her the car keys. ‘We’d better get a start, then.’

As Hannah turned into the wide avenue that led to the heart of the country park, he got another call. He listened carefully and then turned to her.

‘Apparently our patient’s had a heart attack. There was one phone call from him, he couldn’t give his exact location but he said he’d been walking on the estate here for around half an hour, and that he was surrounded by trees. His name’s Justin Travers and they’ve given me a phone number for him, but apparently he’s not answering.’

The spike of adrenalin made a clear summer’s day move into even sharper focus. ‘Why give it to us, then?’

‘That’s what I’m wondering…’ Matt was fiddling with the phone as she drove, and Hannah concentrated on the road ahead, turning into the car park that sprawled to one side of the visitors’ centre. She got out of the car, opening the hatchback.

‘What are you doing?’ She started to unload the boxes, sorting out what they would need for the walk ahead of them.

‘Just looking…ah! Got him!’

‘What?’ Matt didn’t seem to appreciate that this was an emergency situation. Okay, so it was a fake emergency situation, but they had to pretend it was real.

‘I did an internet search for the number. There’s a business connections page for a Justin Travers and he’s obviously a walker. Look…’ Matt held out the phone and Hannah glanced at it, then went back to unloading the boxes from the car. She grabbed the two rucksacks and started to fill them with the things they might need.

‘He’s a made-up person, Matt. He’s not going to have social media.’

‘Or they’re testing us. What would you do if you were in this situation for real? You’d try to find out who he was if you could.’ He handed her the phone and Hannah scrolled through the page that was displayed. The guy was a self-employed computer consultant, and his hobby was walking. He’d been on a recent expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro, and his contact number was clearly shown. When she scrolled down a little, his other hobby was listed as ‘Watching Hospital Challenge’. That couldn’t be a coincidence.

‘I was wrong…’ She suddenly felt very small. Matt hadn’t underestimated the complexity of the challenge the way she had. He hadn’t dismissed her experience either. She hadn’t shown him that respect.

He shook his head. ‘No, we were both right. We need to get moving now and expand our search area, because someone like this is going to be able to walk further in half an hour than most people could.’

‘What do you suggest?’

‘Serious walkers tend to travel in a straight line and if that’s what he did, then there’s just one area of woodland that’s approximately two and a half miles from here.’ Matt indicated an area to the west.

‘And we go there first?’ There was woodland to the east as well, but that was only a mile away. Further on was an area of grassland.

‘It’s a risk. Under normal circumstances there would be search parties out, going in every direction, but we have to choose. We can’t split up, the instructions say that we both have to be at the scene together.’

Think. Think!

Hannah turned, staring at the hill that led away to the west. This was the challenge that any experienced walker would set themselves. When she faced Matt again, he was regarding her steadily.

‘Okay. I agree, we go west.’

Matt shouldered the heavier of the two bags, and added two bottles of water to its weight. He set off at a fast walk, and Hannah wondered if she should remind him that they needed to pace themselves. He probably was pacing himself. She watched his back, gritting her teeth. It was a matter of pride that she could keep up.

But after a mile her head started to swim, and the muscles in her legs and shoulders were screaming. She stopped, letting her bag fall to the ground. Matt turned.

‘Perhaps we should have some water…’ Just a few minutes’ rest, and she’d be ready to go again. He nodded, handing her one of the water bottles.

He was waiting for her. Matt made a show of consulting the map, but they both knew exactly which way they were going as the woodland at the top of the hill stood starkly on the horizon. One minute. Just one minute and she’d be ready to pick up the bag and go again.

‘Drink a little more.’ He picked up the half-empty water bottle that she’d put down on the grass, handing it to her. Then he caught the strap of her bag, shouldering it with his.

‘No… Matt, I’ll be okay…’

‘We have to get there together. If I get tired, you can take the bag back.’

His tone was quiet. Gentle, even. Not like the shouted exhortations to keep going that she’d trained with.

‘Don’t give me permission to give up…’

He grinned suddenly. ‘You don’t have my permission to do anything other than keep walking. I’m going to need you when we get there, so let’s go.’ He turned, obviously slowed by the extra weight but still able to keep going.

It was a lot easier without the bag. Hannah caught up with him, walking beside him.

‘You don’t believe in a little encouragement?’

‘What, you mean bullying you until you pick the bag up again and start walking? No, I don’t believe in that.’ He was suddenly tight-lipped.

‘Sometimes a bit of a push is what’s needed.’

He nodded. ‘Yeah. But don’t ask me to do it.’

Matt wasn’t wasting any words, and it wasn’t just the extra weight he was carrying. This was a line that he didn’t cross. His relaxed attitude to everything wasn’t a matter of laissez faire. It was more like a decision about how he was going to interact with the world.

‘I get it. If I need any shouting to get me back on my feet, I’ll do it myself.’

‘I’d appreciate that.’ He gave her one of his sudden smiles. Those deep blue eyes were enough to drag anyone to their feet, heart pumping faster and legs suddenly strong.

‘I’ll take my bag back in a little while.’

He nodded. ‘All right. I can’t make it all the way like this.’

He had his strengths, just as she did. And finding them, using them, was a challenge that was both daunting and delicious.

Matt knew what Hannah had been asking of him. He knew that getting her to her feet wouldn’t be a matter of real aggression, and more one of channelling her thoughts and reactions towards one clear aim. But he still couldn’t do it.

It had been more than twenty-five years since he’d cowered before his father’s wrath. Everything he’d done and said had been calculated to please, because when his father had got angry it had been over the smallest things. This wasn’t the same, and pressuring Hannah back to her feet wouldn’t have been the same kind of aggression that his father had dispensed so freely, but he still couldn’t bring himself to do it. It wasn’t who he was. What he’d made himself be.

When she took her bag back, he caught the scent of her sweat. Not stale or pungent, but an exciting sweetness, which spoke to his body on a level that he’d learned to ignore. He should ignore her touch, too. Something about the way that she snatched her hand away from his when he gave her the bag told Matt that she felt something too, and he couldn’t help but smile.

‘We split up?’ They’d reached the edge of the woodland, and Hannah took the map from him, spreading it out on the ground. The trees formed a wide band that stretched out ahead of them.

‘I think so. I’ll walk along the ridge, there, and you take the path.’ Matt chose the more uneven, sloping terrain. Physical effort might take his mind off her auburn hair, glinting in the sunlight, and the way that her sweat-dampened T-shirt didn’t hide her curves as well as it had.

‘Giving me the easier route again?’ For a moment her expression told him that she might well argue with that.

‘Don’t worry. I reckon there are enough challenges ahead of us to go round.’

Hannah grinned suddenly. ‘Probably. Thanks, I could do without climbing to the top of that ridge.’

They walked more slowly now, keeping each other within sight and scanning carefully for any signs of the man they were looking for. Matt caught a glimpse of blue, between the trees on the other side of the ridge, but when he scrambled down towards it, he saw that it was an abandoned plastic carrier bag, fluttering in the breeze.

‘Anything…?’ He heard Hannah’s voice, calling to him.

‘No. Nothing.’ Matt shouted back, and she started walking again. As the woodland area started to narrow, the ridge wound down to meet the path.

‘Where is he? Suppose we’re wrong, Matt.’ She seemed suddenly exhausted from the effort it had taken to get here.

‘Suppose we’re right?’

Hannah nodded, straightening suddenly. ‘We’ll walk through to the end of these trees, and then double back for a second look, shall we? When we’re sure he’s not here, we can think again.’

They walked for another ten minutes and then he saw it. Deep amongst the trees, in a patch of bright sunshine, the body of a man propped up against a tree stump. They forced their way through the undergrowth and Matt felt a bramble tear at his arm, catching at the supple branch before it hit Hannah straight in the face. She ducked ahead of him, jogging towards the man and falling to her knees beside him.

Matt wasn’t sure what to expect right now. Surely they weren’t supposed to carry out resuscitation procedures on what was presumably a perfectly healthy volunteer? Then the man opened his eyes, grinning up at Hannah.

‘Hi, there. You made it, then.’ He jerked his thumb behind him. ‘Go over there.’

Hannah didn’t move. ‘Are you all right?’

The man snorted with laughter. ‘Yes, of course I am. We try to make everything as authentic as possible, but I draw the line at having a real heart attack.’

She frowned suddenly. ‘Have you got some water?’

Matt felt for the water bottle in his bag. They’d both been caught up in the illusion, but Hannah had stepped out of it for a moment and seen a real issue. The man had been sitting in full sunlight, and it was a hot day. His face was already a little red.

‘Actually, I could do with some. Looks as if I’ll be here for a while.’ He took the bottle from Matt. ‘Thanks. Now go on, will you? Five minutes in that direction.’

Hannah got to her feet, staring ahead of them. She turned questioningly to Matt and he shrugged. He couldn’t see anything either.

They walked downhill through the brush, and he saw something amongst the trees. The shape of an expertly camouflaged tent. They approached it, and Matt ducked around the tent flap, seeing a busy crew and four tables, each bearing one of the team colours. He turned to Hannah, holding the flap aside for her.

‘Great.’ A young woman approached them, beaming. ‘Go over to your table…’

‘In a minute.’ Hannah’s grim determination to get the job in hand completed seemed to have deserted her. ‘I’d like to speak to whoever’s in charge.’

‘You’re still being timed.’ The young woman frowned.

‘Then I’d like to speak to them straight away, please.’ She shot an apologetic look at Matt and he nodded. He knew now what was on her mind, and he wasn’t about to tell her to forget it and hurry her over to the table.

A man responded to the woman’s beckoning hand, and hurried over. ‘Is there a problem?’

‘Yes, there is. The man lying out there is in direct sunlight, and he’s got no water, we gave him some of ours. He’s already looking a little red in the face, and I’m hoping he doesn’t get sunstroke.’

Matt grinned. Go, Flash.

‘Um…’ The man scratched his head. ‘Did he say he felt ill?’

‘No. But prevention’s always better than cure, and I was sure you’d want to know.’ Hannah shrugged. ‘Health and safety, and all that…’

She was being nice about it, but there was a hint of firmness beneath her smile. Matt never had to explain what he wanted, he just made a decision and everyone went with it. Hannah must face this kind of situation every day, and she was clearly practised at getting her own way with the minimum of confrontation and fuss.

‘Yes, of course. Thanks for letting me know, I’ll get straight on it. If we sit him in the shade a little closer to the path, and make sure he has plenty of water, would that be okay with you?’

‘That’s fabulous. Thanks.’ Hannah flashed him a smile, and turned to make her way across to the red table.

‘That’s very sportsmanlike of you.’ Matt shot her a smile, so that Hannah would be in no doubt that he approved. ‘The other teams will be able to see him more easily if he’s closer to the path.’

She shot him a querulous look. ‘You think I should have done anything different?’

‘No. I’m just pleased to see that I have a teammate who won’t stop at nothing to win.’

Hannah flushed a little, then leaned towards him. ‘You just wait and see what I’ll do if you don’t get over to that table. Right now.’

That was almost an incentive to stay put. Hannah could do anything she wanted with him, the more up close and personal the better. The sentiment must have shown on his face, because she raised her eyebrows.

‘Since you asked so nicely…’ Matt turned and walked over to the table.

CHAPTER FOUR

THEY’D SPENT ALMOST an hour going through what they’d brought in their bags, and how they would have treated their patient, with two of the judges. About halfway through, the yellow team had turned up, but there was no sign of the blues or the greens. Finally they were allowed to go, walking with one of the production assistants along a path that led to the perimeter of the park, and then being ferried back to the visitors’ centre by car.

Matt got into the red car, feeling his back pull as he did so. He reached for the ignition, and Hannah stopped him.

‘Your arm’s bleeding.’ She reached under her T-shirt and into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out a packet of antiseptic wipes that she must have saved from the medical bag she’d been carrying.

Matt was vaguely aware that thorns had ripped through both the fabric of his T-shirt and his flesh at some point, and that his shoulder was stinging. Now that he looked, he could see a trickle of partly coagulated blood.

‘It’s okay.’

She gave him the look that she probably saved for any of her patients who proved intractable. Half smiling, half determined.

‘Okay, so you want to be a man about it. I won’t tell anyone. I find that it’s in my own interest to keep you as healthy as possible over the next four weeks, so you’ll just have to take a hit for the team.’

The stinging felt a little too close for comfort to the scar on his shoulder, which he kept hidden from everyone. But he did what he imagined everyone else doing in the face of Hannah’s charm. He pulled the sleeve of his T-shirt up, gratified to find that if he held it in place the dark red mark wasn’t visible.

‘Oh. Nasty.’ Hannah squinted at the gash on his arm. ‘Hold on a minute. Sharp scratch.’

‘Ow! That’s not a sharp scratch. What did you do?’ If he was going to forgo being a man about it, then he may as well go the whole hog.

‘You had a thorn still in there.’ Hannah held up a vicious-looking spike. ‘I think there’s another one. That might be a slightly sharper scratch…’

It was. But this time it didn’t take Matt so much by surprise, and he kept quiet about it. Hannah wiped the wound carefully, and then applied a plaster from her pocket. ‘That should hold it. Although—’

‘Give it a good wash when I get back? I’ve got that part…’ Matt pulled the sleeve of his T-shirt back down again.

‘Yes, of course. Sorry, force of habit.’

She leaned back in her seat, staring out at the sun-dappled grass in front of them. Suddenly Matt didn’t want to start driving again. He was used to knowing people in terms of the way they did their jobs, and it didn’t usually occur to him to make small-talk about his colleagues’ lives. But Hannah was different.

‘You know this place pretty well?’

She nodded. ‘Yes. We used to come here on Sunday afternoons when I was little. My dad taught me how to fly a kite here.’

It must be nice to have those memories. To be able to access them whenever you wanted and smile.

‘You’ve never thought of moving away?’ He was interested. It was an experience that was so very different from his.

‘Not really. After my dad died my mum was just…lost. I was away for a while, and by the time I managed to get back, my dad was already gone. I couldn’t leave her again.’

‘I’m sorry. That must have been very difficult.’

‘It was for Mum.’ Hannah shrugged off whatever regrets she had of her own. ‘He knew that I was coming back for him, he just couldn’t wait.’

A tear trickled down her cheek, and she wiped it away impatiently. Matt wanted very badly to comfort her, but wasn’t sure whether she’d accept it.

‘I imagine that there isn’t much you can tell people that you love that they don’t already know.’

She nodded. ‘That’s what I think as well. I hope so, anyway. My biggest regret is that I never got to tell Dad that he wasn’t to worry about Mum, because I’d look after her.’

‘I dare say that you know what your son’s capable of, even better than he does, at times.’ Matt really wasn’t qualified to give advice on families. But maybe all that time when he was a kid, spent watching other people’s families, studying them carefully from the outside, gave him a slightly different perspective.

Hannah laughed suddenly. ‘Yes, you’ve got that right. It’s just as well that I can out-think him a bit, or I’d never manage to keep up with him.’

‘I guess that having a child puts things into perspective. You get to understand your own parents a little better.’

‘Yes, it puts a lot of things into perspective. I wish that Sam could have known my dad, he would have adored him.’

‘You’ve taught him how to fly a kite?’

Hannah laughed. ‘No, actually, I haven’t. That’s a very good idea, though. Maybe I’ll wait for a windy day and bring him up here.’

The question was on the tip of his tongue. Whether Hannah might wait for that windy day, and call him to see if he might come along. He had no idea how to fly a kite and it seemed suddenly as if it was something he’d be interested in learning about.

He didn’t ask. Hannah’s was one of those families that had fascinated him as a child, stable and loving, the exact opposite of his own. But they were unknown territory and he’d kept his distance. And anyway, Hannah was really just an acquaintance. One who he felt suddenly very close to, after working through the challenges they’d been set for today, but still just an acquaintance.

He jumped as someone rapped on the car window, and Hannah pressed the control to wind it down. The yellow team had been dropped off in the car park now, and were making their way to their car.

‘Guys, we need you back at the hospital. We’re doing a few interviews there, and when the other teams get back we’ll be announcing the winners.’

‘I don’t suppose you know where the other teams are, do you?’ Hannah’s competitive spirit emerged suddenly and the young woman shook her head.

‘Sorry…’

‘Okay, thanks.’ Hannah wound the window back up. ‘Can’t say or won’t say, I wonder.’

Matt chuckled, reaching for the ignition. ‘We’ll find out soon enough.’

Hannah had stepped over the line a little. She usually gave the sanitised version of what had happened when her father had died, just that she’d been out of the country and got back as soon as she could.

She didn’t tell anyone about the clawing guilt. About how she’d left, accompanying her boyfriend on travels that were his dream, not hers. John had been her dream, and she’d followed him.

Her father had asked her what she really wanted, and she’d told him it was this. She wanted to see the world. He hadn’t believed her, and he and her mother had obviously been worried for her, but they’d let her go without any more argument, waving her off at the airport with fixed smiles on their faces.

And that was the last time she’d seen him. When the telegram had got through, routed through various different post offices, she’d called her mother and found that her father was dying. John had waved her off at the airport rather more cheerfully than her parents had, and she hadn’t seen him again either. By the time she’d arrived home, her father had died, and she’d never had the chance to tell him that she was sorry.

The car turned into the road that ran through to the back of the hospital and she saw her mother with Sam. He was standing right at the front of the spectator area, waving the red flag that she’d helped him make. Matt stopped the car, right in front of him.

‘Mum… Mum!’ Sam was hallooing at the top of his voice. Hannah shot Matt a smile and got out of the car.

‘Mum… Did you win?’

‘We’ll have to wait for the judges to say.’ Hannah stroked her son’s cheek as his face fell. ‘But we did the best we could, and that’s what matters.’

What seemed to matter now was winning, but Sam accepted the thought without question, jumping up and down and waving his flag. Hannah gave him a hug and Sam craned around as Matt got out of the car. He gave Sam a wave and the little boy pretended not to notice, suddenly shy.

Hannah beckoned Matt over, and he walked towards them. ‘Sam, this is Matt.’

‘Hi, Sam.’ Matt squatted down on his heels in front of the boy, giving him his space and smiling quietly as he waited for Sam to get over his attack of nerves. ‘That’s a great flag.’

‘I made it.’ Sam gave the flag another wave, and Matt nodded solemnly.

‘I can see that. It’s better than all the others.’ He grinned when Sam waved the flag more vigorously. ‘It was the first thing we saw when we got to the hospital.’

Sam liked that. He began to chatter excitedly as Matt got to his feet and introduced himself to Hannah’s mum. His quiet manner, and the way he held his hand out to shake hers, elicited a glance in Hannah’s direction from her mother. No doubt about the meaning—Mum liked the strong silent type, and good manners always impressed her.

The home crowd had seen them, and people were beginning to cheer, the banner with the name of the hospital lifted aloft after what must have been a long wait to greet them. Hannah lifted Sam over the barrier, feeling her fatigued muscles protest at his weight, and he waved his flag wildly.

Anxious to get as good a view as possible, Sam reached for Matt’s taller frame. Hannah saw Matt hesitate, and then he smiled. As she delivered Sam into his arms, the brush of Matt’s skin against hers was suddenly all she could feel. He hoisted the boy onto his shoulders, holding him carefully so that he didn’t fall, and Sam howled with delight.

‘He’s not too heavy for you, is he?’ Matt grinned a no, and Hannah tapped Sam’s knee to get his attention. ‘Don’t wriggle so much. Matt won’t be able to hold you.’

‘I won’t let him go.’

This. This was what it would be like if Sam had a father. If John had responded to the news that she was pregnant by wanting anything to do with his child. But he hadn’t. He had been too busy with his own life to bother with hers or the one they’d unwittingly created together. Hannah felt a lump rise in her throat, and realised that her mother was staring at her.

‘Do you mind staying here with Sam for a moment? I’ll go and park the car up…’ She wanted to get away from here before the picture of a complete family formed too clearly in her mind.

‘Um… Yeah. Sure.’ Matt clearly wasn’t used to being around kids, and he was taking the responsibility seriously, but he was grinning from ear to ear. If he wanted to let Sam down, then her mum was there to take him.

‘Keys…?’

‘In my pocket.’ Matt didn’t seem at all disposed to let go of Sam, although one hand was probably quite enough to keep him from falling from his perch. Hannah saw the outline of the keys under the heavy material of his trousers, and felt her mouth go dry.

She was even thinking twice about this? She should be pleased that Matt was so careful, and that he was taking extra care that Sam didn’t fall.

‘Okay. Sharp…um…scratch.’ The joke dried in her throat. It wasn’t really necessary to warn Matt every time she went near him.

His momentary, heavy-lidded look told Hannah that he noticed her touch as much as she did his. She reached forward, fishing the keys from his pocket with two fingers, stepping back as soon as she had them, feeling the metal dig into her hand as she held them a little too tightly.

‘I’m just going to park the car, Sam. You’ll stay here with Matt and Grandma?’ Sam gave her a cursory nod, concentrating on waving his flag.

Sophie caught up with her in the car park, flinging her arm around her shoulders as they walked back together.

‘I see he’s made friends with Sam. How was he?’

Beautiful. Challenging. ‘Um…he’s got good stamina.’

‘I like a man with good stamina.’ Sophie laughed and Hannah dug her elbow into her ribs.

‘I meant for climbing hills. He’s a good problem-solver as well.’

‘Yeah? I love a good problem-solver…’

‘Shush. If you’re so keen on stamina and problem-solving, why don’t you try him out for yourself?’ Now she’d said it, Hannah wished she hadn’t. Sophie had better not try Matt out for herself.

‘Nah. He’s all yours…’ Sophie ended the conversation abruptly, jogging forward to greet Sam. ‘Hey, there, Sam. You’re very tall all of a sudden!’

Sam leaned over, tapping the top of Sophie’s head, and she laughed.

‘We’d better go and sign in. Are you going to join us, Sophie?’

Recognising that Sophie had played a part in their efforts today, and wanting her to share in the credit, was a nice gesture on Matt’s part. The walk between here and the awning that covered the reception area was lined with people and they were all cheering.

‘No, that’s okay.’ Sophie grinned conspiratorially at Hannah’s mother. ‘You take Sam.’

As they started to walk, she heard Sophie’s voice behind her. Then the people lining their way started a Mexican wave, cheering and shouting. She heard Matt chuckle as Sam screamed with glee.

‘Oh! She didn’t…’

‘I think she did.’ Matt’s voice seemed very close all of a sudden. ‘One last push and we’re home…’

The embarrassment, and the thought that there were so many expectations on her shoulders, made this walk seem harder, and longer than all the rest put together. Sam waved his flag, as people ducked and straightened in a new ripple that followed them all the way to the reception area. Matt lifted Sam down, and Hannah hugged him.

‘Run straight back to Sophie and Grandma now, sweetie. Matt and I have to do some things, but I’ll see you later.’ Hannah gestured to her mother, making sure that she saw that Sam was on his way back.

‘I can take him. Sign me in…’ A worried look crossed Matt’s face, and Hannah shook her head.

‘It’s okay. He can do that by himself.’ Hannah watched as Sam scampered back, making sure that he didn’t get distracted. Sophie took his hand, bending down to say something to him, and Sam turned, giving her a wave.

‘He’s great.’ Matt was watching too. ‘I’ll bet he’s a bit of a handful…’

‘He’s more than just a bit of a handful. But all the best kids are.’

Matt nodded thoughtfully. Then he turned suddenly, as if tearing himself away from the boy, and walked towards the signing-in table.

They’d responded to the interview questions, giving all the expected answers. They’d enjoyed the challenge, and were feeling good, and hoping they’d done well. Now that they were alone, Hannah’s optimism seemed to have subsided into a worried determination. They’d reached their pretend patient first, but there was still the matter of how they’d answered the judges’ questions. Matt was confident that they’d outlined the right course of action clinically speaking, but maybe they’d missed something that the other teams had seen.

Hannah was getting more and more nervous, and he tried to think of something he might say to her. There was nothing. He was nervous, too.

Taking Sam onto his shoulders had been the most challenging part of the day. Being responsible for a child, even if it was only for a few minutes and his grandmother was close by. Sam hadn’t been taught to be afraid, and the way he’d clung to Matt, confident that he’d keep him safe, had been a new experience.

He shouldn’t read too much into it. Hannah’s mother and Sophie both looked after Sam as naturally as Hannah did. The boy was a happy, normal kid. The thought that he could be a part of what Hannah had was entirely inappropriate. And the more urgent desire to touch her was equally inappropriate.

Finally, the four teams were gathered, cameras pointing at them to record their reactions. One of the judging panel stood up and started to talk into the microphone, giving an overview of each team’s performance. Hannah was standing next to Matt, looking very nervous.

‘I’m taking bets on how long he’s going to drag this out…’ He bent, whispering into her ear behind his hand, so that the camera couldn’t record his words. Even now there was a freshness about her scent that worked its way into his consciousness.

She looked up at him, smiling suddenly. ‘Two minutes.’

‘Okay. I’ll say thirty seconds. Loser buys coffee next time round.’ Matt reckoned it would be closer to three minutes. But at the moment, buying coffee for Hannah was his idea of being a winner.

She threw him a sceptical look. Matt fixed his eyes on the clock and Hannah followed suit. The second hand ticked around, and he felt her nudge him when it had signalled that two minutes had passed. He looked down at her and found that her smile was worth the price of a thousand cups of coffee.

‘You win.’ He murmured the words to her just as the judge’s voice crashed into his consciousness.

‘And the winners are… Matt and Hannah, for Hamblewell Hospital.’

Cheers erupted from the crowd, and Matt could see Sam jumping up and down, doing the victory dance he’d done with Hannah last week. Hannah seemed paralysed by the news, and he took the lead, shaking the hands of the other competitors. Matt waited until she’d followed suit, and then propelled her towards the judge.

She shook his hand, smiling and holding aloft the medal that he’d draped around her neck. Matt received his, standing next to Hannah, as everyone cheered. It was a dizzying, almost surreal experience. Winning this with Hannah was a more potent achievement than he’d thought.

An endless round of handshakes and congratulations. And then suddenly they were alone.

‘Well done, Flash.’

‘You too, Robin…’ She frowned suddenly. ‘Don’t you want to be Flash? Robin sounds as if you’re my sidekick…’

‘Hey. You stick with your own middle name, and I’ll stick with mine. I’ve become attached to it over the years.’ He wasn’t particularly attached to either of his first names, because he guessed they’d been his father’s choices. But on Hannah’s lips the name had acquired new and better associations.

He pulled the medal ribbon over his head. ‘Would Sam like this?’

‘You earned it. He can have mine.’

Matt put the medal into her hand. ‘Give him this one. Then you can both wear one.’ He reckoned that Sam might like that.

‘Are you sure…?’ Hannah looked up at him and he nodded. ‘Why don’t you come and give it to him yourself, so he can say thank you? We’ll probably have to go for a drink somewhere before I get to go home and lie on the sofa—you’re welcome to join us.’

There was nothing that Matt would like more. Being with Hannah for just a while longer. Seeing that softer side of her, which seemed to retreat behind a determined shell when she was competing. But it wasn’t a good idea. He was already becoming too aware of her, and it was an uneasy path to take.

‘Thanks, but I’d like to get home. I’ve got a few things to do.’ The lie sounded hollow on his lips. ‘Actually, lying on the sofa sounds like a good idea.’

Her gaze searched his face for a moment. Then she nodded. ‘I’ll let you go, then. Thanks for today. And the medal, Sam will love it.’

Matt watched her walk away. She knelt down in front of Sam, putting the medal around his neck, and Matt’s heart began to swell as the little boy picked it up gravely, examining it. Then Hannah pointed behind her in his direction and started to turn…

He turned away quickly. It wouldn’t do for her to know that he was watching, greedy for every detail of the scene. Matt walked away, starting to feel the heaviness of his limbs and the sting of the wound on his shoulder. He should go home, take a long shower, and forget all about Hannah until next week.

CHAPTER FIVE

HANNAH WAS TRYING not to think about Matt. That wasn’t easy, because Sam hadn’t stopped talking about him, and her mother had mentioned that he seemed nice and wondered innocently whether he had a family. Sophie didn’t have such reservations.

‘I asked. He’s definitely single.’

Hannah leaned back in the front seat of the ambulance, closing her eyes. ‘And they know this how?’

‘I spoke to one of the nurses in Orthopaedics. He comes into the ward quite a lot on account of operating on quite a few of their patients.’

‘Oh, and they’ve compiled a dossier?’

‘Yeah, pretty much. He lives just around the corner from the hospital. Been here a year, isn’t married and doesn’t have a girlfriend, despite being a complete and utter god in the looks department.’ Sophie frowned. ‘That sounds a bit too good to be true actually. I wonder if he’s got a dark secret.’

Hannah had wondered that too.

‘Maybe he just likes to keep his personal life to himself.’

‘So you know something? That you’re not telling me?’

‘No. We don’t all have your dating stamina, I haven’t had a partner in years either. I suppose that doesn’t count, though, I’m not a complete and utter goddess…’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. You’re a super-goddess.’ Sophie pulled a face. ‘You just can’t believe that there’s someone out there who won’t let you down, the way John did.’

‘And I’ve got a six-year-old, and a job. It doesn’t give me a lot of time for dating.’ Hannah was sure that she could have made time if she’d really wanted to, her Mum was always telling her she should go out more. But guilt stopped her. She’d let her father down, and she wouldn’t break the promise she’d never had the chance to make to him. She’d never get carried away, thinking that she was in love, and let down the people she really cared about. Her place was with Sam and her mother.

‘Sure you couldn’t squeeze him in?’ Sophie grinned, and then puffed out a breath as the radio hissed into life.

Good. Something else to think about for a while. Something that didn’t involve Matt’s broad shoulders, or what might happen if a girl should accidentally-on-purpose cut through that gentle veneer of his. She’d seen the fire and the determination beneath it, and it had made her shiver.

‘Here we go…’ Sophie glanced at Hannah, starting the engine of the ambulance.

The second part of the competition was being held at the blue team’s hospital. Matt had texted Hannah, saying that he’d be there at seven thirty, and since she’d won the bet, he would be bringing coffee. Hannah had texted him back, saying she looked forward to a latte with no sugar and her phone had pinged almost immediately with a smiley face.

Matt stood out in the crowd, and she didn’t have to look for his blond hair and red T-shirt. He was next to the blue team’s contingent of supporters, chatting to a girl of around thirteen in a wheelchair, who’d obviously been brought down from one of the wards to watch. Hannah walked over to him, reaching out to tap him on the shoulder, but he seemed to sense she was there before she even touched him.

‘Ah, there you are.’ He was holding two large cardboard beakers and he handed one to Hannah. ‘Latte, no sugar. Mia, this is Hannah.’

‘Hi, Mia.’ Hannah grinned down at the girl. ‘You’re here to cheer for the blues, are you?’

‘I’m cheering for Dr Matt as well. He’s my doctor.’

Matt grinned. ‘Well, that’s very kind of you. I’ll run even faster knowing that you’re watching me.’ He gestured to a large screen that had been set up to one side of them. Clearly whatever they were going to be doing today would involve another location, and the cameras would be relaying what was happening.

‘He’d better run if he’s going to keep up with me.’ Hannah shared the information with Mia and she grinned.

‘That sounds a lot like a challenge.’ Matt was smiling too. ‘Hannah’s an ambulance paramedic, Mia.’

Mia’s face lit up. ‘That’s what I want to be…’

‘It’s a hard job, but I love it. I wouldn’t do anything else.’ Hannah wondered what was wrong with Mia and whether it would prevent her from dealing with the physical demands of the job.

‘When you’re better, you’ll be able to do anything you want.’ Matt came to her rescue. ‘The ambulance service will be lucky to have you.’

‘You’ve played a big part in making that possible.’ The woman standing next to Mia was obviously her mother.

‘It’s been my pleasure. I’m glad to see Mia doing so well.’ Matt bent down again. ‘Will you come back later today?’

‘You bet. I’ll be cheering you and Hannah.’

Hannah grinned at her. ‘Thanks. Ambulance crews have to stick together.’

They took their leave of Mia and her mother, strolling across the grass towards the reception tent. ‘I didn’t realise you worked here as well.’

‘I operate here from time to time. Mia had severe scoliosis, which is my specialty.’

‘She obviously thinks a lot of you.’ In Hannah’s experience you could generally judge a doctor by what their patients thought of them.

‘She’s a brave girl, and very determined. The first time I met her, she gave me a list—she’d written down all of the things she wanted to be able to do after her surgery.’

Hannah laughed. ‘And how are you doing with that?’

‘It’s looking good. Mia’s already working with the physiotherapists, and she’s doing well. She’ll tick everything off her list, given a little time.’

‘It must be nice, being able to follow through with your patients. I don’t always get that opportunity.’

‘Some of them I don’t get to know too well, on account of their being under anaesthetic. But I try to make time to see how they’re doing, especially the kids. Giving them a decent start in life is…’ Matt shrugged. ‘It’s what it’s all about, really.’

Hannah nodded. She’d been lucky and had had the best start in life; whatever mistakes she’d made had been hers alone. Something about Matt told her that maybe his life had been shaped by other people’s mistakes.

This time the teams were called one by one. They waited for what seemed like an age after the red team had been summoned, and finally they were kitted out with heavy boots, along with work gloves, jackets and hard hats. Then one of the production assistants ferried them by car to a row of old warehouses, empty and due for demolition. She drove away without another word, leaving them alone.

‘What do we do now?’ Hannah looked around. The site seemed deserted, although it was fair to assume that there must be cameras somewhere, trained on them.

‘I’ll walk that way a bit.’ Matt gestured to his left. ‘Maybe you go the other way, and see if you can see anything.’

‘Okay. Stay within hollering distance.’

He nodded, walking away from her. Hannah started to walk, scanning the crumbling brick fascia of the warehouses. If the hard hat was anything to go by, they were expected to go inside one of them, but which one…?

‘Hannah… This way…’ She heard Matt’s call, and turned, running towards him. His trajectory was more determined now, and she guessed he must have heard or seen something.

‘I thought I heard someone calling out…’ He was suddenly silent and Hannah heard it too. A woman’s voice, shouting for help.

‘I think it’s coming from over there. Must be on the other side.’ The voice was too faint to be coming from any of the doorways that they could see.

Matt nodded and they jogged together across the rubble-strewn ground towards the end of the row of buildings. Hannah felt her foot turn, and pain shot through her knee. Then she yelped in surprise as her downward trajectory suddenly reversed itself.

Matt had caught her, and she was pinioned against him. One arm wrapped firmly around her waist and the other hand… He moved it quickly away from the curve of her hip but it was too late. She’d already felt the pressure of his fingers.

‘Um… Sorry. Are you okay?’

Maybe. Hannah wasn’t quite sure. Maybe it was the sudden close-up of his blue eyes that had turned her legs to jelly, or maybe the shock of almost falling face first onto the sharp stones. Maybe that fleeting touch, but she could hardly blame him for that. Matt hadn’t had the time to check exactly where he was putting his hands, and he was clearly a little embarrassed about it.

‘Yes. Fine. Thanks.’ He could let go of her now. Even if every fibre of her body was clamouring for his.

He nodded, hesitating for just one moment before he stepped away from her. In that moment, Hannah could have sworn that he felt it too. The heat of an attraction that stubbornly failed to respond to reason. Matt turned to retrieve her hard hat, which had spun out of her hand, landing some feet away.

Her knee hurt. But she could keep going. ‘You go on ahead, I’ll catch you up.’

‘I’ll wait.’ There was no trace of impatience in his tone.

He was right, they should stay together, and Sophie would have done the exact same thing in these circumstances. But when Matt did it, all Hannah could think about was that she’d had no more than a taste of his strong arms, and she wanted more. She tried to concentrate on her knee, flexing her leg, and the pain subsided a little. When she took a couple of steps it felt better still.

‘I’m good.’ She started to walk again, and Matt fell into step beside her, still watching her. When they reached the other side of the warehouses, which faced the road, the voice became louder and clearer.

‘Up there.’ Matt was the first to see it. A flash of red at one of the upper windows. As they ran closer they could see it was a woman waving a red scarf.

‘Are you okay?’ Hannah shouted up to her. The woman was making a great job of appearing panicked and distressed.

‘I’m all right. My boyfriend… He’s hurt…’ The woman seemed about to climb out of the window.

‘Stay there. Don’t try to climb down, we’ll come to you. What’s your name?’ Matt was already on his way towards the door, leaving Hannah to deal with the woman.

‘Isobel. You can’t get up here…’

‘Okay, Isobel. Leave that to us. Are you safe where you are right now?’

‘Yes.’

‘Can you see your boyfriend?’ Hannah knew that when dealing with someone who was panicking and probably in shock, she had to give clear, step-by-step instructions.

‘Yes…’

‘Listen to me carefully, Isobel. Put your hand on the windowsill.’ Isobel hesitated, but she did it. ‘Good. Now turn and look at him. Tell me what you see.’

‘He fell… There’s blood and I think he’s broken his leg.’

‘Is he breathing?’

‘Yes…’

‘What does his breathing sound like, can you hear a rasping sound?’

‘No, he’s breathing easily.’

Hopefully so. ‘That’s good, Isobel. Have you got a phone on you?’

Hannah waited while Isobel did as she was bidden. Where was Matt? He should be up there by now, but she suspected that was going to be far too easy a solution. He appeared again at the door, running towards her.

‘The way up there is blocked with rubble. We’re going to have to dig our way through.’ He glanced up at the window, where Isobel was watching them. ‘Do you have an idea of the situation?’

‘I’ve got pictures. Or I will have…’ Hannah’s phone beeped, and she opened the texts that Isobel had sent. The pictures showed a large open space, and a lifelike dummy with a good representation of a broken leg. There must be a wound as well, because blood was pooling on the floor. Isobel had obviously been well drilled in giving answers that matched the scenario, and this felt chillingly real.

Matt scrolled through the pictures. ‘We need to get up there as fast as we can. We’re going to have to hope that Isobel doesn’t decide to start panicking again. I’ll need your help to clear the debris.’ The scenario obviously felt real to him as well.

‘Maybe we can improvise. Perhaps there’s something we can use as a tool, rather than digging with our hands.’ Hannah looked around.

They were near the perimeter of the site, where the warehouses were separated from the pavement by a chain-link fence. On the other side of the road was a row of shops, and a group of men was fixing a new fascia sign to one of them. Their aerial work platform, mounted on the back of a truck, caught Hannah’s attention.

‘Do you think we could reach the window with that?’

Matt studied the vehicle for a moment and then, before Hannah could stop him, he made for the fence and began to scale it. It bent a little under his weight as he hauled himself over the top, twanging back into shape when he jumped down on the other side.

‘Hey…!’ A little discussion might have been nice.

‘What?’ Matt spread his hands in a querying gesture. ‘It’s a great idea.’

‘What if they’re nothing to do with the challenge? Are we allowed to ask for their help?’

‘Wouldn’t you and Sophie, if this were real?’

He had a point. Hannah sighed, turning back to Isobel and calling up to her to stay where she was until they could reach her. When she glanced behind her she saw that Matt was talking to the men, and they were retracting the aerial lift work platform. Matt got into the passenger seat of the truck and it drove away.

Five minutes later, the truck bumped across the service road at the back of the warehouses. The driver parked under the window, and Matt and Hannah climbed onto the aerial platform, donning their helmets.

‘What did you tell them?’ Hannah whispered the words as the platform began to rise towards the window.

‘I said this was a challenge, which was being filmed for TV, and that we were competing for Hamblewell Hospital. They were more than happy to give it a go.’

Fair enough. Matt had turned his attention to directing the driver exactly where to place the platform. As soon as it was level with the window, he helped Hannah inside the building, making straight for the figure lying on the floor, while Hannah took a moment to calm Isobel.

The exercise hadn’t been just an exercise. It had made Matt think. Would he be a better surgeon now, having faced the kind of situations that ambulance crews had to contend with?

They’d rigged up a makeshift splint and bandages, and ferried Isobel and their patient back down to the ground. As soon as she stepped off the platform, Isobel broke character, smilingly telling them that the challenge was now finished, and a couple of cars appeared to ferry them back to the hospital.

It would be at least two hours before they were needed again. That was good, because Matt had something urgent on his mind.

‘What’s the matter with your leg? You’re limping…’

‘Am I?’ Hannah turned her mouth down, as if he hadn’t been meant to notice.

‘Yeah. I’ll take a look…’ There was no point in going through the toing and froing of Hannah denying there was anything wrong, and him telling her that he knew there was. It was only the long route to an outcome that he’d already decided on.

‘It’s nothing. I just twisted it a bit when I fell. Don’t make a fuss, Matt.’

Making a fuss was a tempting prospect at the moment. But his childhood had taught him that conflict was no way to reconcile a disagreement. Matt swallowed his annoyance and tried logic instead.

‘You’re my teammate. I need you in full working order for next week.’

That silenced her. She followed him into the hospital building, and Matt ignored her frown as he took the lift up to the orthopaedic department. A quick enquiry of one of the doctors that he knew elicited access to one of the treatment rooms, and he ushered Hannah inside.

‘This is entirely unnecessary. Do you think I can’t do this for myself?’

‘I’m sure you can. Since you haven’t yet, I’ll do it for you. Like I said, I need you to keep up with me…’

That did it. She sat down on the couch, unlacing her boots and letting them fall to the floor with a clunk. Red socks. Matt studiously ignored the fact that they seemed somehow special and delightful when worn by Hannah. When she swung her legs up onto the couch, he quickly snatched up a pillow and placed it at the other end for her head.

‘Comfortable?’

‘No.’ She glowered at him. Clearly she’d prefer to be somewhere else right now. ‘I’m not your patient, Matt.’

So that was what was bothering her. Hannah was far more comfortable with being invincible, and just taking him along with her for the ride. Irritation started to prickle his skin, and he took a step back, putting his hands into his pockets. The one thing that he could never be, with Hannah, was indifferent. He had to own that, and ignore the impulse to provoke an equal reaction from her. He was a doctor, and acting that way would be good right now.

‘All right.’ He gave her his best doctor-patient smile. ‘Point one. You have hurt yourself and someone needs to take a look at it. Getting yourself in the right position to examine your own knee properly isn’t easy, I’ve tried it.’

She stared at him. Clearly Hannah took the point, and Matt decided to move on.

‘Point two, I’m an orthopaedic surgeon. Which means I’m qualified.’

‘Over-qualified, I’d say.’ Hannah still wasn’t going to give up. Neither was Matt.

‘Point three. I’m your teammate. When are you going to start trusting me?’

He’d hit a nerve. Hannah sat up on the couch, grimacing at him.

‘Are you telling me that our partnership isn’t working for you?’

It worked just fine. He was aware of Hannah watching him carefully from time to time—most of the time actually—but it still worked. ‘It could work a little better.’

He knew that look. It was the wary, thoughtful look of someone who had been hurt.

‘And you think that’s my fault?’

He shook his head. His father had blamed everyone else for his own shortcomings and that was something that Matt didn’t want to emulate.

‘No, it’s our fault. Mine as well. I think that we’re both people who like to manage things on our own, and that we both have difficulty in trusting others. That usually works pretty well for both of us, but the whole point of this competition is to take us out of our comfort zones.’

She was thinking about it. Hannah was either going to roll her trouser leg up and let him take a look at her knee, or she was going to get off the couch, grab her boots and limp off down the corridor.

Her lip curled, and she reached for the leg of her trousers, folding the material carefully as she pulled it up.

‘You’ll be wanting to see the other knee. To compare.’ She reached for the other trouser leg, rolling that up too. Matt wondered if he should congratulate her on anticipating his next move, and decided that she might not take that too well.

‘Thank you.’ He stepped forward, looking at both knees carefully.

‘I don’t see any swelling, I’m going to check the movement… Tell me when it hurts.’

She nodded, and Matt carefully bent her leg, watching her face intently. Maybe he should trust Hannah enough to just tell him when there was any pain…

Or not. He saw it in her face but she said nothing.

‘That hurts?’

‘A little.’

‘Okay, how about that?’ He moved the leg again, checking the ligaments on the other side of her knee.

‘No, that’s fine.’

‘And this…?’ He dug his thumb into the side of her knee, and she shook her head. That was good. Matt moved on to the spot that ought to hurt, and she winced.

‘Yeah. That’s a little tender.’

He nodded. ‘And what’s your diagnosis?’

Hannah smirked. ‘You’re the expert. You tell me.’

Matt gave her a small smile. ‘I’d say it’s an injury to the medial collateral ligament. Grade One so it shouldn’t give you too much trouble. Treatment?’

She gave him an argumentative look. ‘Don’t patronise me. I may not be a doctor, but I’m fully aware that rest, ice, compression and support should sort it. I’ll be okay by next week.’

He rose to the challenge. ‘It should be improved. It’ll be a few weeks before the knee is back up to full strength.’

‘Right. I stand corrected, Mr Lawson.’

‘And I’ll know that I need to compensate for you a bit.’

She didn’t like that one bit. Hannah flashed him a look that left him in no doubt that she was contemplating jumping off the couch and strangling him.

‘Just as you might like to compensate for me,’ Matt added, quickly.

‘Compensate how?’ Hannah had obviously decided to put the strangling on hold for a moment.

‘Getting help from those men with the aerial lift truck was a great idea. But I got the distinct impression that you thought I was jumping the gun…’

She looked at him steadily. ‘And were you?’

He may as well admit it. ‘Yes, I was. I reckoned I’d climb the fence before you had a chance to try it. You were already limping and I’m not sure you would have made it with that knee.’

Hannah grinned suddenly. ‘You’re probably right. But a bit more communication would have been nice.’

‘Point taken. Can I trust you to remind me if I forget that?’

‘Oh, yes, I’ll remind you.’ Hannah thought for a moment. ‘Can I trust you to pick me up if I fall over again?’

Matt chuckled. ‘Yeah. Any time.’

Trust wasn’t something he usually shared with people he didn’t know well. But he and Hannah had to become a team if they were going to win the prize for their hospital. Hannah’s hospital. He might be moving on soon.

Matt dismissed the thought of the job application forms, lying on his desk at home. That was the future, and as ever he was uncertain about where he’d be a few months from now. This was now.

‘Would you like to come back and have dinner with us afterwards?’ Hannah’s question broke his reverie. ‘Sophie’s bringing Sam along to see the results announced, and Mum’s making burgers, she always makes a few extra and puts them in the freezer so there’s plenty to go round. We could talk tactics for next week.’

It wasn’t the kind of invitation he usually accepted. But getting to know Hannah better was the obvious precursor to building trust and teamwork.

‘Thanks. That would be great. I’ll go and see if I can rustle up some ice and a light knee support. Why don’t you stay here?’

She nodded. Then she smiled suddenly. ‘Did you miss something?’

Matt chuckled. ‘You mean did I miss telling you that your knee is just fine, and apart from a slight injury you have good movement and excellent muscle tone? Or the part about the small ganglion cyst on the side of your knee?’

‘So you did find it? What were you thinking, that you wouldn’t mention it?’

‘I didn’t want to sound like a know-all. I reckoned you must be aware of it, and I’m sure you also know that it might well disappear on its own, without any treatment. I don’t imagine it hurts.’

‘No, it doesn’t. It’s nice to know that you caught it, though.’ Hannah gave him a brilliant smile, and Matt smirked back.

‘Now that we have that cleared up, I’ll go and get the ice. Stay put.’

He’d wanted to protect her. Matt had wanted to be nice to Hannah, and not make her feel that he was criticising or second-guessing her, the way his father had with his mother. But he’d been doing it all wrong. A woman like Hannah, and maybe a man like him, thrived on straightforwardness and honesty.

‘All right. Hurry up, we don’t have all day.’

CHAPTER SIX

THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN Hannah and her new teammate had undeniably been growing, and even though she’d tried to ignore it, Hannah had to admit to herself that she enjoyed it. Maybe that, along with a fierce desire to keep up with whatever pace Matt set, was why she’d fought so hard when he’d suggested he examine her knee.

But as soon as he’d walked into the consulting room, he’d changed. No less confronting, but he was cool and professional. Hannah let Matt place the ice on her knee, and sat patiently until he told her that would do for the time being. Then he wrapped a soft support around her leg, checking that it didn’t hamper her movement but that it was tight enough to aid the healing process.

‘I thought I’d go along to the orthopaedic ward and see Mia. You want to come?’

‘Yes. They won’t mind that we’re not their team?’

‘We’re on their team, in every way that counts. There are a lot of ambitions in that ward, and we’re the ones who are working to help them achieve those ambitions.’

It was a nice way of putting it. ‘That’s what makes you want to win?’

‘One of the things.’

He led the way to the ward, and when he and Hannah entered there was a small murmur of excitement. She saw Mia waving from the far end, and when the ward sister nodded in response to Matt’s request that they might spend some time here, she walked over to her.

‘How did you do?’

‘Hmm. Not sure. We did our best.’

‘That’s all you can do.’ Mia spoke with a wisdom beyond her years and Hannah suspected that it was what Matt and the rehab specialists had told her.

‘Would you like to hear about it? We had a rescue situation, a bit like the ones that you can come across, working as ambulance crew. We had to deal with it on our own, though usually an ambulance crew has back-up from the other rescue services.’

‘You bet I want to hear about it.’ Mia’s eyes were shining.

Hannah heard Matt’s quiet chuckle behind her. ‘I’ll leave you to it. Would you ladies like some juice?’

Mia nodded, and Hannah grinned at him. ‘Hey, we’re not ladies. What are we, Mia?’ She turned to Mia, mouthing the answer.

‘We’re ambos!’

‘My mistake. I’ll get you two ambos some juice.’

Matt had left her with Mia while he worked his way around the ward, talking to the other kids. He had a nice way with them, and they were obviously relaxed and confident in his company. Hannah reckoned he must spend a lot more time here on the ward than his job required.

She ended up talking to Mia for over an hour, answering her questions, without being too blunt about the distressing parts of her job. It was clear that this was part of the dream that kept Mia going through all of the pain and the distress of her condition.

‘We have to get going now. Sorry, Mia.’ Matt returned, shooting Mia an apologetic look.

‘That’s okay. Thanks, Hannah.’

‘My pleasure. I’ll pop in again, and let you know what other scrapes Dr Matt has got himself into.’

‘Oh, really?’ Matt feigned outrage and Mia giggled. ‘Next time Hannah gets herself into a scrape, I’ll make sure to take a picture and send it to you…’

They walked out of the ward together, and back down to the area where the outside broadcast trucks were parked. It felt as if it would have been almost natural to take Matt’s hand. As if they were close, in a way they hadn’t been when they’d arrived back here. That wasn’t appropriate, though, or wise. The alternate reality, where she and Matt could be that close, didn’t exist. There was only this world, and in this world Hannah didn’t take chances.

They waited, and Hannah went across to greet Sam when he arrived with Sophie. The crowd grew, along with the obvious tension amongst the contestants, all waiting to see who was going to be the winner.

‘I reckon they dug their way through…’ Matt nudged her, nodding towards the green team, whose T-shirts were covered in grime.

‘Maybe that’s what we were all supposed to do.’ Hannah turned the corners of her mouth down. They’d solved the problem, making use of the resources at their disposal. In the real world you didn’t question your luck, or the presence of the right person at the right time.

‘We’ll see.’ Matt took a deep breath as they were all gestured up onto the podium.

There was the inevitable wait as microphones were tested and the judges got ready to announce their decision. Hannah saw Sam in the crowd and waved to him. Mia was amongst the home supporters, with her mother, talking excitedly.

Then a judge stepped forward. She congratulated all of the teams, going through what had caught the judges’ eyes about each of them. The truck had been put there by the TV company to see if any of the contestants would spot it and ask for help. Hannah waited, trying to keep her face from betraying her thoughts.

‘And now for the winners. For the second time—it’s Matt and Hannah…’

A roar went up from the crowd, drowning out the rest of what she was saying. And suddenly, without thinking, all the pent-up emotion burst through and she was in Matt’s arms.

There was nothing else. Just his arms around her, and the feeling that she wanted to get closer, to touch his skin. Hannah couldn’t help letting out a sigh, as she felt herself melt against him.

‘Way to go, Robin.’ She felt his lips brush her cheek, a thrilling second that should have lasted longer.

‘You too, Flash.’

Then he let her go. They shook hands with the other contestants, and Matt took her hand, leading her up to the judge to receive her medal. Hannah waved to the cheering crowd, unable to look at him but powerless to stop thinking about the feel of his strong body.

Hannah was still limping slightly as she hurried across the grass towards Sophie and Sam, but her knee was clearly less painful than it had been. Matt watched as she hugged Sam, and they did their victory dance. He wanted her so much he could hardly breathe.

Hannah was in conversation with Sam, and it seemed to be about something important. Sam was nodding, and Hannah hugged him, and then stood up as Sophie took his hand to walk towards the ice-cream van that was parked in the car park behind them. Then Hannah began to walk along the line of spectators, looking for someone.

He knew what she was about to do, just as surely as if she’d shouted her intentions over her shoulder at him. Hannah walked along the line of kids who had been brought down from the wards to watch, and Matt jogged across the grass towards her. He wanted to see this.

She knelt down opposite Mia, who was talking excitedly. Then Hannah took off her medal, hanging it carefully around Mia’s neck.

‘Hannah, are you sure…?’ Mia’s mother spoke up.

‘Of course. Mia deserves this.’ She grinned down at Mia, who was clutching the medal to her chest, just in case her mother decided to try and take it away from her. ‘What you’re doing now is hard, Mia. But if you can do all that Dr Matt and the physiotherapist tell you, then you can do anything.’

Matt wanted to hug her again. He wanted to feel her body against his, and this time it wasn’t just a heat of the moment thing. He’d thought about it and he needed to hug her. Instead he smiled at Mia’s mother.

‘What about a photograph?’

‘Oh, yes, of course.’ Mia’s mother began to rummage in her handbag, and Mia produced her own phone from her pocket. ‘Give it to me, darling, and we can take one with Hannah and Dr Matt.’

The photos were taken, and then Matt saw one of the nurses beckoning him over. ‘Will Sam mind if we stay a minute for some more photos?’

‘No, Sophie’s promised him an ice cream and from the looks of the queue they’ll be a little while.’ She smiled. ‘I asked him if he’d mind me giving my medal to a girl who was sick and had been very brave, and he told me that was the right thing to do.’

Matt chuckled. ‘That was kind of him.’

‘He has his moments. He surprises me all the time, though, he’s starting to think about things. I found him tipping the contents of the bin out on the kitchen floor the other day. They’d given them all a talk about recycling at school, and he told me that Grandma wasn’t doing it properly.’

‘Good for him. It’s his future.’ Matt felt a lump form in his throat. Sam didn’t just know what was right, Hannah had taught him. He knew only love, and he understood that other kids weren’t as lucky as he was.

‘Let’s take some photos, then…’ She smiled up at him, striding across to a little boy who was waving to them, telling the child next to him to be patient and he’d get a photo too. Matt joined her, kneeling down next to the boy’s wheelchair and smiling for the camera.

The other teams had seen what they were doing and had joined in, posing for photographs with the children. Hannah was chatting to the last little girl when Matt saw Sophie walking towards them, balancing two ice-cream cones in one hand. Sam was dawdling along next to her, intent on demolishing his own ice cream as quickly as possible before it melted.

‘Hi, Matt. You and Hannah did a great job today. Four points ahead on the leader board.’

‘Thanks. It was mainly Hannah…’ He might have helped things along, but it was Hannah who had inspired him. Who’d made him want to win more than anything.

‘Well, you deserve an ice cream at least.’ Sophie proffered one of the cones she was carrying and when he hesitated she gave an impatient nod. ‘Take it. I’ll share with Hannah.’

The ice cream was cool in his mouth and welcome on a hot summer’s day like today. Matt bent down, squatting on his heels in front of Sam.

‘Hey, little man. I have something for you.’ He took the medal from around his neck, and put it around Sam’s. The little boy regarded it steadily.

‘Look at that! I think Matt deserves a thank-you, don’t you, Sam?’ Sophie nudged Sam’s shoulder.

‘Thank you.’ Sam took Matt by surprise, suddenly flinging his arms around his neck, depositing the last of the ice cream from his cone on the back of Matt’s T-shirt. Then he ran over to Hannah, showing her the medal, and she turned, her eyes bright. Matt would have given anything to receive that one look.

She mouthed a thank-you, and Matt nodded.

‘I think that warrants a photograph.’ Sophie gave the last ice-cream cone to Hannah and took her phone from her pocket. Hannah came to stand next to him, her shoulder touching his, and Sam stood in front, leaning against Matt’s legs. They could almost have been a happy family. Matt longed to put his arm around Hannah.

The moment was captured, but didn’t last long enough. He’d watched Hannah and Sam together, and seen her ice-queen mask slip when she was with her son. And now, for just a little while, he was a part of it all. Matt had told himself that it was impossible to miss what you’d never had, and for the most part he believed it. Right now, the ache of knowing that they were just posing for the camera was almost unbearable.

‘Are we ready to go?’ Hannah bent down towards Sam. ‘It’s burgers tonight, your favourite. Aunt Sophie and Matt are coming with us as well.’

‘Hooray!’ Sam careened around in a circle, and Hannah smiled.

‘Right, then. Hungry mouths to feed…’

Matt followed Sophie’s car to one of the small villages that bordered Hamblewell. The house was set a little way back from the road and surrounded by a neat garden, the russet-coloured bricks blending in with the flowers and climbing plants around the doorway.

There were already two cars parked in the driveway, but Sophie manoeuvred in beside them with only inches to spare, leaving the space outside in the road clear for Matt to park. He saw Hannah lean back, undoing Sam’s seat belt, and he tumbled out of the car, running towards the front door.

‘Grandma… Grandma!’ He shouted through the letter box. ‘Mum and Matt won! They’re ahead of everyone else!’

Hannah’s mother opened the door, and Sam tumbled inside. She greeted Matt, and hugged Hannah, obviously enjoying the sudden influx of noise and laughter. Hannah showed Matt through a large, comfortable sitting room to a shaded patio at the back of the house.

‘Sit down. I’ll go and get some drinks.’ Hannah disappeared through the open door of the kitchen, and the sound of voices erupted. She backed out of the kitchen, holding her hands up in a gesture of surrender, and Matt heard Sam’s voice.

‘Go away, Mum. We’re cooking!’

‘Okay, sweetheart. I’ll leave you to it. I love you,’ Hannah called in through the open door, and turned back towards Matt. ‘Apparently drinks will be brought out to us. The kitchen’s out of bounds.’

Matt sank into the cushions of the wooden patio chairs. ‘That’s nice. I could do with a rest.’

‘Me too.’ Hannah grinned, sitting down and unlacing her boots. She stripped off her socks, wiggling her toes as she stretched her legs out in front of her.

Sophie appeared with two glasses and a jug of iced lemonade, setting them down beside Hannah on the table and producing an ice pack from under her arm. ‘Which one of you needs this?’

‘Me. Thanks.’ Hannah reached up, taking the ice pack and applying it to her knee. ‘It’s okay.’

‘You’re sure? I’ve heard your version of okay before.’

‘Matt took a look at it. Grade One MCL injury.’ Hannah pulled her trouser leg up, unwrapping the knee support. ‘See I’ve even got this…’

Sophie nodded her approval, pulling one of the other chairs around so that Hannah could prop her leg up on it. ‘Don’t let her move, Matt.’

‘Right you are.’ Matt grinned as Sophie disappeared back into the kitchen. This was nice. The rough and tumble of a loving family home.

Hannah leaned forward, pouring the lemonade and handing Matt a glass. She took a couple of mouthfuls of her own drink and then settled back into her seat, obviously tired out.

‘Have you always lived here?’ The sitting room had the quiet air of an established home.

Hannah shook her head. ‘No, my parents lived right out in the sticks. I’d moved into a flat in town to be closer to the hospital while I was training, and then I took a year out to travel. When my dad died, my mum decided that she wanted to move into town so that she was less isolated. I was pregnant, and we decided to get this place together. It suited us both.’

‘It must be great for Sam. To have his grandmother so close.’

‘It’s great for me, too. Sophie and I work the early shift, so Mum gets Sam up and takes him to school and then I’m there to pick him up.’ She smiled lazily. ‘Mum’s joined a book club and the local women’s guild. She’s a busy women these days.’

‘Not so much at first, then? After your father died?’

‘No. My dad was her whole world. It took a while before she was able to pick herself up again when he died.’

Supporting her mother through her grief, and looking after a child on her own. It can’t have been easy for Hannah. Maybe her fierce determination had been forged in that fire. ‘It must have been difficult for you, too.’

Her finger started to tap on the side of her glass, the rhythm suggesting stress. ‘I made my mistakes. Not being there when my dad died. Getting pregnant with someone who didn’t want to know.’

‘You were just…living your life, weren’t you?’

Hannah gave a dry laugh. ‘I’d feel better about it if I had been. I’m not sure that I actually was living my life, my ambitions were always to go into medicine. I was just blindly following someone who turned out to be the wrong guy.’

Matt knew he was the wrong guy, too. He had a lot in common with Sam’s father, he couldn’t stay in one place for too long, and he didn’t know how to take on the responsibility of being a father. A concerned and dedicated doctor was about as much commitment as he could manage.

He had no answer for Hannah. But she smiled suddenly, providing her own.

‘We live and learn, though. I know that I belong here.’

‘It’s a good place to belong.’ A great place. Hannah had attained her ambitions work-wise and she was raising a happy little boy who wasn’t afraid of the world.

Sam ran out of the kitchen, wearing a super-hero apron. He flung himself across Hannah’s legs, dislodging the ice-pack which slithered onto the decking.

‘Aunt Sophie says I’ve got to come and see if you’re moving.’

‘Well, you can tell her I’m staying absolutely still.’ Hannah smiled, stroking her son’s hair.

‘I mixed the burgers.’ Sam decided that he should report on his own progress.

‘Did you? I can’t wait to taste them.’

Sam nodded sagely. ‘Aunt Sophie’s got to cook them first or they’ll make you ill. You’ll have to wait.’

‘Yes, I dare say I will. Did you wash your hands?’

‘Yes.’ Sam held out his hands, and Hannah went through the motions of inspecting them. Then he scooted back into the kitchen, clearly not wanting to miss anything that was going on in there.

‘So… Are we good for next week?’ Sam had broken the train of thought that had been carrying Matt to the inevitable conclusion that he would never be able to touch Hannah in the way he wanted to. That was just as well, it was better not to even consider the prospect.

‘We’re good.’ She flashed him a mischievous smile. ‘Since I’m not supposed to move, I can’t pick that ice-pack up, can I?’

Matt went to stand, then leaned back in his seat, realising that Hannah was teasing him. ‘It’s a therapeutic measure. I’ll give you a special dispensation.’

She snorted with laughter, leaning forward and grabbing the ice-pack from the ground, gesturing towards him with it as if she were about to lay it on his skin, and Matt chuckled. Hannah was enchanting, and he couldn’t help wanting to know her better. Wanting to feel her again, hugging him as they won another victory together. If he had to wait another week for that, then patience was his new best friend.

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