A Fling to Steal Her Heart

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.