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Carys was looking uncertainly at the steps running down in front of her. ‘Shall we go round the other way? It’s a bit further to walk, but there are no steps.’
‘No. I think I can manage them.’
‘Good girl. We’ll do it together. Left leg first.’ Alex tucked Carys’s hand around her arm, ready to support her if she started to wobble, and Carys carefully lowered her prosthetic limb down the first step.
‘I thought you were going to talk to him...’ They’d got almost to the bottom of the steps, taking it slowly, one at a time, before Carys muttered the words at her.
Alex glanced over her shoulder. Ben had already swapped seats to sit with Hayley’s parents, and a couple of the other parents had wandered over to introduce themselves. ‘It’s like we said on the phone, Carys...’
‘Hi... You’re Carys?’ Leo was suddenly beside her, brimming with restless energy. Carys stared at him, momentarily forgetting all about the three more steps she had in front of her.
Alex waved Leo out of the way and he backed down the steps, giving Carys room to laboriously finish her descent. As soon as she was at the bottom, Carys turned to Leo, obviously deciding that she had a better chance of convincing him than she did Alex.
‘I came for my dad. He’s up there, talking to those people. Will you go and tell him?’
Leo was momentarily at a loss, glancing at Alex, who shook her head. ‘I think it might be better to just allow him to talk to the people he’s with for the time being.’
‘But he’ll listen to you—you’re a doctor.’ Carys was already treating him like a friend, venting her frustration at him. Alex supposed that a lot of people felt they knew Leo after listening to his voice on the radio, and that it must be something of a mixed blessing.
‘What about showing him something? Show him that you can come here and make a few friends.’ Leo was capitalising shamelessly on the artificial intimacy, moulding it into a real one.
Carys looked at Alex, clearly wanting her confirmation. This wasn’t the time to indulge in hand-to-hand combat with Leo. Carys had told her that whatever her father said, her mother promptly took the opposite stance, and she must be pretty used to playing one off against the other. That was one of the problems she was facing.
‘He’s right.’
Leo shot her a surprised look and then warmed to his theme. ‘Your dad’s up there, talking to the other parents. They know exactly how he feels, and I think we ought to give him a chance to hear what they’ve got to say.’
‘Yes.’ Alex nodded her agreement, ignoring the amusement in Leo’s eyes.
‘Okay.’ Carys shrugged. ‘I suppose we could give it a go...’
‘Yeah. Nice one.’ Leo walked her slowly over to Hayley and Alice, making the introductions, and Alice shifted over one seat so that Carys could sit down in between them. Alex watched while the girls started to chat to each other. She’d get Rhona to keep an eye on Carys while she got ready for the next race.
Which reminded her... ‘If you’re going to take part in the adults’ race, then you’d better go and get changed, Leo.’
‘Yeah. Sure thing.’ His smile took on a teasingly confrontational edge. ‘Get ready to be looking at my back all the way round.’
‘In your dreams.’
He feigned a look of surprise. ‘What happened to “Yes”? I was thinking for a moment there that you’d finally got around to realising that everything I say is right.’
‘That was in your dreams too. Go and get changed. And prepare to be watching my back...’ Alex turned, leaving him standing alone, and made her way to the women’s changing rooms.
* * *
The thought of being able to watch Alex’s back all the way round the arena, with no one to accuse him of staring at her, was tempting. Almost tempting enough to make him throw away any thoughts of making a race out of it and slot himself in nicely behind her. But then Alex seemed to see right through him, and she’d probably guess. And if she thought for one moment that he was letting her win, she’d be furious.
He consoled himself with watching her walk away now. Leo knew that each step using a prosthetic leg took more energy than one with your own two legs. Just a little, but over the course of a day it all added up. The controlled, graceful sway of her body showed both the kids and their parents how much they could achieve, what they were working so hard towards.
Everything she did was a delicious reminder of their kiss. That tangled web of so many delights, which even the sharp tang of guilt couldn’t drive from his mind.
It was his own fault. If he hadn’t surrendered to the moment, he wouldn’t be plagued by it now. Nor would he have to keep telling himself that it mustn’t happen again.
‘Leo, Evangeline asked me to come and find you.’ He turned and saw Evie’s minder standing next to him.
‘Yeah? Anything the matter?’
‘Arielle’s not well.’
