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Leo wasn’t convinced of that. But somehow it was as if Alex had spoken to him. He wondered whether she’d put him alone with her father for exactly the same reason that she’d put Carys’s father with the other parents. He wouldn’t put it past her.
‘Thank you.’
‘Don’t thank me.’ Howard seemed just as aware of their places in Alex’s master plan as he was. ‘But you can come and give me a hand with those crash mats...’
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
IT HAD TAKEN a couple of hours’ work before the space was ready, but the transformation was complete. There was enough time for soup and sandwiches at noon, before the first cars started to arrive.
He recognised some of the people. Hayley was there with Alice, and Sam broke free from his mother’s hand, tugging at Leo’s jacket to tell him that today they were going to climb. Carys’s father hovered by the doorway and Howard marched up to him, shaking his hand and taking him and Carys on a guided tour of all the facilities that the barn had to offer. Alex was busy, making sure she spoke to everyone and that the helpers were all in place before anyone started to climb.
At three o’clock refreshments were served, and Alex brought him coffee. ‘Enjoying yourself?’
‘You need an answer to that?’
She grinned up at him. ‘Nah. I saw you at the wall with Sam. He doesn’t give up, does he?’
‘Incorrigible. Like someone else I know.’
‘Can’t think who you mean.’ She looked around to make sure they weren’t being overheard. ‘The last of the trustees called me just now, so I can finish the paperwork on Alice’s grant in the morning. I’ve asked her mother if I can pop in for a chat tomorrow, before the radio show.’
‘That’s great. Thanks.’ Leo knew what Alex was asking.
‘I don’t suppose you want to change your mind and come along with me?’
‘No. I don’t suppose I do. This is your forte. I prefer to stay at arm’s length.’
She shot him an incredulous look. ‘How can you say that? You connect with people all the time, as a doctor and on the radio.’
‘That’s different.’
Alex flushed pink. That was generally a sign that she wasn’t going to accept his stonewalling tactics. ‘So it’s okay to commit emotionally to people you don’t know, but not to people you do...’ She pressed her lips together. Perhaps she’d said more than she meant to.
He should walk away. Before they got onto why he couldn’t commit to her. Because he had a feeling that this was where this was leading. ‘Hey. Do me a favour, will you?’
‘Of course.’
‘Give me a break?’
She laughed suddenly, shaking her head. Maybe she was as relieved as he was to just steer away from a question that ultimately didn’t have any answer. ‘Yeah. Always.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Anyway, I think someone’s got a job for you.’ She pointed over to the most difficult climbing wall and he saw Sam standing at the bottom of it, gazing fixedly in his direction.
‘He has got to be kidding...’
‘I don’t think he is. Go and use that charm of yours to talk him out of it.’
* * *
The last words that Leo said on-air to her were the ones that mattered the most to him. The ones he really meant. There had been so many callers that they’d been almost overwhelmed and hardly had time for anything else. But he made sure there was time for this.
‘This last month has been both inspiring and life-changing for me. It’s been an honour to make that journey with you, Alex.’
‘Thanks, Leo. I’ve really enjoyed it.’
‘We must do this again, soon.’ He held her gaze, trying to show her that this wasn’t just a hollow courtesy.
