‘Oh!’ She gave a yelp of surprise, and whirled around. Matt could see that her eyes and the tip of her nose were a little pink, which would have been enchanting if they weren’t sure signs she’d been crying.
‘I didn’t see you there.’
‘I was waiting for you.’
‘Okay, well...are you coming?’ She opened the door, giving him a puzzled look when he didn’t move.
‘No. What’s the matter?’
‘Nothing.’
Matt rolled his eyes. ‘Now I know it’s something. If it really is nothing you’d tell me about it.’
She frowned at him but closed the door, walking over to sit down on the sofa. ‘It’s not like my knee, Matt. It doesn’t affect the competition.’
‘So I’m not allowed to care about it? You’ve been crying, Hannah. What’s the matter?’
‘It’s Sam.’ She capitulated suddenly. ‘He left his school project out on the patio last night and it got ruined in the storm. Mum explained to his teacher, but he still got nought out of ten, and he’d worked so hard on it. He was really upset.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Matt reached for her hand, but she didn’t move any closer to him.
‘It’s one of those things. I dare say he’ll have forgotten all about it by tomorrow morning, but he sounded so miserable on the phone. I just wish I’d been there.’
Something else was bugging her, something that she wasn’t admitting to. The thought of the storm last night brought with it the vision of their embrace, and Matt knew suddenly that Hannah would never admit this to him. He had to voice it, the way she’d voiced what he couldn’t.
‘And you were here, having sex. The fact that it was really great sex probably makes it a lot worse.’
She laughed, a tear rolling down her cheek. ‘Yes, it does actually. Sorry...’
‘Don’t be. I know you promised to always be there for him.’ That promise meant a lot to Hannah, after what had happened with her father.
‘I’m learning that I can’t. He’s growing up and he wants to make his own way in the world. When I pick him up from school now, I have to wait at the far end of the playground, I’m not allowed to go right up to the classroom door. He says that’s just for little kids.’
‘It sounds hard. I wouldn’t be able to do it. But he knows you’re there when he needs you Hannah, and that you’d do anything for him. That’s what really matters.’
‘Unless I have something else I have to do.’ She turned the corners of her mouth down.
‘That’s just not true. I might not know how to raise a child, the way you do, but I have first-hand experience of this. Kids understand exactly who loves them.’
‘Thank you.’ She heaved a sigh. ‘I’m sorry Matt, after what happened to you this must seem so trivial and stupid.’
‘It seems loving. And after what happened to me, it’s a joy to see it. Sam’s got a happy, stable home and he doesn’t know anything about the kind of fear that I felt. That’s really important.’
Hannah took his hand, squeezing it. ‘I think it might be really important that you can say that, Matt. Thanks for talking.’
She seemed about to stand, and Matt pulled her towards him in a hug. First things first. Dinner could wait for another few minutes. ‘If you really want to see him we can go now. I’ll drive you home.’
She laughed. ‘Don’t be crazy. We’ll be disqualified.’
‘It’s like we said before, if we can’t keep our values, then all of this is meaningless. If you really need Sam, or he needs you, then we’ll go, whatever the consequences.’
He felt her lips brush his cheek. ‘Thank you for saying that. I know you’d do it as well. But Sam wouldn’t like it one bit, he’s as keen for us to win as anyone.’
‘Then we won’t disappoint him?’
‘I won’t disappoint you either. Come down to dinner now, and then we can get on with what we have to do this evening.’
* * *