Chapter Fifteen
The rain was just about holding off for the start of the hill race, but heavy clouds gathering over the hills held the threat of rain as the cool breeze swirled around Faith as she waited on the start line. She didn’t feel like doing this race at all. After the incident in the marquee last night with Zane she’d managed to get just enough signal on her mobile phone to call a taxi to take her home. Now, after a near-sleepless night, the last thing she felt like doing was racing up a bleak-looking hillside, even if it was for charity.
She felt thoroughly fed up. She’d worried that she’d end up bumping into Zane this morning, but she hadn’t seen him anywhere. Which suited her just fine.
As much as she’d fallen for him, she was now beginning to wonder if they had any chance of a future together. Of course, in a small community it would be difficult if they split – and with the café working closely with the Centre on the food side of things, that made it even more awkward. She could always send Sophie up there with the food orders, she thought, and manage to keep her distance that way. It would be tricky, but they could sort something. If they had to.
“Hi!”
Faith turned around to see Matt approaching.
He frowned. “If you don’t mind me saying so, Faith, you look awful. Are you feeling ill or something?”
“No. I’m fine. And thanks for saying how bad I look!”
“Well you do. Rough night after the dance?”
“I think the race is about to start,” Faith said, trying to change the subject.
“You and Zane did make up last night didn’t you? I saw you leave the tent together. I assumed you’d both gone home.”
“You didn’t see Zane again later on?”
Matt shook his head. “Nope. I thought it was unusual for him to disappear when the dance was kind of a work function thing, but I just assumed you two were busy making up. Oh. By the look on your face I see you didn’t.”
“No. We had a row and I got a taxi home. Zane said he was going back to the party.”
“Well I never saw him if he did.” Matt slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Are you sure you’re up to this race?”
“Absolutely.” Faith pulled away from Matt. “I’m fine.”
Matt shrugged. “Well, OK, if you say so. I’m in the First Aid tent for part of this morning to help the St John’s Ambulance people, between dishing out yet more flyers for the Centre of course!” Matt stopped speaking and looked more closely at her. “Zane’s working up at the marquee again today, if you’re interested. If you two do want to kiss and make up...”
“Not really,” Faith replied, looking away.
“That bad eh? So what was the row about? Was it me?”
Faith rubbed her hands together to try to warm herself up. “Why don’t you ask him?”
“Are you crazy? More than my life’s worth. I’m the last person he’d want to talk to about you, especially when things between you guys aren’t all hunky-dory.”
Faith said nothing.
“So what happened then?” Matt persisted. “Spill the beans.”
“No.” Faith sighed. “I’m not going to talk to you about Zane.”
“Pity. I know I haven’t helped matters but I do think it’s a shame if you guys are over before you even really got started. I haven’t seen him so happy with anyone since Holly.”
Faith swallowed. “Who?”
“Oh, don’t look so worried. That was ages ago when we were working in Austria. He fell for her big time. But she was travelling round the world and didn’t want to settle in Austria, not even with Zane trying his best to persuade her. For a while I did wonder if we might lose him.”
Faith gasped. “Why? What happened?”
“We were running this centre together out there for the owners. It was a brilliant job. Amazing place; we both loved it. It was while we were working there that we decided to go into business together one day, back in the UK with our own Centre. We had a business plan all sorted, our career path mapped out to achieve it, get the right experience and qualifications and everything. In some ways Zane and I are very similar. We don’t tend to do anything by halves. And with Zane, when he’s committed to something, it's usually one hundred per cent or nothing.”
Despite the fact Faith was still annoyed with Zane for not listening to her or trusting her, she felt a little tingle in her stomach at Matt’s words. Zane doesn’t do anything by halves, it’s one hundred per cent or nothing.
Did that include all aspects of his life? In his relationships as well as in work matters? Was that why he seemed to be pushing her away lately? He didn’t want to commit to her so it was time to end their fledgling relationship?
“Then Holly came along,” Matt continued. “I did wonder if he was going to pack it all in and leave with her, but in the end he didn’t. He was terrible to work with for the next few months, though. A couple of times I tried to get him to talk about it, but after a while I didn’t even dare mention her name to him. It was like he’d completely shut himself down and that was that.”
Faith knew that feeling. She had been badly hurt in the past too. By the man she was now talking to. The man who was Zane’s best friend.
Was that why Zane had pushed her away? If so, how could she convince him she wasn’t going to leave like Holly had? She wasn’t going anywhere. She had a business right here. This was her home. If he wanted her, she was prepared to commit totally to him. The question was: did he want her? At the moment, it didn’t look as though he did.
“Anyway, that’s why I won’t dare mention your name to him today. Especially as I kind of caused part of the problem between you two last night.”
Faith was about to reply when the tannoy system crackled in to life, announcing that the hill race would be starting in five minutes, and asking for all competitors to make their way to the start.
Matt leaned down and kissed her briefly on the cheek. “Anyway, good luck out there today.”
Half an hour into the race, Faith tried to conjure up some positive mental attitude to help her reach the top of the second hill. She was mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. Her legs felt like jelly, her brain wouldn’t concentrate on what she was trying to do, and her head was starting to feel a bit woozy. She made her way off to one side of the track so she wasn’t in anybody’s way, and took a second to get her breath.
“You all right, love?” a woman asked. “Only you look a bit pale.”
“I’m fine, thanks.” Faith forced a smile. “Just taking a quick breather.”
“Do you want me to warn them at the next check point you aren’t feeling a hundred per cent?”
“No, really. I’m fine, thanks.”
“OK, your call.”
The woman went on her way.
Ten minutes later, as Faith stumbled towards the checkpoint ready to grab one of their plastic cups for a drink, she felt her footing go. Her legs gave way and she ended up in a heap on the floor.
“Ow!” she wailed, holding her ankle.
A woman from the checkpoint rushed over. “What happened?”
“I tripped. My ankle hurts like crazy.”
“Stay there,” the woman said, reaching for a mobile in her jacket pocket. “I’ll call for First Aid.”
“You’ve just twisted your ankle, nothing serious or broken,” Matt said after carefully checking over her foot and leg. He smiled at her, “Right now that’s probably not much consolation to you, because it hurts like mad I know. But it’ll be fine once you’ve rested it and iced it. Stay right where you are and I’ll get the guys to bring a stretcher up for you.”
“A stretcher!” Faith squeaked, trying to move and then instantly regretting it as pain shot through her ankle. “I don’t need a stretcher!”
“Yes you do,” Matt said. Reaching for his phone he added, “You won’t be able to walk back down on that foot and I can’t carry you back down, not on this steep slope and loose rocks. We’ll both end up in casualty. No, a stretcher is the safe and sensible way to get you down to the First Aid tent for proper treatment. So just sit tight OK?”
Faith nodded and sighed as Matt walked off towards the checkpoint and started talking to someone on his phone.
“Right. All set. The MRT guys will be here soon. In the meantime I found someone at the checkpoint who had a flask so I’ve got you a mug of tea. Hot and strong. Drink it. It’ll do you good, warm you up a bit.”
“MRT! You called MRT? I thought you were calling the St John’s Ambulance guys.”
Matt shook his head and then crouched down on the ground next to her. “You’re on the top of a mountain, Faith. We need the professionals to get you down safely. The Mountain Rescue Team know this place like the back of their hands. I’ve given them the reference points for where we are, and they’re on site anyway this weekend promoting the service and doing some fund-raising. So just relax.”
By the time Faith was back at the First Aid tent she wasn’t sure which was worse, the pain in her ankle, or the embarrassment of being carried through the festival crowds on a stretcher by Matt and the MRT guys and attracting curious glances all round. She was relieved to be inside the tent and away from being stared at.
“Thanks a lot, guys,” Matt said as they helped Faith from the stretcher on to a chair and then propped up her ankle on a small stool. “I can take it from here if you want to get back.”
“Cheers!” said Tom, one of the MRT team leaders, clapping Matt on the back. “We’ll be off then.” Turning to Faith he added with a smile, “Stay off that ankle, OK?”
Faith nodded. “Thanks again.”
“They’re a great bunch of guys. Zane and I plan to sign up for MRT training as soon as we can.”
“You’re both joining the Mountain Rescue?” Faith asked.
Matt inspected her ankle. “Zane hadn’t told you?”
“No.” Faith flinched at a jolt of pain from her ankle.
“Sorry,” Matt said, gently resting her ankle on his knee. “Anyway it takes ages to go through training and it’s pretty involved, so we agreed to focus on sorting the Centre for a while, but maybe next year we’ll be able to sign up with MRT. We were both in the equivalent when we worked in Austria, and you never know when you might need these guys, especially in our line of business. So it makes sense to use our knowledge and skills – you know, navigation, climbing, First Aid – to help out, give something back to the community you live in.”
Faith nodded. Perhaps Matt did have a good side to him after all, she thought. But the news about them both joining MRT at some point set her worrying. So Zane would not only have a risky day job but would also be doing potentially dangerous volunteering for MRT in his spare time. Why couldn’t she have fallen for Mr Office with his nine-to-five Monday to Friday weeks spent safely in front of a computer, only risking paper cuts in the course of pursuing his career?
Within seconds Matt had her ankle wrapped in an icepack and was perching on the small stool, gently lifting her leg and resting her foot in his hands so it was elevated and he could press the icepack against her swollen ankle.
“Usual rules apply,” he said.
Faith frowned. “Rules?”
“Yeah, you know. Rice. R.I.C.E. Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation. For your ankle. One of the principle rules of First Aid.”
“Of course.” Faith nodded.
“Let’s just get this iced and then I’ll take you home.”
“Shouldn’t you be getting back to the main marquee?”
“It won’t take long to get you home, then I’ll come back and do some more work.”
Matt smiled at her and Faith looked away. He’d been great, but she really wished it was Zane sitting here, so close, holding her ankle so tenderly, not Matt. Matt who had broken her heart all those years ago. Matt who had been the cause of her row last night with Zane.
“Right. Home for you, madam.” Matt got to his feet, carefully placing her ankle back on the stool. “I’d go and fetch my car round but there’s no chance of getting parked near the First Aid tent in these crowds, and you can’t even hobble on that ankle at the moment, so I’ll have to carry you to the car.”
“But…”
“Don’t look so worried, Faith. I can get you safely to the car.” Matt looked at her and half smiled. “If it’s Zane seeing us that you’re worried about, then you don’t need to. He’s going to be tied up all morning keeping everything running OK up in the speakers’ tent. We’ve got back-to-back talks up there today, from mountaineers to snowboarders. It’ll be fine. Now, I just need to get one of the First Aid guys to walk with us back to my car to make sure your ankle doesn’t get knocked by the crowds out there.”
Being carried in Matt’s arms wasn’t, Faith decided, as mortifying as being carried on a stretcher. She noticed the envious looks from assorted women as they made their way through the crowds. Matt, as ever, was obviously very popular with the females, and she could understand why. Once, many years ago, she’d fallen for his charms and made the mistake of thinking he loved her as much as she loved him. Matt’s charms made for a sexy and heady combination.