Sam finally picked up her glass and took a sip. ‘Why were you there, anyway?’
‘I heard someone screaming for help in the car park. And then I saw Blake leaping over the fence like some hero in an action movie. Joining in was automatic—it was like a training exercise for the team or something.’
‘But you don’t work in ED.’
‘I mean the SDR. I’ve told you all about that. Wasn’t it one of the reasons you wanted to come and work on this side of town?’
Sam nodded. She’d long been envious of Harriet’s involvement with the Specialist Disaster Response team. How exciting would it be to get dispatched as a first response to major incidents like floods or fires or an avalanche, maybe? To be working in the field facing the kind of challenges that you’d never experience in a nice, safe emergency department. She fully intended to try and join the team herself and, given that she wasn’t a firefighter or a paramedic, the first step in that ambition had been to become a member of Bondi Bayside Hospital’s staff.
Her heart had just sunk a little, however. Had Harriet just made her aware of a possible fly in the ointment? A fly the size of an albatross?
‘Blake’s in the SDR?’
‘Are you kidding? It was pretty much his baby right from the start. He told me once that he’d been planning to join Médecins Sans Frontières. He’d been through the selection process and was just waiting for his first posting but then his mum had a stroke and she’s pretty dependent on him now so he couldn’t go anywhere. He had a mate in the fire service who got him into USAR and that’s when he came up with the idea of a medical team that could add another level of skill to a first response.’
‘USAR?’
‘Urban Search and Rescue. I’ve done a course myself. You learn how to find victims in situations like collapsed buildings. It’s awesome. I think most firies do it and a lot of paramedics. Not so many doctors or nurses but it’s attracting more interest now. You have to do it if you’re in the team. Blake’s actually one of the regional instructors now. Plus, he’s winch-trained for helicopters. I’m thinking of doing that training myself, actually. Bit scary, though...’
Sam was nodding but her thoughts were skidding off in another direction. Blake Cooper was getting more intriguing with everything she heard about him. He was obviously a born leader. He wasn’t afraid of danger.
And he loved his mother.
He was also clearly at the top of the SDR ladder.
‘Um... Who gets to decide if someone’s allowed to join the team?’
‘There’s a committee. People have their names put forward by someone who’s already on the team and there’s a discussion and a vote to see if they’re going to be invited to a training session to try out. And then there’s another vote to decide whether they get to join.’ Harriet raised her eyebrows. ‘Want me to put your name forward?’
‘Sure. But, if Blake gets to vote, I think I might have killed my chances.’
‘By throwing a bedpan at him?’
‘It wasn’t just that. He saw me later today, too. Chasing down a toddler who’d taken off from the paediatric area. He must think I’m totally incompetent.’
She knew that for a fact, thanks to the second time they had made eye contact today. The moment the chase had ended when she’d scooped up that adorable little boy, she could feel the intensity of his gaze. And his expression...well, the only interpretation she could put on it was complete incredulity. As if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing—that she was still working in his department?
Harriet shrugged. ‘He’ll soon find out you’re not. He’s one of the smartest guys I know and he can read people pretty well. I could tell him myself, just to speed up the process.’
‘No, don’t do that, Harry. It feels like I’d be trying to get something the easy way. Breaking some unwritten rule for a team that must have to rely on everyone being super competent. I’ll just have to impress him at work somehow, if I get the chance. And then you could put my name forward.’
‘Don’t try too hard,’ Harriet advised. ‘He likes to make his own decisions. If he gets pushed he’s likely to walk off and do his own thing. He’s a...what’s the word for it...when someone’s a law unto themselves kind of thing?’
‘Fascinating’ was the first word that sprang to mind. Or maybe ‘irresistible’...
‘Maverick, that’s it.’ Harriet’s nod was satisfied.
‘Hmm... I guess he is. I mean, that hair...’
‘I know. Not my thing but it doesn’t seem to put other girls off.’
‘And he was still wearing jeans under that scrubs top. And...and cowboy boots?’
Harriet was laughing again. ‘I guess when you’re that brilliant at what you do, you can get away with pretty much anything. He’s a nice guy, Sam. As long as you don’t get too close.’
‘Oh? What happens if you do?’
‘Well, you don’t. That’s just it. You get a broken heart, that’s all. Oh...speaking of hearts.’ Harriet glanced at her watch. ‘I’ve got to run. Pete’s taking me out to dinner and that doesn’t happen very often. I think...’ She bit her lip, hazel eyes sparkling beneath her tumble of auburn curls. ‘I think he’s going to ask me to move in with him.’
‘Really?’ Oh, my God, Harry. That’s almost a proposal. Are you going to say yes?’
Harriet grinned. ‘You have met Pete, haven’t you?’
‘Of course I have.’
She’d met Harriet’s boyfriend more than once. A tall, very fit fireman who was also part of the SDR, Pete had sun-bleached blond hair thanks to his favourite hobby of surfing and a body that was a testament to the number of hours he spent at the gym. He was undeniably good looking and seemed like a perfectly nice guy but...
Sam gave her head a tiny shake as she reached for her bag. There was no ‘but’. Her parents would be rapt if she brought someone like Pete home. They would be horrified if she turned up with someone like...
Like Blake Cooper.
Good grief...one glass of wine on a sunny afternoon and it had gone straight to her head, hadn’t it?
‘I hope Pete takes you somewhere really romantic.’
‘I don’t care if it’s a fast food joint, to be honest. You coming to the bus stop?’
‘No. I left my car at work.’ She hugged her friend. ‘And I’ve got some shopping to do. Catch you tomorrow, maybe?’
Luckily there was a pharmacy in the group of local shops near the wine bar. Sam headed in and grabbed an item that had been at the back of her mind all day.
Nail polish remover.
* * *
The little red car was still there.
Blake Cooper was finally heading home after a long shift. He had already worked more than his allocated hours and he would have stayed longer still so that he’d had a chance to get up to the paediatric wing and check on the baby he’d resuscitated this morning but he had another place he needed to be and someone who needed him to be there.
It made him smile to see the car again. He’d have to tell his mum about it, he decided, as he climbed onto his bike and rocked it free of its stand. A trip down memory lane for both of them was one of her favourite things. Maybe he’d even have a dig in those old boxes at