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It seemed perfect on paper: not too far from the hospital, with a decent-sized room in a two-bed flat in a nice area. Her first surprise had come when she’d realised she would be sharing with two girls and not one.

Lindsey and Becky weren’t a couple. They’d simply decided to put two twin beds into one bedroom to spread the cost of a two-bed amongst three people. This meant Hannah was paying nearly half of the rent while sharing with one extra person in the communal areas. Lindsey and Becky were also very messy twenty-one-year-olds who worked in call centres during the day and went out partying most nights, never once inviting her to join them.

Hannah tried to make friends with them but only managed a few awkward moments of small talk. They seemed keener on her helping with the flat payments and cleaning than spending time with her.

With Jules off to college, and no friends to speak of since her breakup with Patrick, life had become pretty miserable in Australia. Nothing like the new beginning she’d originally imagined.

But would months with Caleb Townsend be any better? Was it even a genuine offer, or was Caleb just bragging?

Her hand hovered above the bin. She really needed to make a choice – her full bladder was begging for her to be decisive.

Catching her reflection in the mirror, she saw the familiar creases in her forehead signalling the fear and anxiety that had always paralysed her. She’d sworn never to be that person again.

After a moment of hesitation, she tucked the card into her bra.

No harm in keeping it a little longer.

Chapter Four

Caleb found himself staring at the engaged toilet sign like a creep. What the hell was wrong with him?

Turning away, he twisted his spine and rolled his shoulders, then stretched his arms above his head. Grateful for any excuse to stretch his muscles, Caleb kept standing so Hannah could easily slide back into her seat when she returned. Long flights like this were torture for him, but they were a necessary evil. He liked experiencing new places – just hated getting there.

Normally, he flew business class, purely for the extra legroom. He could afford it since his job paid very well, and he was rarely out of work because Lucas’s agent always requested him specifically. The high-profile actor he doubled for, Lucas Richards, was more of a friend than a colleague, and over the years they’d worked together in a variety of indie and international films as well as Hollywood blockbusters.

However, Caleb, desperate to leave London, had booked this last-minute one-way ticket, willing to take any reasonably direct flight to Australia – even if it meant getting the last seat on a plane to Sydney rather than Brisbane.

Seeing his mother was bad enough, but visiting Baz in hospital with his wife and children struggling with Baz’s life-altering injuries? That had almost broken him.

Caleb ran a hand through his hair; the unwelcome memory of his friend and mentor struggling to speak and unable to move still churned through his mind like a recurring nightmare. He’d felt helpless and useless visiting him. Baz had seemed pleased to see him when he was awake, but it had been a painful reminder for both of them of what Baz had once had and what Caleb might one day face.

The very worst possibility, second only to death. He hated to admit it, but sometimes Caleb wondered if something similar happened to him, whether he would actually prefer dying to what Baz faced.

It was all so awful, and he’d had to smile and tell Baz all about his next job because that’s all Baz wanted to hear about – what great stunt he was working on next.

Nothing had shaken him to the core like Baz’s accident, which was why he hadn’t been lying when he’d told Hannah he’d feel better with another medic on the team. Jackson was the official stunt co-ordinator on the job, but he looked as if he’d barely started shaving, and his relaxed attitude didn’t fill Caleb with confidence either, especially where safety issues were concerned. Caleb knew a set was never a hundred per cent safe – he’d had plenty of close calls and minor injuries over the years to prove it. But Baz had been so experienced, so knowledgeable, and the very worst had still happened.

Baz’s stunt should have been simple – easy, even – but the harness failed and essential checks were missed. Now, Baz and his family would pay for those mistakes for the rest of their lives.

The man Caleb was sat next to, Kev, was walking his baby up and down the aisle. Caleb was tempted to offer his help again, if only to distract himself and avoid Hannah.

It had been a knock to his already chipped confidence when she’d not recognised him. Her expression had been blank when he’d told her his full name, as if it meant nothing to her, and he supposed it wouldn’t.

Caleb had only gone to school in Hackney for a year and a half. Plus, she’d only tutored him in a couple of subjects. She’d probably forgotten all about the crazy, hopeless boy she’d tried to help all those years ago.

They’d both changed. He’d only gotten uglier after a few literal falls on his face, while she’d blossomed. Her teenage acne was gone and her body had filled out. She seemed so different, and yet he caught reassuring glimpses of the shy and earnest Hannah he remembered – sneaking glances at him when she thought he wouldn’t notice and being outraged by his lack of a seatbelt. She’d always followed the rules, and he’d always broken them. They were total opposites.

Caleb had suspected Hannah of having a crush on him in high school. She definitely didn’t seem to have one now.

But why would she take a picture of him if she didn’t recognise him? Unless she didn’t want him to bring up the past? There was something about the new start she’d mentioned that still unsettled him. Did she want to forget her past completely? Why?

Maybe he shouldn’t embarrass her by revealing that he did remember her? After all, there were some things that Caleb was more than happy to forget about too, especially when it came to his teenage years.

That time in London had been miserable. As usual, his mother had followed a man and treated Caleb as an afterthought. He’d arrived in a new country, trying to study for exams he’d had no preparation for – on top of his usual struggles. His stepfather, Paul, had asked the school for extra tuition for him, and they’d suggested Hannah would make the perfect study partner. It had been embarrassing having to beg her to help him, but he had to do it to stop Paul’s constant belittling of him.

Combining his visit to see Baz with seeing Paul and his mom had been a mistake. They never offered him a place to stay, not even a spot on their couch, and the half-hearted plan to meet him for dinner had been a joke.

More than once, he’d wanted to forget England, Paul, and his mother (if he were being honest) – but Hannah? He never wanted to forget her. She and Baz had been the only good things to come out of their move to London, but he’d been an asshole to her in the end, and he had no right to remind her of what a jerk he’d been, especially if it made her uncomfortable.