Hot Docs On Call: Healing His Heart. Alison Roberts

himself around her.

      ‘In that case, we’re the perfect audience.’ Her eyes glittered in the darkness as she hugged Simon close.

      ‘Perfect.’ Matt ignored the rising curtain, mesmerised by Quinn’s childlike wonder instead.

      Quinn was in her very own fairy tale. So far she and Simon had been enchanted by their favourite childhood tales brought to life by puppets and had a good old singalong to some very familiar nursery rhymes. Simon had really thrown himself into the audience participation, as had Matt.

      Perhaps it was the relative safety of dimmed lighting which brought her boy out of his shell, or maybe he was simply following the exuberance of Matt’s tuneless singing, but in that hour no one could tell he was different from any other boisterous child.

      Matt had whisked them straight onto another barge when the show ended and they’d trundled along the tranquil waterways towards the zoo. It was the best route they could’ve taken, so peaceful, and a world away from the crowded streets beyond the green banks.

      She’d been on boats before but never the barges. The hand-painted green-and-red beauty they were travelling on transported them to another era, a parallel universe where everything was well in her world.

      How was it Matt could take such a simple idea and turn it into something special?

      That was the talent which charmed adults as much as the children.

      He was sitting with Simon now, spending the journey time pointing out the sights through the tiny side windows. He had a love and knowledge of the world around him that he was keen to share. Then there was that fun side to him as he encouraged his sidekick to wave at passers-by and make silly noises every time they went under a bridge. A distraction, she guessed, from the odd curious stare and a fear of the dark.

      It was probably the first time in his young life he had two adults working together to put his needs above their own. She hoped one day he would have this for real even if she wouldn’t. There would be a family for Simon someday but she doubted she’d ever find another Matt who’d take her and her planned foster brood on for anything other than an afternoon. She wasn’t lucky that way.

      Their gentle journey came to an end in a leafy area which still seemed miles from civilisation. As if sensing her confusion, Matt reached his arm across the seat and rested his hand on her shoulder.

      ‘The waterbus tours have their own entrance into the zoo so there’s no need for us to join the queues at the main entrance.’

      A warmth started in the pit of Quinn’s stomach and gradually spread its way through her system and it wasn’t purely because they couldn’t seem to help themselves from making body contact when and where they could. On this occasion it was Matt’s thoughtfulness which had really captured her heart. Something which had been sadly lacking from the people in her and Simon’s lives to date. Without making a big deal about it, he’d carefully constructed a tailor-made route into the busy zoo to suit all of a traumatised child’s needs.

      From the magical puppet theatre, to the tranquil method of transport, and now this, the trouble he’d gone to just so they could arrive at their destination relaxed brought a lump to her throat.

      If only she and Simon had had male role models who took such care of others, they mightn’t have had the past heartaches they were both still trying to overcome.

      They waited until all the other passengers had disembarked before they left their seats, with Quinn hesitant to leave the sweet memories of their journey here to rejoin the masses on the other side of the hill.

      ‘Your sisters are very lucky to have you,’ she said as Matt helped her ashore. If he treated his siblings as well as he did his patients and families they would never have been in doubt about being loved, and that was the most important aspect of growing up in any family.

      His brow knitted together trying to fathom what to make of her compliment. She had no doubt he’d experienced the same general struggles as she’d had as a single parent, yet the very fact he didn’t expect thanks for getting through them spoke volumes. A person didn’t become a parent for awards and accolades but to create the best possible start in life for their children. Be it younger siblings or foster children. Simply by doing her best for Simon, Quinn was beginning to see she was already the best mother he’d ever had.

      Simon squeezed her hand as they moved through to the main part of the zoo with people as far as the eye could see. She squeezed back, reassuring him she was here whenever he needed her. That was all she could do for as long as he was with her—love him and protect him as well as she could. Someday that might be enough for him.

      As more children, and adults who should’ve known better, turned to stare at the little boy with the scars and burned skin, she held him closer. Matt took up residence on the other side so they created a protective barrier around him. Somehow they’d get through this together.

       CHAPTER SEVEN

      ‘IS IT STILL the done thing to go to the zoo? Should I feel guilty about walking freely around here peering in at caged animals?’ As excited as she was to be here, she did have a social conscience and the child-versus-adult argument about it in her head was in danger of tainting the experience.

      ‘There are two very different schools of thought but the zoo today is much more than the sideshow attraction it used to be. It’s educational and provides a natural environment for the animals. Then there are the conservation projects which are funded through the admission fees…’

      ‘Okay. Okay. I’m sold. I can enjoy the view safe in the knowledge I’m not contributing to any ill treatment.’ She trusted Matt’s judgement. He’d done his homework and he wasn’t the sort of man to throw his weight behind a cause unless it was for the greater good. He was principled and not the type to bend the facts to suit his own agenda. Unlike her ex, who’d pretended he wanted a family so he could move in with her.

      Quinn shooed away the negative thoughts from her past to replace them with the positive. Such as Matt, positively yummy in his casual clothes again this morning. As he turned to study the map, she was free to ogle his backside encased in black denim and the perfect V of his torso wrapped in dark grey cotton.

      ‘What are you smiling at, Quinn?’ Simon quizzed, drawing Matt’s attention back from the map.

      Caught in the act of perving at Matt’s physical attributes, lies didn’t come easy to her. ‘I, er…I was just thinking nice thoughts.’

      She spun on her heel and started walking again, ignoring the smirk on Matt’s face and the heat of her own.

      ‘What ones?’ Simon tugged her hand with the unfiltered curiosity only a child could get away with.

      The puppets. The boat. Matt’s butt.

      She could’ve said any of those things and they would’ve been true.

      In the end she went with, ‘About how much fun I’m having with you both today.’

      Curiosity satisfied, Simon moved on to his new topic of interest, staring at the pictures of ice creams depicted on an advertising board.

      ‘Can I have one?’

      ‘It’s a bit early for ice cream but we can get one later. All good boys and girls deserve a treat now and then, don’t you think, Quinn?’ Matt was so close his breath tickled the inside of her ear and did something to her that made her a very bad girl.

      She so wanted him to be talking about more than a child or an ice cream.

      Up until now she’d been the very model of restraint but she was wondering if she deserved a treat too? They did say a little of what you fancy was good for you and there was no denying what