To Love Twice (11 page)

“She woke up a couple of hours ago.  She asked for some
water and told us that she hurt,” Erin snorted.  “We haven’t asked her
what happened, she’s still pretty out of it.”

“How are you and Luke holding up?  What do the doctors
have to say?”

“The doctors are saying it’s good news that she’s awake and
talking to us.  She recognized us immediately and knew the answers to all
those memory questions they ask.  They’ll do some more scans soon to ensure
all is okay inside her head and that there’s no surprise internal bleeding.”

“I’m so happy that she’s pulled through.  I can’t even
imagine how you and Luke must be holding up.”

“We’re doing okay.  Before she woke up, I wanted to
throw a temper tantrum and throw blame everywhere.  But I can’t.  I
know how Lily and Sophie operate, they move so fast-”

“All kids do, any parent can tell you that,” Kate
interrupted.

“Right.  And poor Luke, he’s devastated.”

“Don’t let him beat himself up over this, Erin.  You
know he will,”  Kate said.

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to talk him down from that ledge,”
Erin’s voice broke.  “But I know if I was in his place, I’d be doing the
same thing.”

“What can I do, how can I help?”

“Doing what you’re doing.  You’re such a good friend,”
Erin said gratefully.

“I wish I was there with you,” Kate said softly.  “I
know that I’m doing good here and that you need me here since you can’t
be.  But you’re my friend and I feel as if my place should be right next
to you.”

“Thank you,”  Erin said.  “I want you here too,
but I need you there.”

“And here I’ll stay,” Kate said with a small smile. 
“Keep me updated and please, call when you get the results from the tests.”

“I will.  I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Take care of yourself and each other,” Kate said.

For the second day in a row, the day flew by.  She
spent most of the day working with the designers to get the designs finalized
and a schedule made for samples of the designs to be made.  As she left
the office and stepped outside, she took several deep breaths of fresh air and
could feel some of the stress dissipate.  Deciding a brisk walk would
further help alleviate her stress, she took off down the street in the
direction of the only restaurant she could dream of going to, Tempo.

As soon as Kate walked in the door, the hostess and chef’s
wife, Joni, hurried over to greet her.  “Kate, you’re back!  How
lovely to see you,” she said as she kissed Kate’s cheek.

“Hello, Joni!  How are you?”  Kate returned the
cheek busses and gave her a hug. 

“Oh, we’re doing well.  We’ve been so busy lately, it’s
tiring but great!”  Joni said excitedly.

“That makes me happy.  I don’t know where I’d eat if
you guys closed down shop!”  Kate said laughing.

“Come, let me show you to your table.  Ricardo is off
tonight, but he did tell me to say ‘Hello’ if I saw you.  Consider
yourself told,”  Joni said as she placed the menu in front of Kate.

Kate laughed.  “Thank you for the message. 
Please, tell him I also said ‘Hello’.  And that I was disappointed that he
wasn’t here,” she said.

“Enjoy your dinner, Kate!”

Kate smiled to herself as she picked up her menu.

“May I join you?”

Kate’s head whipped up and her jaw dropped.  “Edward,
hello!”  While she had hoped that fate would favor them again, she hadn’t
really believed it would.  Smiling broadly and giving fate a high five in
her mind, Kate gestured toward the chair opposite her.  “Yes, please!”

“How are you, Kate?”

“Better now that you’re here,” Kate smiled. 
“Yourself?”

“Sending my heartfelt gratitude to fate,” Edward laughed.

“As am I,” Kate laughed.

“Have you been in town, long?”  Edward asked.

“Two days.  We’ve been crazy busy at work, this is the
first night I’ve had the energy to get out of the hotel.”

“When do you go back to the States?”

“Saturday morning,” Kate replied.  “Have you already
eaten dinner?”

“No, I haven’t been here long.  Just enough time to
order a glass of wine and begin perusing the menu.”

Kate smiled and looked over her own menu.  Everything
sounded delicious, and she decided to go with the gressingham duck paired with
parmesan and pistachio.  She chose chilled white wine to drink. 
Edward selected the ravioli which was made with dorset crab, prawns, basil and
lime.

After giving their orders and passing the menus to the
server, Kate focused her attention on her dinner companion.  She was
thanking her lucky stars for the chance to meet Edward again. 

As they continued to talk and learn about each other, Kate
was amazed at the ease with which they were able to converse.  She felt as
comfortable with Edward as she did with any one of her friends.  He was a
good listener and very easy to talk to.  They discussed her busy days at
work and his travel schedule.  He entertained her with stories of some of
the pranks he played on his sisters when they were younger.  He told her
of his latest trip to Austria for work.  He never went into detail about
what he specifically did, but Kate didn’t really notice the exclusion. 
She was charmed and entertained and perfectly content to sit in this tiny
restaurant with this handsome man.

After sharing a very scrumptious dessert of bavarese,
poached pear filled with ricotta cheese and gently drizzled with blood orange
syrup, Kate leaned back in her chair and sipped her tea.  “That was
delicious.  I’m kind of glad I don’t live here, I’d eat in this restaurant
every night and end up gaining fifty pounds!”

Edward laughed, “I doubt that very much.”  Taking a sip
of his coffee, he glanced into Kate’s eyes.  “Do you have plans tomorrow
night?”

“Not really.  I would like to visit the aquarium and
the London Eye this week, but I don’t have anything specifically planned. 
With work so crazy, I’m not sure I’ll be able to do any sight-seeing this week,
anyway.”

“Would you care to join me on a driving tour of the
countryside?”

“I don’t know.  I mean, it sounds lovely and all,” Kate
hedged.

“But we’re still just strangers, right?”

Laughing, Kate nodded.  “I’m sorry.  That must be
incredibly insulting to hear.”

Edward shook his head.  “Not at all.  How about we
meet for dinner again?”

“I would like that.” Kate’s smile was bright as she gazed
into Edward’s eyes.  “Very much.”

“Excellent.  Shall we meet at the Mews tomorrow night
at seven?”

“Absolutely,” Kate agreed. 

“Let me give you my number in case you get held up,” Edward
said.

Kate laughed.  “It’s ok, I think I have it.  You
left me a note at the front desk and it included your number,” Kate explained
at Edward’s quizzical glance.

“You got it!  Brilliant, I wasn’t sure if they’d kept
it all this time.”  Edward grinned.  “I’m glad that didn’t scare you
off.”

“Not at all.  It made me smile,” Kate rose and gathered
her things.  Edward took her coat from her and helped her into it. 
When
was the last time someone helped her into her coat?
  Kate sighed with
pleasure.  It was these small things that she missed.

He was going to be trouble for her heart and she wasn’t
entirely sure she was ready to put herself out there again.  The past five
years had been hell in some ways and Kate was just now starting to find her
footing.

“Thank you.  I’ll see you tomorrow,” Kate smiled and
turned to leave.  She thanked the hostess on her way out.  Once she
made it through the door, she paused and inhaled deeply.  What was she
doing?  Her heart felt giddy and light.  A feeling she hadn’t
experienced in so long.

Kate awoke to the ringing of the phone again the next
morning.  Knowing it was Erin, Kate took an extra moment to wake up and to
turn on the light before she answered the phone. 

“Good morning, Erin,” Kate said, her voice gravelly from
sleep.

“Oh, Kate, did I wake you?  I’m sorry,” Erin
apologized.

“No worries, Erin.  How’s Lily?” Kate asked as she sat
up in bed, pulling the covers around her to keep warm.

“Much better.  She was less groggy today.  The
doctors reviewed the scans and haven’t found any internal bleeding.”

“Excellent, I’m so happy to hear that,” Kate
interrupted.  “Thank God.”

“Indeed.  And thank you for all your prayers,” Erin
said.  “How are things going in London?”

Kate gave Erin a report on what had been happening at the
office.  She tried not to go into deep details, wanting to spare Erin any
added stress.

“It sounds like things are going well.  I really
appreciate you taking the helm on this project, Kate.  You’ve really made
it so I can just focus on Lily and my family.  You have no idea how much I
appreciate that,” Erin said.

“You know I’d do more if I could,” Kate said.

“Yes, I do.  So, what else is going on in London?”

“Well, guess who I bumped into last night?”  Kate asked
her.

“Not the incredibly handsome Edward?”

“The one and the same,” Kate laughed.  “I went to Tempo
last night for dinner and he was in there.  We ate together and made
another dinner date for tonight,” Kate told her.

“Are you kidding me?  That’s great, Kate!  I’m so
happy for you!” Erin told her enthusiastically.

“I have butterflies, Erin.”

“Of course you do, it’s been a long time.”  Erin
paused.  “Hold on a minute, Kate.”

“Sure,”  Kate said.  She could hear voices talking
in the background and hoped that everything was okay.

“I’ve gotta go, Lily is asking for me,” Erin explained.

“Give her my love.  I’ll talk to you soon!”

As she made her way back to the hotel the next night, Kate
decided to splurge on a massage and facial.  She stopped by the front desk
to schedule it and was pleasantly surprised when they told her she could go
straight back and they’d take her right away.

The spa attendant showed her to the locker room. 
Exchanging her clothes for the warm terry robe, Kate could feel some of the
stress melt away.  She should have thought of this sooner; she hadn’t been
taking very good care of herself lately and she made a vow to herself to change
that.

Kate unpinned her hair and placed all her belongings into
the locker.  She pressed the bell on the wall to alert the attendant that
she was ready.  Kate followed her down the hall to the facial room.

“Hello, Ms. Walker.  My name is Renee and I’ll be your
facial consultant.  How are you today?”  The woman asked.

“I’m well, thank you.  You?”

“Very good.  What are we doing to your face, today?”

“Well, I think I’d like some exfoliating, some moisturizing,
maybe some eyebrow waxing and whatever else you think I need.  It’s been
awhile since I’ve had one of these, so I’m sure my face needs a lot of help,”
Kate laughed.

“Alright, Ms. Walker.  Let me clean off your makeup and
then we’ll take it from there.”

“Sounds good,” Kate agreed.  She leaned back in the
chair, tilted her face toward the ceiling and let her mind drift.  She
must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, Renee was gently shaking her
shoulder.  “Oh!  I’m so sorry,” Kate apologized.

“It’s not a problem.  It happens a lot.  We’re
finished here so if you’ll follow me, I’ll take you down to our massage
therapist.”

“Fantastic.  Thank you so much, Renee.”  Kate
lightly touched her face and couldn’t help but sigh at how soft it felt. 
Kate glanced at her hand and then peeked at her toes.  When was the last
time she’d gotten a manicure or a pedicure.  “Excuse me, Renee?”

“Yes, Ms. Walker?”

“I’m wondering, would it be possible to add in a mani and
pedi as well?”

“I’m sure it won’t be a problem.  I’ll go ask the front
desk and let you know,” Renee assured her.

“Thank you so much.  I’m sorry again for falling asleep
on you, I’m probably your most boring client today!”

“No, not at all.  It’s even hard for me to stay awake
with that music playing,” Renee smiled.  “It’s so soothing, makes me want
to fall asleep too!  Enjoy your massage and I’ll let you know about the
mani and pedi.”  Renee turned and walked toward the front of the spa.

“Hello, Ms. Walker.  I’m Bree and I’ll be your massage
therapist.  Go ahead and remove your robe and slide under the sheets, face
up.  I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”

Kate nodded and waited for Bree to leave.  She did as
she was asked and was happy to feel the sheets and massage bed were warm. 
It was so relaxing to be encased in the warmth.

Bree knocked and then poked her head in.  “All ready?”

“Yes!”

“Okay.  Let’s get started.  We have two scents
today, Jasmine Pear and Honeysuckle Rose.  Which would you prefer?”

“The honeysuckle rose, please.”

“That’s my favorite.  What type of massage would you
like?”

“A full body massage, but no deep tissue.  Those always
make me sore for days after.”

“All right, let’s get started.”  Bree turned on the
same soothing music that Renee had had in her room.

Kate relaxed all her muscles and let her mind wander. 
Edward popped into her head and Kate allowed herself to relive last night’s
dinner.  She was looking forward to this evening and had to admit to
herself that she was pampering herself a bit so she’d look nice for him. 

Her mind wandered to Mary and she wondered what Mary was
doing.  She was probably having lunch and then they’d be going outside to
play.  Kate reminded herself to skype Mary as soon as she got back from
dinner.  Not that she really needed the reminder. 

Dozing again, she barely woke long enough to turn over for
Bree.  Her muscles were feeling nice and loose.  She fell back into
her semi-awake state and dreamt of Brad.  He was standing at the end of a
long hallway and he seemed to be beckoning her to him.  But as she got
closer, she could see that he was actually waving to her.  She waved back
and walked faster, but the faster she walked the further away he got from
her.  Realizing she wouldn’t be able to catch up to him, she stopped and
glanced up on the wall.  He’d left her a note saying “Be Happy. 
You’ll always have my heart.  Until we meet again, Brad.”