The Doctor's Wife For Keeps

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Another car was waiting for its turn.

The car with the Scottish flags.

‘Cute.’ Matteo grinned. ‘I didn’t notice that before.’

Luke raised his eyebrows. ‘You mean Georgia? Or Kate?’ He wasn’t sure he liked the idea of Matteo being attracted to Kate. Then he shook the reaction off. Why not? Matteo was a great guy and the best friend he’d had since Kate had vanished from his life. He’d make some lucky woman an ideal husband and father for her children and, if Kate felt the same way, he should do his best to make it happen.

But Matteo was laughing. ‘Oh, the girls are both cute but that wasn’t what I was looking at. Have you seen what is tied to the front of their car?’

No. Because Luke had been looking at Kate who was standing beside the car, talking to Georgia who was in the driver’s seat. He glanced at the stuffed toy bear that was wearing a kilt and holding a set of bagpipes.

Matteo rolled down his window and pointed to the toy. ‘He is going to get dirty, I think.’

‘All part of the fun,’ Georgia called back. ‘Which one of you is going to do the driving? You’re only allowed one person in the vehicle.’

Georgia was clearly the one doing the test for their team. Luke glanced at Matteo and unclipped his seat belt.

‘You do it,’ he said. ‘You’ve got far more experience with emergency driving skills than I have. I’ll wait with Kate.’

‘Cool.’ Matteo was already focussed on what Georgia was doing to see what his turn would involve.

Luke walked over to where Kate was standing, well away from where the dust clouds would drift.

‘How’s it all going?’ he asked.

‘Great.’ Kate’s expression was animated and she opened her mouth again as if she couldn’t wait to tell him about something but then it snapped shut and the excitement faded into disappointment. ‘But we can’t talk about it yet.’

‘No.’ It was a moment longer before Luke turned away from watching her face. Did she have any idea how much of what she was thinking was revealed in how quickly her expressions could change? He’d forgotten that about conversations with Kate. Forgotten how entertaining it was.

They both watched Georgia as she careened through the serpentine, knocking over a couple of cones.

‘She’s a bit wild.’

‘Enthusiastic,’ Kate conceded. ‘But she’ll get another go. The team before us had three goes.’

So they had a few minutes, then. And nothing to talk about?

‘Where did you say that you’re working in Glasgow? At the Western?’

‘No. The Eastern. We’re a specialised maternity and paediatric hospital. Best PICU in Scotland.’

Luke nodded. ‘Yes...some of our surgical cases have been transferred there. Are you based in PICU?’

‘No. I’m on the wards as a senior paediatric registrar. I do the occasional shift in Emergency as well.’

‘Are you happy?’

Kate’s eyes widened. ‘With the job? Of course. I’ve always loved working with kids.’

Luke wanted to know what that flicker in her eyes suggested. That she wasn’t happy with her life away from work?

‘I remember,’ was all he said. ‘You had a rapport with small people right from the start. How come you haven’t got some of your own now? You never said last night...’

‘Huh? Some of my own what?’

‘Kids.’

‘No.’ Kate’s gaze slid away from his to watch Georgia’s second attempt at the course. ‘I will, though. One day. It’s certainly still part of the grand plan.’

There was a wistful note in her voice. A flick of a glance that made him wonder if she was hearing the echoes of that champagne-doused conversation. Remembering his plan to have a stellar career and find the woman of his dreams to share the glory with?

His breath came out in a soft snort. Ah, well...he was well on the way to the career he’d dreamed of, at least. He flicked a glance back at Kate.

‘So you’ve got a potential father lined up?’

Kate shaded her eyes against the sun. ‘That’s better, Georgia, but you’re too slow now...’

‘A partner?’ Luke persisted. ‘A boyfriend? Any kind of significant other?’

Kate sighed, sounding a little exasperated. ‘No.’

Luke was silent for a moment, digesting the information, as Georgia circled back to where the officials were standing. They seemed to be having a discussion about whether she would have another attempt.

So Kate was single.

This was good, he decided. It meant that there were no barriers to them spending some time together and he didn’t have to find someone so that they could double date.

This was more than good. It was excellent.

‘And you’re thirty-five...’ Oh, help. Had he said that aloud?

Judging by Kate’s dismissive snort, she had heard the impulsive statement.

‘I can’t believe you even remember that, given how drunk you were at the time.’

Kate had been just as enthusiastic about opening that second bottle of champagne. And she obviously remembered the pact...

‘Anyway, it’s null and void now. You got married.’

‘Hey... I made a mistake.’ Luke kept his tone light. ‘You don’t need to rub my nose in it.’

‘Sorry.’ Kate offered him a smile. ‘Good thing you didn’t have kids, I guess. Or did you?’

‘No. Thank goodness. It was a clean—and complete—breakup.’

There was a moment’s silence. Georgia was lining up to have what would probably be her last attempt at the driving test. Matteo was leaning out of his window, watching carefully.

Kate was also watching carefully but Luke couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease her a little.

‘The pact didn’t have any sub-clauses that I remember,’ he said. ‘Didn’t we solemnly declare that if we were both still single when we were thirty five, we would marry each other?’

The glance Kate gave him over her shoulder was dismissive. ‘Thanks, but I intend to give it a bit more time. I haven’t given up on true love yet. My soul mate is out there somewhere—I just haven’t found him yet.’

Luke had to groan. ‘You don’t really believe in that, do you? Finding ‘the one’?’

He could see her shoulders stiffen. And her voice was cool. ‘Maybe I want what you and Nadia had.’

‘No.’ The word came out with unexpected vehemence. ‘You don’t.’

‘It was great when it started, though, wasn’t it? I’d never seen you so happy.’

There was that wistful note again and Luke’s brain broke the rules and dredged up a memory of what it had been like to be so in love. How magic it had been. He shut down the memory instantly. He didn’t need that kind of magic in his life now because that was all it was. A spell. One that could be reversed with no more than a click of someone’s fingers to leave devastation in its wake.

Kate broke the silence. Maybe she realised she’d stirred up something unpleasant for him because her tone was gentle.

‘You just found it with the wrong person,’ she said.

‘And you think you can find the right one?’

‘I hope so.’

‘How will you know?’ Luke was genuinely curious.

‘I don’t know exactly,’ Kate admitted. ‘I guess I’ll have to trust my instincts.’

‘Good luck with that.’ Luke was more than happy to leave this conversation. He was relieved to see that Georgia was driving back towards them, passing Matteo who went to take his position at the start. ‘I really hope you’ll find him,’ he added. ‘And that you’ll live happily ever after.’

Kate smiled at him. ‘So you agree that the pact is null and void, then?’

Luke shrugged. ‘I’m over the whole marriage thing, anyway. Been there, got the T-shirt. Friendship’s better.’ He smiled back at Kate. ‘Seems to last a lot longer, too.’

He could see sympathy in Kate’s eyes. And something more. Something warm.

‘You’re right. True friendship is the most important thing in the world.’ Her breath came out in a sigh as she smiled again. ‘It’s really good to see you again, Luke.’

‘Likewise. We’ll have to make sure we don’t lose touch when we get back home. I’m still a fish out of water in Scotland. I haven’t had time to meet anybody, apart from the people I work with, yet. I haven’t been anywhere or seen anything, either.’

‘I haven’t done much sightseeing myself,’ Kate told him, as Georgia joined them. ‘I’m sure there are some great places to go in Scotland.’

‘Are you kidding?’ Georgia sounded offended. ‘It’s the most beautiful country in the world. We’ve got the most gorgeous lakes and forests and more castles than could ever wish for.’ She grinned. ‘The weather can be a bit grey and wet, of course, but it’s summer now. You’ll get at least three days of sunshine.’