how hard they’d studied and both of them determined to be top of the class.
It had become a joke amongst their fellow students about whose turn it was to come first because they were such an equal match. There was never much of a gap between their marks.
‘My turn, I think.’ Kate grinned.
‘I don’t think so.’ But then Luke frowned. ‘Who got first last time? Good grief...it’s so long ago, I can’t even remember.’
‘Finals,’ Kate growled. ‘And it was you.’ She was scowling at him now. ‘You don’t need to look so smug about it.’
Luke adjusted his face. ‘It was a long time ago.’
‘Mmm.’ Kate held his gaze. ‘Too long.’
They were being herded out of the room now. A glance over her shoulder showed Kate that Georgia and Matteo were following so they went with the flow. It seemed that everybody was heading for the bar to wait until their scenario list and start times were handed out.
‘So how are you?’ Kate had to raise her voice to be heard over the babble of so many languages around them. ‘I haven’t seen you since your wedding.’
‘I know. I’m sorry...’ There was something in Luke’s expression that suggested he was sorry for more than the lack of contact. ‘Can I get you a drink?’
‘Just a soda water,’ Kate said. ‘I need to keep a clear head for tomorrow.’
‘Beer for me,’ Matteo said. ‘Georgie?’
The mischievous expression on Georgia’s face made Kate suppress a sigh. It was clear she was enjoying the handsome Italian’s company but surely she wasn’t going to be obvious enough ask for a martini? The sigh came out as one of relief as Georgia spoke.
‘White wine,’ she said. ‘Sparkling, if they’ve got it. I do love a bit of sparkle.’
Matteo raised an eyebrow. ‘A taste for champagne, yes? Classy...’ He went to help Luke carry the drinks while the girls found a place to sit down.
‘You want me to take Matteo somewhere else?’ Georgia asked. ‘So that you and Luke can have some alone time?’
‘Don’t be daft.’ The words came out sounding more irritated than Kate had intended. ‘We’re friends. Or we were. It’s so long since I’ve seen him that we’re practically strangers now.’
She averted her gaze as she finished her sentence. It was so far from the truth. But she couldn’t admit to Georgia how it made her feel to see Luke again. She hadn’t quite got her own head around it yet.
It seemed that Luke had followed her example and got a non-alcoholic drink for himself as well. Clearly he wanted to be as competitive as possible tomorrow as well. Kate had to hide a smile as they touched glasses.
Game on...
‘Cheers,’ she said. ‘I have to say, you’re probably the last person I would have expected to run into here. Have you changed specialties and gone into emergency medicine?’
‘No. I’m still a paediatric surgeon but I do specialise in trauma cases. It’s Matt’s fault I’m here.’
‘Snap,’ Kate told him. ‘Georgia entered me as a birthday present. She said I needed some adventure in my life.’
‘And do you?’ There was a question in Luke’s eyes that went far deeper than the amused query.
Was her life going the way she had planned it out so carefully? Was she happy?
She was saved having to find an answer by Georgia leaning closer. ‘So how do you two boys know each other?’
‘I did a stint in a hospital in Milan,’ Luke told her. ‘I got lost one day trying to find my apartment and this ambulance pulled up beside me. Matt was driving.’
‘I’d seen him in the emergency department of the hospital,’ Matteo put in. ‘I’d stayed with a child I’d brought in who’d been hit by a car and Luke had been called for a surgical consultation.’
‘He gave me a ride home,’ Luke continued. ‘And then he said he’d pick me up again after he finished his shift because he knew where the best beer in Milan was.’
‘Italy,’ Kate breathed. ‘How exciting. Did Nadia love living there?’
Matteo was staring at Luke. ‘Who’s Nadia?’
‘My ex-wife.’
‘Ah...the cheating cow?’
‘That’s the one.’
It was Kate’s turn to stare at Luke. ‘Oh, my God...you and Nadia split up?’
Luke was eyeing Matteo’s beer as if he was regretting his decision on drinks. ‘Yep.’
‘But...’
Everybody turned to stare at her and Kate bit her lip. ‘Sorry,’ she muttered. ‘It’s just that you guys were so in love...’
Luke snorted. ‘Yeah...well, I won’t be making that mistake again, believe me.’
‘It kind of cures you,’ Matteo offered. ‘When the wife you love turns out to have been shagging every other man she met. I’m with Luke on this one. If someone cheated on me or lied to me like that, I would never let her name pass my lips again either.’
Kate wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. Poor Luke... And she’d made things worse by opening her big mouth and reminding him of something it was obvious he would rather forget. Good grief...he hadn’t even told Matteo his wife’s name? Just referred to her as ‘the cheating cow’?
And something else was trying to push its way into her consciousness.
The fact that Luke was single again?
No. She was too old and wise to allow any seed to grow in that long-ago abandoned space. She’d been romantically invisible back then. Why would that have changed?
What needed to change was the subject. Fast.
‘How long were you in Milan?’
‘Two years. And then I won a consultancy position six months ago. In Edinburgh.’
‘No way...’
Luke blinked. ‘What’s so surprising about that? Did you think I was going to stay a registrar for ever?’
Kate shook her head. ‘It’s not that. I’m a consultant too. In Glasgow.’
Luke laughed. ‘You mean we’ve been living fifty miles from each other and we had to travel halfway across Europe to catch up?’
‘Not even fifty miles. Georgia and I live in Brackenburn—halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. I work in the Eastern Infirmary in Glasgow and Georgie’s a paramedic at a rescue base in Edinburgh.’
