It was almost a week before Luke heard another word from her. On the mornings that she was there in the coffee shop, she somehow contrived to be busy, leaving someone else to serve him. The more she ignored him, the more it intrigued him and finally, in the face of Luke’s determined patience, she broke.
‘Don’t you have a loyalty card?’
It was something. Luke was used to gaining trust by inches, and this sudden leap forward made an indifferent Thursday morning take on a sparkling, gem-like quality. ‘About twenty of them, in the glove compartment of my car. Each of them with one stamp.’
She twisted her lips in what might be construed as a grin. ‘That’s okay, you only need seven stamps for a coffee. Nothing in the rules that says they all have to be on the same card.’
Luke planted his elbows on the counter, leaning towards her slightly, and she didn’t draw back. ‘Okay, I’ll—’
‘No, no, no!’ Olenka, the manager of the coffee shop, had been checking stock behind the counter and it was she who leaned towards Luke, her chin jutting belligerently. ‘No kitten, no free coffee.’
The spark of excitement that was making Luke’s heart beat a little faster fizzled out, and the grimace he shot Olenka wasn’t all for show. ‘That’s blackmail, Olenka.’
‘Well spotted. Katya will not give you free coffee until my child has a kitten.’
Katya. She didn’t wear a name badge like the others, and Luke had been trying to fit different names to her smile. This one was perfect and it rolled around Luke’s brain, leaving happiness in its wake. Katya.
‘Do you hear me?’ Olenka was waving a finger at him.
‘I hear you. And it’s still next week, free coffee or not. You can’t rush nature.’
Olenka gave a laughing gesture of resignation, slipping into her mother tongue to express her feelings as she turned to Katya.
‘Tak.’ Katya gave Luke a small shrug. ‘Sounds as if you get to pay this week.’
‘That’s fine.’ Luke grinned at Olenka. ‘I’ll collect next week.’
Katya made his coffee, just the way he liked it, and handed it over, stamping a new loyalty card and stowing it under the counter. ‘I’ll keep this here, so you can’t forget it next time.’
‘Thanks.’ Time for just one more question before he had to pick up his coffee and go. ‘So you speak Polish?’
She nodded. ‘My father’s …’ She stopped herself. Even that small detail was clearly more information than she was comfortable about giving.
‘Right. My father’s a Scot.’ He grinned at her, picked up his coffee and turned before she had a chance to reply. If life had taught him one thing, it had made it very clear to Luke that the best time to leave was when you were winning.
Katya watched him go. He was broad, strong looking, but that didn’t necessarily count against him. The man who had ruined her career and put her in her own hospital, as a patient rather than a nurse, hadn’t been all that imposing. It was the eyes that mattered and there was kindness in this man’s dark eyes.
‘Luke.’ Katya too was being watched, and Olenka unglued herself from the doorway to the stockroom, letting it drift closed behind her.
‘So Peter’s getting a kitten, eh?’ The best thing to do was to ignore Olenka. The man was easy on the eye but his name was immaterial. All she needed to know about him was that he liked his latte with two shots.
‘Yes, he’s wanted one for a long time. He’s old enough to look after it properly.’ Olenka had switched back into Polish. Although Katya was a Londoner, whereas her cousin Olenka had been born and brought up in Poland, they shared a love of the language. It reminded Katya of her father, and Olenka of home.
‘It’ll do him good to have something to look after. What kind of kitten?’
Olenka shrugged. ‘Lucasz says they’re a bit of everything. There are seven kittens and they’re all different, so I’m going to take Piotr to go and choose one.’ She quirked her lips downwards. ‘Next week. Lucasz can’t rush nature and neither can I.’
‘Thought you said his name was Luke.’ Katya slipped back into English to make her point.
‘I like him. It is a compliment.’ Olenka narrowed her eyes. ‘You like him?’
‘He seems nice enough. I don’t really know him.’
Olenka dismissed her with a gesture. ‘It only takes one look to find out if you like a man.’
Katya had thought the same once upon a time. ‘I don’t do first impressions, Ola. My judgement isn’t that good.’
Olenka shook her head. ‘You made one mistake …’
‘One’s enough.’ Katya hadn’t suspected for a moment that everything had been about to blow up in her face so badly when she’d tried to help a patient. You didn’t get to make mistakes like that and still keep your faith in your own judgement.
Olenka groaned in frustration. Just the way Katya would have done before it had all happened, but now she knew differently. ‘You can look. You don’t need to touch.’
That was the trouble really. Katya was beginning to feel that she did need to touch. ‘He’s not that good-looking.’
‘Pftt. Are you blind?’ Olenka gave Katya’s comment exactly the consideration it deserved.
A clatter at the doorway came to her rescue and Katya turned, smiling at the man who was hurrying towards the counter. The first of the eight-thirty coffee rush. No time now to think about Luke’s dark, slightly dishevelled curls or his kind eyes. Or wonder whether those broad shoulders really were enough to keep someone safe. In all likelihood they were. Just not this someone.
PETER WAS SITTING obediently at the corner table of the coffee shop, one of his mother’s special hot chocolate drinks and a computer game in front of him. Katya took her eyes off him long enough to serve two women who couldn’t decide which drink was lowest in calories, and when she flipped her gaze back across the counter, Luke was sitting opposite him.
‘Peter … Peter …’ Peter was rummaging in his backpack and ignored her completely, but Luke looked up. Fair enough. This was a coffee shop and she worked here. There was no reason why she shouldn’t ask Luke herself. ‘Would you like something to drink?’
‘The hot chocolate looks nice.’ He got to his feet.
‘That’s okay. Stay there, I’ll bring it across.’ Katya made his drink carefully, creamy and rich with shaved chocolate sprinkled on top. When she set it in front of him he smiled appreciatively.
‘Thanks. What’s the damage?’
‘It’s
