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“Yeah!” the little boy chimed in, his dimples in full force.
She smiled and began to thank me, when her eyes widened with realization. “Sorry for not being able to talk any longer with you and your girlfriend yesterday in the café.”
“Oh, actually she isn’t my girlfriend,” I clarified.
“Oh, I’m sorry about that,” she apologized. “I thought that…Well, didn’t you guys use to go out with each other before?”
“Yes, we did,” I admitted. “But that was a long time ago. We’re just friends now.”
I grinned, dodging the pointed look my best friend shot in my direction. As soon as both mother and son were out of earshot, I nudged him in the ribs. “Wouldn’t she be a nice fit for you?”
Julian looked oddly at me. “So, who’s the pretty girlfriend you brought to the café? Amanda?”
I had forgotten that he could be as persistent as a Rottweiler with its favorite chew toy.
“Amanda and I happened upon each other yesterday,” I shrugged. “It began to rain so we stayed at the café to wait it out.”
He looked at me suspiciously for a moment but didn’t say anything more, to my relief. I didn’t want to talk about Amanda right now, especially when she had already drawn the line yesterday. She was happy with her boyfriend and I was going back to London after my vacation. She might not have said it so explicitly but I knew what she was trying to say—it would never work out between us. She was right, too.
That didn’t keep me from hoping she wasn’t, though, but that was a pretty long shot.
We bought a couple of beers and rode down to our favorite drinking spot by the lake. It had been twelve years since I came to this spot, and although it was still open to the public, there were some notable changes.
The old dock had been spruced up, and a couple of rowboats bobbed around it. I heard Mom say that it was pretty popular for couples to rent one of these, but I wasn’t going out on a rowboat with Julian Knox.
God only knew what sort of gossip would set Georgetown on fire if two grown men were spotted on a rowboat in one of their more romantic spots.
“So, you and Amanda, huh?”
I groaned. “It was a one-time thing. We met and chatted for a while. Nothing came out of it.”
Julian tilted his head back and drank the rest of his beer. “Sure. But I had to drag you out of the wedding because you were making a fool of yourself when her boyfriend showed up.”
“I was caught by surprise, that’s all.” I threw a rock at the still surface of the lake. It sank straight to the bottom. “Besides, I won’t be staying here for long. I’m going back to London in less than two weeks.”
“Uh-huh. Then it might all be for the best.”
“Of course.” We fell into relative silence as we drank our beer again and then, “I wonder what Elle’s doing right now.”
“You mean you’re wondering how Gavin is doing,” he pointed out, and we both laughed.
I hadn’t heard from Elle after she stomped over to me after the wedding and threw a shoe at me to express her gratitude for my speech. As usual, her aim was spot on and her crystal-encrusted shoe hit me on my temple before it bounced off to the small pond and scared the ducks.
In most weddings, the bride throws a bouquet at her bridesmaids. Only my sister could think of throwing ashoeat her brother.
“Mom actually wanted to keep her shoes,” I shook my head. “Those things were custom-made with crystals from God knows where, and she just chucked them at me!”
“Well, you needed a good dunking. You’re still lucky she didn’t throw you into the pond until you sobered up.”
I raised my bottle. “To Elle and her happiness!”
“To Gavin’s patience and good health!” my best friend grinned.
We clinked the bottles and I took a good long swig of my beer. The cool liquid washed down my throat like a soothing balm in the summer heat. It had been a long time since I sat down and drank beer with a friend. Life in London was… very different.
I was always attending to one patient or another, rushing from one emergency to next. The friends I made in med school all had their own busy careers and we hardly ever saw each other after graduation, unless we were referring patients to each other.
“You know what?” I said suddenly. “I miss swimming in the lake.”
