To Love Twice by Heather McCoubrey Page A

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