“You’re more gorgeous than ever.”
I smiled wide enough to make my face hurt. He’d been my biggest champion through school and college, and he’d always managed to say the right thing.
“Seriously, Rosie, you should be in an editorial somewhere.”
I laughed, shaking my head, high on seeing him again because he was still Carter. He even smelled the same. “You look no different.”
“Just a bit older. Maybe wiser – I’ll let you assess that.”
We sat down at the table, the waiter taking my coat, my hat shoved up the sleeve like I’d been doing since I was five.
“How was the flight?” Starter question for ten.
“Long. Tiring until I fell asleep which took half an hour. I slept through everything after that, then got home from the airport and slept for another twelve hours so I should be wide awake now.” He ran his fingers through his hair which was always incredibly messy. “I think I’m recovering from some sort of trauma.”
“Maybe you need a psychologist?”
He laughed, eyes shining. “I probably need a psychiatrist and several months of medication. Honestly, it’s been a rollercoaster.”
“What’s been happening?”
He toyed with the menu, looking at the list of dishes rather than me.
Carter’s face was still the same, features you associated with models of hiking wear, groomed but with a hint of athlete. There was the usual slight stubble, a sculpted nose and cheekbones, and his thick, messy sandy hair that was difficult to tame, not that he usually bothered to try.
“Work. My parents – who are now in Kenya setting up a hospital, life stuff. This already feels like a break.”
“You needed to escape?”
He nodded, eyes back on me. “I guess so. I always intended on coming back here anyway, it’s just sooner than planned, I suppose.”
“Why now then?”
“The stars aligned. The job here is a good opportunity and I get to work with Heath Danson – he’s surgeon in the same field who’s the top of his game. I can learn from him before he retires. The house here was empty, and my parents aren’t going to come back, so there was the possibility of selling it – I like that house so me living back here stops that.” He shot me a smirk, knowing that I loved that house too. “I’d sell it you though.”
“I don’t think my savings would stretch that far.” Which was definitely true. I was fortunate that I had money and a family who would support me, but not to that extent, even if they had an emotional connection to it too.
“I don’t think many people’s would do. But it’ll have me as its tenant for a bit longer. How are things with you? What about your Siamese quads?” He referred to Harriet, Erin and Fallon.We’d had a year or two where you wouldn’t see one of us without at least one of the others, which had sometimes annoyed Carter.
“Harriet’s moving to Stratford-Upon Avon in another couple of months. Erin’s just the same as ever – I think it’s quite serious with her boyfriend -”
“The same one she’s been with since university?”
I nodded. “The same one. I think they’re just together out of habit though.”
We were interrupted by the waiter to take our drinks order, and I used the opportunity of Carter’s attention not being on me to study him further.
He’d aged, like we all had. Gone was the boyishness from when he was a teen and in his twenties, and there was now an element of authority that came from his job. You had to have a degree of God-given arrogance to be able to do the sort of surgery Carter did. His shoulders were tense, which was new. The air of relaxed confidence no longer hung around him, and I wondered if that was because he’d grown up or because of whatever he'd been living through recently.
“Harriet moving away from London’s going to be a big thing for you, isn’t it?” he said, once the waiter had headed off.
“Huge. Things would change at some point anyway, and this is a really good job opportunity.” I perused the food menu; aware he was studying me like I’d just studied him. I wondered what he’d notice, the fine lines that were new around my eyes, the length of my hair because I’d decided to see how long I could grow it, the muscle I’d put on after making the gym part of my routine.
“What about you? How’s work and your family?”
“Work’s good. I’m in the right position for me at the moment and my case load’s fascinating. The family is chaos as normal. They’ve said for you to come with me to Oxford for Max’s birthday, if you’re free. It’s two weeks on Saturday.” My parentshad been pleased to hear Carter was back. They’d both adored him, partly because he was better at helping me with my maths homework than either of them, but also because he'd always looked after me. He was at the parties I went to when I was sixteen or so; he always made sure I got home safely, although I was capable of looking after myself because I wasn’t keen on alcohol, and I had a habit of just up and leaving a place if I’d had enough without necessarily telling anyone. Carter developed a sixth sense about it, and would usually find me and stop me from wandering around dark streets of London late at night.
“Are you still seeing that bloke?”
