Chapter 43

That night, Kyle and I had dinner with a good friend in Charleston.  Actually, Kyle made the arrangements, including reservations at the Capital Grille on North Tyron.
Kate McTieman hadn’t changed much since we had been thrown together during the Casanova murder spree in Durham and Chapel¹ Hill, North Carolina. When the murderer Casanova had kidnapped Kate in her house outside Chapel Hill he’d believed she was the most beautiful woman in the South.
Not only that, Kate was extremely smart. She was a doctor now, a pediatrician, but she was thinking about becoming a surgeon.  When she arrived at our table, Kyle and I were deep in conversation.  Actually, we were arguing about possible next steps in the investigation².
‘Hi, guys.’ Lustrous³ brown hair framed Kate’s face. She was wearing it longer these days. Her eyes were dark blue with a nice sparkle. She was still in terrific shape, but I knew she was a softie deep inside.
‘Give it up,’ Kate said. ‘You boys are working way too hard. We’re going to have some fun tonight.’
Seeing her there got us both up out of our chairs and grinning like idiots. We’d gone through a lot together, and survived to be together again for this unlikely dinner in Charleston.
‘This is a great coincidence. I was at a medical conference just outside town,’Kate said as she sat down with us.  Alex doesn’t believe there are coincidences,’ Kyle said.
 ‘Well, fine. So here we are again, brought together by divine intervention⁴ or whatever, praise the Lord,’ Kate said, and grinned.  ‘You seem in excellent spirits, Kate,’ Kyle said. He was actually pretty buoyant himself.
‘Well Kyle, this is just such a nice, unexpected treat. I get to see the two of you. Plus, I am in excellent spirits. I’m getting married next year in the spring. My Thomas proposed two nights ago.’ Kyle fumbled⁵ out a congratulation, and I called over our waiter and ordered a bottle of champagne⁶ to celebrate. For the next few minutes, Kate told us all about her Thomas, who owned and ran a small, nicely snooty bookstore in North Carolina. He was also a landscape painter, and Kate said he was exceptional at both his jobs.  ‘Of course I’m hugely biased⁷, but I’m also a picky little bitch, and he really is good. He’s a fine person too. How are Nana and the kids?  How’s Louise, Kyle?’ she asked. ‘C’mon, tell me everything. I’ve missed you two.’
By the end of dinner, we were all in good spirits. The champagne and the company did the trick. I had noticed before how Kate could raise up everyone around her - even Kyle, who usually isn’t the most social person. All through dinner he rarely took his eyes off her.  The three of us hugged outside of the restaurant at around eleven.  ‘You two are coming to my wedding,’ Kate said, and stamped her foot. ‘Kyle will bring Louise, and Alex, you’ll bring the new love of your life. Promise?’
We promised Kate. She left us no choice. We then watched her walk away toward her car, an old blue Volvo that she made house calls in.
‘I like her a lot.’ I couldn’t help stating the obvious.  ‘Yes, I like her too,’said Kyle, who didn’t stop watching until Kate’s car was gone from sight.’She’s a very special girl.’

1 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 lustrous   

adj.有光泽的；光辉的

参考例句：

• Mary has a head of thick,lustrous,wavy brown hair.玛丽有一头浓密、富有光泽的褐色鬈发。
• This mask definitely makes the skin fair and lustrous.这款面膜可以异常有用的使肌肤变亮和有光泽。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 fumbled   

（笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下

参考例句：

• She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief. 她在她口袋里胡乱摸找手帕。
• He fumbled about in his pockets for the ticket. 他（瞎）摸着衣兜找票。

6 champagne   

n.香槟酒；微黄色

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。

7 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。