Page 123 of For Love or Money
‘It’s quite the metropolis.’
‘Yes, but it’s very well planned out, so it’s easy to find your way around. No one ever gets lost in Gorebally.’
It was almost ten when they arrived at the hotel. Stella hung back a little at reception, keeping her head down while Rafe checked in.
‘Are you hungry?’ he asked her.
‘Yes, starving actually,’ she said, only realising now that she was.
‘We never did have dinner.’ Rafe turned back to the receptionist, who informed him that last orders in the restaurant were at ten, so they’d want to be quick.
Stella would much rather hide in her room and get room service, but it wouldn’t be fair to Rafe after driving all this way to make him eat alone. So after quickly dumping their bags in their rooms, they went to the restaurant. She looked around surreptitiously while Rafe studied the menu, and relaxed a little when she didn’t see anyone she recognised.
‘Are you okay?’
She looked up to find Rafe looking at her with concern.
‘Yes, fine. Sorry, I was miles away.’ She shook her head and tried to concentrate on the menu.
‘I’m sorry about your friend’s dad,’ he said gently. ‘You were obviously close, despite everything.’
She shrugged. ‘We used to be. He was ... almost like a father to me,’ she said with a sad smile. ‘But I hadn’t seen him in a very long time.’
Stella ordered fish and Rafe had steak. The food was good, but, despite having been hungry, she found she could hardly eat.
‘Is that not good?’ Rafe asked her, nodding at her plate.
‘It is. But suddenly I just don’t seem to have an appetite.’ She put down her knife and fork. ‘Sorry, I’m just a bit weirded out about being back here.’
Rafe nodded understandingly.
‘Thank you for driving me all this way, Rafe,’ she said. ‘I really appreciate it.’
‘No problem,’ he said. ‘I was happy to.’
‘Could I ask you one more favour? About tomorrow?’
‘Of course. Anything.’
‘The graveyard is a little way out of town and I’ll need a lift—’
‘Of course I’ll take you. I presumed I would be.’
‘But ... would you mind not actually coming to the funeral with me?’ She felt awful asking him this when he’d been so kind to her. ‘It’s just ... I don’t want to cause a fuss, and if I turn up withyou...’
‘Sure,’ he said, with a nod; ‘I understand.’
‘Sorry, it’s just ...’
‘Stella—’ he leaned across the table, taking her hand ‘—it’s fine. Please don’t worry about it. I’ll drive you to the church and wait outside to take you to the graveyard. It’s not a problem.’
‘Thank you.’ She smiled, blinking back tears. He really was so kind.
He continued to hold her hand, and something shifted between them as their eyes locked.
‘Well,’ he said hoarsely, ‘would you like to get a drink? Or do you want to go to bed?’
Rafe saying those words to her stirred something inside Stella that she hadn’t felt in a long time, causing her stomach to flip and heat to spread through her. She thought how nice it would be to go to bed with Rafe, to feel his arms around her, to have him kissing her, touching her ...
