AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When I kiss her, she brings her hands to my face and pulls me closer. I let my hands roam over as much of her as I can. All of her is soft and lovely. I try to stay present. I want to remember the way she feels after she’s gone. It kills me to pull away, but it’s late, and I know she’s tired, and I am too, for that matter.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asks.
I think of the message on my phone, confirming the time and place I’m meeting with the seller to buy Raine’s guitar. “In the evening,” I say. “I’ve got some errands out of town. Now go upstairs and get in bed.”
She scrunches her nose at me. “You’re so bossy.”
I shake my head. “Good night, Raine.”
She sighs. “All right, all right. Good night.”
But when she turns to go, I catch her hand and pull her to me, kissing her again. Because once she has her guitar, she can leave whenever she wants. Because tomorrow, all of this might be over.
Eighteen
As soon as I return to Cobh from picking up Raine’s guitar, I scan the pub for any sign of her. It’s just after two. The lunch crowd has already returned to work, and things won’t pick up again until about five. Other than Aoife and Róisín, the pub is empty.
Róisín looks up from a cookbook when I step behind the bar.
“Have you seen Raine?” I ask.
“She and Clara went to Fota Wildlife Park a few hours ago.”
“And they seemed...”
“They’re good now,” Róisín says. “That’s what Clara said anyway.” They tap their phone and check the time. “She said they’d be back around four so she can get ready for dinner.” Róisín’s cheeks turn pink.
Aoife doesn’t even look up from the newspaper she has in front of her when she says, “Róisín and Clara are going on a date tonight.”
“I mean... I’m not sure I’d call it adateexactly,” Róisín says.
“For the last time, Ro, it’s definitely a date.” Aoife closes her newspaper with a sigh and looks at me. “I was here when Clara told Róisín she was taking them out for dinner and drinks tonight.”
“She didn’tsayit would just be us...”
“She didn’t have to, dear! It was implied!” Aoife grins at me. “You should’ve seen it, Jackie. Those two were looking very cozy.”
“I wouldn’t say cozy...”
“You were sitting on the same side of the table, Róisín!”
Róisín shrugs.
“Anyway, Raine comes in so they can leave for Fota, and Clara just stands up and tells Róisín she’s taking them out for dinner. Doesn’t ask,tells! I thought Róisín was going to faint. Anyway, Ro’s been like this all day. Tell them it’s a date.”
I look at Róisín. “Sounds like a date to me, Ro.”
“I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse,” they mumble.
Róisín’s gaze drops to the guitar case in my hands. “Is that...?”
I pat the guitar case. “It is.”
Aoife’s eyes widen when she sees the guitar case. “Oh, Jackie,” she says. “You’ve got it bad.” She opens her newspaper again. “Maybe you and Raine can have a double date with Clara and Róisín.”
“This pub isn’t a fecking dating show,” Ollie, who has just come in from the kitchen, says. He eyes the guitar case in my hand, then looks at me. “You found it?”
I set the guitar case on the bar. The entire drive to meet up with the seller, I found myself half wishing I’d get there and realize I’d made a mistake, as awful as it sounds. But as soon as I flipped the guitar around, I spotted the Irish flag on the back, the lettersR.H.written in permanent marker on one corner of the sticker.
