He held up his camera. “All right, all right. I get the message.” He hoisted it over his shoulder, then nervously walked through the crowd. “She’s turned into a crashing bore anyway. She was much more fun when she was drunk.” He turned back and looked at Kellan. “You’re not Quinn, are you?”
Kellan shook his head. “Rooney is the name. I run the petrol station near the docks. You’re welcome to come down and take a few snaps of my place.” He slipped his arm around Danny. “This is my brother. He helps out.”
“Do you know Kellan Quinn?”
“Oh, he doesn’t live here. He lives in Dublin,” Dealy said.
“That’s what I’ve been told,” the photographer replied.
“I’m sure he’s in the book,” Markus added. “K-E-double L-A-N. Ring him and he’ll probably let you take his picture, too.”
“Either you’re all crazy or you’re acting like you are,” the photographer said. Kellan watched as he strode down the street to his car, got inside and headed out of town.
The crowd slowly dispersed, chatting amongst themselves about the possibility of being on the cover of
Before long, Gelsey was the only one standing in front of the shop. “I’m going to take the car down to the pub,” Danny said.
“Great. I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.” Kellan stepped up to Gelsey, then looked over his shoulder to make sure there weren’t any other photographers lurking about. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “He’ll be back. Don’t think he believed that story you told him. They’re much smarter than that. He’ll pay someone for more information and he’ll catch a photo of us together and he’ll have his picture and story to sell.”
“What story? We’re not doing anything wrong.”
“Gigi Woodson hiding out in Irish village with new boy toy. Do you really want to be known around the world as my boy toy?”
Kellan chuckled softly, then leaned close to drop a kiss on her lips. “I don’t know. Do I?”
“Definitely not,” she replied.
“So, now that you’re the biggest celebrity in town, I suppose you’re not going to want to go out to lunch with me, are you?”
Gelsey shook her head. “Maybe we should-”
“Why not?”
“I just think we ought to-”
“But I’m really hungry.”
Gelsey reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out an envelope, waving it in front of her face. “All right. My paycheck. Maeve gave it to me this morning. I’m pretty sure it should buy us lunch.”
“Where are you going to take me?” he asked.
“There’s only one place in town that serves lunch. It’s called the Speckled Hound. You ever been there?”
“I don’t believe I have,” Kellan said, playing along. “Lead on.”
She slipped her hand into his and they walked down the street. “How was your trip to Dublin?” she asked.
“Good,” he said. “Everything went well. It’s another job, this time just outside Waterford.”
“What about the job in France?”
“We’re still considering that,” Kellan said. “It’s a big commitment and I’m not sure Jordan wants to spend that much time away from Danny.”
“Right,” she murmured. “I guess she wouldn’t.”
“And what about you?” Kellan asked, turning to face Gelsey and pulling her to a stop. “I understand you have a little problem with the law in Italy?”
Gelsey stopped short. “Now you want to talk about that?”
“Do you?”
“Do you want the long story or the short?”
“Short,” he said.
“I accidentally hit a photographer and broke his nose. He’s filed assault charges. Antonio is my only witness. The hearing for the case is scheduled for January. If I don’t win, I might have to go to jail-for a little while.” She drew a deep breath and let it out. “There. That wasn’t so bad.”
“Is this why you’ve been so reluctant to talk about the future?”
Gelsey shrugged. “In part. There are some other things that we probably should talk about. Stupid things that I’ve done. I just didn’t want you to think less of me. And sooner or later, someone is going to tell you these things or you’re going to read about them and maybe you won’t like me as much anymore.”
“Well, I don’t think that will happen. But it might help if we didn’t have to sleep in separate beds. Hell, in separate houses. Why are we doing that?”
“I guess I’m wondering that, too,” Gelsey said. “But it’s different now. Before, I was staying with you because I was running away from my old life. Now I have a new life and I have to figure out how I want that life to be.”
“What do you need to figure out, Gels? It’s not that difficult.”
“All right. Where do we live? You have a place in Dublin, we can’t live there. The cottage belongs to your parents, we can’t stay there forever. I have a house, we could live there, but I’m not quite sure I’m ready for that.”
“I see your point,” Kellan said. “But we can spend a few nights a week at your house and a few at the cottage until we decide what to do.”
He pulled open the door to the pub and they walked inside. Gelsey saw Danny behind the bar and smiled at him, but Kellan led her to a booth on the far wall, a spot that offered them the maximum amount of privacy.
Sitting down across from her, he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. Their gazes met and for a moment, Kellan saw the fears vanish from her gaze. He was making progress in the right direction. Very slow-but positive-progress.
“Maybe we ought to start dating,” Kellan suggested. “Forget about the sex and the sleeping together. We never really started at the beginning. Maybe that’s the problem.”
“What are we going to do around Ballykirk that we haven’t already done?” Gelsey asked.
“There are plenty of things to do. We can sit down at the harbor and watch the fishing boats come it. We can walk to the library and look at the new books. The greengrocer teaches a cooking class every other Wednesday night. And there’s always Tuesday-night bingo at St. Margaret’s.”
“Bingo sounds lovely,” Gelsey said. “And I’ll drive. Now that I have my own car, I can pick you up.”
“You’re driving a forty-year-old Bentley. That thing should be in a museum, not on the road. Do you know how much that car is worth?”
“No. It was my grandmother’s. She loved that car. It was just sitting in the carriage house, so I thought I’d drive it.”
“And then there’s Nan and Riley’s wedding. I don’t have a date for that and I was hoping you’d agree to come with me.”
Gelsey smiled, then twisted her fingers through his. “I suppose I could be convinced. I don’t have any other plans for New Year’s Eve.”
“That would be a rare one for me,” Kellan said. “I never have a date for New Years.”
Danny appeared at their table, a pad and pen in his hands. “I’d assume the two of you are here for lunch? We have a lovely shepherd’s pie, bangers and boxty, and salmon patties with chips. And the regular sandwiches and salads.”
“Shepherd’s pie,” Kellan said. “And a half pint of Guinness.”
“Same for me but water,” Gelsey said.
After Danny had gone to put in their orders, Kellan asked, “How has work been?”
Gelsey pulled his hand toward her. “Good. Well, maybe not good, but it’s improving. We’ve had a lot of new customers come in. After this morning, I’m sure we’ll have more.”
“That’s good.”
“There’s going to be all sorts of talk, Kellan. It doesn’t bother me, but I don’t want you to get caught up in it.”
