Girl On a Plane by Cassandra O'Leary

Author:Cassandra O'Leary [Cassandra O'Leary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cassandra O'Leary
Published: 2023-03-13T00:00:00+00:00

The restaurant wasn’t what she expected Gabriel would choose, but then he kept surprising her. It was casual, with dark wood tables decorated with little tea-light candles and exposed red bricks along the wall behind the bar. It seemed popular with people who seriously liked their food and wine.

On second glance, the place reminded her of Italian bistros she’d dined at in Lygon Street, Melbourne’s Little Italy. She’d love to go there with Gabriel sometime.

Sinead folded her linen napkin in her lap and looked up to enjoy the view. Gabriel, front and centre, leaning over the table towards her. Wanting to tell her something. She could practically see the words forming in a cartoon speech balloon and then retreating back into his mouth. The scowl of consternation on his face was charming. Cute as a button.

“Spit it out, would you?” Sinead took a bite of her delicious chicken cacciatore, an old-school dish which also, serendipitously, happened to start with her favourite letter ‘c’.

“Spit what out, exactly?”

Swallowing a mouthful of deliciousness, she put down her cutlery with a clink. “Whatever you want to tell me. Out with it.”

He looked down at his plate of seafood linguini. “It’s a long story. I want to tell you about my mum.”

She sat straighter in her chair, interested now. It wasn’t what she’d been expecting. No, she was expecting an argument about the rules, or a grumpy comment about Brody’s flirting at the club. This sounded like details. Depth. Exactly what she wanted from Gabriel.

“You can tell me. Whatever it is, I’m a good listener.”

His forehead creased. “My mum’s sick. Has been for years. Ever since I was at university.”

“Oh, Gabriel, I’m so sorry. Your poor Ma. Is she on the mend now?”

His face went weird, his jaw clenched then released. Again Sinead had the sense words would come tripping off the tip of his tongue. But they didn’t. His head dropped down and he took a long sip of his red wine.

She tried not to stare at the way his fingers shook. What she really wanted was to wrap him up in her arms.

Finally he looked up and nodded. “She’s okay. She had a chest infection but the doctors caught it before it turned to pneumonia. It’s been rough for a while though.”

“That must have been hard. Is it some kind of chronic illness?”

Gabriel nodded. “Yes. It’s…a progressive disease. I have to face the fact she won’t get any better.”

Her heart pinched in her chest. “Is this what’s been worrying you? Not your work?”

He paused again, gripping his glass too hard. “Both. I wanted to explain why I said we shouldn’t see each other again. Back in Singapore.”

She nodded slowly. This could explain some of his behaviour in Singapore. Gabriel leaned back in his chair. His shirt pulled taut across his chest. He really was delectable. She bit her lip, then forced her eyes up to meet his. She had to stop ogling the man. This was important.

“So, have you had to look after her?”

“There’s nurses, but a lot of it has fallen to me.

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