Where the Streets Have No Name(29)
Amelia slid her hand into his, pushing her fingers between each of his fingers, linking their hands together. She squeezed, looking up, smiling. His answering half-grin and accompanying wink felt like the sun coming up after years of storms.
They walked hand in hand into the information centre. Well, Daniel walked. She hobbled next to him.
Inside, they stood by a shelving unit filled with hundreds of brochures, eying them uncertainly. She felt overwhelmed by the number of choices, most of which required a lot of walking and almost an entire day. Though she planned on staying in the country after she finished Amelia sought solace at the end of her journey and the hustle and bustle of Dublin didn’t fit the bill.
“Hello there!” A stout woman walked around them, standing next to Amelia. “Welcome to Dublin! Did you have any plans in mind?”
“Um, well, I’m kind of hoping we can pack as much in one day as we can,” Amelia answered, hoping Daniel took her cue and wouldn’t say anything. “We don’t know when we’ll be back in Dublin.” She pressed a hand to her lower abdomen, smiling – she hoped – like a woman in love and expecting a child.
If the woman thought they were both foreign, he had less chance of being recognised.
She hoped.
“Oh, well!” The woman leaned over the brochures and picked three. “The most popular short tours are The Guinness Storehouse, The National Leprechaun Museum, and, if you don’t mind a little fright, The Dublin Ghostbus Tour.”
Amelia grinned. All three sounded perfect.
“What do you think?” she asked Daniel, careful not to use his name in public, just in case. “Little green men, apparitions, and alcohol?”
Daniel’s eyes shot wide. His lips parted. Then he laughed and the sound warmed her soul. “Sure, lass. Guinness, ghosts, and goblins sounds grand.”
Though wary of Daniel, the woman smiled and accepted Amelia’s credit card to pay for the three activities. Leaning into the solid muscle of his shoulder, Amelia smiled sweetly, pretending to all the world she and Daniel were a couple. The woman looked like she’d burst from wanting to say something, but kept her mouth shut. If she’d mentioned Daniel’s name or the false convictions, Amelia might have gone wild.
She felt protective of him, but more than that, Amelia cared.
The leprechaun museum was first on the list. Amelia enjoyed learning more about her heritage, even if this part fit into the category of myth rather than history. And if his easy, relaxed demeanour told her anything, Daniel enjoyed the first outing too. He made jokes. Tickled her and even attempted to hide behind one of the wax leprechauns and frighten her.
They left the museum laughing and holding hands, and Amelia wanted nothing more than to pull him to her and kiss him, but what if she read Daniel’s behaviour wrong?
“We have an hour to kill before the next Guinness tour starts,” she said back in the car, clipping her seatbelt. “Anything you need or want to do in the meantime?”
“Not that I can think of. Oh, though it might do some good to find accommodation for the night. That ghost tour runs late.”
“Good thinking.” Amelia fished her tablet from the bag between her feet and began a search for places on the outskirts of town.
“What is that?” Daniel’s fingers came close to touching the device but he pulled them away at the last second.
Amelia gave him a brief description – enough to fill in the blanks without making him feel inadequate or uncomfortable. “And you can zoom in like this.” She grabbed his hand and used his thumb and forefinger to close in on their current location.
“Shite.” He jerked his hand away, eyes glued to the screen. “That’s like something out of a science fiction programme.”
“It is, isn’t it?” She smiled and continued her search.
A few minutes later, Amelia booked them in at a hotel overlooking St. Stephen’s Green. Two rooms, right next to each other. She couldn’t keep making him share a bed with her if it wasn’t necessary, despite the protests from her heart and body. But maybe a night apart would give them both a chance to work through whatever this thing between them was.
Amelia wanted him. She knew that much. But all the conversations in the world with Gabby would never prepare her for Daniel. The man possessed so much presence. More than that, he turned a smart woman into a melted puddle of needy teenaged girl who couldn’t function.
And he had his own life to live. Once she finished her trip around the isle and didn’t need help driving, Daniel would no doubt want to figure out his next move. She checked her email and spotted what she’d been waiting for; the investigator came through. The terrorist behind several similar attacks throughout the republic and Northern Ireland was living free and in the clear after pinning his crimes on dozens of other men. How many of them were innocent too? How many others like Daniel had their lives taken away from them for being in the wrong place at the wrong time?