Page 87 of Sunrise over Strawberry Hill Farm

But still, he found himself opening up to Flora, talking of times gone by, happy times, mostly when his father wasn’t around.

By the end of the evening, he felt even closer to her. As if had bared his soul, which he normally didn’t do. And he knew that he had fallen a little bit more in love with her.

52

Flora had never known a meal out quite like the one that she had just enjoyed.

The food, of course, was superb. She had known that Ryan was a great chef and that evening in Platform 1 had proved the rumours true. She didn’t know that much about traditional Italian cooking but judging by Nico’s reaction, it was certainly spot on.

Most of all, she was feeling stunned by what he had shared with her. Stories of his family, of the past, of the home that he had lost. She finally understood that the playful exterior belied a sensitive, somewhat bruised soul underneath and she longed to take his pain away. So she let him talk and talk over dinner, sharing everything with her.

When they got up to leave, the last ones still at their table, Ryan came up to them.

‘So? How was it?’ asked Ryan, looking a little nervous.

Nico took a deep breath. ‘Superb,’ he told him. ‘It tasted…’ He hesitated before carrying on. ‘It tasted like home.’

His voice broke on the last word and a brief silence ensued as Flora looked from Nico to Ryan. In the end, Ryan stepped forward and gave Nico a hug. He then slapped him on the shoulder. ‘That is the best compliment I could ever receive, mate,’ he said.

Nico nodded, seemingly unable to speak for the emotion.

Ryan stepped back and gave Flora a nod of his head. So Flora took Nico’s hand and led him through the waiting room and out onto the platform. They walked back hand in hand, under the darkening sky, Nico seemingly still in a daze.

‘Are you okay?’ she asked softly, turning in the darkness to face him when they reached the back door of the farmhouse.

He nodded. ‘I think so,’ he said, with a small smile. ‘Thank you for listening tonight. I’m sorry if I bent your ear off with all things Italian.’

‘I loved hearing your stories,’ she told him truthfully. ‘It made me feel closer to you. To understand you better.’

He took a step forward. ‘And now that you know me, what do you think?’

‘I think that I’m very glad you came here to the farm, for both of our sakes,’ she said softly.

He looked surprised but pleased. ‘I’m glad you said that,’ he replied, stepping towards her. ‘Because there’s something I’ve wanted to do all evening and I shall regret it for the rest of my life if I don’t act upon my impulse.’

Somehow, she knew what he was going to do. She didn’t turn away. She could barely breathe. Anything to let him do what she had been dreaming about for so long.

He took a step forward, taking her chin in his fingers. He searched her eyes, as if waiting for a refusal. When he received none, he leaned down and their lips met.

At first, it was soft, almost gentle. But pretty soon the chemistry between them fizzled until his arms wrapped around her and her hands crept up behind his head to pull him even closer to her.

Eventually, after she had lost all sense of time, he leaned back a little to stare at her with eyes that were almost black in the darkness.

‘You told me a while ago that I needed to be honest with myself,’ he said, his voice low and rough. ‘Well, this is what I wanted and I figured you did too. Was I right?’

Her breath was still coming in shallow gasps at the magnitude of their shared passion.

But her hesitation gave him the wrong impression.

‘Then I apologise,’ he told her, breaking the eye contact and moving to step away.

Suddenly, she couldn’t bear him leaving and found she couldn’t stop herself from grabbing hold of his shirt and dragging him back up against her.

He stared into her eyes and drew a sharp breath at the intensity which was mirrored in his own.

‘We’d better make sure,’ she told him, reaching out to draw his head down towards hers.

His eyes softened as he leant forward to kiss her again.