Sweeter Than W(h)ine by Nancy Goldberg Levine Page B

all herself again.
                  “You don’t have to stay,” Dina said. “I’m okay now, and I’m going to sleep.”
                  “I just want to stay and make sure…”
                  “I’m okay,” she repeated. She didn’t have to repeat herself. Rafe knew what she was trying to say. Just because she’d fallen asleep at the hospital and slept for five days didn’t mean she was going to have a repeat performance.
                  “I’d better stick around for a little while just in case.”
                  She fell asleep and Rafe stayed until she woke up again and he was positive that she’d be all right. When he got ready to leave, he surprised even himself. “Okay, I’ll go. Lay off the bourbon ball cupcakes, okay, Dina?”
                  “Sure, Doc.”
                  “Next week, my brother and his wife are coming up for my niece’s unveiling. I know it’s not exactly romantic, but would you like to come to the service?”
                  “Sure,” Dina said. “I’m anxious to meet your family.”
                  What had made him invite her to the service? Rafe didn’t know, but she was finding her way into his heart.
    Chapter Eight
    Rafe looked around, surveying the surroundings at Cincinnati Jewish Cemetery. His dad had once told him all kinds of legends about the place, but the memories only made him feel sad. He thought of his dad again, and how much he missed him. He’d loved restoring old cars with him, and hanging around in the garage. His dad had also told him “life is short so insist on nothing but the best.” Rafe guessed that was where he’d gotten his penchant for nice things. His mother had been more frugal, preferring to save up for a few good things, and only when she needed them. If his dad gave her a gift of expensive perfume, or a cashmere sweater, she always wanted him to take the things back; she’d take something for the house, a new skillet, or a vacuum cleaner, or something else along those lines.
    His mom hadn’t even wanted the faux fur coat his dad had bought her on one of the shopping channels. It was too extravagant, she’d said. Rafe smiled to himself at that; it hadn’t even been real fur.
    Thinking of his mom’s coat brought him back to reality. The day was chilly, gray and windy. Trees and branches were still bare; no thought of spring yet.
    This morning, though, was about his niece. He’d invited Dina to the unveiling with him. He still didn’t know why he’d asked her. Of course, his brother and sister-in-law were there. That was when Rafe envied Dina’s closeness with her parents. Somehow, though, he just didn’t feel close to Adam, especially now that Gracie was gone.
    Rabbi Berman, the rabbi from Shalom Israel showed up, and looked around at the group assembled near Gracie’s monument. Adam had picked it out; Rafe would have chosen a simple stone, but his brother had chosen a heart-shaped monument of carved granite, with Gracie’s dates of birth and death on them and “Beloved daughter of Adam and Merissa Farber.”
    No mention of her favorite uncle, but that was par for the course. In a way, Rafe was glad his brother and sister-in-law had moved away. Dina took his hand as the rabbi said prayers, and he was grateful for the contact. Her hand was soft against his calloused one. He listened to the rabbi and tried to shake the morose thoughts away.
    After the short service, Dina tossed rose petals she’d bought at the flower shop around the monument. It was freezing, and it looked like Adam and Merissa were anxious to get out of the frigid weather.
    Dina smiled wanly at him, and he could read the “I’m sorry” in her eyes. Rafe wanted to cry, but after his mom, dad and Gracie had died, he’d put his emotions away, convincing himself that men didn’t cry and he needed to be strong because that’s what his parents