“Nora!” Sabrina said breathlessly, splaying her hand on her chest. “That was some introduction.” Adrenaline coursed through her body.Bah-boom. Bah-boom.Her pulse raced in her ears. “I was trying so hard to finish the last chapter you posted before you arrived. I stayed up all night bingeing chapters fifty to twenty.”
And submitted no less than five job inquiries, thank you very much. Talk about multitasking.
“I’ll throw you a spoiler. Lizzy ends up with Mr. Darcy.” Nora laughed.
“That part I figured out. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have labeled it as a happily-ever-after story.”
Nora stood five feet two inches tall to Sabrina’s five-foot-six frame, and wore a denim jacket over a coral-colored maxi dress. The look was accented with an oversized baroque pearl necklace on a gold chain over her tanned, honey-colored skin. She spoke English with the barest trace of a European accent.
“Ididtry calling out your name a few times, but you were engrossed in what you were reading.” Nora offered the phone back to its owner.
Shoving it into the pocket of her jeans, Sabrina jumped to her feet. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that I can’t tell you how excited I am to at long last meet you in person.” She started to reach up to hug her longtime internet friend but stopped herself short.
What’s the protocol here? A hug? A handshake? From all the people watching I’ve done, I haven’t seen too many people hug.
Sabrina let Nora take the lead. As if she were reading Sabrina’s mind, Nora said, “Europeans tend to greet one another with a kiss on each cheek, but I realize most Americans prefer a hug. So we’ll do both.”
Greetings exchanged, Nora pointed to a medium-sized square wicker basket she’d placed by her feet. “One picnic, as promised. I thought the beach might be a fun place to mingle.”
“That sounds divine.” Sabrina retrieved her backpack and an oversized beach umbrella. “I borrowed this from Giulia. I was hoping for a parasol, but this is the next best thing.”
Nora winked. “It’s perfect.” She linked her free arm through Sabrina’s. “Shall we take some air for a morning constitutional, Miss Sabrina?”
“I believe we shall, Miss Nora.” Both women broke out into excited laughter.
“I hope it didn’t take you too long to reach Riomaggiore,” Sabrina said.
“I took the early train in. It was practically empty. I hate driving around these parts, and avoid it whenever possible.”
They walked outside the lobby and headed down the steps of the wooden pier that led to Castillo Roccia’s private beach. There was a slight chill to the air. Seabirds played in the surf, scrounging for food.
“Is there any word on your family and the landslide? Is everyone safe and sound? Giulia said it’s been a common occurrence of late.”
“Everyone is fine.” Nora closed her eyes and shook her head. “I rang my younger sister this morning. When the landslide happened, it buried two of the outbuildings on my family’s land. My papa was in his office. Ironically, he didn’t note that anything was wrong until the power went out. Then, when he tried exit the building, there was so much mud in front of the door that he couldn’t open it.
“Mama panicked when she wasn’t able to reach Papa and started calling everyone in town to help search for him.” Nora opened her eyes. “To make a long story short, Papa spent the two hours he was stuck inside watching a DVD ofMonty Python and the Holy Grailon his laptop until the battery died, then took a power nap. He was highly amused by the entire situation, but Mama was fit to be tied.”
Sabrina let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness the entire situation turned out to be minor.”
Her thoughts turned to Lorenzo and how his family was faring.
“I’m glad too.” Nora pointed to the two beach chairs and a pair of rounded side tables located about ten feet from the water’s edge. “If you don’t mind, let’s sit on those and put the umbrella up. As much as I would love to spread out a blanket and sit on the ground, the rocks are lumpy, and no matter how thick the fabric is, they always tend to poke through.”
“I learned that the hard way yesterday when I went for a swim near Vernazza. My feet were more sore from the beach than from hiking the Azure Trail.” Sabrina pulled the chairs closer together. “I’ll never take the beaches on the Gulf Coast back home for granted again.”
Nora winced in sympathy. “Have you tried soaking them in Epsom salt?”
“No, but I’ll definitely give it a try later.” As Sabrina opened the umbrella and attempted to anchor it into the sand, the umbrella took on a mind of its own. It flopped over several times before a gust of wind pushed it down completely. Eventually, the pair decided that placing the beach umbrella wasn’t worth the effort.
Sitting across from her, Nora opened the basket and pulled out plastic plates and a selection of scones, tea sandwiches, pastries, and Italian sodas on each of the two side tables. “Have you seen the news? It was all over the message board this morning. Some television company is going to create a miniseries around JA’s unfinished novelThe Watsons.”
She accepted the plate from Nora. “The Watsons? I’m surprised. The manuscript would need a lot of revisions in order to make it television appropriate, and take a lot of creative liberties. It’s only five chapters long.”
“Agreed, but out of all the source material that could be pulled from Austen, it also has the most potential. You of all people know how much I wanted the BBC to adapt it overSanditon.”Nora’s eyes took on a dreamlike expression.
Sabrina studied the plate and selected a scone. “Have you ever thought about taking a stab at finishing it? Out of all of the writers out there, you are one of the few who can consistently find new and engaging ways to make readers like me experience all the emotions with your stories. You don’t rely on the same old plot devices. You always attempt to write something fresh and outside of the box.”
Nora’s ears turned a shade of Red Delicious apple red. She bit into a sandwich from her own plate and chewed slowly. Then she put it down and looked up to Sabrina, her voice low. “Do you really think so?”
