If Andrea was a politician, he was definitely a different breed. Sure, he smiled and seemed to listen patiently, but there was none of that veneered-teeth, hand-pumping, fake stuff she’d seen in the US. He was wearing old-school Converse sneakers. How could anyone be fake while wearing Chuck Taylors? He brought them over to buy food and drink tickets, picked up two plastic cups of orangey-crimson Spritz from the bar, and finally ushered them over to stand in line for the fish.
“Do you have time to do this with us? I am sure you have so many other people to talk to.” It’s not that Lora wanted him to leave, just that sipping a cocktail on an empty stomach and a head full of jet lag was not helping her remain unaffected every time he smiled at her.
“I have time. Also, the more I pretend to be hosting foreign dignitaries, the fewer complaints about not having enough free parking spaces I will have to listen to.”
“Foreign dignitaries, huh?” Vilmari cocked her head.
“Well, you’re Americans on official government business, so I think it counts,” he said, laughing.
“Quanti volete?” Luciano asked Andrea. He pulled out a stack of plates lined with more butcher paper and laid one skewered fish across each one.
“Due. Benissimo, grazie.” He pointed toward the women.Luciano passed the dishes over to Andrea, and he gestured with his head for them to follow him. “Come this way.”
“There’s Nico,” Vilmari whispered to Lora, catching sight of his already distinguishable rack of shoulders by the bar. “I think I’m going to go say hello again.”
“Didn’t you say something about ‘downtime after a divorce’ on the plane over here?” asked Lora, grinning.
“I decided I’ve had enough downtime. Moving out of the apartment I had with Quique and into Ellie’s place took a whole three days. It was plenty.” Vilmari had gotten married when she’d just turned twenty and couldn’t have known that her new husband was going to try to get her to move to Puerto Rico, though neither of them was born there. Quique was determined to get out of New York and move to the west coast of the island, while Vilmari was determined to become a journalist and live in New York City forever. Realizing they wanted different things, they agreed to try a half-hearted long distance for a while, until Quique admitted that he was falling in love with the owner of a surf shop in Aguadilla. When he finally said he wanted a divorce, it was a relief. Until that time, she’d been holding her breath. She finally breathed out, applied for a senior position atEl Diario Nueva York, rented an apartment from her cousin’s former boss, a talk show host who’d moved back to California, and never looked back. “Plus, I think I’m going to need another Spritz. You?”
“No, I’m good,” said Lora. “I’ll save a fin for you.”
“You do that,” she said, heading into the crowd with a grin. She suddenly turned back to Lora, grabbing her hand and pulling her a few feet away from Andrea. “Listen. I’m nottrying to set you up or anything, but you know what? He’s cute. And you’re single as hell. So, why don’t you make this trip a little fun and go ahead and get your documents stamped.”
“Mar. Really?”
“Yes, really. Go be—I don’t know. Italian.”
“I’m not here to be Italian,” Lora hissed as Vilmari started walking away. She turned back to where Andrea was waiting and smiled. The sun was losing its strength behind a fluff of pink clouds, casting a rose-gold light over everything. The band switched to a ballad, and a few couples found space to dance. When was the last time she danced? With a person? The closest thing might be the salsa kickboxing class she religiously took with Vilmari, which didn’t count, especially since she wore combat gear during most of it. Andreawaspretty amazing-looking. And kind. Plus, he could both swing off buildings and, by the looks of it, iron a shirt. There was no way in hell she was going to be interested in another relationship until she was finished with her postdoc, so maybe it wouldn’t hurt to make friends with the person who had to be involved in the very tricky operation she was attempting. Plus, she’d be gone in a couple of weeks. What harm could she do in a couple of weeks? She took another sip of Spritz.
“Let’s sit here.” Andrea placed the fish down and gestured for Lora to sit at one of the long tables.
“This is a really nice event, by the way. The town seems like a great place to live.” Lora sat, tucking her dress up under her legs as she swung them around the bench seat.
“Thank you. I have only been mayor for four years, but I think we’ve done a lot of work in that time to foster growth and create community.” He paused, shook his head. “Andnow I sound like I am giving a press conference. You should eat, by the way.” He pointed to the fish.
“I’m actually not sure how hungry I am.” Lora slid the plate closer and stared down at it. She theoretically understood that she was meant to remove the outer layer of fish skin and cut off chunks of meat, but the execution was not happening. She glanced at the fish’s hollow eye and the tiny teeth jutting up in a micro-underbite. Poor guy probably woke up in a good mood too. “It doesn’t sound like any press conference I’ve heard before. You seem very passionate.”
“I guess you can call it passion. I’ll admit it was more rage over what was going on over here that got me the job. Are you sure you don’t need help?” he asked, gesturing at her plate. “I can get you started here in case you do get hungry.”
“No, no. I’ve got it.” Lora picked up the plastic utensils and started poking around the fish. This would probably be easier if she didn’t look at its face. “So, rage?”
“Buon appetito.” Andrea nodded. “The previous mayor stole millions of disaster relief funds from the town and ran off to Tangiers. When I came to visit my parents for Christmas five years ago, there was no mayor, no money, and no one stepping up to do anything about it.” He looked down as he explained, that same lock of dark brown hair falling over his forehead. “My mom had broken her hip, and their whole street and the sidewalk were practically impassible. I kept picturing her falling again.”
“So you decided to run for mayor to fix all the broken sidewalks? That’s certainly one way to get it done.”
“Yeah, well, I had a background in finance and a talent for unjustified optimism, so I thought I might be good at it.No, but honestly, I’d always heard people in politics say that running a town is not so different from running a business. So, I thought, why not me?”
“Well, your family must be really happy. Are they here?” She nodded toward the crowd.
“They were here earlier, but my dad wasn’t feeling great. They’re a little older. There are ten years between me and my brother and only one year between him and my sister, so I think they thought they were kind of done with kids. My mom was forty-two when she had me and my dad was fifty.”
“Surprise!” she said, raising her eyebrows.
“Exactly. Are they happy I am here? It’s a little complicated. The job situation here in Italy has always been difficult. Some people, like my parents, believe that the smartest thing to do is to study and eventually work abroad—especially if it’s America or the UK. I was raised to leave town as soon as possible, get educated, and find a brilliant job that would make me never have to worry about finances. My sister and my brother did it. I did it too, at least initially. So, this is quite the change of direction. They are concerned about my future, I think.”
“Do they ask you about it?”
“It’s more that they wonder where I wandered off track,” he said, laughing. “My parents are in that generation that still believes in the American dream that they saw in those old movies. I get lots of comments about going back to ‘real life,’ but I mostly ignore them—not my parents. The comments. Sorry, I don’t know why I’m telling you my whole life story.”
