Chapter 10 #3
“If it makes you feel any better, most people think I am crazy for wanting to do a postdoc too. Especially since I’m a little older than your average recent graduate.
But I’m not doing it for them. It’s probably harder for you to tell your family that you don’t care what they think.
I didn’t have to worry about that. My mom died when I was twenty, and the interesting thing about people who are dying is that they are never going to tell you to not do whatever the hell you want. ”
“You think she would have encouraged you to come here?”
“I’m not sure, actually. There’s a lot about my mom that I am not sure of.” Lora dipped her hand into the sand next to his and mimicked his combing fingers. She looked down, seeming to concentrate on the movements. “I think she made choices even when it seemed that she didn’t have many.”
“You’re pretty amazing, do you know that?” Andrea said, touching the side of his hand to hers. “It takes a lot of courage to do what you’re doing.”
“Thanks,” she said, finally looking up at him. “I appreciate that.” She rolled her palm into his, both coated with cool sand.
“I’m really happy to know you, even if it’s only a couple of weeks. I have the feeling I’m not going to forget you.”
“Sure,” she said, laughing, nudging his shoulder with hers. “Until the next person like me comes along looking for documents.”
“I don’t think anyone like you is coming around here,” he said, feeling the blood pound in his ears.
“Not anytime soon.” He felt like his body was being pulled toward her and couldn’t remember wanting to kiss someone so badly.
He leaned a millimeter closer to her, closer to those eyes that had pulled him in from the first day he met her, then leaned back.
He didn’t want to overwhelm her. She was here to manage a task, not to get involved with anyone.
He should stop right now before they made a mistake. He should—
She leaned toward him, her eyes on his. He could not help but meet her now, closing the space between them.
He brushed his lips over hers, thinking he could still save himself.
It could still be friendly, like a kiss goodbye a few weeks early.
But she opened her mouth just enough to take friendly to fiery, and so he did the only thing he could do.
He gave in. Bringing his hand up to her cheek, he deepened the kiss, melting into the softness of her lips and the last heat of the sun.
He felt high, in flight. And he swore to whatever divine being was listening that he was perfectly fine with having just one of these with Lora if it meant that there were kisses like this to be had at all. Because. It. Was. Fucking. Awesome.
A group of small fishing boats cruised past the beach, likely heading back into the marina for the night, and the buzz of their engines broke the spell.
Lora pulled away, shielding her eyes from the sun again as she watched them cruise by.
“It’s probably getting late,” she said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
Andrea looked down at his watch, now fully back down to reality. They only had another hour or so of good light to get back, but there was one more thing he wanted to show her.
“Kind of. We should get back out there, because there’s one more thing I thought maybe you’d like to see.”
It took them under ten minutes to continue along the coast, and soon Andrea could see the low buildings set back from the shore in the trees.
Tall grasses and overgrown bushes made it difficult to see the wooden fence that surrounded the property, but he could still see the white gravel that used to line the paddock.
“What is this?” she asked, her inflection sharp, like she already knew the answer.
“It’s Ivo’s place. I told you that all of the important tourist locations were out here. This is one of them.”
“And you thought I would like to see.”
“Maybe?” It was a mistake; that was clear from the tone of her voice. He had thought it would be interesting, a curiosity maybe. But he couldn’t have been more wrong.
“OK, well, I’ve seen it,” she said, her jaw tight. “Anything else?” She did not turn around, did not let him see her face, but he’d been around her long enough to know the light had gone out of it.
“No, let’s turn back here. We’ll come around to the right,” he clarified, pushing back on the left blade to help spin the boat around.
They paddled on in silence, while he tried out new sentences in his head, hoping to find one that might restart what had stopped dead between them as soon as Ivo’s farm came into view.
Everything he came up with sounded hollow, though the feeling of the kiss was still full on his lips.
They made it back to shore with the orange sun dipping into the sea behind them, and though they both turned back to see the last burst of the day, she turned away before he did.
Finally, when the kayak was on the roof of the Panda and their sandy feet brushed off, he had no choice but to bring her back to the piazza.
“Thank you for the cruise,” she said, her smile tight. She grasped the handles of her bag and opened the passenger door.
“Thank you for coming. I probably shouldn’t have—” he started.
“Good night, Andrea,” she said, placing her hand on top of his clasped around the shift. “Thank you for the adventure.”