On the other, she resented being invisible. The pensione owner handed over Lori’s room key without giving her a glance. In the dark, Lori let herself cry for the first time since she and Rob divorced eight months ago. In the dark no one saw the mess her dress was in, the mess she was in. Lori slipped off her heels and walked on the cobblestones still hot from the June sun. The pensione was a twenty-minute walk away through meandering narrow streets. She didn’t deserve this last humiliation. When Jessica came along, she divided herself, her time, between the two of them. She had given up work to be Rob’s wife, had cooked countless meals for the law firm’s partners, for his clients. “Great!” Lori walked away at as fast a clip as her high heels could manage on the cobblestones, her chest throbbing with anger, shame, hurt. She had to crane her neck to look him in the eye. “I’ve gotten really good at taking care of myself.” He was unexpectedly tall. She threw the napkins back at the waiter, fumbled in her bag for euros, dropped them on the table and ran out of there.Īlec followed. “I don’t want your money,” Lori cried out. Lori stayed rooted to the spot, fighting the humiliation of tears as the waiter offered more napkins, as the man, Alec Winters, offered to pay for the cleaning, offered to pay for the meal, offered to buy her a new dress. The carafe fell over, splashing red wine all over both of them. She heard a mumble of words, saw his other hand wave a napkin in front of her. Lori held back a scream of rage as the American leaned into her and put a hand on her elbow. A roomful of diners had gaped at her then, too. She’d thrown a glass of red wine in her husband’s face. Her mind flashed back to another evening in a fancy restaurant in Greenwich. The plate crashed to the floor and every diner in the place turned to gape at her. Suddenly Lori saw her table tilt, watched helplessly as the plate of hot, sauce-laden gnocchi slid down and overturned on her lap. It is a family secret.”īefore Lori could start to plead, Alec Winters stood up and pushed himself through the small space between the two tables.
Out came the charming, full-of-regret smile she’d discovered was an Italian specialty whenever she asked for something they had no intention of giving you.
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