Chapter 21

We drove to Evalena's house with the windows down, the radio music snatched away by the wind twirling around us. The day's torrid heat had given way to a bearable evening breeze. Gabe sat next to me looking toward the bowing sun. He propped an elbow on the window ledge, lost in thought, his eyes hidden behind dark lenses. He had changed into a pair of shorts and a navy button-down shirt with tiny yellow palm trees printed all over it. I'd bought it for him earlier that afternoon, more as a gag gift than anything else. Leave it to the gods; he wore it nonchalantly, as if he had just stepped out from the freshly printed pages of L'Uomo Vogue.

"I wish I'd brought my camera." His deep voice brought me back to the moment.

"I've got one at home." I smiled at him, taking my eyes off the road for a moment.

He reached over to caress my chin. "You've got such a lovely smile, Porzia," he said quietly. "I wonder if capturing it on film will be enough once I head back."