Chapter 77

What possible good could come of it? What did he have to offer the man?

No, Joe knew he was finished with looking at beautiful things.

* * * *

Trapped, Joe wrung his hands, leaning in on the table. “How could you, Ma?”

“How could I what?” His mother let out an impatient breath, leaning back in her chair. Her meal remained untouched, the pasta turning cold and hard in her plate. “It isn’t healthy for a man your size to be roaming around the city in the evenings, all alone—”

“What does my size have to do with my walks?”

She frowned, smoothing out her skirt. “Where do you go?”

“Just around here, by the river.”

“You’re going to get in trouble again, Joseph, I can feel it and—”

“Why’d you have to ask her? Why, Ma? I don’t wanna see her.”

“She was your fiancée. And she’s been very lonely in the last years. She waited for you, Joe, waited for you a long time. Didn’t she take it well? Do you think you’ll find a woman like her in this sinful city?”