“Closer, they realized the woman and child by their door must be Anna and her mother Nicolette, waiting for them…..”

“Sloping down, closer to the sea, the dusty road brought their converted fisherman’s hut into easy view under the stars and bright moonlight.”

“Signora and Anna, they go to your house,” said Santino, rocking. “Why?” asked Arturo….

“She looked around, politely, as if she may have missed them there on the porch. ‘Where is Signora Nicolette and Anna,’ she said, worrying the wind.”

“Nearer their home, the church bells clanging to ten, and chuckling because their hands and elbows kept knocking in the dark….”

“When quiet found a moment to be heard, their breaths warmed the scent of salt and moisture on their hands and thighs.”

“Arturo spread their warm worn blanket, thin but protecting, alongside the fold-out windbreak meant for the winds in winter.”

“At the city’s boundary wall, they stopped, looked back at the lights of the hotel, held each other briefly with tenderness….”

My excerpt series from my novella, The Old American Artist, is nearing the end of its initial run!

“The room around them returned slowly. People approached. Congratulating them. On the show, on their togetherness. ‘Your show looks fabulous,’ Rosetta said to Arturo, ‘Macario came through.'”

“Arturo caught sight of Rosetta and immediately felt his heart expand. Her legs split the fold in her dress as she stepped….”

“A brief gust shook the large panes ever so slightly, barely a tremor of vibration. ‘I think it’s her….'”

“‘I thought food was being served…’ Me too, smiled Arturo….”

“‘…come! We must present you,’ Macario smiled, wrapping the air with his arm around Arturo as if placing an elegant cloak on his back.”

“Arturo had arrived along this stretch of the Mediterranean with Rosetta less than a year ago….”

“Freshly bathed and dressed in the deep blues of the ocean night nearby, Arturo entered the main ballroom reserved for art shows, weddings, graduations, conventions, and political gatherings. Almost anything anyone could pay or trade for.”