AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks.” He was no Buckley channeling Cale channeling Cohen, but he made his own personalHallelujaheach time he played it. “Twenty-five years of playing.”
Nora sat on the bench next to him. “I never got pastTwinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”
“I can teach youMary Had a Little Lamb,” he teased. “That’s what usually comes next.” She gave him a jostle with her shoulder, then reached for the long overdue cocktail he’d left on the top of the piano.
“Trust me, it’s better now that the ice has melted.”
She laughed. “Jay insists on Jedi Masters tending bar every year.” Taking a sip, she winced. “Yep. The booze is strong with this one.”
Others were waiting to play, so they relinquished their seat.
“Do you want to get a closer look at Lady Liberty?”
“Methinks the bar has already been set by a lady in a dress tonight.”
“Yeah, but that one is clearly carrying a torch for you,” she teased, tossing his jacket to him.
“Touché.” He slipped it on before staggering a step back, feigning a mortal blow to his ego. Together they strolled ever farther away from the crowd, toward the back of the boat.The stern? The prow?Alex had lived landlocked his whole life in Des Moines; the nautical terms escaped him.
Nora, on the other hand, resided on an island – and an exotic one at that. Never more clear than now, as the lights of lower Manhattan winked at them. It reminded Alex of countless iconic movie opening shots, full of promise – of adventure and opportunity awaiting.
“I never tire of this view.” Nora gripped the rail and took in a breath of crisp, night air.
“Would you mind...grabbing a pic?”
Glancing over her shoulder at him, she made her request, voice suddenly shy. “My mom
will guilt trip me all the way into Passover if I don’t document this moment for her.” She swept her hand down, from bodice to bow.
“Not at all.”
The lights of the skyline hugged her curves, competing for attention. He snapped several before handing her his phone so she could text them to herself. The modern day way of asking for a girl’s number without really asking.
“Did you find your friend?”
“I did. Did you ditch your cousin?”
An unspoken agreement seemed to pass between them. If either had needed an excuse to beg off, to go hang with their own social crowd – Nora’s apparently included rock stars like Avi freaking Wolfson, of all people – they were free to go if they chose.
“Did the requisite shot with Drew and…done for the night.” Alex chuckled. “Family obligations over.”
Ha, right.If only.
Something about the night air made him want to share his whole sordid tale with her. He wasn’t normally one to hold back. But maybe it was staring down into the darkness below them that kept him from telling her – you only knew the water was there from its gentle, persistent lapping.
Or perhaps it was how she wound her arm through his, pulling him close until their cheeks touched and they both fit in the frame. Her finger on the button of his camera app, capturing the two of them against that surreal backdrop. And capturing their night together.
Full of promise.
Opportunity awaiting.
ChapterSix
As the boat wound under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges and uptown toward the calmer waters of the Hudson, Nora played tour guide, pointing out various landmarks and buildings, and answering his questions with questions of her own.
“Yankees or Mets?” she asked, as they approached the famed stadium of the Bronx Bombers, its circles of light vaguely reminiscent of a grounded UFO from their vantage point. “Since baseball was your Bar Mitzvah theme…”
“Neither.” He smiled. “Cubbies, all the way.”
