Evelyn shivered, largely for show, in her poplin sundress, and ducked under Tony’s arm. For warmth, of course. Not that Tony objected either way. He looked down at her in the firelight, and she smiled up at him, then nestled closer, inhaling his clean scent, not knowing that when he left the docks each day, he raced home to be the first one in the bath, where he scrubbed himself until Felipe threatened to break the door down. Felipe was recently engaged to a girl named Beatriz from another Portuguese family. But her brothers and father worked the ships as well, and Tony rationalized that she could handle the smells that came with their work easier than Evelyn could. So he scrubbed himself raw, working at his fingernails until not a trace of dirt remained, then dressing and counting the minutes until it was time to meet her at the end of the dark road.
Leaning her head back, Evelyn looked up at the stars. “Show me the constellations again.”
He lay down, pulling her with him, pillowing her head on his left shoulder and pointing out the formations, starting with Ursa Major and moving through the visible zodiac.
“How do you know all of these?”
“You learn them when you go out on the ships. It’s how they used to steer.”
“But how do you do that?”
He laughed softly. “If it were two hundred years ago, I could tell you. I’m not exactly crossing oceans on my uncle’s fishing boats.”
“I want to do that,” she said, sitting up.
“A fishing boat wouldn’t make it.”
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean on one of your uncle’s boats. I mean I want to see the world. All of it.”
“That’s a pretty tall order.”
“Don’t you? I want to go to Rome and Paris and Greece and London and Egypt and”—she looked at him slyly, the flames of the fire reflecting on her face, making her eyes glow in the darkness—“Portugal.”
Tony laughed again and pulled her back down next to him. “Name one city in Portugal.”
“Lisbon.”
“You do know I’ve never been there, right?”
“So?”
“So, do you want to go to Russia?”
She wrinkled her nose. “It’s not the top of my list. But someday. Maybe.”
“You’re not as far removed as I am. My family has been here for a hundred years. I’m more American than you are.”
“Okay, Antonio.”
“What’s in a name?”
“Ha. Would be funnier if we weren’t so star crossed.”
“Are we though?”
“Papa said I can go out with you, not marry you.”
Tony held her tighter. “And do you always do what your papa tells you?”
A slow, sultry smile spread across Evelyn’s lips, and Tony fought to keep from kissing her. Yes, their evening would wind up there, but to do it lying down on the beach like this was more dangerous. It was easier to stop in the car. “You know I don’t.” She leaned in, and he sat up abruptly.
“I was thinking—I might leave the business.”
Evelyn sat up too. “What would you do?”
“Well, I had two ideas. There’s the Army. I could do four years and then go to college.”
She shivered again, involuntarily this time, but kept her face studiedly neutral. “Is that what you want?”
“No,” he admitted. They both knew young men who hadn’t come home from the war. And many who came home missing body parts. Or who came home but were really still on the beach in Normandy. “But I know your father cares so much about college.”
“But you’d be gone four years.”
“So would you.”
“I may not go far,” Evelyn hedged. “If I was in Boston, we’d still see each other. If you were here.”
“That’s true.”
“Look, if you want to go to college—”
Tony turned to look at her. “Do you want me to?”
“Only if it’s what you want. You can’t do something that big because it might make my father happy. Are you going to magically become Jewish too?”
“No.”
They didn’t speak for a minute. “You said you had two ideas?”
“They’re looking for new police officers. I picked up an application this week.”
“Is that what you want to do?”
He nodded slightly. “I think it is. It’s not like we have gangs here. And I like helping people.” He looked at her again. “And it’s more respectable than cod fishing.”