The Miracles of Santo Fico Read Online Free PDF Page B

grass, so he swiftly swept it off his head in a strangely gentlemanly way.
    At the water’s edge Angelica Giancarlo was having trouble keeping the lids of her large brown eyes from fluttering closed as she baked under the August sun. She knew this much sun wasn’t good for her skin, but at the moment her real concern was falling asleep. So she forced herself to stretch across the warm boulder in an effort to stay awake. Who was she kidding? It was obvious that Leo Pizzola had lost interest. He wasn’t coming. In all the Mondays since she first noticed him spying on her secret swims, this was the first one he’d missed.
    She was tempted to stumble back up the hill to town and take a real nap. There would be plenty of time for swimming later—perhaps tonight. Angelica liked to swim at night, under a full moon. When she looked at her naked body standing on the wet sand, the silver haze of moonlight and glistening water hid the tracings of time and her perpetual losing battle with gravity and she felt younger.
    Just as she decided to summon enough energy for the hike back home, she saw a small rustling in the grass at the crest of the cliff. Then there was the swift flash of a familiar straw hat.
    “Well, it’s about time,” she mumbled to herself.
    If this drama were something that either of them could acknowledge, she would certainly give him a piece of her mind for keeping her waiting in this heat. But her best opportunity for an indignant display was when she first saw him peeking at her through the tall grass over a month ago. She wondered sometimes why she entertained his childish peeping at all. It wasn’t like she really knew Leo Pizzola. In fact, they didn’t even speak. She wouldn’t mind it if they did— but of course, that would be too awkward now.
    With a somewhat ungraceful effort Angelica hauled herself from the warm rock, and this time as she stretched in the sun, it was more deliberate. Why did she even bother? She didn’t even know him really and already he’s late; probably getting bored—they all get bored eventually. But she knew why. It was vanity. There was so little that made her feel attractive anymore; or alluring; or desired. She quickly dismissed any notion of giving him a piece of her mind, and instead she unrolled her towel and placed it across the flat boulder that jutted out into the lagoon. Then she stepped into the shallow water and delighted at its coolness on her bare feet and ankles. Ah, this was what she needed to wake her. As Angelica slowly waded deeper into the inviting sea, she lifted her light dress a little higher with each step. She wore no underclothing. Underclothing was always so clumsy and ungraceful. This economy made the dance appear much more effortless. Finally, when she was deep enough to justify it, she pulled the dress completely over her head and held it high up in the air. She deftly rolled the colorful print into a tight ball and with a practiced flick of the wrist, the wad of still dry cloth flew across the water and landed perfectly on the edge of the boulder. Angelica held her unveiled pose for just a moment before diving beneath the surface of the cool blue water.
    From behind his curtain of grass at the top of the bluff, Leo rested his chin on his hands and watched Angelica’s smooth pink form glide through the translucent blue. Where Angelica Giancarlo was concerned Leo had never quite outgrown the innocent adoration he’d felt when he was a boy. Although she was only a few years his senior, how he had yearned for this full-busted “older woman” of sixteen who was willing to occasionally indulge a twelve-year-old boy with her secret smile. As boys, Leo and Topo and Franco Fortino had been unable to hide their fascination with the voluptuous Angelica. When it came down to it, every man in the village noticed Angelica when she walked by and every woman hated her because of it. But these three boys loved to follow her just to watch the way her round