He was on top of the world. Her last words to him, her promise, felt like a vow. Like a solemn oath that had left him anything but sober. Porco felt drunk as he walked through the fair.
His footfalls were aimless. His only goal, his only care was to will the hands of the clock to move faster. He itched to reach up and push the sundown, tucking it under the cover of darkness so that night might rise, and Jules would return to him.
Jules, his heart sighed.
What an appropriate name for her. She had been a jewel in his eyes. He’d known she was precious after his first glance at her. When he’d come to stand before her, her entire being had twinkled at him, and he’d become lost in her shimmer. Sparking his every nerve ending to life.
Jules, his mind exhaled.
For as long as he'd been dating, he'd never told another girl about the spark he'd felt when he'd met them. Thinking back on it, Porco started to wonder if what he'd felt all those other times had actually been anything other than idle curiosity. Nothing had ignited him before, like what he'd felt standing in her light.
Jules, whispered the hairs along his forearms.
With those eyes flecked with gold at the rim. With that skin of amber and lips of rubies. Her white teeth had flashed pearls as she smiled shyly at him. But he got the sense that she wasn’t shy. Only as startled as he was to feel the undeniable pull between them.
He'd seen the moment she'd felt something between them. Her eyes had gone wide with surprise as his had done. She couldn't deny it. Not even after Rosalind's words when she'd turned away from him. That would be the last time his jewel would walk away from him. Porco vowed it.
If she’d doubted him then he would never give her heart another reason to falter, her feet another cause to back away. Porco would show Jules that no other woman would ever touch her shine.
"Hey, Porco. Wanna come on a ride with us?"
Porco looked up to find two women rising up into the sky. A honey blonde girl in a too-tight tank top. And an ebony-skinned brunette with a cowboy hat pulled over her long, wavy tresses. They sat in one booth of the Ferris wheel. The ride lifted them up off the ground, rising toward the sun. Had it been another day, Porco might have leaped onto the ride, causing it to rock. Causing the women to giggle with delight at his daring.
He turned away from them and moved on. That ride, those girls, neither could lift him any higher off the ground than the mere thought of Jules’s return. But the sun hadn’t given a single inch of its position in the sky.
Jules, his entire being wanted to howl.
"How's Rosalind?"
Porco stumbled to a halt. Rusty leaned against the railing of a petting zoo. The words Vance Ranch were proudly displayed along the fencing. Inside the zoo, young calves roamed the perimeter. Their heads dipped low as their mouths fed at the bales of hay laid next to the wooden posts. Small, eager hands reached between the rails to pet heads and ears.
In the next enclosure were adult cows. Leaning against those rails, watching the cattle eat, were adult humans. Those buyers sized up the beasts, measuring their worth for an upcoming auction.
Rusty cleared his throat. Then snapped his fingers for good measure. The man looked over at Porco expectantly. Rusty had asked him a question. For the life of him, Porco couldn’t remember the place or name Rusty had uttered.
"Who?" said Porco.
Rusty lifted his brows at the single word. He turned his puzzled gaze to Spinelli, who’d stepped up to join them. Spinelli’s brows drew together as he regarded Porco, understanding in his intelligent gaze.
“He’s already found someone new,” Spinelli announced.
Rusty shook his head, pressing his lips together with what Porco knew was disappointment in him. Rusty hadn’t dated much. He’d only been with one woman his entire life.
"Not a new girl,” Porco corrected. “The girl. The last girl. The One."
Spinelli rolled his eyes. Porco was sure it was a perfect three-hundred-and-sixty-degree circle of disbelief. Rusty looked away. The man’s belief in The One had been damaged by the divorce papers his estranged wife had sent to him months ago. They sat awaiting his signature, tucked away in his duffel bag.
"I'm serious," insisted Porco. "I've never felt anything like this before. And she felt it too."
"What? The magical spark.” Spinelli wiggled his fingers as though at the sky before letting them fall to his sides. “There's no such thing. It’s just a heart palpitation. A biological response caused by stress, exertion, caffeine, alcohol, or hormones. The only way that would be magic would be if you’re experiencing menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause."
Spinelli had to ruin everything was science and logic. Porco often wondered if the man was nothing more than a robot underneath those clothes. His brawn. as well as his brain too often resembled the cold of metal.
"No,” Porco said with certainty. “What's between me and this woman is definitely magic."
“When did you meet her?” asked Rusty.
“Ten minutes ago.”
Again, another look between his two friends.
“What do you know about her?” asked Rusty.
“She’s beautiful,” Porco grinned. But the grin slipped as Spinelli opened his mouth, preparing to rain on Porco’s parade. “She’s responsible.”
The only reason she’d left him was to handle a family matter. So, she held family in high regard. His mother always said to watch how his potential partner treated their parents to see how they would treat him. Although, Porco wasn’t sure if Jules had gone off to help her parents or siblings or other relatives.
“Is that it?” asked Spinelli. “Is that all you know about this one.”
“The One,” Porco corrected. He knew that and that Jules had admitted that she felt it too. That was all he needed to know. "Love isn't science. It's emotion. I felt that spark with her. No, it was an explosion. And she felt it too. She told me so."
The wariness in Spinelli’s eyes had Porco clenching his fist. The two of them had never come to blows before, but there was a first time for everything.
“What’s her name?” asked Rusty, stepping between the two men.
“Jules.”
"Jules?" said Rusty. "Do you mean Jules Capulano?”
Porco frowned. They hadn't exchanged last names. But that didn't matter because one day her last name would be his.
“Jules Capulano?” said Spinelli, his gaze gone from wary to worry. “From the Verona Commune?"
She hadn't told him where she lived. Porco didn't like that his friends knew more about his dream girl than he did.
"Brown skin?” asked Rusty. “Long dreadlocks."
Porco nodded, though he didn't like that Rusty used the word dread to describe her hair. "Yeah, that's her."
Rusty winced and turned away. Spinelli whistled low and wrinkled his nose.
“What?” demanded Porco. What could they possibly have to say against the angel who had set his entire being aflame?
"You know she's vegan?" said Spinelli.
"So, you're racist now?" Porco accused. He wasn’t entirely sure what the word meant. He didn't care what race or religion she was.
“Vegan means she doesn’t eat meat,” said Rusty.
Was that all? Most women were picky when it came to what was on their plates. “So, we’ll eat seafood when we go out.”
Again, Rusty and Spinelli shared another look that left Porco feeling on the outs about the woman he intended to woo.
"There's no way a relationship between you two would work," said Spinelli. "You're far too different."
So, both of his friends were prejudiced. Great. This was quickly turning into a scene from Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Which made even less sense since both of his friends had mixed heritage in their blood. Spinelli’s mother was from South America and his father from Italy. Where Rusty’s mother had immigrated from Thailand when she was young.
"Doesn't matter to me what color her skin is or what god she worships or what she eats,” said Porco. "She's the one for me, and that's all there is to it."