Chapter 49
Chapter Forty-Nine
JOEY
Joey got ready for the party, her head in a daze. Vanessa and Carl had gone back to Vanessa’s apartment to call their parents and tell them what they’d found.
Joey had some time to herself. In the past, she’d never felt she had enough time alone. But in the quiet moments in her apartment, all she felt was Vanessa’s absence.
She dressed in light blue cotton trousers and a dark red shirt with capped sleeves.
She had spent the day trying to avoid asking Vanessa her plans for the Birmingham cafe, knowing in her heart that she just didn’t want her to leave.
But she also knew it wasn’t fair to say that to her.
Today was the day when Vanessa had to put down the money for the premises.
Her phone pinged. She expected it to be Carmen, reminding her for the fifth time when she needed to help with the set-up.
It wasn’t Carmen.
It was her father: “Joey. I’m sorry. I should never have asked you. I am sober right now, I promise. My cash problems aren’t yours to solve. I want to be in touch with you in any way I can. On your terms. x”
Joey’s knees buckled and she sat on her sofa, rereading the message.
She still wasn’t sure she could trust him.
But at least he was saying the right words.
She had the sense again of all her walls crumbling.
Everything she had carefully built up to protect herself.
Slowly, but surely, all her worlds were colliding.
She held her head in her hands, waiting for the fear to come. The fear that she had kept tightly contained in a box. A box that seemed to have exploded open.
But it didn’t come.
Joey ran her fingers through her hair and sat back. She took some deep breaths. This was different. She didn’t feel afraid. She knew she didn’t know what the path ahead held, but she was starting to see that being safe didn’t mean having to be in control of everything safe.
She thought about the bakery, about what it might be like, being the boss.
She smiled. She had lots of ideas for how she could make her spiritual home even better than it already was.
She knew it would be hard work. She’d not really had to worry about the business side of things until now, but she knew Carmen did well enough, financially – the woman went on a lavish cruise once a year, after all.
And she liked the idea of Carmen putting herself first for a change and spending time with her beloved grandchildren.
Joey thought about her father. He had not been a good or safe father.
But he was an addict. She knew in her heart that addiction was a disease.
That knowledge wouldn’t heal the scars she carried.
And she knew that she would carry them always.
But at the same time, she wanted to see if there was some level of relationship to retrieve from the wreckage of her childhood.
She thought about Anna. They had been so young at university.
Joey’s feelings had been so much deeper than her friend’s.
She’d read an article recently that said that adolescence could last into a person’s thirties.
She chuckled to herself. She could believe it.
She and Anna had only been twenty-one. Perhaps she could let go of that bad experience.
Perhaps she could move beyond that pain. Her mind raced.
Her phone beeped again. She picked it up. This time it was Carmen, demanding to know where she was and when she would be turning up to help. She tapped out a reply, pocketed her phone, and left her apartment.
The early evening sun was strong and the Carrer de Petritxol seemed to emit heat from its cobbles. There were multicoloured flags decorating the street, and a number of Catalan flags, too. Slowly, tables were being brought out of cafes and bars.
“I cannot believe you would let an old woman do this alone.” Carmen was struggling out of the bakery door with a small table.
“Put that down,” said Joey, rushing to her side. “You are so impatient. It’s ages until people start arriving.”
“Well, I didn’t know if you were ever going to turn up. I thought you might still be in your love nest.” Carmen’s faux gruffness made Joey laugh.
“No love nest for me. Vanessa’s with her brother. They had some family stuff to take care of.” Joey lifted the table and moved it easily into the street. “And she had to sign the contract for her new cafe.”
“Ridiculous that she’s even thinking of that, still.” Carmen rolled her eyes. “Young people are really quite stupid.”
Joey gave her a warning look, but said nothing. She busied herself, moving all the tables and chairs onto the street. Further down, outside a small record store, a small band was setting up with guitars and drums.
“Can I help?” Vanessa had appeared wearing another of the gorgeous floaty dresses Joey so appreciated. It gave her an ethereal quality, as if she wasn’t part of the real world.
For a moment Joey was lost for words. She wanted to tell Vanessa everything that was going through her mind. She wanted to explain the change she seemed to be experiencing. More than that, she wanted to kiss Vanessa.
In the end she went with practicality.
“I think the coca needs to go into the oven, actually,” she said, jerking her head towards the bakery. “I’ll come and help you with it.”
“I think I’ll need it,” Vanessa replied, with a giggle.
“Your wish is my command.” Joey and Vanessa walked through to the kitchen, where the coca they had prepared earlier was on the largest baking tray they could find in the kitchen.
“It really is a monster,” said Vanessa.
“It is,” Joey agreed. “Definitely the biggest I’ve ever made.”
“And the glace fruit makes it look so pretty.” Vanessa leaned over to breath in the aroma of the spiced enriched dough.
“Ok.” Joey made a show of stretching her arm muscles. “I think we’ll need to do this between us. You take that side. Yes, like that. Ok, and I’ll take this one. Yes. One, two, three, lift!”
“I guess it’ll take a bit longer to bake than the usual ones,” Vanessa mused once the oven door was shut.
“I reckon,” said Joey. “But we’ll need to keep a close eye on it. Underdone, and it will be claggy.”
“Ooh, that’s a great word,” said Vanessa with a grin. “Claggy. I wonder if there’s a Spanish equivalent?”
“We’ll have to ask Dani,” said Joey. “She’ll be here later. And Pedro’s back at last from his work trip. He’s missed all the drama.”
“Yeah.” Vanessa nodded. “Dani was telling me he’s been promising to make it up to her in all the ways for the next few weeks.”
“He better had,” said Joey.
“It’s weird,” said Vanessa. “I feel like Dani and I are family now, in a strange kind of way. Obviously we’re not related in the traditional way, but our great grandmothers were together.”
Joey put her arms around Vanessa and hugged her close. “I completely understand that. Family takes many forms.”