Chapter 26
Bella sat under the tree and looked at the house. Its newly painted walls glowed white in the sun, the deep red bougainvillea cascading opulently from the window boxes, the blue wooden door scrubbed and cleaned and brought back to life.
The cats lay sprawled on the terracotta tiles on the patio and the storks flew back and forth from the nest on the roof of the bright yellow outbuilding.
‘So?’ Hugo sat next to her. ‘Do you think you’ve “made it better”? I mean, the house.’
She lay her head on his shoulder. ‘Who knows. But I like it... Actually, I love it.’
‘How does it compare to your spreadsheet?’ Her father nudged her with his walking stick and laughed.
‘Spreadsheet?’ She looked up at him and smiled. ‘What’s that?’
‘It is beautiful. Great-Aunt Flo would be so proud.’ Her mother put a tray on the table and handed Bella and Hugo tall glasses of homemade lemonade.
‘I was hoping it was beer o’clock!’ Will wandered over from the barbecue next to the swimming pool, followed by Deidre wagging her tail happily. Elena walked out of the house carrying some plates and put them on the table. She and Will sat next to Bella as Ignacio and Minnie carried a bowl of lemons they’d picked from the orchard over.
‘Quite a crop.’ Ignacio beamed.
‘More than enough for some gin and tonics.’ Minnie looked at them all. ‘Are we sitting on the floor now?’
‘I think,’ said Ignacio, joining the others, ‘if our knees can take it this is where we get the best view of the house.’
Minnie shrugged. ‘Well, if that’s the case.’ She held Ignacio’s hand and sank down.
Francisco leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, smiling.
Layla closed her car door and joined them, handing Bella a bunch of lavender. ‘I picked this from my garden this morning. I just love the smell of it.’
Bella buried her nose in the flowers and breathed them in. ‘Clean and clear and happy,’ she said.
Layla sat next to Minnie. ‘You should be proud of yourself, Bella.’ She looked around. ‘You took that leap and you’re starting again.’
‘I’m proud and frightened at the same time.’ Bella edged closer to Hugo. He squeezed her hand as Duarte’s car edged up the track.
‘He’s driven down from Cascais today.’ Minnie watched as he parked. ‘Said something about having to get something important.’
‘ Olá! Boa tarde! ’ he shouted, climbing out of the car. ‘I’m sorry I’m late.’ He took a bag from the back seat and walked over towards them, pausing to look at the house. ‘ Muito muito bem. E lindo .’ He touched Bella’s shoulder. ‘It’s lovely. It’s beautiful. It’s perfect.’ He sat down next to Elena. ‘Can you pass this to Bella?’ He gave her the bag, which she passed along the line until it got to Bella.
‘It’s from our friends Alice Mathews Simal and her husband Luis. They are artists. She sold her house in London many years ago and has made her life here. Just like you.’
‘Alice — she created the ambling print?’
Duarte nodded and Bella took a picture and a tile out of the bag.
‘Only you haven’t sold your house in London. So not exactly like you.’ Duarte was still smiling.
She looked at the picture. In the middle it said, ‘Bella Creswell learns the art of the amble.’ And it was surrounded by tiny blue patterned Portuguese tiles. In the corner was a signature: Luis Simal for Bella.
Hugo laughed. ‘I think you may have officially learned to amble, Bella.’ He took her head gently in his hands and kissed her.
Bella’s heart fluttered happily.
‘There’s something else.’ Her dad nudged her with his foot. ‘I’m dying to see what it is.’
Bella took it out of the bag and unwrapped it. It was a blue, yellow and white tile, with the words ‘ O Ninho ’ painted in the middle, storks soaring through the sky around the letters.
There was a note stuck to the back of it. She took it off and looked at it.
To our homes and all they mean to us. Alice
No one spoke.
Bella stood and looked at the house. This belongs to me , she thought. Or do I belong to it? Then, walking to the gate, she felt light and free as if she was floating in the air, and stood where the shattered tile on the wall used to be.
‘Here,’ she said, turning around. ‘It needs to go here. Can anyone help?’
They all gathered around her and watched as Hugo handed her a screwdriver and some screws. ‘I was mending the table, so I’ve got these with me.’
She looked at him.
‘You can take it from here.’ He smiled encouragingly at her.
‘Can I help?’ Francisco guided her hand to the wall and squeezed it tight.
She slowly fixed the tile, then stood back and turned around. Everyone cheered, and Bella turned again, looking along the drive to the house, then edging backwards until she was standing under the shade of the tree that stood outside the Nest, its roots stretching out along her drive and up the track to the road. She put her arms around it, picturing Florence and Francisco, imagining them together and what could have been. ‘I wish you could have both made it better,’ she whispered. ‘For yourselves.’
‘I have found my nephew again.’ Francisco ran his hand along the tile. ‘I’m now the trustee of his charity. It should have been Flo, but...’ He took a breath. ‘It’s given me a new lease of life. I have something back to remind me of the love of my life. So—’ He took Bella’s hand and kissed it. ‘You have made it better. You have made it better for all of us.’
Bella put her arms around Hugo as Duarte handed out glasses of champagne.
One of the storks flew from the outhouse roof and landed in front of them, stretching its wings wide. It shook its head and seemed to stare at Bella.
Bella smiled. ‘Hello Sally. Or Harry.’
It turned around and flew back to the roof, where the other storks were standing, watching.
‘Look!’ Bella pointed at them. ‘All the family is here joining in the celebrations. We’re all here. Here at the house that Florence left.’
Duarte gave her some champagne and she held it up. ‘To Flo.’
‘To Flo,’ they repeated.
Bella smiled. ‘Thank you Flo for making it better. Thank you.’
THE END