Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
‘ Y ou look nice, Rebecca,’ said Cristina when Rebecca entered the kitchen on Saturday morning, a little groggy after being up so late with Felipe the night before. She wondered how he kept going when he worked hours like that on a regular basis.
‘We’re thinking about going to the market in Loulé,’ said Cristina. ‘It’s really cute and they have some cool stuff.’
‘Yes,’ said Katerina. ‘We can get Felipe to drive us over. He won’t mind.’
Cristina immediately skittered off to the study where Felipe was working. Rebecca now realised just how much time he spent in there when he wasn’t in the hotel or meeting suppliers in the hotel restaurant.
‘Do you want to come, Rebecca?’ asked Ana across the breakfast table, where they were all enjoying a leisurely slow start to the day. She and Maria had most weekends off to spend with the family.
‘Why not!’ replied Rebecca, loath to give in to her hangover, especially as she’d already been wondering how she might spend the day, knowing that Will was busy today.
He’d texted earlier suggesting that he take her to La Cigale, the beautiful restaurant on the beachfront in Olhos De água, for a ‘proper’ date on Tuesday evening.
He’d made no reference to the previous evening and she couldn’t decide whether she was happy about that or not.
Part of her was ashamed she’d thrown herself at him and he’d still turned her down– she hadn’t been that drunk.
If it had been Felipe, she was sure he would have handled the situation far more graciously, making her laugh at the same time as making her feel attractive.
She sighed, conflicted as ever about her feelings.
In the meantime, a trip to the market with the girls would be the perfect distraction for the increasing confusion in her head.
‘Excellent,’ said Ana. ‘If we go now we can be back for lunch at three.’
‘Very good,’ said Maria. ‘I’ve booked a table at Adego TiCosta for all of us. Why don’t you come too, Rebecca?’
‘Er…’ Rebecca was a little uncertain. She knew that this was a whole family get-together, with Sara and her husband joining from the farm, along with Inês, her husband and their children.
‘You must,’ insisted Maria, patting her on the shoulder. ‘While you’re here, you are one of the family.’
Cristina reappeared. ‘Felipe will take us.’
There was a big kerfuffle as the two girls went running upstairs to get ready because apparently even in a market you needed to look your best.
‘Come on, Rebecca!’ called Cristina from the top of the stairs. ‘Felipe says if we’re not ready in ten minutes, he will not take us. He’s so bossy.’
Before, Rebecca would have taken his words at face value, but now she realised that his time was limited and he was doing his best to manage it as well as he could.
She also realised that unless there was a very good reason, he would never say no to his cousins’ demands on his time. He played father to the whole family.
Despite his ultimatum, Katerina was pushing her timing to the limit. Meanwhile, Ana, serene as ever, was waiting beside the car and Cristina sat in the middle of the backseat of the big Mercedes, bouncing up and down, impatient to be off.
Rebecca hadn’t seen Felipe since the early hours of the morning, and while there were still shadows under his eyes, he’d lost some of the world-weariness that had hung like a mantle around his shoulders.
He stood by the driver’s door and gave her a quick smile. ‘Morning, Rebecca.’
‘Morning. How are you today?’
‘Good.’ He gave her a perfunctory nod as if last night’s momentary weakness was a distant memory. ‘Now, where’s Katerina?’
It didn’t go unnoticed that he deliberately ignored the implicit How are things this morning? Has payroll gone through smoothly? Have you caught up on some sleep?
He bobbed his head to talk to Cristina in the back of the car. Rebecca wondered if he was a little embarrassed that he’d admitted to her that he wasn’t in full control. Conversations in the dead of night were often best left there.
At last Katerina appeared, with a head of curls, cute eye make-up and a new outfit, and headed to the front seat next to Felipe.
‘Uh-nuh,’ he said. ‘In the back with your sister. The front seat is for grown-ups. Ana or Rebecca.’
‘You go, Rebecca. I can’t let you suffer in the back with these two savages,’ said Ana, with a gracious, Madonna-esque smile.
‘Sure?’
At her assent, Rebecca got into the passenger seat, moving Felipe’s laptop case into the footwell. ‘Planning on working in the car?’ she asked.
‘Not in the car but in the café. Saves time, otherwise it’s nearly an hour round trip– twice. This way, while you’re in the market, I can finish what I need to do and we can all go to lunch together later this afternoon.’
‘Very efficient,’ she observed, once again thinking how much she’d underestimated him. ‘When do you get a day off?’ Even when they were in Lisbon he’d had meetings, and to her knowledge he had only taken the one day away from his laptop and phone.
He shrugged. The three in the back were talking nineteen to the dozen about a boy in Cristina’s class who was related to someone famous.
‘When was the last time you took a holiday?’ she asked, for some reason wanting to push him into being honest with her. She was still unpicking the fabric of deceit he’d practised on her, intimating he was nothing more than an indolent playboy.
‘Holidays are overrated. Besides, I live by one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. I don’t need to go on holiday.’
‘There’s a difference between going on holiday and taking a holiday,’ Rebecca pointed out, her voice deceptively sweet.
‘Why? Are you worried about me, querida ?’ asked Felipe with a flirtatious smile.
Rebecca paused, realising that he was deliberately deflecting.
As if last night hadn’t happened. He was going back to being pretend Felipe.
For a moment she argued with herself. What was it to her if he took a holiday?
But something tugged at her. She wanted to know more about Felipe.
Now she’d uncovered a small corner of him, she wanted to pull back the sheet and discover all of him.
Why did he hide who he really was? Surely he deserved more. Did his cousins and sisters have any idea what he did for them? Even today, dropping things to drive them to the shopping centre, again, when Cristina had asked.
She wanted to ask him that very question but knew he wouldn’t take kindly to it. She could see that he believed it was his job to protect them, to look after them and make sure they had everything they needed. But he needed to look after himself as well.
‘You’re not seeing Will today?’ he asked, glancing in the rear-view mirror as if to check that the cousins were otherwise occupied.
‘No, he’s busy, seeing some friends,’ she said. ‘But we’re going out to dinner on Tuesday.’
Felipe nodded but she could tell he wanted to say something.
‘He said he’d rather have me to himself. The friends are a married couple that were friends of Alicia’s.’
Felipe lifted a telling eyebrow. Rebecca felt a little foolish and wished she hadn’t added that information but for some reason she wanted to get it off her chest because if she were totally honest, it aggrieved her that Will didn’t want her to meet his friends.
Alicia had been dead for five years– surely that was time enough for him to move on?
‘Were you invited?’
‘No, and I feel cross about it, but I have to understand that it’s awkward.’
Felipe’s mouth clamped shut in a mutinous line, and before she could ask what was wrong, they were interrupted by Katerina asking Felipe if he’d done the rotas for next week.
‘Can I not work in the laundry? It’s so hot in there.’
‘Someone has to,’ said Felipe. ‘It’s your turn.’
‘But I hate working in there.’
‘We all have to take our turn,’ said Felipe mildly.
‘Ana doesn’t. Neither does Tia Maria.’
Felipe sighed as if he’d had this conversation many times. ‘Ana and Maria work in the kitchen– they have skills.’
‘Hmm, I have skills,’ said Katerina with a pout.
‘Not in the kitchen where I need them,’ said Felipe with a smile, although now Rebecca could see the taut lines around his mouth.
‘It’s not fair,’ said Katerina.
‘No, it’s not. I’m a big, bad, mean boss.’
‘I want to work in the spa. Inês would let me.’
‘I don’t need you in the spa. Unless you are a qualified masseuse?’
‘But Rebecca works in the spa.’
‘Rebecca also works in the hotel, teaches Pilates, and in the spa she’s on reception when Inês is doing massages.’
‘But I could do that.’
Felipe rolled his eyes. ‘Yes, you could, but I don’t need you to because I have Rebecca.’
‘Yes, but I could do it instead of Rebecca.’
‘And then what would Rebecca do?’
‘She can work in the laundry.’
‘But that’s not what I employed her to do, and her most important job is teaching Pilates because no one else can do that. If she’s not working on reception, or cleaning rooms, I would want her to teach more classes.’
Cristina started pitching in with her requests. ‘If Katerina works in the spa then I want to work in the garden. I can pick the fruit.’
‘You’d eat it all,’ piped up Katerina. Ana sat demurely and didn’t comment. Much as Rebecca was glad she wasn’t joining in, she also felt that Ana ought to be defending Felipe. Didn’t they all realise how much they owed him?
She thought of how she’d been taken for granted by her brothers at home and how her parents had never stuck up for her.
‘Why don’t you all give Felipe a break?’ she said suddenly. ‘He’s taking you to the market. You should be grateful instead of giving him grief.’
There was a shocked silence and when Felipe sent her a sidelong glance, she couldn’t tell if he was displeased or not.
Maybe she shouldn’t have interfered, but the image of him sleeping at his desk last night was embroidered into her brain, along with the inescapable new awareness that he’d spent hours working and worrying about making sure he paid all the people he was responsible for.
Maybe it was guilt that she’d misjudged him that made her stick up for him but the man deserved more from his family.
‘Sorry, Felipe,’ said Katerina, contrite.
‘Yes, sorry and thank you for taking us to Loulé,’ Cristina added.
Ana didn’t say anything but when Rebecca turned round, she could see the other woman’s face was contorted with self-recrimination, which made Rebecca regret speaking so bluntly.
‘Do you know, Felipe,’ said Cristina suddenly, ‘I wish you were my brother because then I could say that you are the best brother on the planet.’
‘Best cousin on the planet,’ suggested Kristina.
Felipe grinned. ‘Can I have a medal with that on? So that I can remind you next time you plague me.’
‘We don’t want you to get too big-headed,’ said Katerina.
‘No,’ agreed Cristina. ‘But we do love you. And I think you’re better than a big brother because I don’t think they are always very nice.’
Felipe laughed. ‘And I love you, querida. ’ He reached over and gave Rebecca’s leg a squeeze.
She wasn’t sure if it was a thank-you or ‘crisis averted’.
She hadn’t meant to cause difficulties, but her indignation on behalf of Felipe had got the better of her.
She hoped he didn’t think she was interfering.
After all, it was nothing to do with her.
Rebecca didn’t get the chance to speak to Felipe on her own until they arrived. The three cousins skipped ahead while Rebecca’s senses reeled from the colours and scents of the busy fruit and vegetable stalls and the herb and spice sellers they walked past.
‘I’m sorry about earlier,’ she said quickly. ‘It was none of my business.’
‘No, it wasn’t,’ he said. ‘I never want them to feel beholden to me, but I am grateful to you for changing the subject. It’s one of those perennial family arguments.
Every time I produce the rota, they complain.
It was always Pai and Tio’ s wish that everyone in the family was involved.
The hotel belongs to all of us. If we all work, I can afford more for the family. ’
Rebecca understood this but still felt that the cousins should be more appreciative of what Felipe did and had done for them.
‘Maybe you should ask them to arrange the rotas.’
Felipe spat out a laugh, despite her observation being made in all seriousness. ‘And how do you see that going? It would result in absolute chaos.’
‘Exactly,’ she said, giving him a level gaze. ‘But it would give them some insight. They might see how hard it is and maybe stop complaining.’
He paused and studied her. ‘Actually, that’s not a bad idea.’ His eyes twinkled. ‘I like your thinking.’
A little glow of satisfaction lit up inside her that she’d managed to help him solve another problem…
and there she went again, trying to make herself indispensable.
Was she destined to keep falling into the same trap, of trying to meet someone else’s needs and what they wanted instead of being herself?