The House that Florence Left (Portuguese Paradise #4)

Chapter 8

Bella fell into a deep sleep, accompanied by her rainforest noise, because getting used to the ‘sound of the silence’, as she referred to it when talking to her parents, wasn’t as easy as she’d hoped.

She woke slowly to the sound of the cats skittering loudly on the tile floors, then running up and down the stairs over and over again. It sounded like they were doing cat parkour, or a feline fun run. Then there was silence until they launched themselves on the bed, meowing in unison.

‘What... ?’ Bella sleepily checked the clock. It was 6.45 a.m. ‘I was hoping for a lie-in, you two. Don’t need to walk Deidre till nine.’

The cats jumped off the bed and stood next to the door onto the balcony.

‘Why don’t you go out of the cat flap? Why am I talking to my cats — no, the cats — as if they can understand me?’

She lay flat on her back for a moment, attempting to wake up enough to get out of bed.

And then she heard it — a fast, loud clicking noise coming from somewhere above her. Her mind raced, trying to identify what it could be before she had to go out and see for herself.

The sound of wings flapping startled Bella even more. She’d never heard wings make that much noise before. If they were wings, they were very big wings.

Jumping down to the floor, she pulled on her wrap and walked slowly over to the balcony door, wanting to know what was outside, but not sure what she would find.

She opened the blinds. A large stork was standing on the balcony holding a twig in its beak.

Bella stared for a moment. The stork remained completely still.

‘Oh my goodness. You beautiful thing,’ she murmured.

It flew upward and over the house out of sight. She stepped outside and looked around. The twig landed on the floor in front of her.

She looked up and gasped.

The stork was gliding slowly onto the roof of the outbuilding, perching next to another stork, which was waiting elegantly next to a half-built nest hanging on the chimney stack, their long-limbed silhouettes illuminated in the early-morning sun.

‘What does this mean?’ She glanced at the cats, who were now both sitting at her feet in silence. ‘Are these Aunt Flo’s storks? Are they moving back in?’

Bella couldn’t move, captivated as the birds worked, wishing she had brought her phone so she could take a photograph, but unwilling to move in case she missed any of what she was watching.

One of them flapped its wings, launching itself effortlessly into the air, followed by the second, and she stared at them flying into the distance, gliding over the treetops until they disappeared from view.

Bella ran into the bedroom and picked up the phone, wanting to share the news, but unsure who to tell. So, she wrote, The storks are back , found Hugo’s number and sent it.

Going downstairs in a kind of daze, she made herself a cup of tea, then noticed the picture again.

The amble by its very definition does not have to have an actual firm destination, often fizzling out in a café, on a beach, or in a shop en route. Although it isn’t really en route as you are not actually going anywhere. You are ambling.

‘Still don’t know what that means. But I am going somewhere, though,’ she told it. ‘I’m making this place better. Whatever that means. And those big birds, beautiful though they may be, must not be a distraction.’ She took the drink outside and sat on a chair on the patio, listening to the waves crash in the distance and wondering where the storks should go on the spreadsheet. Were they an issue to solve before she sold the house, or were they just there? And should they really be described as an issue? Because how could anything that wonderful be an issue?

And what would happen to them once someone else owned the house?

Bella shivered. Then took a sip of her tea.

* * *

Elena answered the intercom. ‘ Olá , Bella. Come in. Do you want some breakfast? I have made Will some.’

‘Oh, hello. I mean—’ she searched her brain for the right Portuguese phrase ‘— bom dia. Como está? ’

The door clicked open. ‘ Tudo bem , Bella ,’ replied Elena.

‘ Obrigada ,’ murmured Bella, feeling pleased with herself, then walked up the path to the front door.

Paul Anka singing ‘Put Your Head on My Shoulder’ drifted outside onto the patio along with the smell of pancakes.

‘The door’s open,’ shouted Elena.

Bella walked in.

Elena was wearing a pink floral pinny over a light green sundress and was standing next to Will holding a plate stacked with pancakes. He was sitting in a chair with a table in front of him, set with a teapot and cup, orange juice and a vase with one pink rose on it. It looked like a scene from a 1950s film.

Deidre was gazing longingly at the food.

Will looked confused.

‘He needs to rest.’ Elena put the plate down. ‘He can’t walk very well at the moment, and I feel responsible so am making sure he eats properly.’

‘I’m fine.’ Will shook his head. ‘I eat out most of the time. Bread and crackers is all right by me when I’m home.’ He picked up his knife and fork.

‘Oh, Will.’ Elena giggled girlishly. ‘Bread and crackers...’

‘The storks are back.’ Bella hadn’t meant to say that first. She’d planned on asking how Will was and then checking if now was the right time to take Deidre for a walk.

His face cracked into a wide smile. ‘Brilliant,’ he said. ‘On the outbuilding roof?’

‘Yes. What do I do? Are they safe? I mean, what do I do?’ Bella looked from one to the other.

‘Nothing,’ said Will.

‘Nothing,’ said Elena.

‘Oh. I couldn’t find anything on the internet about it either.’

‘Just enjoy it.’ Will began to eat.

‘Will there be babies, do you think? Is that why they’re back?’

‘Maybe. Or perhaps they’ve just been displaced by some building work somewhere. Or they could just have wanted to come home.’

‘So, they are living with me now?’

‘Looks like it,’ said Will. ‘Beautiful creatures.’

Elena watched him, then poured him some tea.

‘What about...’ Bella searched to find the right words. ‘Bird mess?’

‘No more than any other bird.’ Elena looked thoughtful and turned to Will.

‘Although they are very, very big birds.’ He smiled at her.

‘Right. OK.’ Bella sighed. ‘I’ll take Deidre for her walk then.’ At the word ‘walk’ the dog jumped up and trotted to the door.

Bella put the lead on, took a breath and inwardly repeated, I am a capable woman who can deal with this. I get things done. I get things done.

The dog dragged her down the path and onto the lane.

‘Beach?’ she asked, then put on her language app and tried to focus on that rather than her ever-growing family of wildlife.

* * *

After dropping Deidre back at Will’s, she headed to the house, ringing her parents as she did. Her father answered the phone.

‘And how is my only daughter enjoying her Portuguese adventure?’

‘I wouldn’t call it an adventure, Dad. It does feel a bit disorganised, to be honest, rather than an adventure.’

‘Oh. My. God!’ He guffawed then began to cough. ‘That will never do. You haven’t been disorganised since you were a toddler.’

‘I’m not disorganised, Dad.’ Her face broke into a grin. ‘It’s everything else. Random cats, a dog, and now storks. They’ve all moved in.’

‘Make sure you get some human company too. You know what you’re like. Solitary.’

‘I’m not solitary. Am I?’

‘You just work too hard.’

‘No I don’t.’ Her voice began to rise petulantly, a reminder of her teenage self.

‘Yes you do.’

‘No I don’t.’

‘Wish I could come and visit.’ His voice got quieter.

‘You can. We’ve got nearly six months before I can actually sell it. Or rent it.’

‘I’m not sure I’ll be able to travel again, Bella. I’m just being realistic.’

‘Plenty of people with mobility issues travel, Dad.’

‘I’ve got to get back to the computer,’ he said abruptly. ‘I’ve got a deadline. Send some photos.’

He rang off. Tears pricked her eyes. ‘I’ll get the money to adapt the house and build that extension. And then everything will be better,’ she told the phone.

She went through her bag and found the card the builders had given her the night before and called the number. It went straight to voicemail. ‘Hi. This is Bella Creswell. We met yesterday evening when I was with Jorge. I’m interested in finding out more about what you do. Are you able to come over to the house in the next few days? Many thanks. Bye.’

Then she went home, opened the laptop and added: Appointment made with developers re info on sale price and other information.

* * *

She sat down at a table in the café, took a notebook and pen out of her bag and looked for Hugo. He was talking to a young couple at another table, so she waved at Quiet Julian and said slowly, ‘ Olá. Um gal?o se faz favor .’

‘A gal?o ? Yes?’

‘Yes.’ Bella nodded, rather pleased with herself for remembering the words without relistening to her app.

‘Where is Deidre?’ Hugo walked past with a tray.

And hello to you , thought Bella. How are you? But instead she said, ‘Will was missing her so I’m back to simply dog-walking duties.’

‘Ah. One less animal to look after.’

‘Actually. I’ve got storks. I sent you a message. I thought I should tell you. I thought you should know. I don’t know why...’

‘Storks?’ He put the tray down.

‘I’ve made it sound like I’ve got some kind of uncomfortable condition like—’ She was trying not to say piles, but that was all she could summon up, so she stopped speaking and took a breath. ‘They arrived this morning. They’ve moved into a nest on the roof of the outbuilding and have now flown off somewhere.’

‘Probably to Ikea. There’s one not far away.’ He smiled, his eyes crinkling attractively again. ‘Making it nice and homely, you know.’

Bella giggled as Quiet Julian put her drink down on the table. ‘But what do I do?’

‘Nothing. They are just coming home. Their nest would have been there even when they weren’t. No one went on the outbuilding roof to check after Flo died, to be honest.’

‘So they are just there? That’s what Will and Elena said.’

‘Yes. Aren’t you excited? They are beautiful.’

Bella picked up the gal?o . ‘I’m just a bit surprised, that’s all. There were a few pigeons around the flat in London but they are very much smaller than storks.’

Hugo sat down opposite her. ‘Flo called them Harry and Sally. She loved the film.’

‘Harry and Sally, Yin and Yang, Deidre — though I’m only walking Deidre.’ She took a sip of the coffee and put it back on the table. ‘I haven’t even got a goldfish at home.’

‘Bella.’ Hugo leaned forward and Bella experienced the full force of his dark-chocolate eyes and rare smile. ‘You haven’t got them. They have got you.’

‘No. They live with me. Temporarily. They haven’t got me.’ Bella picked up the drink again and took another sip. ‘They are quite difficult to place in the spreadsheet though.’

Hugo stared at her for a moment. ‘Why would you put them on a spreadsheet? You can’t quantify them.’

‘I have to.’ She shrugged. ‘Apparently I have to “make it better” according to the will, so how will that be established if I don’t quantify things?’

He smiled and leaned back. ‘We live in different worlds, Bella. I live in one where you can measure some things and some things are instinctive.’

‘Yes, some things are instinctive, but the contents of a will are not.’ She put her drink down. ‘Talking of the house and wills and making things better — do you have any idea what’s planted on that land behind the house?’

‘That’s very specific.’

Bella wondered if he was making fun of her or if he was just making a statement of fact.

‘That’s because I want to sell the house, but I may have to get a tenant in for a while if the market isn’t right. So if I keep the house and keep the land as it is I’ll have to employ someone to — what’s the word — tend it — or I could just put grass and flowers on it. And I need to know how much all that would cost to help me make my decision.’

‘You are very thorough.’ He stood up. ‘I have to get back to work. I do have some information somewhere — my parents advised Flo on what to plant when she first bought the house. I know she’s got some root vegetables and strawberries as I used to help her sometimes. I’ll look for it.’

‘And if I kept it like it is, what would I do with the crop? Is there a crop?’ But Hugo was already walking to another table, and Bella was beginning to wonder if there was just too much information to collect to help her make her decision and if she could magically find her instinct somewhere. And if she did, whether she would believe it anyway.

‘Oh Geno...’ The Dexys Midnight Runners song suddenly ran through her mind. She cleared her throat and picked up her gal?o . Instinct? She almost laughed. She had followed her first instinct with Gino. And look what happened there.