The House that Florence Left (Portuguese Paradise #4)

Chapter 9

‘I Feel Good’ blasted out of the yoga studio so loudly that Bella could hear it as soon as she stepped out of her car. She almost danced up the steps into The House on the Hill and grinned at Ignacio, who was rushing out of the office after Elena, who was strutting down the steps.

‘ Olá , Bella!’ she shouted. ‘I feel great after my meditation. Enjoy!’ She climbed into her car.

‘Great motivator.’ Bella grinned at Ignacio.

He stood in the doorway shaking his head. ‘She took the remote control to the sound system and turned it on once the last meditation class left. She waved it at me when she walked out.’ He moved a couple of plants on one of the tables next to the door. ‘I saw her put something here... Aha!’ He picked up a remote control and held it aloft triumphantly. ‘I had “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong ready to greet my students to set the right tone.’ He switched the music off. ‘I really don’t know what’s got into her.’

‘I do!’ shouted Minnie from the office.

Bella followed Ignacio into the studio.

‘I think there’s a man.’ Minnie came in behind them.

Ignacio unfolded his yoga mat. ‘What man?’

‘I don’t know. She won’t confirm it is a man. She says she’s just on a new HRT patch.’

‘If there is a man, wouldn’t she just tell you instead of using a kind of musical code?’ sighed Ignacio, sounding slightly exasperated.

‘Well it could be someone we know and she doesn’t want any feedback.’ Minnie bit her lip. She looked like she was enjoying herself. ‘She’s kissed a huge number of frogs in her pursuit of perfect love since her divorce, she’s always looking for feedback.’

‘If she says it is Hormone Replacement Therapy, Minnie, then it must be.’ Ignacio switched on a diffuser, which began to puff scent into the air.

‘She’s my best friend and it isn’t.’ Minnie turned to Bella. ‘Do you have any idea? She said there was an incident near your house the other day. And—’ she lowered her voice ‘—I noticed a rolled-up floral pinny in her bag. She’s never worn a pinny in her life. She hasn’t had any contact with a saucepan for years. She’s Elena, the queen of the microwave.’

Bella shook her head. ‘I don’t have any idea.’ Which was true, as all she had seen was Elena cooking pancakes for Will. And she had also witnessed her wearing a pink dress and floral pinny. And the day before that, a yellow pleated skirt. Which could be what she normally wore. She didn’t think it was but was not prepared to speculate.

‘I’m not sure I believe you either.’ Minnie smiled.

‘Bella is a paying customer, Minnie.’ Ignacio took her hand and led her towards the door. ‘You can’t insult her like that.’

‘You’re part of the family though, Bella, because of Flo.’

‘That doesn’t mean you can ask questions like that.’ Ignacio shook his head.

‘I can. Elena is my friend. And before we met, she was very much interested in my private life. So, it’s payback time.’ Minnie laughed. ‘I just think Bella’s not prepared to say anything as she doesn’t know us well enough yet, do you? But you will.’ She waved at Bella as Ignacio closed the door behind her.

‘I can’t apologise enough.’ Ignacio went through his iPhone to select the background music. ‘But do you know anything? Is there a man? I’m not sure I can cope, tracking the progress of whatever this is through her choice of music.’

‘Honestly I’ve only met Elena once or twice, so...’

‘She was recently divorced when I met Minnie. And if I may say so, a little bit vulnerable.’ He touched his nose. ‘Don’t tell her I said that. And she made a few not-very-good choices. Minnie would tell her what she thought. She didn’t like it.’

Bella heard the door open behind her as another student came in.

‘Well, I...’ Bella was searching for the right words.

‘Now she’s into birdwatching and keeps trying to persuade us to go. I mean a bird is a bird, isn’t it? I can see them any time of day almost anywhere. Oh, talking of which—’ he broke into a smile again ‘—I hear the storks are back. That is wonderful.’

‘Ah, yes, they are. How did you know?’

He switched the music on as some more students came into the room. ‘I don’t know actually. Word gets around. Now, I’d better start the class.’

Bella took a mat from the cupboard, put it on the floor and lay down, while working out some useful wording just in case anyone else asked her about Elena, a bit like the PR department at work would write a statement in a press release.

* * *

‘Is that one of the houses near the east end of the boardwalk?’ The estate agent was looking at a map on her computer.

‘It’s a bit further on, a few hundred metres back from the café, there. ’ Bella pointed at a dot by the sea.

‘Yes. Lovely spot. I don’t think anything has come up for sale in that area for a very long time. It’s so idyllic no one wants to move. It just means any valuation will be a bit broader than if we had something similar to compare it to.’

‘Do you have information on what needs to be done legally if I want to sell? Are there any taxes that need to be paid, for example?’ Bella opened her pad and wrote ‘ Costs of selling ’ on it.

‘I’ve got a leaflet here.’ The estate agent took a glossy pamphlet out of her drawer and gave it to Bella. She closed her notepad and put the pen away.

‘Is the market buoyant?’

‘Oh yes. Properties are being snapped up. Demand is definitely outstripping supply. Would you like me to arrange for someone to come round for a look?’

‘Yes please. I’m also considering keeping the house and renting it out.’

The estate agent took another pamphlet from the drawer and gave it to Bella. ‘We can give you an idea of what you can get for rental when we come round.’

‘Yes please, but selling is my preference.’

The agent opened the calendar on her computer. ‘How about next Monday at 11 a.m.?’

Bella checked the calendar on her phone before she remembered there was nothing in it next week apart from every day — Walk Deidre TBC.

‘Absolutely fine with me.’ Bella typed the information into her calendar and felt a satisfying sense of achievement, then walked into two more agents and made more appointments for the same day.

Deciding to treat herself to a celebratory salad, she found a table at a café in a tiny square where a jacaranda tree was in full bloom. The sound of Frank Sinatra singing ‘The Thought of You’ oozed from inside and she looked up into the branches of the tree, at the purple blossom and deep green leaves, and wondered how long the tree outside the gate would blossom for, and the one opposite the house in her garden. She had begun to enjoy sitting underneath its pink glow drinking tea in the afternoon. Her mind drifted to her flat in London and the view of the cherry trees lining the street, a blanket of pink when they burst into bloom. She realised she was going to miss it this year and felt a little sad.

Since when did I get emotional about trees? she thought.

The waitress came over. ‘ Olá, bom dia . What would you like?’

Bella scanned the menu and tried to order it in Portuguese. ‘ Quero ...’ she said slowly, looking at the waitress for encouragement, who was smiling and nodding.

‘ Um gal?o, um... pequena garrafa ? Bottle? Yes... sim ? de água com gás .’ She said the last four words quickly in case she got confused mid-sentence.

‘Right, a gal?o and a small bottle of sparkling water. é tudo? ’

Bella rifled through her memory, but she couldn’t work out what ‘ é tudo ’ meant.

‘Is that all, is what I mean.’ The waitress smiled kindly.

‘Ah, no, actually.’ Bella ran her finger down the menu. ‘ Uma salada de atum... por favor? Faz favor ... please?’

‘A tuna salad, of course. And any of those are fine for saying please.’

‘Thank you.’ Bella leaned back in her chair, relaxing a bit, happy she’d achieved two things this morning — organising the valuations of the house and ordering food and drink in very basic Portuguese.

Frank Sinatra began singing ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’ and she logged onto her emails, scrolling down to the most recent one from work sent to her private account.

From: Lulu Maclaine, HR

SUBJECT: Application to work remotely from Portugal

Hi Bella,

I hope this finds you well.

We just need another document from you so we can approve your request to work from Portugal. Can you send a copy of your passport? It has to be a hard copy verified by a legal representative in Portugal. Unfortunately, the digital copy you sent isn’t acceptable.

Everything else is in place, so once we’ve got that it should go through very quickly and you’ll be able to return to work on 1 May as we’d hoped. We have also fast-tracked your digital passport so you can legally work in Portugal, and that has arrived too.

I have also attached the last form you need to fill in so you can now work for three days a week instead of five due to your family circumstances. When you wish to go back to full-time, we will need to fill in more forms.

I’ve attached all the correct HR wording and protocol on another document.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind Regards,

Lulu MacLaine

HEAD OF HR VERONWY ENTERPRISES

Back to work very soon if all goes to plan — her inner work voice sounded like it was staring at her coffee and water and judging her for relaxing. ‘Better get on with the house then,’ she muttered, finishing her meal quickly and hurrying back to the car. ‘Better ring the solicitors to get the documents printed and annotated before I do anything else.’

She turned on the radio and pulled out into the road, thinking about two days’ less money per week. ‘Money Too Tight to Mention’ by Simply Red filled the car. She switched it off, knowing how important it was to make as much money out of the house as possible.

As Bella turned towards the lane that led to the track to the house, she noticed two men walking around and taking photos next to her gate. As she got closer she realised it was Lenny and Martim.

Pulling up next to them, she rolled the car window down. ‘Hello, are you here to see me?’

‘Yes.’ Martim leaned down to speak to her. ‘We were hoping we’d catch you after you left the message.’

‘Ah, OK. I assumed you’d arrange an appointment so I could make sure I was here.’ Bella almost said, ‘Because I’ve got rather a full diary.’ But she realised she was still in ‘Bella at work in the UK’ mode, and actually she didn’t have a full diary at all.

‘Is it convenient to come and look?’ Lenny took a photograph of the lane.

‘Um... yes, why not? It’s a bit of a mess, to be honest.’

‘We are assessing the plot and the land so how the house looks is no problem.’ Lenny smiled.

‘Of course.’ Bella laughed.

That’s because they will want to knock your house down, Bella. There was that sensible work voice again. She stopped laughing, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable.

‘Are you in your car? I’ll leave the gate open.’ She drove on towards the house. Research, research, research , she thought to herself, which allows me to make a rational and sensible decision. Remember that: information, research and rational .

The cats were sitting on the patio, stretched out together in a sliver of sunlight, the storks standing elegantly on the roof of the outbuilding as another flitted across the skyline. Tiny, velvet-red bougainvillea flowers were trickling out of the window boxes, given a new lease of life by Bella’s half-hearted attention.

‘Rational!’ she said out loud, before parking the car and climbing out.

Lenny joined her as Martim reversed their truck and turned the engine off. ‘This is a good stretch of land.’ He spun around slowly. ‘As far as I know, the boundary is far enough from the coast to build on, but we will need to check. And—’ he noticed the storks ‘—Storks. Well. This may not be cut and dried but there are ways and means.’

One of the birds stretched its wings, stepped out of the nest and flew to the ground nearby.

‘Ways and means?’ she asked. ‘Things have to be done properly.’

Lenny winked at her. ‘Of course they do.’

Martim walked towards them and took out his phone. ‘I’ll get on with taking some photos.’

‘This is a great patch.’ Lenny looked at the tree. ‘It won’t take long to take that down.’

A bird sat on a branch high above them. Bella cleared her throat. ‘I didn’t think you’d want to just clear everything.’

‘Oh yes. It’s easier.’

Martim walked around the house. ‘It won’t take long to level this,’ he shouted. ‘Or the outbuilding.’

Bella’s heart began to pound. ‘You couldn’t build around them?’ She already knew what they were going to say.

‘Oh no. We build high-spec villas. Even if it were apartments, these old run-down buildings wouldn’t be in keeping.’

‘I never thought of Aunt Flo’s home as run-down.’ Her voice was quiet.

‘You’d rather call it “rustic”, I expect.’ Lenny laughed.

Bella looked at him. ‘Are you making fun of me?’

‘Oh no.’ He put his hands up. ‘I’m sorry. Sometimes my sense of humour gets the better of me. I’ve been in this business so long I forget people have feelings.’

The stork picked up a twig and flew back onto the roof.

‘There’s about half an acre of land at the back too.’ Martim reappeared from behind the house.

‘You’re sitting on a goldmine, Bella.’ Lenny tried to look friendly, but Bella decided his face wasn’t quite made for it. ‘I can call you Bella, can’t I? I feel as you know Jorge we are friends already.’

Bella nodded, but she just wanted them to go. ‘So, thank you for coming.’

‘We appreciate you allowing us to look round at such short notice.’ Martim shook her hand. ‘We’ll be in touch with a quote and then we can take it from there.’

‘I’m considering a range of options. I’d welcome the quote, but I have to weigh everything up before I make a decision.’

‘Of course.’ Lenny tried to smile again. ‘We look forward to speaking to you soon.’

They both climbed in the car, and Bella watched them drive off, the tight grin plastered on her face masking the sick feeling in her stomach at the realisation of what selling the land would mean.

The car turned out onto the lane and Bella looked back at the house. ‘I’m so sorry. I’m not letting you get knocked down. Absolutely not.’ She hurried inside, opened her laptop, logged onto the spreadsheet and deleted the section headed ‘ Selling the land ’.

‘I can only apologise, Auntie Flo.’ She spoke to a wall. ‘Sometimes you just have to check, and this isn’t instinct, this is rational — I didn’t like them, and I don’t do business with people I don’t like.’