The House that Florence Left (Portuguese Paradise #4)

Chapter 25

Bella woke up to the purring-cat alarm of Yin and Yang sitting either side of her ears. She looked at the clock on the wall. ‘6 a.m.... 6 a.m.? Why have you woken me so early?’ Rolling over, she tried to get back to sleep. Then her brain kicked into gear. And she sat bolt upright in bed.

You asked for redundancy. What were you thinking?

What are you going to do? What about your parents? What about money?

What were you thinking? What were you thinking? What were you thinking?

There was a clicking noise outside, followed by the fluttering of very large wings.

Bella jumped out of bed, opened the blinds and then the doors and stepped onto her balcony. The storks were standing on the roof of the outhouse as if they had never been away.

Bella waved at them. ‘Hello, old friends!’

Then she glanced down at the outhouse and suddenly everything became clear.

Make it better , she thought. I know how to make it better. She looked at the cats. ‘All this time I’ve been trying to make the house better, but it’s not the house. I can use it to make it better.’ She clapped her hands excitedly, went downstairs, made herself a cup of tea and took the laptop out into the garden. Then she opened all of her spreadsheets and deleted them one by one. Then she created two more and called them:

Renting out my London flat

Mum and Dad — the outhouse, thermal therapy in the pool.

She leaned back and smiled, then opened another one and called it:

Job search

Then she deleted it, deciding that, for a few weeks at least, she could allow herself to just go with the flow at her current job until everything changed and she would just have to see what happened after that.

She walked into the house and picked up the print that was still on the table by the door and read it out loud. ‘ 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. ’

Then she made herself some breakfast, took a shower and unpacked, logged on again and composed a letter officially requesting redundancy should it be on offer, then decided to walk to the beach before logging on again to start her proper working day.

Putting on her headphones, she switched on her Portuguese language app, then listened to the birdsong and waves instead. Music drifted from Hugo’s, so she went inside the café hoping to see him. Bella knew she had something to say, but still couldn’t formulate the words. She just wanted to see him.

‘Ah!’ Quiet Julian waved at her. ‘Bella. You are quite the social media star! Sit down and I’ll bring you a gal?o .’

‘Hello. Thank you for everything last night.’

Julian blushed. ‘It was nothing.’ He walked behind the counter.

‘Is Hugo here?’

‘It’s his day off. His manager will be here soon. I’ll bring your drink over.’

Bella went outside and sat down, staring at the beach, watching people walk past, her mind at last quiet.

‘Here. On the house.’ Julian laughed. ‘I have always wanted to say that.’ He sat down opposite her and showed her his phone, scrolling through his social media feed. ‘I don’t think Lenny and Martim’s property development dreams will get very far after this.’

Bella laughed as she read through the posts, watching videos of her and Hugo sitting on the bulldozer, Ignacio and Duarte putting the storks’ nest back on the roof, Layla holding the ladder, Will shaking his stick, Hans looking through his binoculars, Elena crying into her handkerchief, and Minnie with her arms around her.

‘Goodness. It’s like a film.’

Another customer came in. ‘I have to go. Enjoy.’ Julian touched her hand gently before standing back up. ‘What an unforgettable adventure.’ His voice was almost at full volume.

Bella leaned back and took a sip of her coffee, wondering if it was too early to call her parents and tell them her idea.

* * *

‘We can adapt the outhouse, Mum. It’s really light and airy. If you didn’t want to live here, you could both come over and have very long holidays here. The garden is lovely. Dad and you could help me with it.’

‘What about your job? It sounds wonderful, but what about your job?’

‘I can rent out my flat in London. And there may be redundancies on offer. If not, I’ll leave and find a way... I know I’ll be fine.’

‘What about work visas and all that?’

‘It will be fine. I’ll work it out.’

‘Your dad is having a lie-in. He’s a bit low about us selling the house, even though we know it’s the right thing to do.’

‘Come over for that holiday. Just to see. You’ll want to stay.’ Bella looked at the clock. ‘I’ve got to start work, Mum. I’ll call later.’

Bella rang off and logged on to her work account. She had a Zoom meeting and wanted to get ahead after the upheaval of the past few days. She took her computer outside and began to work.

‘Hello,’ she said to the assembled faces on the screen, then carried on as normal, taking notes and participating in the meeting as if nothing had happened.

‘Bella.’ Lil leaned forward. ‘Is that a donkey behind you?’

Bella looked around. ‘Oh. Mateus, I didn’t see you there.’

The donkey snorted and nodded his head.

‘Bella.’ Lil smiled. ‘I don’t think Mateus understands. But... has he got something tied round his neck?’

‘Has he?’ Bella got up. ‘Oh yes. There’s a collar with a letter attached.’ She took the envelope and opened it.

Bella. Will you join me for a late breakfast? Mateus knows where to find me. Hugo.

Bella’s heart skipped a beat. In a nice way. ‘Um...’ She looked at the screen. ‘I’ve just got to go... Carry on... Bye.’ She waved at her colleagues, then switched off the computer, put it in the house, locked the door and followed Mateus across her vegetable patch, through her orange grove and along the hedge, where they both squeezed through the gap.

‘You To Me Are Everything’ drifted from a speaker close to the house, where a picnic was spread on a blanket on the floor.

Hugo stood in the doorway and smiled at her. ‘Thank you for coming.’ He smiled shyly, not moving.

‘Thank you for inviting me.’ Bella smiled at him expectantly.

‘I have something to say.’ He still didn’t move.

‘OK.’

‘I don’t want you to leave. I don’t want you to sell or rent the house out — and not because of anything apart from the fact that if you do, you won’t be there. And I won’t like it if you’re not there. I like it when you’re there. I didn’t like it at all when you were away, even though it was only a couple of days.’ He looked at her. He still didn’t move.

‘I realised what my aunt meant when she said I had to “make it better”.’ Bella began to walk towards him. ‘She didn’t mean the house, she meant make it better for my parents, and make it better for me. And making it better means staying. I’m not going anywhere.’

He still didn’t move.

‘Because if I go, I won’t be near you, and that won’t be better for me, it would be worse. So, I’m staying. Because I want to be near you.’

Hugo moved towards her. ‘I want to be near to you. Very near to you.’

‘Good.’

They were standing in front of each other. Hugo held his hand out. Bella took it and he pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her, long and lingering, then running his hand down her spine and kissing her neck and shoulders.

‘What about the picnic?’ she asked, as he led her inside.

‘It can wait. We’re in no hurry. No hurry at all.’