Under the Brazilian Sun

by Catherine George

  Katherine eyed him narrowly. ‘What did you tell him?’

  He grinned. ‘I said yes, of course. You’d be mad to turn down a free holiday in Brazil!’

  Rachel said the same when Katherine rang her at lunch time. ‘Just go, girl. You know you want to!’

  Katherine did want to, but couldn’t bring herself to let Roberto know that. Yet. ‘You went over my head,’ she accused when he rang.

  ‘Como? I do not understand,’ he said, surprised.

  ‘You contacted James about giving me time off before I’d even agreed to come.’

  ‘But you said you would consider it if you had the time off, Katherine, so I contacted Senhor Massey to… to expedite matters. This is right?’

  ‘The word is right, yes.’

  ‘My mother will write to you to invite you formally, if this is your problem, Katherine.’

  ‘How kind of her.’

  ‘So you will come?’ He paused as though waiting for her answer. At last, in a harsh tone she’d never heard from him before, he said, ‘Muito bem, if you do not wish to see me again, forget it.’

  ‘Hold your horses,’ she said, panicking.

  ‘Como?’

  ‘I do want to see you again,’ she said, climbing down. ‘But if you want the truth, Roberto, I’m still hurting because you took so long to ring me.’

  ‘I wanted to be strong again before I spoke to you,’ he said harshly. ‘Can you not understand that, Katherine?’

  ‘Is that because you’re a gaucho?’

  ‘No, querida, because I am a man!’

  ‘As I well know,’ she assured him, and he laughed softly.

  ‘So make me a happy man, and say you will come to me at my home, Katherine.’

  Suddenly she wondered why she was dragging her feet. Of course she would go. Life was too short to pass up a chance like this. ‘Since you put it that way, yes, I will, Roberto. Thank you very much for inviting me. I’ll be happy to spend Christmas at your Estancia.’

  There was silence for a moment. ‘Gracas a Deus,’ said Roberto huskily. ‘I shall be counting the days until you arrive. Tomorrow you must tell me which day you can leave and I will arrange a plane ticket.’

  Once everything was settled after a prolonged and satisfactory talk with Roberto the following night, Katherine asked Rachel to an impromptu meal with Alastair and Hugh, and to their astonishment served champagne with rare fillet of beef.

  ‘I know it should be red wine with this, but who cares?’

  ‘This is obviously a special occasion,’ said Rachel. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘I’m going away for Christmas,’ Katherine informed them.

  ‘That’s a few months away,’ Alastair pointed out.

  ‘True, oh, obvious one.’

  ‘Are you going back to Portugal?’ asked Hugh.

  ‘No, to a cattle ranch in Rio Grande do Sul,’ said Katherine with drama.

  ‘To stay with Roberto Rocha!’ Rachel announced, and then howled with laughter at the look on the men’s faces. ‘That’s the mysterious client who paid Katherine to identify his painting.’

  ‘Hold on!’ said Hugh. ‘Are we talking about the Brazilian racing driver here? The glamour boy who retired young?’

  ‘The very same,’ said Katherine, and smiled demurely. ‘He’s interested in my kind of work.’

  ‘From what I remember, it’s probably not only your work he’s interested in, Dr Lister,’ said Alastair, grinning, and then sobered. ‘You’d better watch your step.’

  ‘I’m staying with his parents, so it’s all very respectable,’ she assured him. ‘And I’m travelling in style. Roberto’s arranged a first class airline ticket.’

  Once the urgent matter of the Christmas visit was settled with Roberto, during their regular phone conversations they caught up with everything that had happened in their lives since the parting at the airport in Oporto.

  ‘The night we left the Quinta the security firm caught Elena’s photographer friend searching my room,’ Roberto told her. ‘He swore on his mother’s life that he was working alone, but I cannot believe that.’

  ‘So once again the charming Elena gets off scot-free,’ said Katherine.

  ‘Let us speak no more of her. My interest is in you, Katherine Lister.’

  Sooner than she would have thought possible, Roberto told Katherine he’d begun spending regular periods on horseback with the herd now his leg was so much improved. ‘It will mean less frequent phone calls,’ he warned. ‘You sound tired, querida.’

  ‘Life’s a bit hectic right now, but I don’t mind that. It makes the time pass more quickly until—’ She stopped abruptly, not sure it was wise to show how much she longed to see him.

  ‘Until we are together again? Tell me you share my impatience, Katherine!’

  Of course she did. So much so she changed the subject in case he guessed how much. ‘Roberto, have you any idea about your mother’s dress size?’

  ‘Como? How could I know that?’

  ‘Think of me—’

  ‘I do, constantly. Night and day!’

  ‘Be serious.’

  ‘I am very serious.’

  ‘Concentrate. Is your mother something the same size as me? Is she dark, or fair, her eye colour and so on?’

  ‘She is not quite as tall as you, and is just a little more…how shall I say…rounded? Her eyes and hair are dark like mine. Why?’

  ‘I’m doing some Christmas shopping tomorrow.’

  ‘You need buy nothing for me,’ he said promptly. ‘All I want for Christmas, Dr Katherine Lister, is to see you again!’

  CHAPTER NINE

  KATHERINE was seen off by Rachel and Alastair at Heathrow to catch her plane to São Paulo for the connection to Porto Alegre. The weather, which had been stormy for days beforehand, had relented to provide a still, frosty December evening for the flight.

  ‘You’ll get a bed in first class,’ Alastair informed her. ‘Or so my boss says. Never had the pleasure myself.’

  There was a tearful hug from Rachel and a hearty one from Alastair before Katherine plunged into the long process of getting through Security on her way to her first experience of first class travel, the main advantage of which seemed to be fewer people and more space. When she finally boarded the plane she was surprised to find only fourteen passengers in first class. The flight would obviously be more comfortable than others she’d experienced, but for nights beforehand Katherine had been kept awake by increasingly cold feet about actually meeting Roberto de Sousa again. She had known him for such a short time that serious doubts had begun to creep in about the wisdom of flying halfway round the world to him. When they met again they might not feel the same intensity of emotion which had sent them into each other’s arms so quickly at the Quinta das Montanhas.

  But now she was here, fastened into her comfortable seat, it was too late for doubts, and, once they had taken off and a meal was served, Katherine settled down to watch a film, with a Portuguese/Brazilian dictionary to study as backup.

  She dozed, rather than slept, during the endless night and woke very early to visit one of the bathrooms to freshen up and change her clothes ready to disembark at seven at Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo. Leaving London in winter to travel to summer in Brazil had posed a problem about what to wear on arrival, and she had fallen back on jeans and matching jacket, plus a new scarlet T-shirt, to make sure Roberto spotted her straight away.

  Over breakfast, Katherine learned she would have a good two hours to make the connection to Porto Alegre, and was glad of it later as she plunged into the noisy, colourful chaos of the airport to pass through Customs. The process was so bewildering and took so long she eventually reached the TAM check-in desk with very little time to board the plane.

  When it touched down in Port Alegre later, Katherine took in a deep breath as she entered the great vaulted interior of Salgado Filho Airport. She’d made it! In spite of language problems, she managed to get to the baggage carousel, but because
she was impatient it seemed to take forever before she was in possession of her luggage. Breathless with excitement, she decided to carry her bags and, having memorised the word for exit, made as fast a beeline for it as she could, laden with luggage. She came to a full stop when she reached it, her heart sinking when there was no sign of Roberto. Instead, with a feeling of déjà vu, she saw a stranger scanning the crowd as he held up a placard with her name on it. But this time there was no surprise when she presented herself. The man smiled, bade her welcome, showed her some identity and introduced himself as Geraldo Braga of Estancia Grande. He relieved her of her luggage and held out a letter. ‘This will explain all, Doutora.’

  Katherine read swiftly:

  My son begs your forgiveness that he cannot come himself to greet you. He has been held up out with the herd. He asks that you trust yourself to Geraldo Braga, who will fly you here to Estancia Grande. My husband and I eagerly wait to welcome you. With kindest regards, Teresa Rocha Lima de Sousa.

  Katherine returned the letter to the envelope and smiled valiantly to hide her disappointment. ‘Obrigado, Senhor Geraldo.’

  ‘If you will follow me, Doutora.’

  Within a dizzyingly short time she found herself in a light aircraft with Geraldo Braga at the controls, and her excitement was intense as they soared up into the blue and left the city behind. When they eventually flew over vast grasslands her pilot gave her an approving smile as he saw her pleasure.

  ‘Please to look down. We are now over Estancia Grande land, Doutora.’

  She could see that the green of the rolling grassland had given way to something brown. ‘What crop is that?’

  ‘It is cattle. Estancia Grande cattle,’ he added with pride.

  ‘All that!’ She stared down, amazed, at the great stain of brown on a landscape which eventually turned back into green grassland as they flew on.

  ‘Soon you will see the house,’ she was informed, and Katherine took in a deep breath, her excitement intense as he reduced speed to begin their descent. As they flew lower she saw a runway leading to a building that obviously housed the plane and, some distance beyond it on a rise, a large white house sheltered by trees, with other buildings nearby. The plane was set down so skilfully she could hardly believe they were on the ground when Geraldo got out of his seat to release her.

  When he opened the door Katherine saw a man and a woman waving as they hurried towards the plane.

  ‘O Patrao and Dona Teresa,’ announced Geraldo, and leapt out with an agility she devoutly hoped she could copy. But the moment she was set on her feet Katherine was taken into a scented embrace as Teresa de Sousa bade her welcome with warmth that set some of her fears at rest.

  ‘It is a great pleasure to meet you, Dr Lister,’ she said in an attractive, husky voice. Elegant in tailored linen, Teresa de Sousa smiled warmly as she released her guest. ‘This is my husband.’

  He took Katherine’s hand and, to her surprise, kissed it instead of shaking it. ‘António Carlos de Sousa,’ he announced. ‘I add my welcome, Dr Lister.’

  ‘Katherine, please,’ she said, feeling absurdly shy.

  ‘And I am Teresa,’ Roberto’s mother informed her and smiled at Geraldo. ‘You will take the luggage, por favor.’

  ‘Agora mesmo, Dona Teresa,’ he assured her.

  ‘I apologise for my son’s absence,’ said his father. ‘He was much concerned when he was delayed.’

  ‘He comes now,’ said Teresa, the dark eyes so like her son’s gleaming with anticipation as she turned to her guest. ‘Watch, cara.’

  Katherine looked in the direction of Teresa’s pointing hand and realised that the noise she could hear in the distance was the thunder of hooves. As it grew nearer, her eyes widened in delight as a cloud of dust resolved itself into a group of riders who reined in their mounts in a sudden theatrical standstill. Antonio laughed softly behind her as one of the riders spurred his mount ahead of the rest, and sat easily in the saddle as he inclined his head in greeting. Like all the men behind him, he wore a flat hat with a chinstrap, a bandanna tied at the open collar of his loose linen shirt, balloon-pleated breeches and loose pleated leather boots with spurs. He swung down with lithe grace from the saddle, a revolver in a holster swung at one side of his silver-studded belt and a string of wooden beads and gleaming silver-sheathed knife at the other.

  He swept the hat from his black curls and bowed, spurs chinking. ‘Bem-vindo, Doutora. Welcome.’

  Katherine’s heart thumped as she gazed at him. Was this gorgeous creature the man who’d limped his way round Quinta das Montanhas? ‘Thank you,’ she said quietly, and held out her hand.

  Roberto bowed over it and raised it to his lips, gave her a look which turned her knees to jelly, and then turned to introduce her to his men. ‘Doutora Lister de Inglaterra.’

  As one man they swept off their hats and smiled at Katherine, then one of them took the reins of Roberto’s horse and, at his nod, the group wheeled round in a precise move and galloped away.

  Teresa de Sousa smiled at her husband. ‘Come, querido, we will hurry ahead and order tea while Roberto accompanies Katherine to the house. Do not linger too long, Roberto.’

  The moment his parents were out of earshot, Roberto seized Katherine’s hands. ‘You came.’

  She smiled slightly. ‘As you see.’

  ‘Until this minute, when I see you in the delectable flesh, I had doubts.’

  ‘I said I would, Roberto.’

  ‘After I used much persuasion!’ His eyes glittered under the brim of his hat. ‘Forgive me for my absence at the airport. I cursed the delay to high heaven. But I knew Geraldo would bring you safely to me.’

  ‘And here I am,’ she agreed, still afflicted with ridiculous shyness.

  ‘Gracas a Deus,’ said Roberto with feeling. ‘I want very much to kiss you, Katherine, but I will not until we are alone.’ He peered down into her eyes. ‘Or do you not want to kiss me?’

  ‘Not if it will give offence of any kind to your parents.’

  ‘That does not answer my question,’ he said huskily, and quickened his stride until she tugged on his hand to stop him.

  ‘You’re not limping!’

  He smiled. ‘At last you notice. I am better, no?’

  ‘Better, yes.’ She looked up into his face. ‘And the scar is quite faint now.’

  ‘But I am still not pretty enough to kiss?’

  Katherine laughed and took his hand as he led her up the drive towards the big white building she could now see had two single-storey wings branching from the main house.

  ‘You like our home?’ asked Roberto, watching her face.

  ‘It’s beautiful.’ Katherine was impressed. When Antonio de Sousa stole his bride away from her Portuguese home he had brought her to a newer, but no less imposing house in Rio Grande do Sul. Roberto led her across a long colonnaded veranda into a large hall with a sweeping staircase and a tall, brightly decorated Christmas tree. He showed her into a comfortable room furnished with hide sofas and smaller, more feminine pieces upholstered in velvet and chintz faded enough in places to give the room a welcoming, lived-in look.

  Teresa was waiting for them. ‘You would like tea or coffee, Katherine?’

  ‘I’d love some tea,’ said Katherine gratefully, ‘but first I’d like a very quick tidy up.’

  ‘Pois e. Come. Antonio has gone to the curral. He will be back later.’

  Katherine followed her hostess to a bathroom under the sweep of the curving staircase in the hall. After a quick session with the contents of her handbag, Katherine went back across the hall, smiling wryly as she passed the great tree. This was all a long way from her preconception of a cattle ranch. Teresa de Sousa smiled warmly as Roberto led Katherine to a seat beside him on a sofa.

  ‘Are you very tired, Katherine?’ he asked.

  ‘A bit.’ She smiled wryly. ‘I feel as though I’ve been travelling for days.’

  ‘I know this feeling!’ Teresa shuddered in sympat
hy as she gave her guest a cup of tea. ‘I changed planes twice on flight from Lisboa. Roberto did this also. When he arrived he was in great pain.’ She smiled proudly at her son. ‘He looks different man now.’

  ‘But Katherine says she liked me before, even with my scar,’ Roberto informed her.

  ‘Because she is woman of intelligence.’ Teresa smiled at her guest with gratitude. ‘It was good fortune that Senhor Massey sent you to the Quinta, Katherine. You liked my old home?’

  ‘Very much. It’s a glorious house. But so is this, in a different way, Senhora.’

  ‘E verdade, but, please, I am Teresa.’ Her eyes sparkled. ‘I have so much to tell you about my recent discoveries. But not yet. First you must recover from your journey. And Roberto must go to his rooms for a bath. He smells of horse.’

  He shot a gleaming look at Katherine. ‘Did you enjoy the little demonstration I put on for you?’

  ‘Immensely. It was superb horsemanship. Do the men here really dress like that all the time?’

  Roberto nodded. ‘To ride with the herd, yes, because it is the most practical dress. But otherwise the younger men wear jeans, ride motorcycles and drive pickups as in the rest of the country.’

  ‘It was good of them to put on a show for me!’

  He laughed. ‘They were most happy to impress you.’

  ‘And they did,’ Katherine assured him. ‘I’m honoured.’

  Teresa got up. ‘Come, Katherine. I take you to your room.’ She shook her head at her son, who promptly rose to accompany them. ‘You have your bath. I will take care of your guest, meu filho.’

  With a wry smile, Roberto gave his graceful little bow. ‘Be quick, then.’

  Teresa de Sousa led Katherine up the curving staircase to a landing which ran the length of the upper floor. ‘I hope you will like your room, Katherine.’ She ushered her into a large bedroom at the far end. It was furnished in similar style to the Quinta, but in lighter wood which echoed the burnished coppery-gold of the polished floor. To Katherine’s surprise, the windows looked down on a flower-filled garden enclosed by tall hedges.