Second Chance in Barcelona

by Fiona McArthur

  Because Felipe would break her if he betrayed her like the last person she trusted had.

  She needed to climb onto that plane and head straight back to Australia.

  Not plan how to spend more time in Felipe’s company. That would surely be the end of her.

  There was a tap on the window and she turned, expecting to see Felipe, but instead it was a young man who looked vaguely familiar.

  ‘Gràcies.’ The man smiled hugely at her and kept nodding. His head had a large bruise in the middle of his forehead.

  Ah. Elena’s husband from last night. She slipped across to the side of the car and opened the door. ‘How is the mother and her baby?’ she asked.

  ‘Both well. Both well. Gràcies.’

  ‘De nada.’ She nodded back. ‘Congratulations to Elena and to you.’ The man smiled again, before moving on.

  Felipe appeared beside her, glaring at the man as he hurried away almost as if he wanted to follow him and demand to know what he was doing.

  ‘He’s the husband from last night, remember? Elena and her baby are doing well.’

  Felipe’s brow cleared. His stiff shoulders relaxed. ‘Of course.’ Had he been jealous? A little thrill of pleasure ran through her. Did he care enough about her to want to warn off other men? ‘I should have told you,’ he said. ‘I rang the hospital and checked their condition. They must live around here.’ His admiring look made her feel warm. ‘They won’t forget you.’

  ‘Or I them.’

  But she thought again of his instant alertness towards the man who’d spoken to her. Surely he hadn’t been jealous? Maybe he was just concerned for her safety. But not with Carlos there...

  ‘Where is Sofia?’

  ‘She has decided to stay here with my grandmother. Doña Luisa has deteriorated I think since last night. Perhaps now that the visit she was waiting for has come to pass she can finally relinquish the struggle. Sofia wants to stay with her.’

  He circled the car and slipped into the back seat next to her.

  So Sofia wasn’t coming?

  And she, Cleo, Sofia’s mothercraft helper, wasn’t with her.

  What just happened there? she wondered as the car pulled away from the kerb.

  ‘Shouldn’t I stay and assist Sofia, if she is staying at your grandmother’s?’

  ‘The baby is asleep and my grandmother also is asleep in her chair. Sofia was holding her hand. I think she has realised that there is not much time left.’

  Ah. That was it then. She wasn’t needed any more. ‘I should go home.’

  He turned to face her fully. His eyes were dark and determined. ‘I would prefer if you did not leave. You still have most of your contract to fulfil. I would be indebted to you if you could settle Sofia into my grandmother’s apartment. That is what they both wish now, she tells me, but she will need your help. Especially now.’

  He sighed, and now he’d erected a barrier to prevent his emotions showing, but she knew he was preparing himself for the loss of Doña Luisa, the most important woman in his life. ‘It is not an easy thing for the uninitiated to understand the finality of death.’

  That was true. ‘Especially a new mother.’

  ‘I agree.’ He smiled slightly but the hint of sadness was back in his eyes, and she wanted to lay her hand on his arm in comfort, but his arm moved away as if he knew what she was thinking. That hurt. Which was a warning she should take heed of.

  ‘I have a proposition for you.’ His gaze held hers. ‘Would you consider assisting the nurses in the care of my grandmother at the end of her life? Sofia wishes to stay, but it is too much with a new baby, and the actual nursing, she has no idea what that entails, but she wants you with her.’

  Cleo frowned.

  ‘It is not what you came here for.’ This time he lifted her hand and briefly squeezed her fingers. He was still allowed to touch her, it seemed. His warmth seeped into her. ‘Will you do this for our family?’

  Not what she had come here for, no, yet she had come to help Sofia. And that young woman’s need would be great if she wanted to stay with her grandmother until the end. ‘May I have some time to think about it?’

  ‘Of course.’ He nodded.

  Something in his voice alerted her to a trace of humour. ‘I’m not sure I trust the way you said that. How long have I got to decide?’

  He smiled at her. ‘It will take half an hour for us to arrive at my house, where we are to pack Sofia and Isabella’s things. That should be long enough.’

  She looked at him exasperatedly. ‘Really?’

  ‘I did not arrange this but I can see, if you are willing to be taken advantage of again, how much it will help us all.’

  So many reasons for not doing this. The greatest one seated beside her. And perhaps so many reasons to stay if she was brave enough. ‘But your grandmother doesn’t really know me.’

  ‘She does not know the nurses either and Sofia has told her of your care during her labour.’ He shrugged. ‘They have cooked this up between them so be sure that my grandmother is choosing to do what she wishes. She is not a woman who pleases other people for the sake of politeness.’

  She shook her head at him. ‘This suits you, too, though. Doesn’t it?’

  The glint in his eyes had nothing to do with his grandmother. ‘That you are here for an extended time? Yes.’

  Was he seeing possibilities between them or did he really believe she would be of benefit to his grandmother and his family? Or both?

  She probed further. ‘I would be a stranger, looking after your grandmother in her final hours...’

  Now he turned serious. ‘You are no stranger to me. You are no stranger to Sofia.’ He smiled at her and the warmth and depth of his appreciation made her breathless.

  ‘I believe that very shortly you will not be a stranger to Doña Luisa either and she, too, will sing your praises.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  NOW THAT HE had Cleo in Spain he didn’t want her to leave again. Hated the thought with a passion that surprised him and yet didn’t.

  Sofia’s request had shocked him but the more he thought about it the more sensible he could see it was.

  He loved his grandmother and he wanted her to have the comfort she deserved in her final days. His grandmother’s very efficient nurse lacked the heart of the woman beside him.

  That his cousin also wanted to be there for the difficult time ahead, losing her grandmother before her eyes, impressed him, and his cousin’s common sense in asking for Cleo made him look at Sofia in a new light. She was growing up fast.

  ‘I know this is a lot to ask.’ He believed she would do it. He would pay her well, but already he knew that held no factor of influence in her decision.

  Cleo leaned back into the chair beside him and closed her eyes for a moment. ‘I’ll do it. I’ll stay. And I will do everything in my power to keep your grandmother comfortable.’

  He had no doubt she would. Felt relief wash over him. And not just for his grandmother. For himself, too. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Then I will go home.’

  He would worry about the last statement later.

  He watched a worried frown cross her face like a small cloud and wanted to smooth the wrinkled skin.

  Felipe added, ‘I will contact your place of work about the change. Though they will wish to confirm it with you, of course.’ He considered how much he was asking her to trust him again.

  ‘And so that you know you can go at any time I will book an open first-class ticket for you to use whenever you wish.’

  ‘Are you reading minds now?’

  He laughed. She was a treasure. ‘If I were you, I would want those questions answered.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Her turn to smile. ‘While I am needed and wanted, I accept your terms.’

  ‘Thank you.’ He pulled out his phon
e. ‘I will phone ahead and have Maria pack Sofia’s luggage. Would you like me to ask her to pack yours, too?’

  She shifted in her seat and he saw her discomfort. Despite his usual impatience, he paused. ‘I can wait if you prefer to pack your own.’

  She smiled at him and it was worth the frustration of standing around when he had so many other things to do.

  ‘I would prefer that.’

  He took out his phone and while his conversation with Maria was conducted, he studied her profile.

  She chewed on the edge of her lip and he wanted to touch that gentle flesh and tell her to stop but he didn’t want to stir up all her reservations again.

  She wasn’t the only one thinking about how much more difficult this would be when the time came for her to leave. Yet deep inside that feeling of relief continued to spread through him. Tendrils of calm that he recognised came from the presence of the woman beside him.

  Perhaps because now he could share the truly heartbreaking goodbye to his grandmother with someone who understood. Strange how he was so sure this was true about a woman he had known for so short a time.

  He did not know how he knew but he did. Knew in his heart it was true.

  She would be with him when the time came. There was deep comfort in that thought because before Cleo there had been nobody he would have turned to for comfort.

  Less than a week ago he hadn’t even known that he needed anybody.

  The car stopped at the bottom of his stairs and Maria already stood at the door with the first of the luggage. He would go to his office and arrange the things he’d promised Cleo he would arrange. Hopefully, by the time he had done that she would be ready to go.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  HALF AN HOUR later Cleo walked down the steps of Felipe’s palatial home and wondered if she would ever see it again.

  When she got to the bottom, instead of sliding straight into the car, she stopped and turned back. The footman put her small case in the boot and then disappeared around the side of the house.

  Above her, the stairs reached steeply to the front door, the windows glinted above and to the right of the façade on the second floor she could see the room that had been hers with a small balcony that had looked over Barcelona.

  She’d be living down amidst all those buildings and people for the next little while before she went home to Australia.

  She didn’t like to put a time limit on it, but she was thankful to be able to stay a little longer, thankful that she could help these people who had come into her life like brilliant comets and would no doubt shoot out again just as quickly when all this was over.

  She thought about this morning with Felipe at the Sagrada, was fiercely glad she’d have that time to look back on later, but playing this game with the dancer Felipe was over.

  She thought about Sofia’s confident mothering but also the young woman’s need to have a sounding board, seeing as she was without a partner to be that support person.

  Yes, there was still some need for her there.

  And she thought about Doña Luisa facing life’s greatest challenge and what she could do as a silent pillar of support for others. Surprisingly she felt at peace about her choices.

  None of this was about her.

  So that meant none of this was about Felipe either.

  It was all about Doña Luisa and Sofia creating memories that would carry the young mum through the next weeks, months and years of remembering her grandmother.

  She turned back to the car. Felipe, already seated in the back, offered her a quick smile. ‘Your place of work has agreed. They will email you, and your flight has also been arranged.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘De nada.’ Then he returned his attention to studying his phone. He didn’t speak and she was glad of that.

  She had her own thoughts to occupy her.

  * * *

  A short time later, when they arrived at the apartment in the city, they were met at the door by Alba, who seemed perhaps a few degrees warmer than she had been on Cleo’s first visit.

  ‘I’ll see you in a few minutes.’ Felipe went on ahead to see his grandmother.

  Alba directed Cleo to her room. ‘Señorita, Sofia and the infant are across the hall from you. Doña Luisa’s room is at the end of the hallway.’

  The room she was shown to seemed too large, filled with light, and had two open slatted doors as well as the tiniest balcony. A small round table and one spindly chair had been squeezed onto the balcony overlooking the street.

  Carlos deposited her cabin bag at the door and carried the rest into Sofia’s room.

  Alba opened a connecting door to a generous private bathroom tiled in green and gold, with a sink with gold taps similar to the one she had washed in after Elena’s baby’s birth.

  ‘Thank you, Alba. How is Doña Luisa?’

  Alba scowled. ‘She is resting. The nurse has left her exhausted from washing her. I would do better than that lump.’

  Goodness. Not a reassuring reference from Alba. ‘And Miss Sofia?’

  ‘In the library, talking to the woman.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Alba nodded and left. Cleo considered if there would be more help for Alba in running the house if two more guests were added to her workload. Cleo could lift some of that load, too, if she was allowed to. But first she wanted to talk to Sofia and the nurse.

  She quickly unpacked, hung her few things in the wardrobe and slid her small toiletries case into the bathroom, then tied back her hair and washed her hands. It was time to see what she could do to help. If possible, she’d like to slide discreetly into the household without alienating anyone. They’d had disruptions enough.

  She could hear the nurse before she saw her. Her voice held an aggrieved tone as she gesticulated to Sofia and waved in the direction of the kitchen.

  When Cleo arrived, the nurse, a tall, uniformed, big-boned thirty-something Spaniard with dark hair and an unsmiling mouth, did not appear pleased to see her.

  Cleo tried not to feel depressed at her unwelcoming stare.

  Cleo smiled and held out her hand. ‘Bon dia. Do you speak English?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Hello, then, I’m Cleo.’ She held out her hand and reluctantly the woman took it. ‘I was Sofia’s midwife and am now her guest. You are Doña Luisa’s nurse?’

  The woman nodded curtly. ‘I am Rhona. They say you are to help me?’

  ‘Lovely to meet you, Rhona. I understand Doña Luisa is not well today?’

  ‘She is failing. There was much excitement yesterday. Today she is happy to sleep.’ A hard stare. ‘Don Felipe tells me you are to help.’

  ‘I am here to support Sofia, who wishes to help. Between the three of us I’m sure we can make Doña Luisa comfortable and feel cared for, without exhausting Sofia, as a new mother, as well. Don’t you agree?’

  ‘Oh, yes. I see.’ A lot of the starch left Rhona at that. Gently, Cleo asked, ‘I’m sure you have much experience nursing terminal patients at home?’

  ‘Not in the home, no, but in the aged care hospital.’

  Cleo smiled. ‘Aged care is a special field. You must be very caring.’

  Rhona unbent another fraction. ‘It is important to remember that one day this will be yourself at the mercy of the nurse. And act accordingly.’

  ‘I couldn’t agree more. I am a midwife and nurse, so I understand when someone we are caring for is vulnerable and needs reassurance and the support of others.

  ‘Would you agree, Sofia?’

  ‘I know it helped me to have you there.’ She nodded. ‘Even though you couldn’t take the pain or do the work of labour, I never felt afraid. This is what I hope to share with my grandmother.’

  The last of Rhona’s stiffness left her. ‘Sí. This is what I wish, too.’ She sighed and look
ed at Cleo. ‘I accept your help and the support of Nurse Sofia as we all care for Doña Luisa.’

  Then, almost shyly, ‘It is true I found her weakness made the work much heavier this morning. Perhaps it would be more gentle on her to have assistance when she cannot help herself.’

  ‘And I will be a support for Sofia as she sees for the first time the transition from life to death.’

  The nurse stared at her as she thought about that.

  ‘Yes. That, too, is a good thing.’ She dipped her head. ‘I’m sorry I was not more welcoming.’

  ‘You have nothing to apologise for. Thank you for your understanding of my presence.’

  Felipe entered the room at that moment and Cleo searched his face for signs of distress or concern. He looked tired but not cast down. As an oncologist he would see this often. But as a grandson this was a first, and a tragedy. ‘She wishes to see you, Cleo.’

  Cleo glanced at Rhona and the woman waved her in.

  ‘I will eat and drink tea and then perhaps we can make her more comfortable when next we reposition her.’

  Felipe escorted Cleo back along the magnificent hallway past paintings and priceless objects to the darkened room. He paused outside the door. ‘I have no idea how you did it but I do believe Rhona likes you. The nurse certainly seems more than resigned to your arrival now.’

  ‘We are all here for the same reason. To care for your grandmother to the best of our ability.’

  He smiled. ‘Still, you have done well to smooth feathers that my grandmother said were very ruffled.’ He gestured with his head towards the door and lowered his voice even further. ‘There has been a rapid decline but perhaps it is as the nurse says and she is simply exhausted from all the excitement yesterday.’

  He smiled in reminiscence. ‘She was very excited to meet the baby and have Sofia back in Spain. You have helped there, too.’

  ‘I’m glad. Are you coming in with me?’

  ‘No. Go alone. I will wait out here.’