wished he could change for her. But her heart sank because she knew the true nature of the man. He was like the wind and he always would be - he’d never know where he was going to blow next.
‘Ramon’s the same as ever, Nuno, when he’s with you, you feel there’s no one in the world more special to him than you. Take Federica, for example.’ They both looked over at the small child who clung onto every word her father said. Everything she did was for his benefit; her laughter, her jokes, her stories, her comments, her smiles. She worshipped him. ‘Federica believes he loves her more than anyone else in the whole world. Right now he does. I really believe that. He’s full of remorse that he didn’t come earlier, that he never wrote or called. He’s mortified. Wracked with guilt. But then he’ll be off soon and we won’t hear from him for months, perhaps years. Because with Ramon, out of sight is out of mind, I’m afraid.’
‘Love is understanding someone’s faults and loving them in spite of them,’ said Nuno philosophically.
‘Is that a quote?’ she chuckled.
‘No. It’s mine, but unfortunately not terribly original. None the less, it’s true.’
‘Ramon and I spent years trying to understand each other until we gave up trying.’
‘It’s never too late to try again.’
‘I don’t know. I think we’ve always misunderstood one another.’
“‘To be great is to be misunderstood,”’ Nuno quoted. ‘Ralph Waldo Emerson. A very perceptive man.’
‘So I see.’
‘He also said another very acute thing, my dear.’
‘What is that?’
Nuno leant over to her and whispered in her ear. “‘We are always getting ready to live, but never living.’”
Helena thought about that all through lunch and throughout the afternoon. Indeed, for some reason she was unable to think of anything else.
‘Fede?’ said Hal, brushing his teeth over the basin.
‘Yes?’
‘Do you think Papa is going to stay?’
Federica hung his wet towel over the radiator. ‘I don’t know,’ she replied, not
wishing to voice her hope in case she raise her brother’s unnecessarily.
‘Maybe he’ll take us back to Viña,’ he added, spitting into the running water.
‘I don’t think he’ll take us back to Viña, Hal,’ she replied carefully.
‘Why not?’
‘Because we live here now.’
‘I would rather live in Viña,' he said decisively.
‘But you love it here with Granny and Grandpa,’ she insisted.
‘I miss Abuelito.’ He pulled a sad face.
‘So do I, Hal.’
‘Grandpa doesn’t carry me on his shoulders or swing me around by the arms,’ he complained.
‘I know.’
‘Or take me riding.’
‘He’s very busy.’
‘I want to go back to Viña. I think Abuelito misses me.’
‘I’m sure he does. I’m sure they both do,' she said wistfully. ‘It’s bedtime now, Hal. Shall I read you a story?’
‘Where’s Mama?’ he asked, padding out of the bathroom in his bare feet.
‘At Joey and Lucien’s house.’
‘She’s always up there.’
‘I know. She likes the Applebys.’
‘I don’t.’
‘Yes, you do.’
‘No, I don’t.’
‘You always play with Joey.’
‘I don’t like Joey.’
Federica sighed in anticipation of a row. ‘Come on. I’ll read you a story,’ she cajoled brightly.
‘I want Mama to read me a story,’ he insisted. ‘I won’t go to bed until she does.’
‘What about Granny then?’
‘I want Mama,’ he whined and folded his arms in front of him stubbornly.
All right,’ she sighed. ‘Get into bed and wait until Mama comes back, she shouldn’t be long.’ But Federica knew that by the time she returned they’d both be asleep.
It was late when Federica heard the wheels of the car scrunch on the gravel in the driveway outside her window. The light penetrated her bedroom for a moment before she was once more plunged into darkness as the engine was switched off. She listened for their voices as her parents hurried in out of the cold. They were laughing, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She hadn’t heard her mother sound so happy in a long time. She sat up in bed and strained her ears for some indication that her father might stay, but she only heard muffled voices that revealed nothing except a growing friendliness between them.