When Summer Fades (3 page)

‘
Sim
.’ A none too confident voice replied, ‘I stay here with Sophie.’

Breathing an enormous sigh of relief Celia kissed Rosa on both cheeks before turning to Sophie. Hugging her warmly, she whispered. ‘You’re an angel. Thanks for coming to the rescue. Of course I realize it’s completely ruined your weekend.’

Trying to remain composed, Sophie’s eyes briefly registered disapproval.

‘Look at it from the bright side,’ Celia suggested, cautiously moving to the door before Sophie changed her mind. ‘You’ve only got Rosa for two days. She’ll be my responsibility until next July. This time next week you’ll have forgotten all about her.’

Pausing on the landing Celia cast a furtive glance in the direction of Lottie and Pearl’s flat. ‘By the way,’ she whispered, ‘I was sorry to hear about you and Gavin. I’d hoped he’d take you away from all this. Mother thought he was charming. Which reminds me I must go. Oh! Before I forget, please tell Rosa to ring Carlos?’

Waving goodbye, Sophie turned to find Rosa looking anxiously about the tiny flat.

‘Gavin? Who eez Gavin who come to take you away? He not take you away and leave Rosa on her own?’

‘No,’ Sophie reassured. ‘You’re quite safe here Rosa. But I expect you’ll find my humble abode far removed from your own home in Portugal.’

With Rosa pondering the words
humble
,
abode
and
removed
, Sophie filled the kettle. ‘Shall we have a cup of tea? Then perhaps you can tell me what you’d like to eat. I expect you must be hungry.’

Rosa relaxed and gave a beaming smile. ‘
Sim
, I am very starved. And if you have the Earl Grey, I would be really happy. Celia’s mother make tea the colour of soup!’

Suppressing a smile, Sophie reached for the tea caddy. ‘Yes, I have the Earl Grey … so if you’d like to slice that lemon? And while I prepare supper, perhaps you can lay the table and tell me what you’d like to do this weekend?’

Rosa looked up mortified. She’d never laid a table in her life! She’d never had to. Augustina or one of the other maids always did that.

Misinterpreting her reaction, Sophie thought it quicker to do things herself. Rosa meanwhile could make her phone call. ‘Is Carlos your brother?’ she asked.

Rosa shook her head and picked up the receiver. ‘No he eez my cousin.’

‘He not in office and mobile is
sweetch
off so I ring secretary,’ Rosa explained moments later with a shrug of her shoulders. ‘She say Carlos go to Milan. She leave message at hotel.’

*

Arriving in Milan, Carlos threw his briefcase on the bed and struggled to decipher his assorted messages. What did they all mean? And why had Rosa left the Hamiltons? Whatever the reason he concluded looking at his watch, it was far too late to ring now.

Early next morning and refreshed from sleep, Carlos peered into the semi-gloom. Spying the discarded messages on his bedside table, he reached for the phone. For his own peace of mind he had to speak to Rosa.

Sophie stirred sleepily and lifted the receiver. Please, God it wasn’t Gavin ringing at such an unearthly hour?

‘Good morning. This is Carlos Martins. I wish to speak with Rosa Ramirez,’ came a deep, self-assured voice. ‘I understand she is staying with your family?’

‘Yes, she is,’ Sophie replied, puzzled by the word
family
, yet at the same time relieved. At least it wasn’t Gavin. ‘Rosa’s still asleep. It is rather early. Do you want me to wake her?’

Carlos fumbled for his watch. Until now he hadn’t even considered the time.

‘No. Don’t do that. I’ll try again in half an hour.’

‘Half an hour!’ Sophie groaned, eyes screwed in the direction of the alarm clock. Desperate for sleep she had a horrid feeling that last night when she’d waved goodbye to Celia, she’d also waved goodbye to her long hoped-for, lazy weekend.

Half an hour later when Carlos rang again Rosa slept through Sophie’s gentle tapping on the bedroom door, and half an hour after that she was taking a bath. Discovering she was still in the bathroom when he made his third, fourth and fifth phone calls, Carlos began to despair.

‘Perhaps Rosa could ring you when she’s finished in the bathroom?’

‘It will be too late,’ he snapped, deeply irritated, ‘I have a lunch appointment.’

Lunch! Carlos Martins was already talking about lunch, when as yet – thanks to Rosa – Sophie still hadn’t cleared away the breakfast dishes or had the bathroom to herself.

‘Your cousin Carlos has phoned. Five times, in fact,’ Sophie announced coolly, when Rosa eventually appeared, swathed in towels and smelling of Sophie’s favourite perfume. ‘He’s certainly very persistent and also seemed extremely worried.’

Making a mental note to add the word
persistent
to her dictionary list, Rosa smiled knowingly. ‘Yes. Of course Carlos worry about me. Before I come to England Grandmother make him promise to look after me.’

Sophie looked up bemused.

‘We are to be married,’ Rosa replied. ‘Next year, Grandmother will announce our engagement to the family.’ In response to Sophie’s raised eyebrows, Rosa began matter of factly. ‘Later we have the marriage and after that the babies and everyone in the family eez happy. Carlos is
very
generous
man. He buy me
many
presents.’

‘I thought you said Carlos was … how can you marry your cousin?

Rosa laughed, tossing her mane of long, straight hair. ‘I marry Carlos because we are not of the blood. His father eez my uncle – but my mother eez not really my mother – she is stepmother. That makes it OK. It eez seemple.’

Seemple
? Sophie thought. It sounded anything but! In fact it was more like the calypso-style song her father used to sing years ago. If her memory served her correctly it concerned bizarre family relationships. She frowned trying to remember the words.

Nonchalantly securing the bath towels about her naked torso, Rosa walked to the dining table and picked up the pad and Biro used for all her cousin’s messages.

‘I show you the Martins-Ramirez family,’ she said and, hurriedly scribbling a list of names, she joined them together with lines before extending the pad in Sophie’s direction.

‘You see, very
seemple
.’ At the head of the family eez grandmother – grandfather he is dead – and below eez my father and mother. Only my mother is dead also. So I have stepmother. She eez
seester
to my uncle and my uncle is father to Carlos and Cristovao. Cristovao is the young, and Carlos the old. They have no mother, she leave!’ Rosa spat angrily. ‘There! Now you know my family.’

Watching Rosa walk back to the bathroom, wet towels trailing behind her, Sophie studied the sheet of paper in complete bewilderment. The Martins-Ramirez family, she concluded, were most definitely not simple!

Sitting at the table, Sophie scanned the various names and tried to make sense of it all. Heading the page was Maria-Clara, the grandmother. Below that was her daughter Elisabete (presumably Rosa’s step-mother) and Maria-Clara’s son, Eduardo. Eduardo being Rosa’s uncle, described as "
father
to
Carlos
" and Carlos being the cousin who’d spent most of the morning on the phone!

Totally confused, Sophie began tracing lines with her fingers until she reached the names Rosa and Carlos. She shook her head in disbelief and looked towards the bathroom where Rosa was singing at the top of her voice. Pushing the notepad to one side Sophie gave a derisive snort, convinced
she
wouldn’t be sounding quite so happy if her dear, departed Grandma Fuller had decided to marry
her
off to some ancient cousin!

With a wry smile she turned her attention to the breakfast dishes. Hardly likely in my case she concluded. With no grandmother and certainly no cousins it was her own family who were
seemple
. ‘No, Rosa dear,’ she grinned, addressing her reflection in the stainless steel butter dish, ‘With only me, Uncle Monty and Aunt Edna it couldn’t be any
seempler
!
’

‘
Desculpe
?’

Startled and embarrassed, Sophie discovered the newly dressed Rosa was standing in the doorway, examining a broken fingernail.’

‘Oh! I was – er – just talking to myself. Trying to think of something – um – simple to cook for lunch.’

‘Augustina always talk to herself when she eez cooking.’

‘Augustina?’ Sophie’s eyes darted in the direction of the hastily scribbled family tree. Though certainly confusing, she was sure she hadn’t seen the name Augustina. Rosa picked at her broken nail. ‘Augustina is family maid. She look like witch but eez very good cook and go everywhere with us.’

Obviously not here, Sophie thought ruefully, eyeing assorted wet towels strewn across the floor. What had Celia said? “
Only
until
Monday
morning
.”

‘Would you like an emery board?’ she enquired, resignedly.

‘What eez
mammary
board?’

Suppressing a smile, Sophie filed her nails with an imaginary nail file. Rosa’s face lit up in understanding. ‘Ah! Yes. Please – if you have?’

‘You’ll find one on the dressing table in my bedroom.’

Moments later, Rosa returned. In one hand she held an emery board and in the other an open ring box, ‘
Desculpe
, Sophie,’ she questioned, peering at the sapphire and diamond ring. ‘You are to be married also?’

Completely taken aback, Sophie thought of a suitable reply. If she said no, Rosa would want to know why she had an engagement ring and no fiancé. If she said yes, there could be embarrassing questions about Gavin and when the marriage was going to take place. Her attempt at a reply died on her lips. Fortunately, Rosa had been doing some thinking of her own.

‘The man who Celia say come to take you away, he is man who give you ring?’

‘Yes.’

‘But you have no photo of young man in bedroom. Only old man. Like me, do you marry old man too?’

Faintly amused by the assumption it was Gavin’s photo in the bedroom, yet at the same time momentarily annoyed Rosa had been through her possessions, Sophie reached for the ring box and snapped it shut. Pausing only briefly she returned to her bedroom with Rosa in pursuit.

‘That photo is of my father on his fiftieth birthday. And the other,’ she explained, sadly, ‘Is my mother when she was in her early twenties.’

‘That is you! Surely?’

‘No Rosa, it’s not, however, I’m told by my aunt I’m very much like my mother at that age.’

Rosa picked up the double photo frame. ‘She was very pretty lady. Such kind eyes. You are very pretty and kind also. I tell Carlos when he ring again, he will be
very
grateful. Now I go shopping.’

Sophie gaped, open mouthed, ‘Shopping? What about lunch, and what about Carlos? He said he would ring you after lunch.’

‘I know,’ Rosa replied, with a dismissive shrug. ‘But I see my friends for shopping, then we eat and go to movies. It eez good way to learn the Eenglish I think.’

Watching Rosa walk past Lottie and Pearl’s flat where the curtains were still drawn, Sophie closed the door only too aware that Augustina – complete with duster and broomstick – hadn’t yet found her way to Beckford Heath!

‘It’s all right for some,’ she groaned, gathering up a collection of damp and soggy towels on her way to the bathroom, where she screwed lids on jars and caps on bottles.

‘Rosa Ramirez! I only hope your cousin Carlos knows what he's letting himself in for. Though quite possibly he’ll have an Augustina all of his very own.’

Her thoughts winging away to the ubiquitous Augustina, she conjured up a picture of the young and vivacious Rosa with an elderly, yet adoring husband, proudly dangling a dark eyed infant on his knee. How the other half live.

Suddenly catching sight of the kitchen clock Sophie did a double take. A whole hour, she’d spent a whole hour just clearing up the debris left in Rosa’s wake. And she still hadn’t had a bath! Pulling off her sweatshirt and stepping out of her jeans, she closed the bathroom door and turned on the taps. How was it Rosa had described her plans for the rest of the day? “
shopping
,
eat
and
movies
” In her current frame of mind Sophie supposed that was
seemply
perfect. At least she’d be able to have a long, leisurely soak before her tiresome and unwelcome guest returned.

‘Long leisurely soak indeed,’ she muttered grimly, stepping from the bath, snatching a towel and hurrying to the phone. ‘It’s okay. I give up!’ she called, defeated.

In his hotel room Carlos heard an exasperated female voice echo down the line.

‘Rosa’s not here. She’s gone to lunch, which is more than I’ll get today!’

‘
Desculpe
?’