‘I’m suddenly not so sure about coffee,’ she said, turning away from him and heading into the kitchen. ‘We might both need something stronger after all these years.’
She heard his footsteps behind her, and Valentina lifted her hand to her mouth, stifling a cry as the understanding of what had just happened settled over her.Felipe is here, in my home.
She’d waited her entire life for him, too scared to move on for fear that the moment she did, they’d lose whatever window they might have. And now here he was, with both of them free to be together. They’d both loved, and lost; they’d both lived full lives, with people they cared deeply about; but everything was changing now.
And she was ready for this next chapter in her life. With the man she’d always loved by her side.
Valentina straightened and took a deep breath, because when she turned around, she didn’t want him to see her tears, only her smile.
Four weeks later, Valentina and Felipe sat together at the polo. Even though she’d very much been on the fringes of Felipe’s life, she’d made sure to support his family in any way she could, never blaming him for the way things had worked out. And so she’d provided his son with a job and the very best polo ponies as soon as he’d shown an interest in the sport, but it had never surprised anyone, given the relationship her father had had withFelipe’s father. It was also a natural continuation of her family’s love of the sport, and she’d made sure to sponsor other riders and entire polo matches so that her support of Felipe’s family wasn’t obvious.
But today it was proving far more difficult to not be obvious. Every time Felipe moved, or his knee nudged against hers, or they glanced at each other, she felt like that teenager who’d run down to the stables to see the boy she loved, just to spend five minutes in his company.
‘Felipe, would you have dinner with me tonight?’ Valentina asked.
‘I would love to,’ he said, touching her hand for a moment before withdrawing it.
Part of Valentina wondered if his family would even mind—it wasn’t as if she was a younger woman or after his money—but she was also conscious that it was his decision. Felipe needed to be ready to tell them.
‘Is there a special occasion?’
‘Did I tell you that I have someone keep an eye on my daughter and her family?’
He nodded. ‘You did.’
‘Well, that person just sent me a letter,’ she took a deep breath, knowing her voice was shaking. ‘My daughter has just become a grandmother.’
Felipe didn’t hesitate in taking her hand then, and he kept hold of it, his eyes fixed on hers.
‘So you’re a great-grandmother now,’ he said. ‘Congratulations.’
‘It breaks my heart not to know them,’ she said. ‘I’ve tried to celebrate all their milestones, telling myself that what I did was for the best, but…’
‘There’s no reason you can’t make contact now,’ he said.
‘But after all these years? How would I explain why I’ve never come forward before? What would they think of me and the decisions I made?’
‘Valentina, if they’re anything like you, they’ll find it in their hearts to forgive you. It was a different time then, society had different expectations of us all.’
‘I keep thinking that if she wanted to find me, if she wanted to connect with me, wouldn’t she have tried?’ Valentina asked. ‘And then I get so angry with myself, and I wish I’d left something more direct in that little box.’
Felipe didn’t say anything.
‘When I left it, I expected to come back within months for her. I honestly believed that I’d be able to get her back, that we’d have the rest of our lives together.’
‘Valentina, it’s not too late,’ he said. ‘It’s never too late.’
He lifted her hand and held it to his cheek.
‘Look at us. Five decades, and we picked up as if no time had passed at all.’
Valentina smiled; he was right, of course he was right. But she also knew in her heart that too many years had passed for her to come forward, that she had missed the opportunity to be in her daughter’s life.
Felipe’s family came towards them then, and he dropped her hand. But he didn’t move away from her, leaving his knee touching against hers as his little grandson came running.
His son chatted and his daughter-in-law came forward to kiss his cheek, holding the hand of a little girl who was only a toddler. Valentina felt a pang of sadness as she watched them, the pain of never having had her own family a constant that she did her best to ignore, but at times like this it was almost impossible.
‘Valentina, thank you for a beautiful afternoon,’ his son said, before ruffling his own son’s dark hair. ‘This little one is already telling me he wants to be a polo rider one day.’
