His mother, Maria, poured him his favouritemeta de leite, a traditional milky coffee, and pushed it towards him. ‘Have a pastry. Ana made them this morning.’ She indicated the plate containing severalbola de arroz, the crusted sugar on top glistening invitingly.
He took one and bit into the light, crumbly muffin. The rice flour gave it its delicate texture, and the lemon zest, the fresh flavour. They were his favourites and he’d earned one in the pool. He’d had to push himself hard to keep up with the new girl.She had to be the new hire because there were no guests of her description at the moment.
She was fast and had a great smile. He wondered if she was single, although he assumed, if she’d agreed to work out here for several months, she must have no real ties back home.
It could be fun to spend some time with her. He got the feeling she’d enjoy challenging him in more than just thepool. Maybe, like him, she was after some light-hearted fun during the summer.
Taking a sip of his coffee, he realised his mother was talking to him. ‘Sorry,Mãe, I was miles away.’
‘I was asking if you’d have time to approve the new menu today.’
‘Sure,’ he said, exchanging a quick glance with Ana, who gave him a discreet smile. His mother had been working in the kitchen since before he was born and was an absolute genius with flavours and local food. People travelled for miles to eat in the restaurant. So it was a mystery why she still sought his approval on the seasonal menu changes– it wasn’t as if he ever changed anything– plus, he had a million and one other things to do today. Hebit back his impatience. ‘How about we go through it at two o’clock?’
‘Thank you, and you can see what you think of the new butter dishes I’d like to buy.’
Felipe smiled, hoping she couldn’t see beneath the surface. He loved her dearly and she had excellent taste. He couldn’t remember a single time he’d ever challenged one of her suggestions.
‘Can I swap my shift with Cristina on Saturday?’ piped up Katerina.
‘No!’ squealed her sister with an outraged howl. ‘I’m going swimming that afternoon!’
‘But I’ve got something planned,’ protested Katerina.
The girls began to bicker about it. Felipe sucked in a quick breath and wondered how they’d react if he stood up and walked out. Knowing those two, they’d follow him down the corridor, jumping up and down at each other like a pair of excitable monkeys. ‘What does it say on the rota?’ he said sternly, knowing full well because he’d signed it off last week.
Katerina pouted, which she did rather well.
‘You both work alternate Saturday mornings,’ said Felipe, running his hand through his hair. ‘That’s fair.’
‘Yes, but Cristina can go swimming anytime. It’s not like she has any friends.’
‘Do too! I have real friends. You just want to go and do kissy faces with Bernardo.’
‘I don’t!’ said Katerina turning bright red and throwing a spoon at her sister.
Felipe gripped the table, threw his head back and looked at the ceiling, wishing sometimes that he could go and live in his nice little apartment in Lisbon and leave them all to it. Except that wasn’t possible. When his dad and uncle had died, it had fallen to him to take responsibility for the hotel, the restaurant and the family. He loved them all dearly but sometimes, like now, it was like living in a zoo.
‘Girls!’ said Maria firmly, clapping her hands. ‘Enough. Felipe has only just got home.’ They both stopped talking and contented themselves with glaring and mouthing insults at one another. ‘Give him some peace. Ana needs to talk to him about the new flour supplier. There have been a few problems.’
Ana gave him a shy smile. ‘Maybe not now,’ she said with an apologetic shrug, which was ironic because of all the family she was the least demanding, but she wasn’t assertive enough to deal with suppliers.
‘Why not?’ he said softening his voice. ‘It might be the best chance you get.’
This day was only going to get busier, he thought, and he was suddenly grateful for the quick, fun interlude earlier. It was the first interaction he’d had with an attractive woman for a while, despite what his family liked to think. He didn’t have the time or the inclination for anything serious, but there was no reason why he couldn’t have a bit of fun.
Knowing he’d see plenty of the girl from the pool cheered him no end.
Chapter Three
Rebecca had wasted too much time trying to decide what to wear for her first meeting with her new boss and now she was going to be late.
She was here to teach Pilates– she’d wear yoga pants, a sports bra and a T-shirt. At least she’d look like she knew what she was doing, which she did when it came to teaching Pilates. Sadly not when it came to choosing clothes. That had never been her thing and ever since that disastrous night at the Spring Ball a month ago, she’d been second-guessing everything she wore.
Eek. That pink floral number. It had looked so good on the model on the website– a vivacious brunette with a mass of thick dark hair, dark eyes and well-defined eyebrows. Her colouring should have given Rebecca her first clue, given that she was blonde and blue-eyed. The pale pink colour made her look washed out and sickly. The bigger mistake had been not trying it on before the day of the ball and assuming that it would look the same on her as it did on the model.
It did not.
Realising that dwelling on unpleasant memories wasn’t going to do anything for her frame of mind and definitely wasn’t in the spirit of wellness– for which she’d been employed– Rebecca grabbed her phone and room key and set off to the main building where the admin offices were housed.
