“Not in itself, but, well, when it means there’s a trail of failed business ventures behind me, it’s not so great. It’s something my gran warned me about before she died. And a trail of failed relationships, too.” Vanessa swirled herlemonade around her glass. “Gran told me I had to find something and stick at it.”
“And this Spanish cafe? That’s the thing?” Joey spoke slowly.
“Yes, I think it is. And it really needs to be,” reflected Vanessa. “It’s fine in your twenties, faffing about and doing as you please, but I’m thirty-six this year, and I really need to think about settling to something.” Silently she addedand to someone. “I’m not like you.”
“No?” Joey put her head to one side.
“Well, I mean, obviously, we’re practically opposites.” Vanessa grinned. “But I mean, you made a choice, didn’t you? Years ago you decided you’d be here, you’d bake, you’d make a life. And that’s what you’ve done.”
Joey gave a tight smile in response.
“I admire you,” said Vanessa. “You seem so solid and strong. You know who you are and what you want, and to me that’s incredible.”
Joey looked away. She seemed uncomfortable in that second, and Vanessa regretted what she’d said. Then she looked back at Vanessa. “I don’t have it all worked out,” she said, eventually.
“I don’t think anyone has that,” replied Vanessa. “But I need to get at least some things in my life worked out. But enough about me. I’ve gone off on one. Sorry. What about your family?”
Joey looked up at her and frowned.
“Sorry,” Vanessa added. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“No, no,” said Joey. “It’s fine. It’s just very, um, different to yours.” She picked up a Magdalena and took a bite before going on. “We don’t really get on. They never really got me. Or perhaps I didn’t get them.”
Vanessa silently willed her on, saying nothing in case it spooked this woman of so few words.
“Actually, my dad texted me today. I hadn’t heard from him in over a year. And this week I’ve heard from him twice. It was a bit of a shock,” said Joey.
“A good one?” Vanessa asked.
“Definitely not.” Joey scowled. “He’s an alcoholic. Both my parents were. Mum’s gone now.”
“Oh my. I see. That must have been tough.” Vanessa fought an urge to reach out and touch Joey, to comfort her in some way.
“It was what it was,” said Joey. “But I made a decision a long time ago that I didn’t want to be part of it anymore.”
“And so you came here?” Vanessa asked.
“Not quite as straightforward as that, but eventually, yes,” agreed Joey.
Chapter Twenty-One
JOEY
Joey hadn’t spoken about her parents in a long time. She hadn’t even used the word ‘alcoholic’ in years. It was such a neat word, for such a messy childhood.
The truth was that her father wasn’t a bad man. He was an addict. He could be loving and kind, but when he was drunk he turned chaotic and unpredictable. And once or twice he’d been violent. Joey grimaced. She hadn’t meant to tell Vanessa this. The only other person she’d told was Dani.
“Is that why you don’t drink?” asked Vanessa, immediately following up with, “Sorry if I’m prying. Do tell me to bog off.”
Joey smiled. There was a charm to Vanessa’s gentle inquisitiveness that she couldn’t resist. “Mostly,” she admitted.
“And based on what Carmen’s said, my sense is that you’re single and happily so?” Vanessa pressed.
Joey nodded.
They drifted into a comfortable silence. Vanessa looked stunning in the candlelight, which seemed to havetransformed the balcony and its cushions and blankets into a secret world that belonged to just the two of them.
Joey remembered Vanessa’s previous words and knew that along with a trail of failed businesses, Vanessa had left at least a few broken hearts, too. Perhaps her own, perhaps others’. Not that it was any of Joey’s business, of course. And the decisions that had brought Joey to Barcelona weren’t just about her parents. They were about her own heart, and its fragility.
