Page 8 of Love In Translation
Thank God. The world couldn’t cope with two of the same type.
Fletcher looked at the painting, lifted his eyebrows, and rested his hands on his hips. “Carrie’s told me a little about her over the years.”
“Like what?”
“I remember her saying that she treated Gilmartin as her fiefdom for more than fifty years. She had three sons, but the oldest one died in his...midtwenties.”
Rheo nodded. “She’s currently exploring Australia before she gets old.” Paddy was moving from luxury accommodation to luxury accommodation, taking in the sights along the way. It was, in Rheo’s mind, a sensible way to explore the world.
“She’s in her eighties, right? Isn’t she already old?”
Rheo laughed, enjoying him. “Don’t ever say those words to her face. She will rip you apart. What else did Carrie tell you about Paddy?”
How many family secrets had her blabby cousin shared with Fletcher? Rheo particularly wanted to know what Carrie had said about her.
Actually, knowing how dismissive Carrie could be about her “boring” life and career, maybe she didn’t.
“Ah...let me think. Paddy divorced her extremely rich husband and vowed she would never remarry.”
“Their divorce was Gilmartin’s great scandal of the summer of sixty-five, partly because they got divorced, mostly because she got the Whitlock family home in the settlement. She celebrated by opening this house up to anyone who caught her fancy. Every summer, she returned to the Pink House, and her parties became the stuff of legend. Some summers she hosted visitors for weeks or months on end,” Rheo said.
And many visitors, male and frequently married, shared Paddy’s bed. (Gilmartin residents still spoke of the spring, fall, and summer scandals of ’67, ’73, and ’81). Paddy’s love life was none of Rheo’s business, and she didn’t care about her lovers. Paddy was simply her grandmother, always welcoming and accepting. Paddy showed Rheo love by handing her a pile of books and allowing her to fall into the world between the pages. Paddy never made her take long hikes, nor did she expect Rheo to spend her time kayaking or climbing. Paddy allowed her to justbe.
Her grandmother spoke French and Italian and encouraged Rheo to study other languages. She also nagged her to talk and engage with people, reminding Rheo she would never find her tribe if she didn’t show people who she was. It was a lesson she had yet to master.
But points to her for finding Abi at one of the darkest times in her life. Abi, without much effort, slid into Rheo’s life and under her skin, and their friendship was easy.
Rheo looked into her grandmother’s blue eyes, eyes she’d inherited, and dropped her head in a small nod.Point taken, Paddy.
Fletcher shuffled behind her, and Rheo imagined Paddy’s cutting comments about her lack of hospitality. She should take him to his room or give him a tour of the house. Paddy loved showing off her house, pointing out its handcrafted staircase, the handmade stained-glass windows, the views of the river and forests, and the mountains in the distance.
“I’ll show you to the guest bedroom.” Rheo nodded to his duffel bag. “Do you want to grab your stuff?”
“Tell me where to go and where to find linens and stuff. I can make the bed and sort myself out,” Fletcher told her.
By Paddy’s decree, the guest rooms, pristine and perfect, were always ready and required no fussing. But Rheo could’ve done with time to prepare for Fletcher’s unexpected arrival. She planned, wrote lists, and wasn’t an embrace-the-moment type of girl. She needed time, and lots of it, to adjust. And that was why, four months later, she hadn’t come to terms with all the changes in her life.
How was she expected to handle her fierce, highly flammable attraction to this man?
“You won’t need to feed, water, or entertain me, and I’ll try and stay out of your way as much as possible,” Fletcher said, following her.
Oh God, her hosting skills were so rusty! He was the tenant, she the temporarily homeless squatter.
“And I don’t want to interrupt your work,” he told her as they hit the first-floor landing.
Her work? What work? She turned to face him, frowning.
He gestured to her clothes. “Judging by your outfit, I assume you work online. You know, professional on top...”
“Oh!I had a meeting with my boss earlier.”
“So, youdowork?”
She wished. “I’m on sabbatical.” Fletcher cocked his head, waiting for more. “I’m a simultaneous interpreter.”
Wow.She never used big words to explain her job, but she wanted to impress him.Pathetic.
He scratched his head and looked confused. He looked kind of adorable. In a way that a ten-foot grizzly could look cuddly.