The Other Language(41)

Then the moment passed.



Leo stumbled into the kitchen around ten the next morning, puffy and unshowered, just as Lara had finished laying the table for breakfast. She’d placed a couple of hydrangeas and English roses in a glass. It looked so lovely that she snapped a photo.

“Buongiorno! Il caffè è pronto nel thermos.”

Switching to Italian with Leo made her feel more at ease, as it seemed to create the kind of intimacy she was craving.

He slumped in the chair with a sleepy grunt and poured half the thermos in his cup. “Where is Ben?” she asked.

“He’s in the shower. Or on the phone, I’m not sure. Can you turn that thing down a bit?”

Lara lowered the volume on the radio: it was her favorite morning news program.

“That’s better. So, what’s up?” he asked, using the affectionate voice of family.

“What do you mean exactly?”

“What are your plans? Are you going to live here now?”

“Not all year round. But spend as much time as possible here in the warmer months, yes.”

Leo looked around, as if taking in the place for the first time.

“And what are you planning to do for a living?”

He meant now that her divorce had been settled, and there was no more alimony coming her way.

“Oddio … that’s a big question so early in the morning.”

“Well, that’s the question Mamma keeps asking me, which I have no answer for.”

“You two discuss my future when she calls you in L.A.?”

“Not always. But she wonders, you know.”

“Well, I was thinking I could get into a bit of real estate. You can buy property for next to nothing here.”

“That sounds good. Do you have the money?”

“Not right now. But it’s something I could get into in the near future.”

Leo gave an unconvinced nod. Lara searched for an alternative.

“I was also thinking I could go back to teaching yoga. I could organize retreats here in the summer. People would love it. They could practice early in the morning and then go for a swim. This place is ideal.”

Leo didn’t say anything, waiting for more.

“I also thought—this sounds a bit like a crazy idea but I think it could work—I could start a little flower shop. I could use this kitchen as the store. It already has street access. You know, this was the forno in the old days, where people—”

“Yes, you’ve already told me that.”

“Right. Sorry. But look how pretty this combination is.” She brushed the flowers in the glass with her fingertips. “I could make really pretty arrangements using the flowers that grow all around here. Wildflowers.”

“Yoga and flowers?” Leo said, studying the list of ingredients on the box of organic cookies Lara had put on the table. “That sounds a bit optimistic …”

“Well, I’d have to figure out the costs. I’ve only just started thinking about the future.”

He put the box down and grabbed a cornetto. “It worries me that you have no safety net anymore.”

But more than worried he sounded annoyed, as if this concern was something he didn’t want to feel responsible for. Since her divorce, Leo had strayed even further away from her. Could it be that, now that she was on her own, she had become too much of a liability?

Ben’s voice reached them from outside. He was, as ever, murmuring on the phone to someone, his conversation punctuated by a mix of short laughs and whispers.

“Is he still married?” Lara had a faint memory of a wife pictured next to him on a red carpet, a small brunette wearing sensible shoes.

“Yeah.” Leo bit into a second cornetto. “They’re having a bit of a … I’d say better not mention the subject right now.”

“Okay.” She looked around the room, searching for inspiration. “Hey, would you like me to take you two to see the cathedral in Otranto? It has an amazing floor, the largest Byzantine mosaic in the world. Would Ben like that kind of thing?”

Leo shrugged.

“I don’t know. It might be too hot for sightseeing, and I think he wanted to just chill while he was here—”

Ben walked into the kitchen. His hair was wet and combed back like a schoolboy’s. He was wearing just a faded sarong tightly wrapped around his waist. He had a big, glowing smile on his face and was still clutching his phone as if his joy was directly connected to the device.

“Good morning! What a glorious day!”

“I’ll make some more coffee,” Lara said, looking away; she found his big naked belly disconcerting.

Ben sat down and whispered something to Leo with a grin. Lara watched them as they spoke furtively. Their childish secrecy was making her uncomfortable.

“What are your plans for the day? Shall we go swimming?” she suggested. “I can take you to a lovely beach only ten minutes away, if you feel like it.”

“We were thinking …,” Ben began, eyeing Leo, as if needing his help.

Leo immediately took charge.

“How about that dressmaker you mentioned? Do you think she could make us something? We actually brought some material and shirts to copy.”

“Mina? Of course. She’ll be thrilled.”