Suck it up and roll with it. “Sure, Mama. We talk and then we let it go. What are you making today? Passata?” Always a good subject change.
“Your father planted too many tomatoes again, same as he does every year. Kyle has been picking them for me and helping cut them up. We will have more passata than we can possibly use, but we can give some away.”
Lena winked at her father who took a seat at the table. Every year her mother claimed there were too many tomatoes, but it was her that handed the seedlings to her husband to plant in the first place.
“Your hat, Ben, you forget again.” She threw her hand up in the air as she admonished him. Tsking, she grabbed cups from the hooks under the overhead cupboards. Lena did her best not to laugh because she knew he did it on purpose. For reasons unknown to her, he loved getting a tart response out of Mama, he always had.
Sofia returned, putting the cups down on the table, clinking the china together as she placed them on the embroidered table cloth. Once the kettle had boiled, she filled the old china teapot and set it down on the trivet before sitting next to her daughter. She curled a hand over Lena’s. “Are you doing okay, bella?”
Am I? “Yes, Mama, I’m doing okay.” She looked at her son who watched every move she made. His protective side was showing and it made her proud she’d treated him more like an adult and not a child. With him growing up in his formative years without a father, they made the best of it as a team, not her treating him like a baby that didn’t understand. He was always in the kitchen with her or in the garden growing or picking produce. My little sidekick. “Kyle, I’m really okay, I promise. It was hard to leave yesterday but what’s done is done. Our stuff will be here in the next couple of days.” And we will be officially homeless. She turned to her father. “Can we store some boxes in the back shed until we work out what we’re going to do?”
“Honey, you know you can. And what you’re going to do is stay right here with your mother and I. We’ve already talked about it. This is your home, yours and Kyle’s.” Ben Hawkins folded his hands together on the table in front of him. “Have you signed the papers yet?”
“Yes, I have. He got the restaurant and I took a cash payout plus payments over the next five years to cover my input into the building. He owns it all now.” Just me and Kyle, no ties anymore. What felt like a major loss last week now felt like a freedom that she didn’t know she’d been craving. Time to slow down and look at things a little differently might have been the best thing to happen to her. Time would tell if she’d made the right move or not.
“That’s not fair, Mum. You worked your ass off for that restaurant.” Kyle was indignant and she reacted quickly.
“Do not use that kind of language; you know better. If you want to be treated like an adult and join in our conversations I would respectively ask you to act grown up. Understand?”
“Yes. Sorry but its sucks big time. I thought he loved us, so I don’t get why he’s done this.” Kyle hung his head and Lena wanted to wrap her arms around him. They would have time together later to go for a walk and let him spew it all out if he wanted to.
You’re right, kiddo, but still. “I understand the frustration and believe me, I’m hurting too. I think he let the glamour get to his head and he wanted it all. There was no sense fighting it.” She gave a warning glance to her father who in turn nodded at Sofia who was getting ready to tirade against the indignity of it all.
“So what are the plans now, my dear?” Her father accepted the tea Lena held out to him when her mother filled each cup in turn.
“I’m not really sure. I’ll have to get Kyle into school and take stock I guess. I’ve got nowhere else I want to be right now. I hope you both know how much I appreciate you letting us stay.”
Sofia bristled. “Why wouldn’t we have you here? This is your home, Lena, and it always will be.” She grabbed her daughter’s hand. “You can stay forever as far as I’m concerned. My only grandchild should be close to his nona. Isn’t that right, Kyle?”
“Yes, Nona.” He grinned at his mother.
“I brought the Buddha jar. Everything else had to stay, but I couldn’t leave that behind.”
“Really? You left all of the pantry staples?” Her mother looked at her horrified and Lena fought down the urge to flee the room. “But what will you use when you start cooking again?”
Lena swallowed. “I don’t know if I want to cook again just now.” The hand embroidered flowers on the table cloth became interesting all of a sudden. Her finger tips traced the small knots that made up the center of the flowers. Her nona had stitched every single thread. The ones she’d been given were in the back of her car, packed in tissue like the precious things they were. They’d been used as displays once in a while in the restaurant. Luckily Cole had changed to a more urban setting a few weeks ago, otherwise they would be lost to her along with everything else.
“You can no more not cook than stop breathing, bella. Try to convince a stranger, but don’t pull the wool over my face like that.” Her mother huffed, an indignant glare on her face
