‘Your receptionist let me back here—I hope that’s OK. I think we need to talk.’
‘Yes...’
Ana studied Ines as she stepped fully inside, glancing warily at Ana from head to toe as Ana touched a hand to her flowery headband. Ines was the opposite of her when it came to style. She wore a crisp white blouse tucked into dark-washed high-waisted jeans and wore cream-coloured ankle boots. Her hair was loose, framing her face in long waves that reached down to her collarbone. She was stunning but there was an air of sadness about her.
‘I’m sorry for how I reacted yesterday,’ Ines said, taking a plastic seat at the small table. ‘I know you’ve grown quite close with Javi, and he’s very fond of you too. I just thought, maybe I owed you an explanation. Things have been a little off lately.’
Ana nodded, debating with herself whether it was right to do this or not. Would Gabriel think this was gossiping, or her sticking her nose in where it wasn’t wanted? What was the point of getting involved when she had already excused herself from their lives anyway? Hadn’t she decided just last night that it wasn’t her place to get involved in this...whatever it was? But, then again, whatever was up with Ines affected Gabriel and Javi too and, the more she thought about it, the more guilty she felt at doing nothing but walking away—so to speak. She’d done nothing to help Gabriel, when he’d always gone out of his way to be there for her.
‘Javi’s in reception—he wanted to see your children’s toys,’ Ines said. ‘They’re looking after him for me. Your staff are lovely, by the way.’
‘They’re the best.’ Ana offered to make Ines some tea and she accepted.
‘How is Pedro?’ Ana asked, filling the kettle from the tap, hoping it didn’t sound too much as though she was probing.
‘He’s working, as usual, locked away in his study,’ came her cool reply, followed by a deep, resounding sigh.
Ana nodded. OK, then, so that was a pretty big hint as to why Ines might be unhappy. Something was going on with Pedro and her.
‘It’s mint,’ Ana said a couple of minutes later, putting a cup of steaming tea down in front of her visitor and positioning her wheelchair at the opposite end of the table. Ines thanked her and sipped the sweet tea, and Ana wondered if it was acceptable to ask about the state of her marriage.
Ines sighed again, no doubt seeing the question in Ana’s eyes and probably realising that there was no point in denying it. She put down her cup with a slightly trembling hand and looked away for a few seconds before finally speaking.
‘We’ve been arguing a lot recently,’ Ines admitted reluctantly. Her face dropped and she seemed to become smaller in her chair, as if someone had let out all of the air inside of her. Ana felt a pang of empathy for the woman.
‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘Javi has picked up on it, though we’ve tried not to argue in front of him. I feel so guilty...’
‘Oh, Ines,’ Ana said, suddenly torn. Tears began to well up in Ines’ eyes as she started going into details about how busy Pedro was with his work, how they’d turned into strangers in the same house and how he never even bought her flowers any more. Ana felt overwhelmed. She reached out a hand across the table and clasped her fingers. Ines squeezed hers back. She hadn’t expected Ines to open up so fast to her, but it seemed as if she’d been bottling this agony up inside for too long now, just waiting for someone to notice and listen.
‘I suppose I can understand why Javi wants to stay with his papa, and you,’ Ines conceded. ‘I just feel so helpless, knowing I might lose him.’
Ana balked. Did Ines even know that Gabriel constantly worried that he might lose his son—that Ines would ask for full custody? ‘You won’t lose Javi, Ines. You are his mother—he loves you.’
‘Ana?’ A small voice from behind the door made her start. Suddenly Javi appeared, his little hand in Maria’s.
‘Sorry, ladies, he was asking for you,’ she said, releasing him into the staff room. Ana smiled at him as he walked to them in his cast, wearing a loose cotton shirt printed with robots and matching dark-blue trousers.
‘What are you doing?’ he asked them.
‘I’m just talking with your mama.’ Ana smiled. Ines promptly got up to refill their tea cups, and she felt Ines watching them as Ana asked how he was and finally handed over the gift she’d been keeping for him. Luckily, she’d had it stored there at the clinic in her locker. Ana’s heart melted as he pulled out the stuffed toy—a dog that looked rather like Savio.
‘I love it, thank you, Ana!’ Javi hugged it tightly under his good arm as Ines put her refilled cup down and asked to see the toy.
For a second Ana thought a gift from her might have been a little unwelcome, but Ines shot her a look of gratitude over Javi’s head as she swiped at her own tired eyes.
‘Right, Javi, we didn’t finish inspecting the fire engine out there,’ Maria said, beckoning the boy back outside again with her. Ana knew she could tell they needed to talk. Ines dropped a kiss on his head. Javi kissed his mother’s cheek and then, to Ana’s surprise, turned to kiss hers too before heading back outside with Maria and his toy.
Ines watched him go. ‘He likes you a lot,’ she said.
Ana smiled. ‘I like him a lot too.’
They both sat in silence for a moment and then Ines turned to her. ‘I’m so sorry for how I’ve been acting lately,’ she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Ana shook her head. ‘I think Gabriel feels like he’s failing you,’ she said, feeling empowered now and determined to make things right. ‘But the truth is, Javi getting his arm broken in the park was just an accident. It wasn’t Gabriel’s fault, it wasn’t anyone’s fault.’
‘I know.’
Ana reached out and squeezed Ines’ hand once more. She could hardly imagine how difficult it must be to be a full-time parent, juggling a thousand things, always blaming yourself when things went wrong. Ana could understand now where Ines had been coming from—she’d never meant to blame Gabriel for anything, she’d just been frustrated at her own situation, feeling guilty and stressed.
Ines sat up straighter and composed herself. ‘I appreciate you seeing me today, Ana, I do.’
‘That’s OK. And I know you’ll talk to Gabriel soon and reassure him that this wasn’t his fault.’ Ana looked at her hopefully, hoping her message was coming across.
Ines nodded. ‘I’ll talk to Gabriel. I just didn’t want him to think I wasn’t doing my best as Javi’s mother, you know?’
‘You’re doing your best as his parents—you both are,’ she told her, relieved that Ines had come to see her and that now, hopefully, Ines would finally explain to Gabriel what had been going on.
‘You’re good for Gabriel, you know,’ Ines said when Ana walked her to the door. ‘You’re together, aren’t you, finally?’
Finally? Ana realised she must have be frowning in confusion. Ines smiled.
‘I think I always knew Gabe and I wouldn’t work out. I always thought he was in love with someone else.’
‘You mean me?’ Ana heard herself say, surprised at how it just came out of her so easily, and how the giant knot in her stomach reformed on the spot, tighter than ever.
Ines laughed. ‘Yes, you!’
