After changing clothes, I went down the stairs with a smile, still thinking about that artistic scene I'd witnessed at the lake. I headed toward the kitchen, but my mother called me from the dining room.
I looked in her direction and went over, still with that image in my head and a smile on my face.
Before I even entered, I saw that the table was set with so much food, it looked like there was enough to feed an entire army.
“Wow... they really went overboard with the amount of food,” I thought.
When I reached the doorway, I realized it wouldn't be just the three of us. Besides my mother, my father, and me, Aunt Lourdes, Vanessa, Valdimar, who smiled and waved at me, and Valdinei were there too. And this time, Valdinei was dressed—and very well dressed. He didn't even look like the guy I'd seen standing on top of the rock.
He looked at me with a shy expression that left me completely flustered. He was gorgeous. He looked like a boy who'd been caught misbehaving.
I looked around the table and saw two empty chairs: one for me and another for...
“Could it be for Valdemir?” I thought. “Am I finally going to look him in the face? He'll see!”
Then my mother said:
“Daughter, this is Valdinei. You two haven't met yet.”
I looked at him and, as if asking for help, he held my gaze.
Ah... if my mother only knew how much I already knew about him...
I extended my hand and smiled.
“Nice to meet you.”
He looked confused for a moment, but soon smiled, shook my hand, and replied:
“The pleasure's all mine.”
“Now all that's left is for her to meet the grumpy one,” Valdimar said, breaking the tension.
“But Lia has already met him,” my mother added.
“He didn't even talk to the girl during the entire trip. He was in a bad mood, as always!” Valdimar shot back.
My father sighed before answering:
“Your brother is always busy helping me on the farm. That's just how he is... and he has his reasons. You know that.”
He said it as if he were hiding a secret everyone knew except me.
My mother asked:
“Isn't he coming to lunch?”
Before Aunt Lourdes could answer, my father spoke up.
“No. He had to go back to the city to finish taking care of a few things. He only came to bring me here and then left. He's going to have lunch there. But I already told him, Lourdes: I won't accept this business of him sleeping in the stable or in the workers' quarters. He has a room here. We're family. His father and I were brothers in everything but blood, and I won't stand for this. He promised me he'll stop.”
Aunt Lourdes smiled faintly.
“That boy has always liked sleeping out in the open. What he really loves is the woods and the earth. He's always been that way... skittish, like a wild animal.”
My father answered with tears welling in his eyes, trying to hide his emotions.
“It's true... He looks so much like his father.”
Noticing that the mood had changed, my mother smiled.
“Shall we start eating?”
Everyone laughed.
“Let's!” they answered at the same time.
We began eating and talking. Time passed without us noticing.
My mother's cooking... mmm... was delicious. Aunt Lourdes and Vanessa were great cooks too. Everything smelled wonderful.
While I ate, Valdinei stole a few discreet glances at me. I tried to play it cool, but I ended up flirting back.
The thing is, I've never been good at two things: cooking and romantic relationships.
So I decided not to encourage it. After all, we were with family.
“So, when would you like to see the farm with me?” Valdimar asked.
“I don't know... whenever you can.”
“I want to go too!” Vanessa said.
“If everyone is going, I'm going too,” Valdinei said.
My father joined the conversation:
“Why don't you go this weekend? There's a lot of work on the farm during the week.”
“Then it's settled! We're all going!” Valdimar celebrated.
My father added:
“Valdemir can take you in the pickup truck.”
All of a sudden, everyone's excitement disappeared.
“He won't want to go, godfather. And if he does, he'll spend the whole time complaining.”
“That's true, Uncle,” Vanessa agreed.
“And then he'll start fighting with everyone,” Valdinei added.
My father smiled.
“He needs to have a little fun too. He'll go with you.”
“Yes, sir!” the three of them replied.
Good grief...
This guy is worse than I'd imagined.
I thought he was only grumpy because he was sleepy, but he seemed to be a real pain in the neck. And apparently, it's not just with me.
When lunch was over, the men went back to work on the farm. My mother and Aunt Lourdes went to talk in the living room, while Vanessa and I were left in charge of clearing the table and washing the dishes.
Vanessa discreetly glanced toward the living room to make sure our mothers were still there. Then she came over to me and gave me a light nudge.
“Hey...”
“Yeah?”
“The boys and I wanted to take you somewhere cool. There's a little bar nearby, by the soccer field.”
“Nice!”
She smiled.
“But if Valdemir goes, he'll keep an eye on us. We won't even be able to dance. Sometimes there's a dance at night, and we sneak out to go.”
She laughed like a kid getting away with something.
“But he shows up there sometimes too. When that happens, the farmhands are afraid to ask me to dance. Then I have to call Valdimar or Valdinei, and they don't like it much because they want to dance with the other girls.”
“So what are we going to do?” I asked.
“I don't know yet. But by the weekend, Valdinei will think of something. He's the smartest one. He always finds a way.”
She smiled.
“And Valdimar makes it happen. They've always been that way.”
Then I looked out the kitchen window, and the red pickup truck was coming through the farm gate, heading straight for the stables.