Chapter 3

CARLOS POINT OF VIEW 

I was at Elena’s house at seven thirty exactly. I had two cups of coffee in a thermos and a bag of pastries I had bought in town. Marta opened the door and let me in without saying anything. She just pointed toward the garden and went back to the kitchen.

Elena was already working when I went outside. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She looked over when I came out and nodded.

“You’re on time,” she said. “I didn’t think you would be.”

“I told you I would be,” I said. I handed her a cup of coffee. “I got your favorite. With extra milk and sugar.”

She took the cup and took a sip. “Thank you. How did you remember?”

“I remember everything about you,” I said. I sat down at the table and took a sip of my own coffee. “What are we working on today?”

“We need to build a trellis for the beans,” she said. “They’re starting to grow and they need something to climb on. Miguel said he would help me but he had to go to the city for work.”

“I can help you build it,” I said. “I’m not a carpenter like Miguel but I’m pretty good with my hands.”

Elena looked at me like she wasn’t sure. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“I built a bookshelf for our apartment in Barcelona remember?” I said. “It didn’t fall down.”

She laughed a little bit. It was a real laugh and it made my chest feel warm. “Okay. But if you mess it up I’m going to make you fix it.”

We went to the shed and got the wood and tools we needed. We worked together to measure and cut the pieces. Elena showed me how she wanted it to look and I followed her instructions. We worked well together. It felt like old times when we would do projects around the house.

“You’re actually pretty good at this,” she said. She was holding a piece of wood steady while I nailed it in place. “I forgot you used to like building things.”

“I still do,” I said. I hammered the last nail in place and stepped back to look at the trellis. “It looks good.”

“It does,” she said. She walked around it checking to make sure everything was level. “Thank you Carlos. I couldn’t have done this by myself.”

“You don’t have to do things by yourself anymore,” I said. “I’m here now. I want to help you with whatever you need.”

Elena stopped checking the trellis and looked at me. “You can’t just stay here and help me with the garden forever Carlos. You need to have your own life.”

“This is my life now,” I said. “You are my life. Everything else doesn’t matter.”

She looked away from me. “You can’t keep saying things like that. It makes it hard for me to think clearly.”

“I’m not saying them to make things hard,” I said. I walked over to her and put my hand on her shoulder. “I’m saying them because they’re true.”

She didn’t pull away but she didn’t lean into me either. “We need to talk about the divorce papers Carlos. They’ve been ready for months. My lawyer keeps calling me asking when we’re going to sign them.”

“I told you I’m not going to sign them,” I said. “I don’t want a divorce. I want us to try again.”

“It’s not that easy,” she said. She turned to look at me. “You hurt me Carlos. You hurt me more than you know. I spent three years trying to get over you and now you’re here acting like nothing happened.”

“I know I hurt you,” I said. I took my hand off her shoulder but I didn’t move away. “And I am sorry for that. More sorry than you can ever know. But I’m not acting like nothing happened. I’m trying to make things right. I’m trying to show you that I’ve changed.”

“How do I know you’ve really changed?” she said. Her voice was starting to shake. “How do I know you won’t go back to working all the time and ignoring me again?”

“Because I would never let that happen,” I said. “I quit my job remember? I moved here to be close to you. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll spend every day showing you that you’re the most important thing in my life.”

Elena looked at me for a long time. Then she sighed. “Okay. We can try. But it’s not going to be easy. We have a lot of things to work through.”

“I know,” I said. I felt a smile spread across my face. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

She nodded. “We’ll take it slow. No pressure. We’ll just spend time together and see how it goes.”

“That sounds perfect,” I said.

We went back to working in the garden. We planted the bean seeds next to the trellis and watered them. Then we pulled weeds and checked the other plants for bugs. We talked about small things – the weather, the town, the books we were reading. It was nice. It felt like we were getting to know each other again.

When we were done working we went inside and sat in the living room. Marta brought us lemonade and we sat on the couch. Elena was sitting close to me but not too close. I wanted to put my arm around her but I didn’t want to push things too fast.

“Miguel is having a party at his shop this weekend,” she said. “He’s celebrating finishing a big project. He invited me. Do you want to go with me?”

I felt my stomach tighten again but I pushed the feeling away. “Sure. That sounds like fun.”

Elena looked at me like she was surprised. “You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?” I said. “He’s your friend. And I want to get to know the people you care about.”

She smiled. “Okay. It’s on Saturday night. We can go together.”

We talked for a little while longer then I went back to my house. I spent the rest of the day cleaning and organizing. I wanted my house to be nice in case Elena ever wanted to come over. I also wanted to make sure I had something nice to wear to the party on Saturday.

On Friday I went into town to buy a new shirt. While I was there I saw Miguel at his carpentry shop. He was working on a table and he looked up when I came in.

“Carlos,” he said. He put down his tools and wiped his hands on his apron. “What can I do for you?”

“I just came to buy a shirt,” I said. “But I saw your shop and I thought I would stop in. Elena told me you’re having a party tomorrow night.”

“That’s right,” he said. “You’re coming with her aren’t you?”

“I am,” I said. “I wanted to tell you thank you. For helping Elena with the house and the garden. For being her friend when she needed one.”

Miguel looked at me for a minute. Then he nodded. “She needed someone to talk to. She was really sad when she first moved here. She didn’t talk to anyone for months.”

“I know,” I said. “I feel terrible about that. I should have been here for her.”

“You can’t change the past,” Miguel said. “But you can change the future. She’s starting to smile again. She talks about you a lot.”

“She does?” I said.

“She does,” he said. “She’s scared though. She doesn’t want to get hurt again.”

“I would never hurt her again,” I said. “I swear to you.”

“I know you mean that,” Miguel said. “But you have to show her. Words are easy. Actions are hard.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m going to show her. Every single day.”

Miguel put his hand on my shoulder. “Good. Because she deserves to be happy. And I think you’re the one who can make her happy. You just have to be patient.”

“I will be,” I said. “Thank you Miguel. For everything.”

I left the shop and went back to my house. I was feeling good about things. I had a chance with Elena and I wasn’t going to waste it. I spent the rest of the day getting ready for the party. I ironed my new shirt and made sure my shoes were clean. I even bought Elena a small gift – a necklace with a small silver bird on it. I had seen her looking at it in a shop window in town a few days before.

On Saturday night I went over to Elena’s house to pick her up. She opened the door and I almost couldn’t breathe. She was wearing a red dress and her hair was down. She looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her.

“You look amazing,” I said.

She smiled. “Thank you. You look pretty good yourself.”

I handed her the small box with the necklace. “I bought this for you. I saw you looking at it the other day.”

She opened the box and her eyes got big. “Carlos it’s beautiful. You didn’t have to buy me anything.”

“I wanted to,” I said. “Can I put it on you?”

She nodded and turned around. I put the necklace around her neck and fastened the clasp. My hands were shaking a little bit. When I was done I put my hands on her shoulders and looked at her in the mirror.

“It looks perfect on you,” I said.

She turned around and looked at me. “Thank you Carlos. I love it.”

We left the house and drove to Miguel’s shop. When we got there there were already a lot of people there. Miguel was standing by the door and he smiled when he saw us.

“Elena you look beautiful,” he said. “Carlos good to see you again.”

“Thank you for inviting us,” I said.

We went inside and started talking to people. Most of them were from the town and they were all really nice. They told me stories about Elena and how she had helped them with different things – cooking food for the elderly, helping organize the town festival, teaching kids how to garden. I didn’t know she had done all those things. I was proud of her.

After a while Miguel got everyone’s attention. He thanked everyone for coming and talked about the project he had finished – a set of tables and chairs for the town square. Then he raised his glass.

“I also want to thank someone special,” he said. He looked at Elena. “Elena has been a great friend to me since she moved here. She’s helped me with everything and she’s made this town a better place. So here’s to Elena.”

Everyone raised their glasses and cheered. Elena smiled and looked down at her feet. I put my arm around her and she leaned into me a little bit. It felt good. It felt like we were a real couple again.

Later we were standing by the window talking when Elena looked up at me. “Thank you for coming tonight. I know it wasn’t easy for you to be here with Miguel.”

“It was fine,” I said. “He’s a good man. And he cares about you. That’s all that matters.”

She nodded. “He does care about me. But not the way you do.”

I looked down at her. “And how do I care about you?”

She put her hand on my chest. “You care about me like I’m the only person in the world. Even when I didn’t deserve it.”

“You always deserved it,” I said. I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “You always will.”

Elena looked up at me and I could see tears in her eyes. “I love you Carlos. I never stopped loving you.”

I felt my own eyes get wet. “I love you too Elena. More than anything.”

I leaned down and kissed her. It was a soft kiss at first then it got deeper. We were kissing like we had never been apart. Like we had never been hurt. Like we were the only two people in the room.

When we pulled apart we were both smiling. Elena put her head on my chest and I held her tight. I knew things weren’t going to be easy. We had a lot of work to do and a lot of things to fix. But we were together again. And that’s all that mattered.