The telephone rang in the corridor. When Pete answered, his face turned crimson. "Oh for heaven's sake, Sammy! There's enough room here for everyone." After his daughter hung up, he stared at the receiver in his hand. Cursing at it.
Darlene found her grandfather in the corridor when she came from the kitchen. "Gramps, something wrong with the phone?"
He put it down and shook his head. "It's your mother. She wants me in my grave, sooner than later. My house is not good enough for her anymore! The house she was born in and grew up in!" He marched down the corridor. Still cursing.
Darlene was about to giggle when he swung around and came walking back to her.
"Your parents are at La Croc. You have to go and greet them there; otherwise, they'll see us tomorrow."
"What are they doing there?"
"That's what I said my house is not good enough for your mother anymore!" He turned around and marched down the corridor again. The door slammed shut after he entered his bedroom.
Darlene hurried to her room and put on a pair of sneakers. Walked up to her grandfather's room and knocked on the door. "Gramps, don't you want to come along?" No reply came from the old man's room and she decided to go without him.
At the front door, Darlene turned back. "Gramps, I'm going now!" She shut the door behind her and took the dirt road towards the guesthouse.
La Croc was about a half an hour's walk from the farm. She inquired at the reception of her parents' whereabouts and headed off to where Susan told her to find them.
When she walked through the swimming pool gate, she saw her youngest brother and waved at him to get his attention.
Steve, or Stevie as everyone called him, was a late arrival. Sammy cried for weeks when she found out she was pregnant – at age forty-four – with her third child.
Darlene, twenty at the time, was always worried people would think he was her son and not her brother.
The ten-year-old came running towards her when he saw her waving. Yelling of joy.
"Hey! Did you order me something cold to drink?" She grabbed him round the neck and gave him a hug. The two of them laughed aloud despite of the glares from the other guests.
He took her hand and dragged her towards their parents where they sat at a small table in the shade, away from the pool. After she greeted them, her father walked up to the guesthouse to order her a something to drink.
Her mother's lips drew in a thin line. "I knew your grandfather wouldn't come. Stubborn old fool!"
"Oh, Mom. Stop it. Don't ruin the moment, please. I really don't know why you want to stay here. I'm with Gramps on this one."
"Darlene! Don't take that tone with your mother!" Kirk stared at his daughter and arched a brow before he put a glass of Coke in front of her. "Your mother and I decided it was better to stay here. Nobody can get on each other's nerves and Uncle Don appreciates the income."
Darlene apologized and rolled her eyes when nobody looked. She should've stayed at home with Gramps.
***
When the last lazy rays of the sun turned into a dark red stain on the horizon, Darlene stood up and pardoned herself. She had to leave before it was completely dark.
Her mother looked up and gaped at her. "Excuse me! You are going nowhere! It's already too dark and it's dangerous out there alone." Sammy took her cell phone out of her purse. "Here, take my phone and call your grandfather. Tell him you'll be back tomorrow, with us."
Darlene peered at her mother. She was about to give her a mouthful when she caught a glimpse of her dad. He glared at her and arched his right eyebrow he was notorious for. She lowered her eyes and kept quiet. Many a time, she and her two brothers were more afraid of that raised eyebrow than a loud spoken word from him.
Kirk stood up from the table. "I'll book you a room for the night," he said and glanced once more at his daughter, before he left.
She took the phone from her mother and made the call.
Luckily, there were still rooms available. Kirk booked one for his daughter. He also inquired about the dinnertime tonight after he received the keys from Susan and headed back to the swimming pool.
"We can have dinner in half an hour," he said when he re-unites with his family and gave Darlene the keys to her room.
"Cool, I am starving!" Stevie said. He plunged one more time into the swimming pool. Swim back and forth, before he got out and dried himself. He rushed off to the changing room and changed into a set of dry clothes.
Sammy checked her watch. "It's time. Shall we go in for supper?"
The four of them took place at a table in the dining hall after they received their meal at the buffet table. A variety of food was available for guests to select from.
Darlene glanced first at her mother, then at her father. Her staying here was completely unnecessary. She could have been on the farm with Gramps. Not here with her overstrung parents in this tedious place! She didn't even bring a bathing suit, to join Stevie in the swimming pool!
She stared at the plate of food in front of her. Not even hungry. After her father said grace, she picked up the fork and pushed the spaghetti bolognese from side to side on the plate.
"Is there something wrong with your food?"
Darlene shook her head, without looking up.
"Well, eat it then," her mother said in her high-pitched voice.
Darlene took a mouthful. It was quite tasty. She kept on eating, her plate almost empty when a hand pressed down on her shoulder. Her head jerked to the left, looking at the hand.
"Everything okay here?" A woman with a deep voice asked.
Darlene raised her head and gasped loudly. A tall muscular woman with short dark brown hair, dressed in a white chef's uniform, stood next to her. The woman looked down and smiled at her with perfect, sparkling white teeth. Her eyes, dark. Her face, immaculate – beautiful.
"Anything else you need?" she asked. Still smiling.
Darlene smiled back and nodded her head slowly. Realized she was nodding, her face flushed. "I mean, no thank you," she said and changed the nod into a slow shake.
The woman captured Darlene's eyes for a moment. She smiled again at her, gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and left to check on the other diners.
Darlene kept staring at her as she stopped at every table, chat a brief moment before she carried on to the next. Who was that woman? Apparently, she was the chef but who was she. What was her name and why didn't she see her before?
The woman glanced at Darlene as she passed on her way to the kitchen and smiled again.
"Oh my god, who is that woman?" she asked, when she turned around in her chair, to finish her dinner.
Sammy and Kirk glanced at each other. They never were keen about their only daughter's sexual preferences.
Sammy was very upset when Darlene and Linda moved in together. Nobody talked about the relationship. As far as Sammy was concerned, the two of them were just friends. Kirk would occasionally inquired about Linda only when his wife was out of hearing range.
The woman with the chef's uniform returned to their table and put a bowl of ice cream in front of Stevie.
"Anyone else would like some, too?" she asked. Her hands rested on Stevie's shoulders.
Darlene desired to glance again into her eyes, but the woman's hands drew her attention. There was a plain, golden wedding band on her left middle finger and a tattoo on the pinky of the same hand. Her hands were gorgeous. Long fingers with short, well manicured, nails. Dark turquoise veins laid prominent across the back of her hands.
"Looks like you want some ice cream too?"
The woman left before Darlene had a chance to tell her she wasn't fond of ice cream. She was actually glad the woman already left. Now she had another chance to gaze into her dark eyes.
"Your ice cream, Miss."
Darlene looked up. Their eyes met for the second time. Her eyes were dark. Black. Mysterious. It couldn't be, nobody had black eyes. Something in her eyes looked familiar. She saw those eyes before, but where?
With difficulty, she tore her eyes away from the woman, when she became aware of her father's coughing.
Kirk coughed again to distract his daughter's attention from the strange woman.
She looked at her father and frowned. When she looked back again, the woman left.
Darlene drew attention to one of the waiters. "Who is that woman in the white chef's uniform?" she asked when the young man came closer.
He smiled broadly at her. "I will call Miss Sandy for you, Ma'am."
"No, wait!" She grabbed him by the arm when he wanted to leave. "Sorry." She let go of his arm. "I just wanted to know what her name was." He smiled broadly again and nodded as he stepped towards another table.