Page 49 of Love In Translation

“Adventurer, nomad, traveler, never in the country,” Rheo retorted. “We’re complete opposites. It would never work.”

Abi shrugged. “I think anything can work, if people want it enough.”

“Easier said than done,” Rheo told her. “He and my cousin are very much alike, actually. Bold and bright and chasing the sun,” she said, reaching for the wine bottle.

“Are they together?” Abi asked.

Not now. Of that much she was sure. “He said they are just friends, but you’ve seen Carrie’s IG account. I’m pretty sure they must’ve hooked up at some point, because guys are neverjustfriends with my beautiful cousin.”

“She’s one gorgeouschica,” Abi agreed.

Right?“On paper, they are perfect for each other... They love the same things and enjoy the same life. And, God, they’d makebeautifulbabies.”

“Yet the chemistry between you two is hot enough to power a town,” Abi stated, grinning. “Every time you walk into my place, I feel the need to have the fire extinguisher close by.”

Rheo grinned back. “It’s the weirdest thing.”

She rocked back in her chair, watching two women leaving a bar two doors along, smiling as they shared a kiss. Chemistry was one of life’s great mysteries. Fletch walked into a room and her skin pebbled. He looked at her, and thoughts of what they did naked—dirty, lovely things—rolled over her and heated the space between her legs, causing her nipples to harden. Would the next man she dated make her feel like this? She doubted it. Fletch was a once-in-a-lifetime lover.

Abi lightly slapped Rheo’s hand to pull her attention back. “Get your mind out of the bedroom and drink your wine, Rheo.”

Rheo blushed. After catching up on Abi’s life and business, Rheo ran her finger around the rim of her glass. “Fletch wants me to step out of my comfort zone. He badgered me into taking a walk this morning.”

“Where?”

“On the hiking trail above the Pink House.”

Abi slapped her hands against her cheeks, pretending to be shocked. “Outside?” Rheo rolled her eyes. Abi grinned and dropped her hands. “And how was it?”

“Fun, actually. I mean, I’m never going to be a mountain climber, but it was nice,” Rheo admitted. “We only walked for an hour. Fletch was very patient with me ambling along behind him.”

“Tell me more about you getting out of your comfort zone?” Abi asked.

Rheo explained, and when she was done, Abi leaned back and crossed her legs. “I think he’s right. I think you’ve let yourself get into a rut and haven’t done anything to dig yourself out of it. I think if Fletch hadn’t come along, your time would’ve run out and you would’ve been catapulted back into the real world, crashed, and maybe flamed out again.”

She wanted to argue, but knew Abi was right. Before Fletch dropped into her world, she’d been hiding, unable to focus or make any decisions.

“He thinks I need to try other things I haven’t attempted before. He believes my inability to translate is linked to my confidence. He’s convinced that when I get my confidence back, I’ll be able to work as well as I did before.”

Abi nodded slowly. “I agree with him, Rheo. I think we should all push beyond our comfort zones. That’s where the fun is, it’s where we grow.”

Yeah, but it was scary out there in the unknown. “He also thinks I should tell my family where I am and explain what happened at work.”

“I’ve been telling you that for months!” Abi protested.

Yes, but it hadn’t resonated until Fletch came along. She nodded to her phone, sitting on the table between them. “He suggested I call Carrie and tell her first. See how she reacts and then tell my parents.”

“And Paddy?”

Rheo pulled a face. “Not ready to go there yet. I don’t want to disappoint her, nor do I want to damage our relationship.”

“Surely it won’t come to that? Aren’t you overreacting?”

It was a fair question, and one she’d considered. “Paddy is tricky,” Rheo told her.

Last year, she couldn’t see any fault in her grandmother, but she now recognized Paddy’s assertiveness could be described as being bossy. Paddy didn’t have, as the Spanish said—sin pelos en la lengua—any hair on her tongue.She was ridiculously direct and sometimes her straightforwardness tipped over into cruelty.

In some ways, Rheo’s life, and the people in it, were a little like an old-fashioned photograph being soaked in a chemical solution, slowly gaining clarity with time.

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