Over the Fence (13 page)

Leonie laughed. “I would hope not.”

“So . . .” Eva prompted.

“Let me go get my stuff first. Give me five minutes, OK?”

Eva watched Leonie stroll to her stuff and gather it all. She didn’t take long to come back.

“Yes, we’re together,” Leonie said. She beamed as she sat on a towel next to Eva.

“Why didn’t you tell me the other day?” Eva asked.

“Because we weren’t together then. Did you see us making out?”

“At close range. I was out at the platform, but you two were kind of busy, so I turned around right away. I didn’t want to disturb you.” Eva leaned back on her elbows. “Does your mother know?”

“Not yet. Why?” Leonie played with her smartphone and glanced at her.

“Maybe because I know how easy it is to make dumb mistakes at your age?” Eva ventured.

“You promised not to talk about the birds and the bees!”

“Leonie—”

“If you’re referring to sex, that’s not going to happen.”

Eva raised her hands. “If it’s getting serious, it will be an issue you two will need to sort out. You need to be prepared.”

“I’m not stupid,” Leonie said sulkily. “In any case, I can always start taking the pill.”

“You’ve talked about this with your mother?” Eva continued.

Leonie nodded. “We’ve been talking about it for two years now, ever since I started my period.”

“OK. It’s just that . . .” Eva hesitated. “I could never talk to my own mother about things like that.”

“Really?” Leonie said. “Anyway, I should be getting home.” She stood and put her hands around her mouth. “Bye, Jonas!” she called. Jonas waved his entire arm back at them.

“Come on. I’ll drive you.” Eva stood up and put her dress on. “We’ll put your bike in the trunk.”

Eva tightened the bungee cords to hold the bike in the trunk as Leonie spoke again.

“Jonas says his father likes you.”

“What? Why would he say that? He’s married.” Eva felt her face turn red.

“They never married. Besides, they’ve been sleeping separately and that’s been going on since time immemorial.” Leonie gazed at Eva as she leaned on the rear fender.

Never married?
Eva shook her head. “Nevertheless, they’ve been together for many years.”

“Well, what kind of argument is that?” Leonie nibbled at her thumbnail. “Jonas has been noticing that his father has been behaving oddly lately. Especially when you’re around. He also asked me whether you’re going back to London soon.”

“Maybe Jonas is getting these ideas”—Eva shook her head again—“because his father is on vacation.”

“Yeah, right. And so he runs around the house whistling during the day and helps you at night,” Leonie continued. “What am I supposed to think?”

“Wait a second, you presumptuous little minx. He really was helping me with my work. And it wasn’t the whole night, just half.” Eva got in the car and smiled.
Could there really be something to what Jonas said?

Leonie dropped into the passenger seat. “So? Do you like him? I think he’s awesome. The complete opposite of Jonas᾽s mother. She’s really annoying.”

“Jonas wouldn’t like what you’re saying about his mother. He would probably be pretty protective of her.”

“Well?” Leonie persisted. “You owe me an answer.”

“Leonie. The man has a family. Because of that, it doesn’t matter what I think of him.”

“Oh, you like him, then,” Leonie said. “Jonas says that his parents should have separated a long time ago.”

“You can see for yourself the value of Jonas’s assessment of the situation. His parents are still together. There are things he’s unaware of. His parents are unaware of certain things, too, or does Jonas’s father know how far your relationship has progressed?” Eva started the car and drove down the dirt road to the street.

“No, I don’t think so. But that’s going to change soon.” Leonie beamed and a ping from her phone announced a new WhatsApp message.

It was great to see her niece so happy. At her age, feelings could change very quickly. Crushes came and went. Teenagers met new classmates, and the supposedly great love was suddenly not so great anymore.

“Does your sister have a boyfriend, too?”

“No, that’s over. That’s why she’s been so preoccupied lately,” Leonie said without looking up.

That explained why Sophie had been so moody. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah, me, too. It’s really annoying.”

Eva had meant something else but let the comment stand. As they pulled up to the house, Eva saw Kati in the yard.

“Can I stay overnight at your house?” Leonie begged. Eva knew the real reason for the request.

“As soon as you’ve talked to your mother about Jonas,” she said and climbed out of the car.

“Not now,” Leonie whined and stared at her aunt. “But Aunt Eva . . .”

“I’m not getting involved in this. This is your business. Have your mother call me as soon as you’ve spoken to her about it.” Eva strolled over to Kati, who was watching Rafael in the yard. He was crawling all over, ripping up flowers.

Kati held up a glass of white wine for Eva. “Where did you run into Leonie? I thought she was with a friend at the lake.”

“I was there, too, and I thought I would bring the young lady home and visit you at the same time. My father is sitting in front of the TV, and I have no desire to work. But that means I’ll be working the night shift again.” Eva accepted the glass and took a big slug.

Kati laughed. “You’ve got to relax sometimes. If you’ll watch the little rascal, I’ll get you a refill!”

When Eva arrived home, her father was still sitting in front of the TV. “Great that you’ve finally decided to come back,” he said.

“Why? You’re always just lounging in front of the boob tube, so I obviously haven’t missed anything.” Eva frowned as her father gave her a sullen look.

“I’m sitting here dying of thirst,” her father complained.

“You had a beer with supper, and there’s a pitcher of water in the kitchen. You just needed to serve yourself.”

“And how was I supposed to bring the glass of water into the living room?” Her father’s face became even more sullen. He was being downright bullheaded.

“There’s a glass right next to the pitcher,” Eva tried explaining again. “All you had to do was pour water into it and drink it in the kitchen.” Eva knew she should have put the pitcher in the living room, but she’d forgotten. Her father didn’t have to be so dramatic about supposedly dying of thirst.

Her father grumbled. Eva went into the kitchen and saw the pitcher untouched on the counter. It was just like with his breakfast. If it wasn’t perfectly arranged right in front of him, he simply ignored it. Her father behaved worse than a petulant child. Eva certainly didn’t feel guilty, just annoyed. Nevertheless, she took the pitcher and the glass and carried them into the living room, where she placed them on the table in front of him without pouring for him.

“I have to work,” she said. “And I have to work for a long time. So, let me sleep tomorrow morning. I’ll put breakfast on the table for you again.” She gave him a challenging look, and he grumbled again. Finally, he nodded and turned back to watch the movie.

Eva left the room, shaking her head. If he tried to wake her up in the morning, she wouldn’t budge one inch.

Because it was a warm evening, Eva set up her Mac on the terrace and began refining her design. Engrossed in her work, the hours flew by. She didn’t even notice her father going to bed. After Felix ate his dinner, he cuddled on a chair next to her and went to sleep.

Eva worked until the mountain-peak design was exactly how she had pictured it. The 3-D model turned on her screen, and Eva smiled with satisfaction. Now she had to create a 3-D model of the alternative design. In contrast to the circular packaging ending in a tapered mountain peak, the second design was easy. As Eva worked on her Mac, dawn broke and birds began to warble their morning songs. Eva closed her laptop but remained sitting on the terrace for five more minutes, enjoying the quiet mood of the morning before she put breakfast on the dining room table for her father and went to bed.

Eva startled out of a sound sleep when her cell phone alarm rang. She had only slept five hours and felt exhausted, but she beat back her blanket and crawled out of bed anyway. She took a refreshing cold shower and felt much brighter when she walked into the kitchen. One look at the dining room table revealed that her father had once again eaten no breakfast. However, he had made himself a cup of coffee. Progress.

“Good morning, Papa,” she said cheerfully as she entered the living room.

“Saying good afternoon would probably be more apropos,” he responded. “Did you work all night? Because that would be the only reason to crawl out of bed at eleven in the morning.”

“It was getting light when I finally went to bed.” She yawned, then dropped into a chair. “I seem to be able to work better at night.”
When the TV isn’t blaring from the living room
. It was blaring now, so she stood to turn on the radio. “How would you like cutlets with potato salad?”

“Cutlets are always good!” Her father’s eyes gleamed. “Can you get the newspaper out of the mailbox?”

Eva laughed. “I’ll do it, although I really shouldn’t reward your laziness.”

“Mama never complained about me,” he shot back.

“But Mama is not here,” Eva said. “Besides, you really need to move your body.” She walked to the mailbox, took the newspaper out, and handed it to her father, then went into the kitchen to cook the potatoes for the salad.

She looked out into her neighbors’ yard. Felix had made himself comfortable on their lawn again and was asleep in the sun. She’d been here for only a few days with her father, and yet she felt like she was stuck in an unhappy marriage. She cooked, and the master of the house sat in the living room, reading the newspaper. This didn’t seem to bother her mother, because her father took care of the car. But what her father contributed to the household didn’t balance out what her mother did. Eva couldn’t understand how her mother could be satisfied with her life, but somehow she was.

As she stared at the yard, she noticed that the windows were dirty and stained because of the heavy rain. If she didn’t clean them herself, this chore would end up on Kati’s plate. Eva looked at the clock. She’d have lunch ready in an hour, and then she’d have two hours to wash the windows. Then she’d have three hours to work on her designs before Kati brought Rafael over. If she focused, she’d be able to finish the second layout without having to pull another all-nighter. But then she wouldn’t be able to visit her mother, which was not up for debate. So she’d still have to work after Kati picked up her son.
And what would the highlight of my day be?
Eva wondered. Disillusioned, she noted that there wasn’t one.

Still, she realized that she smiled when she put the cutlets in the bread crumbs a second time like she’d seen David do. It reminded her of their evening together. She found herself humming along with the song on the radio as she peeled the potatoes.

At twelve thirty, lunch was on the table and Eva called her father. He didn’t need to be asked twice after he hadn’t eaten breakfast again. “That looks good,” he exclaimed, scooping up a generous portion of potato salad.

Eva tapped a dollop of ketchup onto her plate and grinned as her father shoved a forkful of cutlet into his mouth. “You seem hungry,” she commented, unable to resist the barb.

Her father nodded and scratched off every bit of the tasty crust from the cutlet. “That’ll make you fat, you know.”

Eva took the crust from his plate and shook her head. She savored it as she dipped each bite of meat into the ketchup. If her father moved more, he wouldn’t have to worry about his weight so much.

After he emptied his plate, he looked into the kitchen. “Is there another cutlet?”

Eva couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

Eva laughed until she cried. She wiped away the tears with the back of her hand. “You are unbelievable!” she spluttered. “It’s not the breading that makes you fat, but the amount you eat.”

“But it’s still worse with the breading,” her father said, trying to suppress a smile. “I’m right about that, that’s for sure.”