In every color
Chapter 3. Ground cinnamon
After preparing a salad, and while Jess finished frying the chicken, Sarah and Isobel got out to set the table outside, and calli the children to help. Jubal stayed, cutting bread. The smell of the food had whetted his appetite and he picked at some of the appetizers.
"That smell delicious, buddy ..." Jubal praised and offered the bowl with corn strips to Jess, who took a couple and popped them into his mouth, smiling. "Sarah is lovely," Jubal commented, as they were alone.
Jess's gaze turned soft. "Yes, she is."
"And very young," Jubal prompted. His friend must have taken Sarah out of him easily a dozen years.
"Not much more than Rina," Jess replied sharply.
"Touché," Jubal acknowledged gracefully, although Jess was a few years older than him, so the age difference was greater for Jess than for him.
"How are you, by the way?" Jess inquired. He was trying to bring it up in case Jubal wanted to talk about it.
"Honestly, I still don't feel able to speak about it without spoiling my mood," he growled. All he could do was put Rina and the resentment he felt towards her out of his mind. Jess didn't insist.
"How is Tali doing that you now have a girlfriend?" Jubal asked, changing the subject. "She seems pretty happy, doesn't she?"
"Very happy, actually. Tali is very fond of Sarah. But it's also true they haven't yet had any serious disagreements. Cross your fingers."
Jubal mentally wished him luck. Not long ago, he had introduced Rina to his kids and, it wasn't a debacle, but it didn't work out either. He had decided to go with the truth ahead, and earlier he had told both of them about his previous relationship with Rina. Abigail seemed puzzled, and remained unusually quiet when she met Rina, looking at her with some mistrust, as if she were a creature from another planet. Tyler was downright uncomfortable, fully aware Rina had been one of the reasons for his parents' divorce. Still, he made a commendable effort to overcome his resentment and be polite. Unfortunately, Rina treated both of them as if they were six years younger and that didn't exactly help. Jubal had hoped, in a couple more occasions, the situation would improve, but Rina avoided opportunities to see them, and now... it no longer mattered. And again he had to get Rina out of his head.
"The point is, they're off to a good start," Jubal encouraged Jess.
He nodded optimistically. Seeing him in a good mood, Jubal decided it was time to broach Tyler's matter.
"Hey, there's something I have to discuss with you."
"Is it about Isobel?" Jess asked casually.
That completely unsettled Jubal.
"No."
"Ah."
"Why?"
"Forget it. Forget it. What did you want to tell me?"
It took Jubal a few seconds to overcome his confusion. Thinking of Isobel was downright disconcerting at the time.
Since they'd known each other, Isobel and Jubal had rarely touched, much more unusually hugged, and never, ever had contact like the one that had occurred earlier. Feeling her completely pressed against him, even if it had only been for a few -delicious- seconds, had not only been unprecedented but exceptionally... exciting.
It still was if he recalled it again.
But what had thrown him the most was the obvious embarrassment she showed afterward. He had never witnessed such a reaction from Isobel to him before. It had really intrigued him. Questions arose that surely he probably shouldn't be asking himself.
Or maybe he should. Because they opened the door for that experience, perhaps instead of being inconceivable, to be... covetable.
Troubled, Jubal decided to put the issue aside for the moment, forgetting that Jess had been the one to bring it up. He tried to focus on the issue he wanted to raise. It took him a few moments to collect his thoughts.
"You see... It could be, or not, but it could be the case..." Jubal ran over. Jess looked away from the pan to give him an impatient gesture. "Tyler might like Tali," he said flatly.
Jess's brow furrowed. He looked at him disapprovingly from under those bird of prey eyebrows of his. "Are you totally sure?"
"He hasn't confessed it to me as is, if that's what you're asking. I only have certain hints," Jubal replied, noticing somewhat oddly how the language of his work had slipped into his sentence.
"Hmm," Jess growled. He thrust his jaw forward the way he did when he didn't like something. "Jubal, Tali is only thirteen years old. It is too young to begin with that sort of things."
Yes, the age difference of just one year that she got along with Tyler suddenly seemed abysmal. And Jubal agreed, but he also knew that...
"Jess, as much as you want to, is something that is not going to be entirely under your control," he warned him with a resigned gesture. "You better face it."
Jess's expression turned frustrated. "Easy for you to say." He gave Jubal another sharp look. "For the moment."
"You're right," Jubal shrugged.
To be honest, Jubal himself didn't know if he would be able to take his own advice when it was his turn. He was thankful that he still had a couple of years left to begin to suffer for Abi. Hopefully.
"Thanks for the tip, anyway," Jess said.
"Don't worry," Jubal assured him. "I'll talk to Tyler. He won't do anything stupid while we're here."
Jess growled again, as if that hadn't really reassured him.
·~·~·
They ate in the open air, in the shade of the huge maple tree in the back garden, enjoying the summer, the breeze, the singing of the birds, the food, among conversations and laughter.
Tali told them about her riding lessons and Abi that she wanted to join the theater.
For dessert, Isobel scooped the rice pudding into small bowls and sprinkled the cinnamon on top with a spoon in a thin, even layer. With a deft and subtle flick of her wrist over each bowl, the white contents were covered with the warm brown hue, like a peculiar reverse snowfall.
Meanwhile, the particular aroma of the spice reached all of them, which brought back to Jubal memories of his childhood; from his grandmother's kitchen, from the sweets she prepared and then enjoyed by the whole family.
Now that everyone was waiting impatiently for their ration, Jubal allowed himself to look directly at Isobel. Her face lit with dedication was captivating.
A part of him still wondered, what could mean what had happened before... And another answered that it was better not to think about it. He forced himself to free his mind and seize the moment. It was a joy to see Isobel so relaxed and smiling. A version of her that she rarely showed at work. He found himself wishing it was in his power to make her smile like that more often.
Then, he saw that Sarah was watching him, intrigued. Jubal did his best to conceal whatever it was he was feeling. He turned and smiled at her.
"Where does your name come from, Jubal?" Sarah inquired. "Sounds like Carthaginian to me. Hannibal, Hasdrubal..."
"In my case, I was named after my grandfather," he shrugged.
"It's actually biblical," Isobel put in. "He is mentioned in Genesis as the father of musicians, ancestor of all those who play the harp and flute," Isobel recounted as she continued to prepare and deliver dessert rations. "In Hebrew it means 'Flow maker', 'Enthuser'. Doesn't it?"
They all looked at her in surprise, but Jubal the most.
"Right, yes," he confirmed. Somehow it pleased him that she had taken the trouble to find out. And remember it.
"So it really fits you," Isobel added, handing him his bowl of rice pudding with the kind of smile Jubal longed to get, and that made his pulse race.
"Oh, really? Why?" Sarah asked.
"This is Jubal's job basically consists of," Isobel replied.
He really liked the way Isobel pronounced his name... He had always liked it. The vowels were emphatic and the consonants seemed to him to have a certain sensual quality... Jubal cleared his throat slightly and tried to refocus on the conversation.
"I coordinate operations at the Joint Operations Center," he explained to Sarah. "So my job is to get the information flowing and keep people motivated, yeah. Curious. I had never thought about it," he commented, amused.
He tasted some of the contents in his bowl, and suddenly the pleasant texture, the sweet and spicy taste, overlapped the rest of his senses. He could only focus on that.
"Hmm... hmm..." He swallowed. "Isobel," Jubal said, not realizing he was actually moaning her name or how it lit up her cheeks. "This is delicious."
"Thank you," she accepted the compliment simply, somewhat shy.
The others praised the dessert as well, and Jubal continued to eat, carefully indulging in each spoonful. Meanwhile, Isobel was discreetly watching him with slightly parted lips.
"And you Isobel?" Sarah asked again. "Where does your name come from?"
"Oh, biblical too. It is the Scottish variant of Elizabeth."
"It seems curious to me in combination with her last name, you know, forIsabella the Catholic," Jubal said. Sarah didn't seem to understand the reference. "Isabella I of Castile, a kingdom that predated Spain, also called Isabella the Catholic. A strong, fierce woman. She was the one who financed the expedition of Christopher Columbus that discovered America," Jubal explained. Isobel looked impressed. "Your parents must have a taste for history."
"Something like that," she replied.
"Have you guys been looking for all this up on the Internet or what?" Tyler asked, somewhat sardonic.
Jubal raised his hands. "I learned that at school," he defended himself. "Catholic school," he shrugged. Interestingly, Isobel didn't bother to offer any explanation.
"Mine means 'my father's joy', doesn't it, Dad?" Abi said, running around the table because she just couldn't stay still.
Jubal deftly intercepted her as she passed by and pulled her onto his lap. "Nah, it means 'ants in my pants' or something like that."
"That's not true!" Abi protested laughing, knowing her father was joking. "It means-" but she couldn't go on cause Jubal started tickling her. "Nononono!" she yelled, laughing uncontrollably.
"Give it up, you scoundrel!" Jubal demanded.
"I give up! I give up!" Jubal stopped and returned her to her feet.
"Come on, go back to your place and don't get up until we've finished eating," he said her with a smile.
"Yes Dad. And where do your names come from?" Abi asked Sarah, Jess, and Tali, returning to her seat.
"'Sarah' means princess or lady," Sarah answered Abi. "'Jesse' is... 'God's gift'," and she gazed at Jess with dazzled eyes. Jubal watched with amusement as Jess gawked back at her. Tali chuckled, and Jess cleared his throat.
"'Natalia' comes from Latin and means 'day of birth'," Jess explained to Abi. "It usually refers to Christ's birth, or Christmas. But I prefer the Hebrew meaning, 'she who gives life'."
"And I'm just a 'tile maker'," Tyler said humorously, grimacing in resignation.
"Sorry, kid. Your mother and I chose it just because it sounded good…" Jubal said half jokingly by way of apology.
"It also means 'the one who makes mosaics'," Isobel commented. "There are wonderful mosaics in the world, did you know? Due to its complexity, it's one of the most astonishing forms of art that exist.
He sat next to Tyler, briefly showing him photos in her mobile of the Yazd Grand Mosque in Iran; the Basilica of San Vital, in Ravenna, Italy; the Westminster Abbey, in London; and Park Güell in Barcelona, Spain.
"Isn't it fascinating? The way the whole is created from such small parts. It's… organic," Isobel said. "It's... metaphorical."
Tyler looked at the photos amazed and impressed.
"So your name," Isobel suggested, "we could say that it means 'the one who achieves great things by working the small details'."
There was a moment of silence.
"Wow..." Ty and Jubal said at the same time. Father and son looked at each other in surprise for having reacted in the same way, while the others laughed.
Tyler turned to Isobel and gave her a dazzling smile. Tali was looking at him with bright eyes. He was also going to be a handsome young man before long. "I like it. Thanks."
Isobel simply smirked. Jubal bit his lower lip. He just couldn't stop looking at her.
"Does anyone want more?" Isobel offered, glad.
"You bet I do," Jubal replied, handing her his bowl, but part of him wasn't referring to dessert.
~.~.~.~