The next day brought an addition to their family party. Two young women, Raquel and Malou, arrived from Madrid. The latter was the daughter of Pilar's deceased friend Carmen. Pilar had hoped to interest her for Carlos or David. Carlos, acting as a driver for his match-making mother, had fallen for Malou's room-mate Raquel though and the two of them were engaged to be married. David had found himself a wife and though Pilar's wish to call Malou her daughter-in-law had died away (for twenty-nine year old Fernando was too young) she was very happy to see her: Malou had become her friend.
She showed the two women their bedrooms and then took them on a tour of the house. Raquel had seen her fiancé's home before, but to Malou everything was new and she praised the rooms and the furniture just as she should. When the three women entered the kitchen, Malou's exclamation: ´It's beautiful! And so huge!´ made Joseph smile. He stopped grinding coffee-beans so Pilar could make the introductions. Knowing that Raquel was uncomfortable among people she first met, Pilar focused her brother-in-law's attention on Malou, who never needed encouragement to talk. Joseph soon learned that Malou owned a lunch-room in the capital.
´Her sandwiches are the best in town!´ Pilar proudly said and Raquel went as far as to confirm that.
´They are being kind,´ Malou told Joseph, ´You're welcome to drop by and judge for yourself though.´
´I can't make promises, but should I be around, I will,´ Joseph pleasantly replied.
Later on Pilar told her husband that she had encouraged Malou to give Joseph directions to her lunch-room.
´For how else is he supposed to go and see her?´ she said.
´Why would he do that?´
Pilar shrugged.
´I heard them talk about kungfu,´ her husband remarked. ´I didn't know Malou knows kungfu.´ Luis wasn't surprised though. Malou was a nice woman but he would have liked her more had she worked in a lunch-room instead of owning one. He was glad that Carlos had fallen for Raquel, who was a kindergarten teacher.
´It's nice that they have things in common,´ Pilar said.
Luis eyed his wife. ´I bet that my brother has a lady friend back in Pyrus.´
´Oh really! He never mentioned that and don't say it's because he's a private man. He talks to me you know. And how could he date someone? He works all the time!´ Pilar objected.
´He could be dating a colleague.´
Pilar knew that her husband had a point and when Joseph later on offered to help her polish the cutlery, she gladly accepted it, though it was a woman's chore. They worked and talked and it didn't take long before Pilar had concluded that Joseph wasn't interested in either the Castle's housekeeper or the cook.
´Charlotte Kutaway is of Elena's age, isn't she?´ she asked her brother-in-law.
´She's a few years older.´
´Is she still single?´
Joseph placed a shiny spoon on the table and told Pilar that Charlotte was interested in his second-in-command.
Pilar inwardly smiled.
´Why do you ask?´ Joseph wanted to know.
´Oh well, I'd hoped to prove to your brother that it is perfectly normal for women in their thirties to be single,´ Pilar made up, ´You know how old fashioned he is.´
Lowering her voice to a whisper she gave another example: ´He insisted that Raquel wouldn't sleep in Carlos's apartment!´
´Carlos will turn forty in seven-and-a-half months. How time flies,´ Joseph mused.
It caused Pilar to blush and she made an attempt to hit him with a kitchen cloth.
OoOoOoO
Right then, in the garden, Malou was reading Adella a story. She stopped for a moment when warm masculine laughter came rolling through a kitchen window.
Turning a page she continued her tale, not noticing that Adella looked increasingly displeased.
´The dwarfs told Snow-white that she could stay with them if she did their cooking and cleaning. "I am not a servant!" Snow-white said. "You managed fine so far, continue to do so!"´
Adella could remain silent no longer:´That's not what it says!´
Forgetting her objections the girl continued: ´I will marry a prince too and then we will live in a real castle and uncle Joseph will protect us.´
´Is uncle Joseph like the good huntsman?´
The girl nodded: ´And like jamesbond. And he brings presents too.´
´Oh really? That's nice. What did he get you?´
To Malou's embarrassment the girl cried out: ´What did you get me uncle Joseph?´
Joseph, walking toward them and being near enough to have heard their last exchange, smiled reassuringly at Pilar's young friend.
´That is a surprise Adella.´
Malou cleared her throat. Adella spotted a cat and hopped after it.
´I was telling her the unabridged version of Snow-white.´
Joseph gestured toward the bench on which Malou was sitting. She nodded and closed the fairy tale book which she had pretended to be reading. Joseph sat down.
´It is my custom to bring my family presents...´
Malou tilted her head.
´But with me around, you feel awkward about that? You shouldn't. I will happily sit by and watch,´ she playfully said.
Joseph smiled. Malou looked away to hide her blush. What was wrong with her? He was her father's age...
´Tell me,´ she said as she rose, ´how do you feel toward independent women?´
´Comfortable,´ Joseph said without missing a beat.
OoOoOoO
Penelope stared in awe at the heavy necklace with colourful beads uncle Joseph had bought her.
She barely allowed her mother to have a look at it, but Nadine saw enough to recognise it to be a designer's piece and she looked at Joseph wide eyed. He pretended not to see and redundantly asked the girl whether she liked her present. Penelope threw himself in his arms and kissed his cheek. To the amusement of her family she stuttered her thanks. Penelope had told herself that perhaps uncle Joseph wouldn't have brought her a present for she was a big girl now and not his real niece after all. When the generous giver winked at her, she felt he knew what she'd been thinking.
´Young ladies need jewellery,´ he kindly said, ´Do you know who suggested me to buy you this necklace?´
The girl shook her head.
´I was in a gallery, guarding the Queen,´ Joseph said. He had everyone's attention. To the Romeros House Renaldi of Genovia was more interesting than their own royal family.
´And she was looking at a glass show-case and she asked me whether I'd already found a present for Penelope.´
´She knows my name?´ the girl exclaimed, blushing. The adults looked at each other and then tried to read Joseph's expression to see whether he was fooling them.
´Yes,´ Joseph said, ´I told her about you and Adella and Felipe and everyone.´
´Really?´ Pilar said.
´Yes. She knows that you like to cook and that Raquel makes wonderful drawings...´ Joseph gave more examples, and his family chatted excitedly about their being known by Her Majesty.
Joseph made an attempt to silence them by handing Andreo his present.
He was shocked to realise that until he'd mentioned her just now, he hadn't thought about his Queen all day long, not even when Pilar had asked him about Charlotte's age. He reasoned that it had been a busy day: he'd helped with chores and he'd joined Pilar to the village, where he'd met with many of his acquaintance. Fernando and he had made a long walk before dinner... He had been very busy indeed.
When Joseph returned to his apartment that evening, he wondered whether he should call Clarisse. He decided against it: it was late already and he wasn't some teenager. He took guilty pleasure from picturing her glancing at her phone, missing him.