“Really? At this time?” Jacopo asked incredulously when Carlos placed the vodka on the table.
“Yes. I need a drink,” Carlos said brusquely as he filled glasses for himself and Clara.
“I hate to think we left that little creature all alone up there.” Clara mumbled. “It’s so dark up on that hill. What if he gets run over? It’s a miracle we didn’t kill him.”
Clara realized that she was annoyed with Gabriel, because of his bullish determination in leaving the dog behind. Disliking something about him for the first time felt almost liberating.
Jacopo poured himself a tiny shot of vodka, realizing Carlos wasn’t going to do it for him. Clearly he and Clara had teamed up in some way against him because of the dog situation.
“Maybe what we should do is go back tomorrow morning and check whether he’s still there,” he offered.
“He may not be there tomorrow.” Carlos threw a resentful glance toward the hammock. “The reasonable thing would have been to bring him here so he’d be safe for tonight, and then go tomorrow and ask around whether he belongs to someone. We made a shitty decision.”
“I agree. Really shitty,” Clara said gloomily.
Suddenly the hammock swayed briskly. Gabriel climbed out of it and walked over to the table.
He poured a shot right into the vodka bottle cap and swallowed it in one go.
“Okay, let’s go get him.”
“Really? You want to?” Clara asked, surprised.
“Yes, c’mon. If we hurry we might still find him just where we left him, or at least near there.”
He picked up the car keys from the table.
“Who wants to come with me?”
Jacopo stood up.
“I’ll come.”
“Great. Carlos, you stay with Clara. And don’t get too wasted.”
Clara shot Gabriel a grateful look. She had never expected that he’d perform such a volte-face and turn out to be the one to take charge and fix the situation.
* * *
Almost an hour later Carlos and Clara had drunk nearly all the remaining vodka while waiting for the rescue team to return. Carlos had plunged into a melancholic mood after relating to Clara his stunted conversation with Jacopo.
“I’m not going to bring it up again. I’m afraid it was too much to ask. I scared him off.”
“Why do you think?”
“He doesn’t have a paternal instinct and…is that what it’s called?”
“I guess so. And…?”
“And he doesn’t want to give up his freedom.” Carlos raised both palms and looked away to show his frustration.
“Fuck freedom! Who cares about freedom?” she erupted. “Haven’t we had enough of it already at this point in our lives?”
Clara gulped down a last sip.
“Anyway, you got it all wrong,” she said, banging the glass on the table. “It’s the other way around. Jacopo is in love with you; he always has been. The idea scares him because he’s afraid he’ll end up not just with all the responsibility and the work, but by being hurt by you.”
“But why? Asking him to have a child with me means I want him to become a life partner of sorts—”
“No. It does not. You’re asking him to be the father of your children, like a man asks his wife and then runs off philandering. If you’re going to be serious parents you need to be a committed couple. I know Jacopo: he won’t buy the idea of having children with you fucking around like there’s no tomorrow. And guess what? I couldn’t agree with him more.”
Carlos looked at her, stunned.
“Really? But we haven’t been lovers in ages and we—”
Clara waved a hand impatiently. She was drunk by now.
“Oh, please! If you want to have a family, then be a family, for Christ’s sake! The least two people who want to raise a child can do is be in a relationship. Can’t be a parent and have lovers right and left. You’ve got to commit, Carlos. The problem with you is that you always want to have your cake, eat it and lose weight on top of it.”
“Wow,” Carlos said after a micro-pause, retracting slightly in his seat, as if to avoid a blow. He was about to respond when suddenly bright headlights moved across the oak trees. They heard the car engine get closer, then it cut off, after which there was the bang of two doors.
Jacopo appeared on the driveway, Gabriel right behind him. Clara let go a sound, a mix of anger and disappointment.
“I knew it. Oh, shit! I so knew it!”
“What?” Carlos asked.
“They couldn’t find him!”
Just then a little white furry ball shot out of the dark and came hurtling toward Carlos and Clara. It reached their ankles and ran in circles, jumping up and down, emitting short yelps. Everyone burst out laughing, exhilarated, while the dog kept shaking his tiny frame with excitement, licking their hands, sniffing them and running all around like a joy-crazed child.
“He was still there, waiting for us!” Gabriel said, his eyes glowing. He seemed more animated than he’d ever been before. “I don’t think he’d moved an inch. I guess he knew we’d be coming back!”
“We put him in the car and he just rested on my lap, as if he knew me already. He just loves to be cuddled,” Jacopo said.
Clara lifted her gaze just in time to see Gabriel hold Carlos in a brotherly embrace, then exchange an excited high-five with Jacopo. He then grabbed her by the waist and whispered in her ear.
“Are you happy now? You looked so sad when we left him behind, I couldn’t bear it,” he said, and kissed her on the lips.
Clara beamed: he had done it for her. He was aware of how she felt. So he did care, after all.
They gave the dog water and leftover chicken and, enthralled, watched him as he ate and drank and peed outside like a trained house dog. They prepared him a makeshift bed with a blanket they found in a closet. There was a short discussion as to where to place his bed, then it was decided it should be in the kitchen, at equal distance from their respective rooms.
* * *
Clara felt a particular ease as she was getting ready to get in bed next to Gabriel. He was staring at her with half a smile as she started taking off her clothes. She now felt comfortable and seductive doing that in front of him. It may have been the vodka, she thought, but something had shifted between her and Gabriel. For the first time she felt more in control, and he seemed more open, easier to connect with. She reached for the body lotion on the night table and started rubbing it on her hands.