The Tiled Courtyard – Part 2: Last Tile

They laid the last tile on the thirty-first of August.

It was a small one, white with a blue star, set in the very centre of the floor. Pilar pressed it into the mortar with her thumbs. Javier tapped it level with the handle of the trowel. Then they sat back on their heels, exhausted, and looked.

The courtyard was beautiful. The tiles glowed blue and white in the afternoon sun, laid in the old pattern, rippling out from the central star like a pool of water. The orange tree shaded the corner. The fountain, which Javier had finally mended, trickled softly.

"We did it," whispered Pilar.

"We did it."

"It looks like it was always here."

"It was. We only helped."

That evening, they strung lights across the courtyard, a dozen golden bulbs hung from the orange tree to the wall. Pilar cooked on a camping stove: tomatoes, prawns, a pan of saffron rice. They ate at a trestle table with a bottle of cold white wine, barefoot on the cool tiles, while the sky turned violet.

A neighbour appeared at the gate with a guitar and a bunch of flowers. Another followed with a plate of olives. By ten, the courtyard was full of laughter and music and the smell of jasmine. At midnight, the guests drifted off, calling good-nights.

The lights burned low. A guitar string hummed somewhere in the dark. Javier stood in the middle of the floor and held out his hand.

"Dance with me."

"There's no music."

"There's the fountain."

She took his hand. He drew her close. They danced slowly on the new tiles, barefoot, under the orange tree, swaying to the trickle of water. Her head rested on his shoulder. His arm was warm round her waist.

"Can I ask you something?" said Javier.

"Yes."

"May I kiss my wife on the star?"

"Yes," said Pilar. "And if I say stop, you must start on the roof."

"I will do anything."

He kissed her, slow and warm, tasting of wine and summer. She kissed him back with all the tenderness of twenty years, her hands in his hair. The orange blossom drifted down. The lights glowed. The tiles were cool and smooth beneath their feet.

When they parted, both of them were smiling.

"Green?" he asked.

"Green," said Pilar. "Very green."

The house now has a name on the gate, in blue tile: Casa de la Estrella. The star is in the middle of the courtyard. They dance on it on summer evenings.

More married couple romance: The Cruise · Couples Retreat · The Second Honeymoon