First impressions

June's family was made up of 5 members, for him they were the whole family that he could ever imagine since the mention of uncles, cousins or even grandparents were scarce, he had never given it importance until the day he was sent, in the middle of the school year, to meet his grandfather for a week. Those were from the last hot and rainy days he remembers in the metropolis of Laencaster; Dylan was his maternal grandfather, the only one (of his grandparents) still alive. Inwardly he wondered how much time he had left to live, because if they had decided that they should know each other it was life or death, what was perhaps surprising was that his brothers had known him, although of course when they were children, but apparently that didn't bother them.

When he arrived to Seameet, the salty breeze greeted him in the first instance, because the bus stopped directly at the boardwalk, after a 4-hour flight, and from there he had to walk according to his mother's instructions, he walked a little and wanted to feel the warm and refreshing sensation of the sand on his feet, however a strange presentiment stung him at the base of his neck and that led him to believe in bad omens and always faithful to his sixth sense he moved away from the seashore, ascended through the streets steep, luckily his suitcase had wheels to move it uphill. As he looked up he became even more of a postcard, if only he had brought his camera.

The sun was high up, covered by huge clouds that kept the temperature pleasant, the houses were shrinking and beginning to have more space between them, it must have been close according to the sketch in hand. A huge building, similar to his home in some sense, did not go unnoticed, it seemed abandoned because the weeds had appropriated the exterior structure, they also gave him chills. Of the whole area it was the only one that was surrounded by black bars.

Tempting fate, he approached just a few meters to observe it in greater detail, the door hinges looked well preserved, the fence was clean, the undergrowth cared for even though he wanted to give it a misaligned appearance, brightly colored flowers; some that laid burried in the soil like poppies, daisies, and wildflowers, and some having their homes in pots like violets and roses. It was evident that someone was taking care of the garden, he couldn't say the same about the house and although the appearance of the interior was a mystery he could bet that it would have order and cleanliness, a book is not judged by its cover.

Returning to his path at last a few meters away he saw the peculiar house of which his mother gave so much importance for its facade, it stood out among the group of "normal" houses that there were, with the exception of the mansion; a cabin with a triangle-shaped roof with a sharp angle, you could barely see the small window on the top floor with a railing for the almost non-existent balcony, the front door was a sliding stained glass window. Impossible to miss. The appearance itself was striking, but it aroused June's curiosity and astonishment. He had in mind something more rustic and boring for an elderly person. Outside, there were a couple of chairs and a wooden table, June already imagined getting up early in the day, sitting down to watch the sunrise. He filled his lungs with fresh air before approaching the house. He had a good feeling this time. There was no doorbell and it seemed that tapping the stained glass window would shatter it, it was too pretty to spoil it. Until then he realized that with the noisy weather that could happen…

-You must be Junneco.

No one but his parents or his teachers and strangers called him that, and now a blonde woman in tight, low-cut clothes was coming out of the side of the house.

-I'm looking for…

-Yeah, I know who you're looking for. Dylan should be back soon, come in and make yourself comfortable, you can take the room on the second floor.

There were no greetings or introductions, she knew who June was and June didn't know who she was, he only knew that she smoked because she was lighting a cigarette, that her age was between 30 and 40, that she had no manners and that she lived with her grandfather … He didn't want to think that she was the possible partner of an older man.

When sliding the stained glass window, he was surprised that it was thicker and heavier than it seemed and that it was not the only barrier between the exterior and interior, since a solid dark wooden door with a window was behind it, the interior of the room was cozy, small but spacious, his grandfather seemed to have a taste for modern and retro. It had an immense grandfather clock, the pendulum swinging left to right on its glass casee, suede armchairs, framed paintings hanging on the wall without any signature of the author, those in particular caught his attention since they were nebulae; the mixture of colors was impressive, they looked like photographs. Plus everything smelled clean and woody.

His path to the second floor was somewhat steep because although there were stairs, they had little space on the steps and climbing the hill with the suitcase was a challenge, once upstairs he found himself in front of two doors, the small one turned out to be the bathroom and the room was the large, the amount of light that entered through the window was bright and enough to not need electricity, he settled down and cooled down a bit to rest from the trip while waiting for the host of the house.

The night came before he knew it because the bed was what he needed to recharge his batteries, the room was dark and feeling the wall he found the light switch; while he woke up he heard voices coming from the first floor, the woman from before and a male voice belonging to an older man, that must be his grandfather.

-Sometimes you are a terrible hostess, Ray, it is not your responsibility but hospitality comes first.

It seemed like they were having a heated argument and June felt a little responsible for it.

-Oh please, you didn't expect me to welcome him with open arms, did you? It's your family, not mine. I told him where to settle, if that's not being hospitable then I don't know what the hell is, Dylan.

The older man didn't speak forcefully like the woman named Ray, he spoke patiently and with some disappointment.

-Lower your voice please, I don't want June to feel that he is not welcome.

-Any way at all.

She took a cigarette out of the pack she kept in her skirt bag and was about to light it.

-You know you shouldn't smoke inside, Ray.

- Damn it, Dylan. If it wasn't for boarding school I wouldn't have come back in the first place, fine, I'll be out. Enjoy your quality time with your beloved grandson who doesn't even know you. Get out of there Junneco, your grandfather is waiting for you.

June shrugged his shoulders when he heard his name, they had noticed his presence and his face turned violently red, he didn't mean to be nosy, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

-June?

It took at most 2 seconds for the courage to return to him and the embarrassment subsided for him to lean out from the side of the stairs and carefully descend.

-Oh, June, look at you. You are huge.

The words stuck in the back of his throat. What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to react? It was the first time he saw his grandfather, not even in family photos did he have the honor of knowing his face, the one that looked with few wrinkles for his age, broad complexion and short stature, but yes with completely snowy hair.

-Don't be shy, boy. I know that first impressions are not always the best and I'm sorry if Ray was rude to you, I'm also sorry for the delay; The bus was a couple of hours late, but hey, it's a cheap price to travel. I hope your journey here has been more pleasant than mine.

He took a seat in the dining room with a curious face, paying attention to his grandfather's words without knowing exactly where to start.

-You can call me whatever is more comfortable for you, Dylan or Grandpa. Feel free from it, okay?

-Well, I… the truth is that I don't know where to start….uh…grandpa

-Wherever you like boy, we have a full week for it, of course I understand that it is not enough time to cover so many years without knowing each other.

June thought about it for a moment.

- Can I ask you something, grandpa?

-Of course. Whatever.

-Who is Ray?

The older man's expression softened, it was a simple but complex subject.

-He is my youngest daughter.

He turned his gaze to the window that overlooked the back garden where the girl had gone, sighed and continued.

-You don't know her either for family reasons, and not to bore you I'll say that your mother doesn't know about her existence either. I'd be so grateful if she kept it that way, June. Until just a couple of years ago I didn't know either, to my surprise Ray took it better than I expected and has lived with me ever since, for her there is only me as her family. Well, except for a couple of months when she got into an all-girls arts boarding school.

He didn't expect such a confession, if it was so important for the two of them and him being a complete stranger, didn't they put a lot of pressure on him?

-I'm telling you because eventually you would end up knowing. Ray is not someone to beat around the bush. It's better that way. I'm not afraid that my eldest daughter will be angry with me, knowing her, she won't even give it importance, it's been a few years. For Ray, on the contrary, it is more important to remain anonymous.

-Got it, that's good to know. It will no longer be so awkward to cross words with her.

Dylan laughed softly, his grandson was interesting.

-If you want to have something for dinner, we have leftovers in the fridge, we can heat them up, surely you must be hungry.

June relaxed, he could not describe how it feels to have a grandfather, until then only Noah was the only one who told him about the summers that he visited his paternal grandmother and it was one of the best of his vacations. June would have wanted to say the same thing at the time, after that small talk he felt that he was a good person whom he, in time, he could come to and trust. He would later discover that he would, indeed, be like that.