Page 1 of Almost Paradise

Chapter 1

Drake

While my brother holds my weeping mother, I stare at the closed casket in the hole in the ground. I wonder how a man who’s lived such a life like my father can be relegated into a space that’s three and a half feet wide and eight feet deep. Donald Patrick Paradise has never known anything small in his life.

Not his stature. Not his many estates. Not his company. Not his bank accounts. He’d always had it all, and in abundance. In excess. I thought he was invincible. Hell, he was. There was nothing he couldn’t do or get done. He ran the country’s largest construction company. He took it further than his father before him. He made it competitive, and not just in the US market, but the world. If he was Superman, pancreatic cancer would be his Kryptonite. The strongest man I’ve ever known withered into nothing in a matter of months, and he was taken away from his loving family before he turned sixty.

I feel a tear run down my cheek, and a soft hand wipes it away. She dabs my eyes with a handkerchief. My fiancée has been by my side since we learned about my father’s fate.

“It will be okay, darling,” Scarlett whispers. “He knows you loved him. He’s at peace.”

Of course, he did. I barely left his side for the last two weeks. I was there when he took his last breath. Those last two days were some of the hardest I’ve ever experienced, but I would not leave him. Not when the nurses or doctors were around. Not when he was in agony from the pain. Not when everyone else left because they couldn’t handle the inevitable.

I had to stay because no one else could. But that’s not the only reason. I stayed because I felt like he wanted to tell me something but couldn’t. So, I sat by his bedside, holding his hand and knowing full well the days of being close to my father were numbered. I was the only one who could handle it. Mother couldn’t. My younger brother, Langley, became Mother’s comforter while I stayed with our father. My younger sister Hannah locked herself in her room and wept.

In his last hours, it was just us. It was I who held his hand and reassured him it was okay for him to go. I promised to do my best to fill his shoes, both at home and at Paradise Construction.

I was there when he finally let go and the nurse pronounced him dead. It was my job to tell the rest of the family. Even though my brother had been with my mother for the past few weeks, after Dad died, it was in my arms she sought comfort.

The details of the funeral were left to me because everyone else was too busy grieving. I’m the strong one. I’m the oldest, and the responsibility always falls on the first child. That’s what my dad’s taught me my entire life.

“You have great responsibility, Drake. You’re a Paradise, and you’ll have the world on your shoulders. Don’t see it as a burden because the world you’re carrying is yours.”

“He’s not hurting anymore. He’s in a better place now,” Scarlett whispers soothingly, pulling me out of my memories. I don’t know why people think those words bring comfort. They don’t. Sure, he’s not suffering, but he’s also not here with his family where he belongs. I’d rather have him with me. I need him. I need his guidance because I have no idea how I’m going to fill his shoes at the company. I’m not ready. I was supposed to have more time.

I don’t snap at Scarlett like I want to. She’s been my rock. When my family was falling apart, she was there with a kind word or a hug. She’s the only person who’s asked me how I’m feeling. She’s the only one who has remembered that I’m suffering too. That I was also losing my father. She made sure I rested. She told me it was okay for me to cry, but even now as she holds my hand, it’s not her comfort I seek.

Scarlett, despite her constant presence, is not who I thought about this morning when I woke up to face one of the hardest days of my life. Instead of Scarlett’s green eyes, I saw eyes so brown they’re almost black. Instead of Scarlett’s tall and willowy body, I picturedhersmall tight frame. Her smooth brown skin instead of pale. It’s her incredibly bad singing instead of Scarlett’s trained voice that I longed to hear. But I shake my head clear of that. It’s been over for four years, and I’m pretty sure Nia Nash is not thinking about me.

My mother lets out a loud wail and Langley holds her up. My sister joins them and puts an arm around my mother. The priest says a final prayer. Mother has to be taken away before Father is lowered into the ground. Everyone leaves, and I ask Scarlett to go too.

Just like when he took his last breath, it’s just the two of us at the end.

Chapter 2

Nia

“Look at Grandma’s babies,” my mom says to the boys.

Carter, my three-year-old son, runs into her arms. She picks him up and spins him around. He throws his curly head back and laughs. When she puts him down, my nephews, eight-year-old Mason and six-year-old Kyle, hug her legs.

“How’s my birthday boy?” She picks up Kyle and kisses him.

He grins wide enough to show off his two missing front teeth.

“He’s getting pwesents,” Carter says.

I can see it now. Carter trying to get his hands on Kyle’s presents. But I know I don’t need to worry. My parents get the kids presents for everyone’s birthday. They gave me presents on my brother’s birthday until I went away to college. Shirley and Nathanial Nash are not shy about spoiling their grandchildren.

My family has been my saving grace and my safety net. They have supported me my entire life without judgment. Not that I did anything that needed to be judged. At least not before I confessed I was pregnant at the age of twenty-five. And since I had no boyfriend at the time, they were stunned speechless.

They didn’t judge when I confessed to having a clandestine relationship with the heir of Paradise Construction. When he came to work at the company, we had an immediate connection, and despite my reluctance to get involved with him, I was unable to stop myself when he pursued me. How could I? At six feet four inches with hair the color of midnight and eyes as beautiful as the Caribbean Sea, resistance was futile.

It was the most intense and passionate year of my life, and if I allowed myself, I’d think about it every moment of every day. But I don’t allow myself that. I don’t give myself time to think about him much at all. He’s not worthy of my time or my thoughts.

No one judged me when I told them I was carrying his baby and that he would not be a part of our lives. They didn’t judge me, but they sure judged him. They offered me unconditional love and acceptance, and that was extended to the baby I was carrying.

“Let’s go,” my brother, Ray, says. “You riding with me, Nia?” He doesn’t bother to wait for me to answer. He knows if I’m ever given the chance not to have to drive, I’m going to choose it. “We have to stop off at La Belle Bakery for the cake. The kids can ride with the old people.”

---