Page 36 of What Happens in Paradise

‘Not as much as I’d like. Grandma was the glue that kind of held the family together. When she passed, we lost a lot of contact. Grandad is a bit old school. He doesn’t do emails or computers or mobile phones. My mum doesn’t keep in touch with him any more, but I send him a Christmas card every year and usually call him on Christmas morning because I know I can get him on the house phone, but that’s about it.’

‘Are you going to visit him whilst you are here?’

‘I’m not sure. He lives in the middle of nowhere. It’d probably take ages to get there and like I said, he only has a house phone, which he rarely answers, so I could go all that way and he wouldn’t be there.’

‘But what if heisthere?’

‘If I was here on holiday, maybe I’d try, but there’s so much to do here to get things set up, so I wouldn’t have time. And like I said, it’s in a really remote part of the countryside. I’m not sure I’d be comfortable going alone.’

I had to focus on work. I didn’t want Hazel to think I was taking advantage and using this trip to visit family.

‘Jasmine, it is not my place to tell you what to do, but it is never a good idea to say you will do something tomorrow, because tomorrow is not promised. You are here, in Jamaicanow. I am sure there will be time to see him. If you do not, you may regret it. How old is your grandad?’

‘Eighty-nine.’

‘He is not a young man. I think you should go to see him. You have his address?’

‘Yes.’ It was stored in my phone so it’d be easy to find whenever I sent his Christmas card.

‘That is good. We can ask Bob later if he knows how to find it. And I will come with you.’

My eyes popped.

‘I… that won’t be necessary. I don’t want to put you out.’

‘I will come with you. Unless you do not feel comfortable with me?’

‘No. You don’t make me uncomfortable.’

That wasn’t entirely true. Whenever I was around him, my mind and body were a kaleidoscope of emotions: excitement, happiness and desire. I liked being around him a lot more than I should. And that was the problem.

But I knew what Alejandro was asking. He was checking that I didn’t find him creepy and that definitely wasn’t the case.

‘Good. Then we will go together to see your grandad. It is settled.’

‘How about your family?’ I asked, avoiding commenting on what he’d just said. As much as I wanted to see my grandad, I really wasn’t sure that it was feasible. ‘Are you close to your parents or grandparents?’

‘I do not have any. By the time I was nineteen, I had lost both of my parents. My two remaining grandparents died a few years later.’

‘Oh my God!’ My eyes widened. ‘I’m so sorry. That’s awful.’

Sadness washed over me and I almost reached out to touch his hand or shoulder to comfort him somehow, but decided it wasn’t appropriate, so stopped myself.

‘It was difficult.’ His gaze dropped to the table, then he started playing with a serviette. ‘I was only fifteen when Mum had a stroke. And then Dad had an accident. He worked in construction and one day, well… he fell and…’ Alejandro swallowed a lump in his throat.

‘It’s okay if you’d rather not talk about it. If it’s too painful…’

‘Many of the recipes I use today were inspired by my parents. They were both fantastic cooks and I always loved helping them and learning everything they were willing to share. After Mum passed, I spent a lot of time with Dad in the kitchen. We became much closer. He always wanted to be a chef, but he never got the chance. That is one of the reasons I decided to try. Because I loved cooking, of course. But also to honour his memory.’

‘That’s really beautiful. And I’m sure he’d be super impressed.’

‘He would. Mum too. My sisters are also very supportive.’

‘I didn’t realise you had more than one! How old are they?’

‘My youngest sister Evita is twenty and my elder sister Lola is thirty-six.’

Wow. I was even older than his eldest sister.

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