Page 56 of What Happens in Paradise

‘Whatever happens, it will not be a waste. You will know that you tried to rebuild that connection. And it will be an adventure. You will get to see another part of this beautiful country.’

‘I like your way of looking at it.’

When I turned to look at Jasmine, she was smiling and my chest instantly expanded. If I was going to keep my thoughts professional, I needed to keep my eyes on the views outside.

As Bob continued driving and introduced us to some songs by a Jamaican reggae artist called Protoje, Jasmine told me more about her memories of her grandad.

‘I loved that he used to always call me half pint.’

‘Like the milk?’

‘Yes! Because I was short. Obviously because I was only a little girl. But even when I grew taller, that was still his nickname for me.’

‘Do you mind me asking why your family lost contact with him?’ If I was going to meet him, it would be helpful to know the reason.

She took a deep breath.

‘If it is too personal, you do not have to tell me.’

‘No, it’s okay. It’s just… my mum was close to my grandma, so she was really upset when my grandad got married again, not long after my grandma passed away. She felt like it was a betrayal.’

A concrete lump formed in my throat and my heart thumped.

Jasmine could not know this, but what she had just said hit a nerve because those were feelings that I had wrestled with.

For so long after Freya passed, I never thought that I could ever think about dating another woman. It seemed like it would be a betrayal of our relationship. Like I was being unfaithful to her and her memory. But with time and lots of conversations with Lola, who was Freya’s best friend, I was slowly starting to feel like I had to move on. That Freya would want me to be happy again.

‘How soon did he remarry?’

‘A year later.’

‘I see. And was he happy?’

‘He seemed like he was in a photo I saw. We didn’t go to the wedding. He was adamant that it wasn’t planned, that they just fell in love, but Mum was devastated and said that we had to cut all ties with him. I was heartbroken.’

‘How long ago was this?’

‘About five years ago. He always sends me a card and photo on my birthday, which is sweet. But it’s not the same. I miss Granny, but she’s gone, so there’s nothing I can do. Grandad is still here and I want him to be happy. I miss him.’

‘I understand,’ I said. I was glad Jasmine had agreed to make this trip and really hoped that she would get the chance to see him.

Jasmine turned to look out of the window. I sensed that she needed some time to gather her thoughts, so I decided not to speak.

The further Bob drove, the greyer the sky became. Then it started to rain.

It was to be expected. When I looked online, it said that October was one of the months with the highest rainfall. I was glad that at least we’d missed the peak months for hurricanes in August and September.

‘The rain’s coming down quite hard,’ Jasmine called out to Bob. ‘Are we still okay to drive out to the countryside?’

‘No problem, mon!’Bob said.

But as we continued driving, I understood Jasmine’s concern.

The windscreen wipers were on the highest setting, but they could not clear the rain away fast enough and the longer we drove, the less stable the roads looked.

We were no longer driving on motorways or modern, tarmacked roads. We were climbing a steep mountain, deep in the countryside where the roads were just muddy tracks.

‘We’re really high up!’ Jasmine looked out of the window and winced. ‘Is this the only route?’

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