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“Getting older and wiser, cariño,” She kissed Gabi’s cheeks and stared at her. “You look tired. You need a proper holiday.”
“I can’t afford one.”
“I’ll pay for you.”
“I’m not taking your money, Nana, you know that.”
She looked at Gabi, pinched her lips together, and mumbled something in Spanish that Gabi couldn’t make sense of.
She picked up a dish of food from the worktop. “Help me take the buffet to the table, Gabriela.”
Gabi traipsed back and forth until she’d shifted the tapas dishes from the kitchen to the dining room. It all smelled delicious. There was only one downside to this family event, and he’d just stepped through the front door. “Dad.”
“Gabi.”
She didn’t expect any more conversation from him, and he wouldn’t be getting any from her either. It was just the way it was. No love was lost between them because there had never been any to lose. He’d been more like a boring old uncle, and it’d been irritating when he’d tried to assert the fatherly rights he believed he had over her whenever he returned home. He’d bring her gifts from the places he’d visited and yet, didn’t ask her what she’d been doing at school or play games with her in the garden. Later, he’d talk to Nana behind closed doors, sometimes raising his voice, sometimes leaving without much of a goodbye. She’d always known him to be as distant as the shores he travelled to for his Naval career, and she didn’t expect that scenario to change just because he had retired.
Nana always said it was just who he was and that he loved her. Gabi hadn’t been bothered since Nana always arranged for Gabi’s friends to come around and play with her whenever he was home, and that had been more fun than being with her dad. By the time she’d grown into a teenager, she had more interesting things to think about than him. He was as much of a stranger to Nana as he was to her, and Gabi wondered how Nana felt about that. She seemed unaffected. But that was Nana all over. Accepting and loving, and fiercely defensive of those she loved.
“Hugo. How nice of you to come.”
Gabi bit her lip to stop a smirk.
“Happy birthday, Mother.”
He pulled a small box from his coat pocket and handed it to Nana. It looked as though it had been professionally wrapped, and Gabi wondered whether he knew what was in the box or whether he’d asked someone else to purchase it on his behalf.
Nana smiled. “You shouldn’t have, Hugo.” She put the present on the dressing table. “Come, let’s eat before it gets cold.”
Her dad picked up a plate and loaded it like he’d not eaten for a month. “You had something you wanted to tell us,” he said, while chewing on a mouthful of Nana’s homemade pisto con huevos, small bits of which fell from his mouth.
Given his privileged upbringing, he should have at least swallowed before speaking.
Nana cleared her throat. “Yes, I do, Hugo.” She stayed still and quiet for the time it took him to draw his attention from his plate.
“Well, what is it?”
Gabi would have liked to think that his impatience was down to his concern for Nana’s wellbeing, and that maybe he expected some bad news that he didn’t want to hear. But his irritation hadn’t affected his appetite and that suggested otherwise. He’d become even more up his own arse since he’d settled in London, though how he’d managed to get worse was a mystery.
“I’m going to Spain,” Nana said.
He lifted his chin. “Ah, right. One week or two?”
“I haven’t decided.”
Gabi popped the cork on the chilled Cava and poured them each a glass. “Nice one, Nana.”
Nana took the drink from Gabi and sipped. She turned to Hugo. “I might not come back.”
It was a good job he’d already swallowed, because if he hadn’t, Nana would have felt the full force of any remaining pisto that he was now doing his best to hold back from choking on.
“Have you lost your mind, woman? What do you mean, you might not come back?”
Lost in the humour of her dad’s discomfort, Gabi hadn’t fully registered what Nana had said. Nana had a dry sense of humour she said she’d picked up from the British. She was joking though, right? Gabi stared at her. She was smiling and didn’t look in the least bit like she was teasing with them. What the fuck?
“Hugo, all my senses are in good order and always have been. No estoy loca. My mind is clear.”
“Well, it sounds like madness to me. You can’t just go off to Spain on a whim. What on earth are you thinking? What if something happens to you?”
