Page 73 of Don’t Tell Me Who To Love

“Hm.” She sipped her orange. “I want to talk to you about that, because I can’t think clearly.”

“Surely he should know?”

“That’s what my mind tells me. But how will this change anything for him for the better?”

“Maybe something would click. Maybe he’d want to get to know his real father.”

“He adored and idolised Miguel as if he was a king. He even turned out more like him than either me or Juan.” She laughed, and it sounded strained. “Strange, I know. What you’re not aware of is that your dad had a nervous breakdown after Miguel died. I’m worried that finding out the man he loved so passionately, a man he modelled himself on, isn’t his father would do more harm than good. He will be very angry. The news could crucify him.”

Miguel was just a name on a gravestone and pictures in an album to Gabi. She struggled to process that Juan was her real grandpa, and he was alive and well, and now he and Nana were going to be together. Headfuck didn’t come close to describing it. She wasn’t thinking clearly either. “What does Juan want? It’s his son.”

“He would like to see him, but only if it’s right for Hugo.”

She ran her fingers through her hair and held her head. “I don’t know what’s for the best.”

“Hm, exactly, Gabriela. We can’t know what’s best, because we can’t follow two different courses of action at the same time.”

Gabi thought about Aisha. Aisha was stuck between loving her family and loving Gabi. She couldn’t know any more than Gabi did whether leaving Sacromonte was the best thing for her, and Aisha had so much more to lose and yet she was willing to risk it all for Gabi. Aisha’s mind would be telling her to stay within the safety and security of what she knew, but her heart would be telling her to flee for love. And Gabi should be there for her to support her rather than worrying about a future—them breaking up—that might not happen.

“Did you ever stop loving Juan?”

“No, Gabriela. But if I hadn’t left Spain when I did, I would have been killed during the war alongside my parents. Assuming the Guardia hadn’t got to Juan and me first. How could I have had an illegitimate child here? We would have had to run away, and that would have meant a certain death.”

Gabi couldn’t face the eggs. “It’s like that for Aisha and me.”

Nana nodded. “She has the freedom to leave, but without her parents’ blessing, that privilege comes at a big cost.”

“We couldn’t live here.”

Nana chewed on a mouthful of egg. “Even with their blessing, Gypsy laws will not allow her to stay. She will have to go, and her name will not be spoken of again.”

“It’s shit.”

“That brings me to the other thing I wanted to talk to you about.”

Gabi couldn’t stop thinking about Aisha, couldn’t stop the deepening ache in her heart.

“Gabriela.”

“Sorry, yes.”

“The farmhouse is in a trust fund in your name. There is an allowance of twenty thousand pounds a year which will cover the upkeep of the place should you wish to keep it, and twenty thousand pounds for you to choose what to do with.”

If Gabi couldn’t be with Aisha, she didn’t want to live at the farmhouse without Nana. “I can’t—”

Nana raised her hand. “I’m too old to listen to your objections. The rest of my assets you will inherit when I die.”

“What about Dad?”

“Hugo will be fine. He agreed to the fund after your mum died, and he doesn’t need anything that I can give him.”

“Even knowing that his dad isn’t who he thought he was?” Gabi asked.

Nana sighed. “It’s not easy, is it?”

Gabi shook her head. Her dad should know, but it wasn’t for her to tell him, and he wasn’t her main concern right now. Nana was. “Will you be safe here, with Juan?”

“Yes, cariño. He has his house and I have the apartment. I am not the daughter of a senior guard commander anymore. We can enjoy each other’s company for the years we might have together.”

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