Chapter Thirty-Eight An Offer
Ahead of the exploratory visit to Spain, Danny’s parents arrived in London to meet Luis for the first time.
Luis took charge of the evening, offering to prepare a variety of traditional Andalusian dishes.
He had never cooked these for Danny, in the same way that he had never taken him to the south of Spain.
It was trivial by comparison, but another wall was coming down.
They spent Saturday morning buying produce from specialist traders at Borough Market near London Bridge including fresh sardines, Manzanilla olives, Payoyo cheese and Monastrell red wine.
At home Danny set about baking a traditional tarta de almendra based on Luis’s grandmother’s recipe, made with lemon zest and grated cinnamon.
As they worked side by side in the kitchen Luis wondered how Danny’s parents would feel about their plan.
‘As you make peace with your parents, I ask you to move abroad.’
Danny pointed out that his parents would see him more in Spain than they ever had in London and they would be happy for the chance to travel now that the Bude guest house was being run so well.
When Danny’s parents arrived they both gave Luis a hug, not an awkward handshake but an embrace.
The introduction was so warm everyone started laughing without knowing why it was so funny.
After they settled down, Danny’s mother glanced at her son, concerned tonight might be full of inadvertent wrong words or misjudged questions.
Putting her at ease Danny kissed her on the cheek, while his dad quipped, ‘We hear you wish to make an honest man out of our son.’
Luis replied, ‘It’s your son who made an honest man out of me.’
At dinner it became apparent that his parents weren’t sitting in judgement on Luis; they were worried about how he saw them.
They feared being perceived as bad parents and were trying to impress upon Luis that the estrangement had never been about a lack of love.
To this end they arrived with evidence: photos of Danny as a happy child – including one he had never seen before, on the beach at Bude with his dad holding him in the air, joyful in a way that only children can be.
His father said, ‘He was the happiest child.’
This description had always needled Danny, sounding to his ear like a lament, implying that he was a boy who had lost his happiness when he realized he was gay.
His parents hadn’t fucked him up, being gay had.
But watching his parents share the stories behind these photos Danny understood that these were the years when they were most proud of their parenting.
After the main course Luis brought out a tray of Spanish desserts, a slab of hazelnut-studded nougat, sweet-filled pastries and the almond cake that Danny had baked for the occasion served warm with vanilla ice cream.
His mother seized on a lull in the conversation to make an announcement, opening her bag and offering Luis a smartly printed leaflet about the guest house.
‘If you do decide to move to Spain, to make a life there, we’d love to host your wedding at our guest house.’
His father elaborated. ‘Luis, we appreciate you haven’t seen our place, which we feel bad about.
To make amends we’ll set aside that weekend.
The whole house would be for you and your guests.
It would be our gift. We know you can’t say yes or no right now but we wanted the two of you to be aware of the option if it all works out.
Which we hope it does. I told Danny at Christmas that the two of you have made a beautiful home here.
I have no doubt you can do the same in Spain. ’
Danny placed a finger on the photo of him on the beach in Bude being held aloft by his dad.
‘I don’t know if I can ever feel this happy again. But right now, I’m close.’
Luis reached over and took Danny’s hand. A revolutionary gesture.