“Well,” Kamila said, clapping her hands together as if she was going to spill some excellent tea. “Farzana Aunty is Rohan and Zayan’s mother’s youngest sister. She’s the wild sibling. Ran away with her professor. Apparently, it was quite the scandal back in the day. He quit his job and they moved to California. She didn’t talk to her family foryears—except for Rohan’s mom. He and Zayan used to go visit them every summer when they were kids.”
“Zayan is excited to see him again,” Shelina added. “He said Sam Uncle used to wake up early and have warm parathas and achar waiting for them every day.”
“They lost touch with them?” Asha asked.
Kamila nodded. “The aunty and uncledivorced. Like, years ago—when Rohan was a teenager. Farzana Aunty moved to the UK without him.”
Shelina tilted her head, stars in her eyes. “But now they’reback together, and she’s teaching in Toronto again, and their kids arethrilled. It’s so romantic, right? Don’t you think it’s romantic, Jana?”
Jana had never thought Shelina was anything resembling subtle, but pointing out this couple with kids who just got back together while she was here with Anil and her daughter was even more on the nose than Jana would have expected. Did Shelina seriously think there was any possibility Jana and Anil would get back together?
Jana looked over to see the woman with fire-engine red hair talking to Rohan’s parents and Jana’s mother.
Jana’s mother waved at her. “Jana, come,” Mom said. Jana was completely not in the mood to meet some random aunty, but she got up anyway, leaving Imani on the chair and asking Asha to keep an eye on her.
She smiled at her mother and greeted Rohan’s parents, Nadira Aunty and Jon Uncle. Nadira Aunty introduced Jana to her sister, Farzana Aunty. After the red-haired aunty shook her hand, she asked Jana about their journey from Toronto, and they chatted briefly about the flight. Jana liked the aunty so far. She had a kind, thoughtful face. And despite Shelina’s opinion, the red hair looked fabulous on her.
“I met Farzana and Sam at Kassim’s party last week,” Mom said, holding on to Jana’s arm. “Farzana is a child psychologist! So interesting, right?”
Thatwasinteresting. “Do you work in a clinical setting?” Jana asked.
“No, primarily research. And some teaching. I’m at York University.”
“What’s your research focus?” Jana asked. Jana had always been a bit of a psychology nerd and had seriously considered going into that field instead of development.
“Family structure and how it affects long-term development. Right now, I’m looking at children’s outcomes after divorce.”
“I told her all about Imani and how well she’s doing, even though she’s only home half the time,” Mom said.
Jana frowned. “Imaniisat home when she’s with her father. Imani has two homes.”
Farzana Aunty smiled. “A testament to good parenting. I love to see people put the needs of the child first despite a relationship breaking down.” She leaned close to Jana. “The results from my current study haven’t been published yet, but so far it’s clear that children thrive if the parents co-exist well and have equal access to the child. It’s so important for parents to put their differences aside for the sake of the child.”
Mom opened her mouth before Jana could. “Yes! It’s just like I told you last week—my daughter had the friendliest divorce! Did you see the picture I put on WhatsApp? They’re still so close!”
Jana cringed.Ugh.Mom was apparentlylyingabout Jana’s marital status. Years ago, Mom used to tell people that Jana and Anil had been married when Imani was born, but Jana thought Mom had stopped doing that. Jana opened her mouth to correct her mother, but Mom was still talking.
“But of course, my Jana always does everything with such maturity! Not like other girls! She’s never caused me any drama. None of these custody or money fights. And they’ve stayed such good friends. What did you call it when we talked last week?”
“Aspirational,” Farzana Aunty said.
Jana looked up at Nadira Aunty and Jon Uncle, who were nodding happily despite being fully aware that Jana had never been married and, thus, could not have ever been divorced. She wondered how long—and how widely—this lie had been told in their social circle.
Jana exhaled. She wasn’t about to embarrass her mother by correcting her now. That would be mortifying for them both. But it stung to see her mother was still so ashamed of her that she lied to her friends, and it hurt to see her aunty and uncle nodding along, clearly also ashamed of Jana’s choices.
Jana had never hidden her marital situation—even after the professional backlash when her affair with Anil came out and Jana lost a job because of it. There was no point in hiding the truth—shewas the one who’d turned down Anil’s marriage proposal after she told him she was pregnant, and she was the one who walked away from him. She couldn’t marry the man after he’d lied to her, so Jana needed to own that choice.
It was true that Jana wasn’t like the other women in Mom’s social circle. Jana was the disgraced one.
But she still couldn’t let this lie stand. Anil wasatthis wedding, for goodness’ sake. At some point someone was going to call Jana his ex-wife, and he would have no idea what they were talking about. Or he’d think they meant Nadia, his actual ex-wife. Jana would speak to Farzana Aunty alone later. She seemed like a kind, reasonable woman. And as a researcher in the field, she’d probably encountered lots of thriving kids whose parents had never been married.
Jana needed to change the subject right now. “I hope the rooms are ready soon. Imani needs to get to bed.”
Farzana Aunty looked in the direction of the front desk. “Yes, I am dying to get out of these shoes. Sam’s gone to ask now, but there’s a line at the counter.”
Jana glanced in the direction of the solid wood counter where there was a big crowd hoping to check in. It seemed a second van of travelers had arrived at the resort. Jana easily picked out the man who she assumed was Sam Uncle—based on his bright silver hair. But when he turned suddenly toward them, Jana’s heart nearly stopped.
She was seeing things. Clearly delirious, thanks to jet lag, annoyance with her mother, and the weirdness of traveling with Anil.
