‘Now you can trust me? Or is it just because your father is gone?’
‘No, Neel. It’s not like that. Over the last month, I’ve realised there should never have been a secret. I should have trusted you enough to tell you about my background. I should have told you everything. And honestly, it was me. It was all me. I was the problem, not you.’
He shook his head. ‘No, Kaavi. We were the problem. Our relationship should have been built on trust, mutual trust. We should have been able to be open with each other. It shouldn’t have been based on…’He lowered his voice. ‘… what attracted us to each other. That’s where we went wrong.’
‘I love you, Neel. I love you,’ she said, her voice steady.
His eyes widened. ‘You do?’
‘Obviously,’ she replied. ‘I’ve loved you all this time.’
She was so nervous, but she had to tell him everything.
‘I didn’t leave because I didn’t love you. Do you think I walked away and never looked back? I thought about you every single day. I wondered where you were, what it would be like to be with you again. I pictured that moment, the day I’d see you again. I never imagined it would be with divorce papers. But you were right to bring them. What did I expect? That you’d wait for me?’
She stopped, glanced around, then shook her head.
‘Neel, all I’m saying is I could talk about this forever and I don’t know where it’s going to go. But you need to know this: I love you. I want to be with you. Whether it’s in Jo’burg, Rally, or anywhere else, I want to be your wife.’
‘What if things don’t go your way? Or if we have an argument, are you going to leave again?’ he asked.
‘No, Neel. I’ve learned something in the last month: whatever comes my way, I need to have you by my side. Because that’s the only way I can get through it. Being in Rally, having you there during my darkest moments… that showed me what marriage really means. Standing by each other, being there, confiding in each other.’
She paused, her voice softening. ‘I don’t know if it’ll always be easy. I don’t even know if you’ll like me in ten years. But I’ll love you forever. And I don’t think that’s ever going to stop … No, no, Neel,’ she added, shaking her head. ‘Iknowit won’t.’
She searched his eyes. Was she getting through to him? What more could she say?
‘So what I’m saying, Neel, is I want you. I want to be your wife. I want to spend the rest of my days with you, and I’m not going anywhere.’
He took a step forward, his face serious.
Kaavi couldn’t read him. Was he going to tell her to leave? To get off the property? Say, ‘No, Kaavi, I want a divorce’?
Then he spoke softly. ‘I love you too, Kaavi. And I’m sorry Ididn’t ask you to come back with me to Jo’burg. I needed you to decide that on your own.’
Kaavi caught Neel glancing over her shoulder at his parents and sister, clearly watching. Without a word, he grabbed her hand and pulled her round the corner of the house, out of their sight.
He gently pressed her against the wall.
‘I love you, Mrs Naran. Welcome back.’
His lips met hers, deep, urgent. She kissed him back just as fiercely.
He pulled away and smiled.
‘Now what?’
‘We celebrate,’ his mother said behind him.
Neel spun around. His parents and sister were there.
Before Neel or Kaavi could respond, his mother grabbed Kaavi and pulled her into a hug.
‘Welcome back, Mrs Naran,’ she said, while Neel’s father patted his back and Natara held back tears.
o you think Shona would kill me if I took this off?’ Kaavi asked, tugging at her deep maroon veil. Shona had made it, edging the fabric with delicate gold embroidery. Her cousin’s wife had spent hours on the intricate detail and now it completed Kaavi’s bridal look perfectly. Her hair was pulled back in a low bun and she wore a maroon lehenga with a matching blouse, both traced in gold, and expertly designed by Shona.
Neel wore a cream sherwani suit with subtle touches of deep maroon and gold to match her outfit. He leaned forward, fingers reaching for the bobby pins. ‘I don’t think she’d mind,’ he said, then paused. ‘This is harder than I thought.’
