“What do you want?” Aisha continues.
“What? Nothing!”
“Really?” Aisha narrows her eyes.
I rub my beard nervously. “Okay, fine, I want something.”
That earns me a good-natured eye roll from both of them.
“Could you watch the boys for me for, like…” I take out my phone to look at the time. “An hour? Hour and a half at most?”
Normally, I’d ask Mom, but she’s got her hands full with dinner.
Both their faces light up.
“Say less,” Aisha says as she nearly jumps from the couch. “I could eat those boys up.”
“Okay, cool.” I rub my hands together.
Ajay stands, but with less enthusiasm than his sister, raising a single eyebrow. “Dude, what are you up to, exactly?”
I sigh and rub my mouth. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
I grab my coat and sprint towards our rental car before they can change their minds.
Chapter 25
Rachel
The scent of something like meat pie pulls me from a deep sleep. I have to blink several times to clear the blurriness from my eyes and wipe the edge of my chin to remove what seems to be drool.
Wow. I didn’t know I could fall so deeply asleep during a simple nap.
I make my way downstairs, still in a daze, and offer to Martine and Jocelyne to start setting the table while they’re putting the finishing touches on what seems to be an amazing feast of a dinner. Right as I’m placing utensils on the table, Suresh strolls from the living area to the table and grabs plates to help me out with a smile.
“That nap did you some good?” Suresh asks, sweeping a strand of salt and pepper hair behind his ear.
“I think so.”
“We should meet up more often.” He chuckles, pointing to the living area, where Ajay and Aisha are sprawled on the floor next to the wood stove, playing Hungry Hungry Hippos with my boys. “Watching your kids is making my kids more responsible. And they haven’t touched their phones in a full hour.”
I stop mid-movement, almost dropping the fork I’m in the middle of setting down. My gaze darts from one corner of the cabin to the other, scanning for my husband.
He’s nowhere in sight.
“Wait,” I breathe out. “Why are Ajay and Aisha watching them? Where’s Karan?”
Suresh shrugs, not looking too bothered. “He went on an errand somewhere, but he said he’d be back for dinner.”
An errand? What kind of errand could he possibly go on? This cabin is nestled deep into a peninsula, at least a good 45 minutes away from the next major town, Gander. For this reason, Jocelyne keeps this place well-stocked, especially when she has company over.
A touch of anger seeps into my bones. There he goes again, leaving me. For all I know, he drove to Gander to find a cafe with faster Internet than we have at this cabin because hisbossneeds him to fix some other bullshit.
I take a breath through my nose to keep myself grounded. There’s no reason for me to freak out. I have no idea what Karan went out to do. No proof that he’s out doing something for his boss.
If I’m going to start imagining faults where there are none, then we truly have no chance of saving this marriage.
Right on cue, the door slams open, revealing Karan’s gigantic frame. He’s covered with a dusting of snow, including his beard. A huge smile splits his face in half.
