“It’s hardly unsolicited if you’re family,” Tara said to Katrina.
Katrina’s cheeks turned red, but she continued. “You all love each other deeply. You have a family anyone would envy.”
“Everything I have ever done in my life has been for my family.”
Jas’s throat closed up at his grandpa’s fervent words. They were true. His grandpa had sacrificed so much for all of them.
Anger and resentment and guilt and love swirled together inside of him, creating the most annoying, overwhelming mix of emotions.
Katrina’s tone was gentle. “You can’t seem to talk to each other is all.”
“That is an absolutely accurate assessment.” His mother’s eyes were wet with unshed tears. “You two are breaking my heart. I want you both to be happy.”
Andrés surprised Jas by speaking. “Whenever I try to talk to him, he doesn’t listen.”
Jas took a sip of his water. “You don’t listen either.”
Bikram rested his arm on the back of their mother’s seat. “The funny thing is, you two are each other’s Kryptonite, and you can’t even see it. You both interact like adults with other people. It’s only when you’re together that everything falls apart.”
That wasn’t entirely true. Jas wasn’t exactly forthcoming with everyone else.
He slid a surreptitious glance at his grandfather’s stubborn jaw. His immediate instinct was to stick his chin out, too.
Okay, there might be some truth to Bikram’s observation.
“Dad, you cannot seriously consider never speaking to Jas again over something so foolish as him not attending the parade. You can’t possibly be that angry.”
Andrés’s eyes glinted. “I’m not angry, I’m disappointed.”
Tara scowled. “It’s not only disappointment.”
“So what? I’m allowed to be angry my flesh and blood turned their back on everything I worked for.”
Bikram cleared his throat. “If I may, Grandpa: Mom didn’t want the farm, either, but you’re not mad at her for picking a different career path.”
Tara sighed. “Because I’m a girl, my love.”
“That’s sexist.” It was rare for Bikram to rebuke their grandfather.
“I’m not sexist. If she’d wanted the farm, I would have encouraged her,” Andrés growled.
“You didn’t expect it of her, though.”
“Because daughters go off and start their own families. Sons stay with you. They build with you.” His grandpa jabbed his thumb at Jas. “I built all this for my boy. And he threw it all away.”
“Grandpa.” Bikram shook his head. “He chose to enlist. You can’t be mad at him forever for picking a different profession.”
“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about after he was done.”
Jas stirred, weary of being discussed like he wasn’t in the room. “What about after I was done with the military?”
“You were injured. You should have come home and let us take care of you, let this land take care of you. Instead, you chose to go live with a man who was of no relation to any of us. Blood is thicker than water, but you chose Hardeep Arora over me. The family of the man that abandoned my father? You abandoned me and this land to go live withhim?”
The tense silence returned, but only for a moment. “You know, that saying is misused in modern times,” Katrina said, her calm, reasonable voice a much-needed break.
Andrés shook his head. “What?”
“The whole phrase goes, the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. People shorten it to mean that kin is stronger than all else, but the original meaning is that the bond between nonfamily members can actually be stronger than family.”
