He didn’t want to tell his grandmother about Jia, but then he looked around his quiet flat again. “Jia went to her house yesterday and hasn’t come back.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I showed her the home I bought us, and she seemed to like it, but then she became upset and left.”
“You didn’t seek her input in buying her own house?” Aji muttered a brief curse. “I did not teach any of you boys anything. A woman wants a say in where she is going to live, Devanand.”
Oh. She had a point. Dev had never thought Jia might want to go through the tedious chore of finding a house and negotiating and closing. He rubbed his hands over his face. “I didn’t think of that.”
His grandmother’s tone turned lecturing. “Here is what you’re going to do. When she gets over her anger and comes back, you will be nice to her, you will say sorry, and you will cook her a good meal. Understand?”
“Yes, Aji.”
“Do not screw this up. You got a sweet girl. A miracle you found her, really, when you’re such a house chicken.”
His lips twitched. “Yes, Aji.”
She sniffed. “It is good I am here to give you advice.”
Dev cradled his phone. “It is good. Have you considered extending your trip?”
“For how long?”
“Indefinitely.”
Shweta gave an incredulous laugh. “I don’t belong here.”
“Says who? Don’t you like it?”
“Of course I like it.”
Dev fiddled with a pen. “I think Luna is happier when we’re both regularly in her life. She’ll probably adjust better to Jia if she could visit you whenever she wished it.”
Aji looked toward the ocean. A lock of silver hair fell over her forehead. “I do miss her.”
His heart swelled at the gruff admission. “She misses you. I do not like thinking I took her away from you. If you came here for extended visits, even, it would be good.”
“There is more freedom here, is there not? No one standing outside the gates, no one paying attention to me when I go to the market.”
“There is.”
“I like attention, but not having it sometimes has its perks,” Aji mused. “I will consider it.”
“Good.”
“Chandu would come with me, though.” There was a gleam in his grandmother’s eye that Dev had not expected to ever see. “We are enjoying each other’s company, if you know what I mean.”
Ew.That is, he was happy for his grandmother. But it was hisgrandmother.And hisagent.
Ew.
The front door opened and closed, and Dev straightened, relieved on every possible axis. “Jia’s here. I must go.”
Shweta’s laugh was throaty. “Good luck.”
Dev hung up and placed his phone on the island as Jia appeared in the kitchen. “Hello,” he said, stilted. He gestured at his phone. “I was talking to my family.”
Her eyes were shadowed. Were they bloodshot? Had she been crying? “How is everyone?”
