“A dreamer.”
“Frivolous.”
“Lighthearted.”
“Impulsive.”
“Good at thinking on your feet.”
Jia swallowed. “Too much.”
Lakshmi waved her hand. “That’s not an insult. Would you rather be too little?”
Jia sat back, the gears in her brain turning. It couldn’t be that easy. It wouldn’t be that easy. It would take, as Lakshmi noted, years to unpack all her anxiety about others’, especially her family’s, opinions.
Yet, this could be a way to start?
“Put aside everyone else’s feelings. Do you want to get engaged to this guy?”
“Yes.” She didn’t even hesitate, which made her chest swell. Yes. She could be confident about this, and she’d stick to it. No matter what anyone else thought about them.
She wasn’t lonely right now, as she’d been when Arjun had found her. She wanted Dev in her life, she didn’t need him in her life, and that made all the difference. They might have taken a twisty road, but she liked the destination.
Lakshmi opened her laptop. “Then I guess we need to do some preliminary research on Shweta Dixit and come up with a plan.”
“We?”
“Sure.” Lakshmi’s smile was the first genuine one the woman had given to her. “I owe it to you. I judged you too quick, and I try not to do that. We probably have more in common than we don’t.”
“I didn’t make it easy on you,” Jia said magnanimously.
“You definitely did not. But I’m usually better at seeing through a tough act. So. Plan?”
“I’m not good at sticking to plans.”
“No one is. Remember that thing about being quick at thinking on your feet? Let’s make a couple of general plans, and you can twist those as you see fit.”
Her brisk no-nonsense approach calmed Jia. “I should text Dev.”
Lakshmi was already typing. “Go ahead.”
Told my family that we’re engaged. They’re coming in a few days to meet your grandma. The game is afoot, I repeat, the game is afoot.
Jia hit send and turned to her new friend. “Okay. Let’s make a plan.”
DEV ENTERED HISapartment and dropped his keys on the table in the foyer. The noise of the metal hitting the wood punctuated the clatter of a pot in the kitchen. Dev followed the sound and winced when he found his uncle standing behind the stove. Every burner was on full blast, and the stovewas on. The kitchen wasn’t small, but it was warm from the heat. Competing scents warred with one another, adding to the chaos.
Though he hadn’t lived with his uncle for long, Dev was quite aware that this cooking frenzy probably wasn’t a great sign.
Adil whirled around. “There you are. Young man, where have you been?”
Dev shifted from one foot to the other. He’d never had to deal with an elder catching him sneaking into the house, but he imagined it felt like this. “I told you, I got stuck a few hours east of here.”
“With your fiancée?” Adil Uncle drew himself up to his whole five feet and five inches and glared at Dev. “Imagine my surprise to find out you are engaged. You didn’t respond to my texts. I had no idea what to say to everyone calling me for information.”
Fuck.“I’m sorry, I had so many messages, I missed yours. I should have informed you what was going on.”
“What is going on, exactly, Dev? You told me you were simply meeting with her to atone for your brother and cousin’s behavior, as a friend.”
