Sejal tugged at her too snug sweatshirt. Did Aarthi not realize these were hers? Please, even if she was a relationship gal, she definitely wouldn’t be caught dead in matching clothes.
Patrick laughed and gave her a squeeze. “We got those on our trip to Toronto, remember, Aarthi?”
“You got them,” she said archly. “I told you I’m not a matchy matchy person.”
Sejal almost smiled. Seemed like she and Krish’s mom had something in common. Whelp, best to jump into the lie feet first. “Ugh, Krish is the same way. I’m always trying to put us in cute couple gear.” She swatted him on the arm, maybe a touch harder than necessary.
“Like mother like son. Hard to crack these nuts,” Patrick said, his grin wider. “Come on in, you two. You hungry?” He picked up a stack of pancakes, and Sejal’s mouth watered.
“Starving,” she said, and this time she meant it.
“Have a seat here at the table. We’re informal when it comes to breakfast, hope you don’t mind.”
Sejal sat down in the sun-dappled breakfast nook, ignoring another stab of longing. Kenneth had had a little breakfast tablelike this. When she’d visited her adopted dads, this was how they started their days, too. Like a real family.
This is not your family. Krish is not your boyfriend. These are not your surrogate parents.Your surrogate dad is sitting in an assisted living facility that you are paying out the nose for, and if you want to keep him in that fancy place, you better focus.“Thank you so much.”
“Not a problem.”
Krish poured orange juice for her and then for himself. “This smells wonderful,” he said. “And thank you for the clothes, Patrick.”
“Yes, it was nice to change,” Sejal chimed in.
Patrick dimpled at them and brought over the eggs and bacon. Her stomach took that moment to growl, and Patrick gestured at her. “Eat, eat! You must be starving. Looked like you two had a long journey yesterday.”
She filled her plate as quickly as she could. She didn’t need to be told twice. Aarthi sat opposite her, but the woman didn’t take a plate, only sipped her water. “Aren’t you hungry?” Sejal asked her.
“I’m intermittent fasting. I’ll eat later. So I understand you and my son are dating.”
Sejal took a bite of her pancake. Let the role commence. “That’s what I understand as well.”
“Funny how he hasn’t mentioned you before.”
Krish shifted next to her. He’d taken eggs and bacon, but not a single pancake. “You and I haven’t spoken much the last few months, Mother.”
“So that’s how long you’ve been dating? A few months?”
“Approximately.” Krish took a bite of his eggs.
Aarthi leaned forward and placed her elbows on the table. Shewas wearing an oversize denim button-down that hid her trim figure. But when she moved, it couldn’t conceal the bulge under her arm.
Sejal’s gaze shot to Patrick. His plaid shirt was cut to fit him almost perfectly. No place to hide anything.
The puzzle pieces started to come together.
“What is it that you do, Seema? Other than magic, like for a living.”
I used to help my con man dad, then I worked various gigs of dubious legality before coming into a possibly stolen inheritance of jewels from my aunt, who isactually notdead and may be the head of an organization you despise. I spent most of that fortune settling my surrogate dad’s debts and saving for his future, and now I’m back to fleecing morally gray people, but it’s mostly legal.“I’m in sales,” Sejal said.
Aarthi looked down her patrician nose at her. “Sales of what?”
“Rolexes.”
“How’s everything going at home, on the ranch?” Krish interjected.
“Excellent, thank you.” Patrick dabbed his lips with a napkin and went back to demolishing his pancakes. “We’ve hired three new people this fall. It’s getting harder to keep up—”
“Rolexes. How fascinating. And you live in DC as well?” Aarthi sipped her tea.
