But that was all she got out before her sister hugged her.
Chapter Sixteen
Sejal didn’t know what to do with her hands. They hung limply by her sides as the embrace went on for what felt like long minutes. Her sister’s hair tickled her nose, and that sensation brought a tear to her eyes. Yes, that was why her eyes were growing wet. Krish cleared his throat behind her, and Mira’s arms loosened. Then the infant in Mira’s arms yanked Sejal’s hair. Hard. “Ow.”
“Oh my God, I’m sorry.” Mira pulled back and disentangled the child’s hands from Sejal’s strands. “Ananya, no! Gentle touches. Gentle.”
Sejal smoothed her hair. “This is... yours?” she asked awkwardly.
“Yes.” Mira beamed down at the girl, then at Sejal. “This is my daughter. Your niece! Ananya.”
Your niece.Wow. She’d been someone’s niece, but never had one. Never even thought that the branches of her family tree would grow. “Hi.” She waved at the baby, but it only stared at her. Oh no. Did it know? That she’d thought of it as an it and was therefore wildly unqualified to be an aunt?
“Naveen!” Mira called out, over her shoulder. Naveen appearedbehind his wife, his eyes wide. Sejal’s brother-in-law had also put on some happy weight, and he looked as surprised as Mira to find Sejal and Krish on their doorstep.
Sejal gave him a wary nod. She had nothing against her sister’s husband, personally. It was just that people who came from wealthy families, especially lawyers who came from wealthy families, hadn’t historically been her favorite people.
But Naveen had helped save Sejal’s life by coughing up that diamond necklace for their mom, and he seemed to look at Mira with love at their wedding, so Sejal assumed he couldn’t be all bad.
“And this is...” Mira looked at Krish, eyebrows raised.
“Krish. Krish, this is Mira, my sister.”
“Hello,” Krish said. His voice was subdued. “You have a cute baby.”
Mira smiled at him, but switched back to Sejal. “I’m so glad to see you,” Mira said in a rush.
“I’m... surprised to see you.”
“Yes, we’re surprised as well.” Naveen gently took his wife’s arm and guided her back into the room. “Come in, please.”
“Sejal!” A small, portly Indian man, about her dad’s age, rose from the dark leather couch in front of the large television. He wore a velvet burgundy smoking jacket, à la Hugh Hefner. His round cheeks had deep dimples when he smiled. He walked toward them. “My God! I almost didn’t believe it was you. I haven’t seen you since you were, what?”
“Seventeen. Hi. You look good.”
Sunil took Sejal’s hands in his own. Other than a few wrinkles around his eyes, he looked the same as he always had. The older man beamed at her. “You do, too, my love. And who is this bunny you’ve brought, Sejal?”
Before she could answer, Mira cut in. “You knew she was coming here?” Mira asked.
“Yes, of course. She came to the club.”
Her sister shifted the infant to her other arm. The child sat comfortably there, her dark eyes taking everything in. “And you didn’t tell me she showed up?”
“I thought it best. Didn’t want to get your hopes up.”
Mira glared at their uncle. “I thought she was dead. You could have told me that twenty minutes ago and saved me twenty minutes of grief.”
“But if she got into a car accident along the way, then you would have gotten your hopes up and had them dashed immediately,” Sunil pointed out.
“Why would you think I was dead?” Sejal interjected.
“Because you sent me the most cryptic text in the world the day before yesterday and then vanished.”
Oh.
“What text?” Krish asked Sejal quietly.
“I sent her a text in the diner before Viktor found me because... I didn’t know if I’d see her again.” She turned to Mira. “It was a fairly benign text.”
