Sam’s mother shook her head. “Oh, come now, John. I took care of my family. And now they love you and Monica.”
Sam’s thoughts wandered back to Maya and their kiss, and the look on her uncle’s face when he’d seen them.
“Sam. Sam, where are you?” There was a twinkle in his father’s eye and a smirk on his face.
“Right here, Dad.”
“Your mother asked who the girl is.”
Sam flushed a bit as his father studied his face. “Her uncle is Deepak Shah, the cardiologist I asked you about,” he said. “Her name is Maya.”
His father’s eyes crinkled as he began to chuckle. Sam looked at him, surprised. “What’s so funny?”
“You.” He shook his head at his son and turned to his wife. “Our son is in love.”
His mother deepened the wrinkle in her brow. “What? How could you possibly know that?” Hema Hutcherson still had her Indian accent, so herWs sometimes came out asVs, and this was the source of more than one joke in their family.
“Besides, how many times have you seen her, anyway? You’ve had two dates?” She frowned. “That’s nothing.”
“Dad said he knew the first time he met you.” Sam turned to his father for support.
John’s support and enthusiasm were apparent from his vigorous nod. “That’s true.”
Sam’s mother rolled her eyes at them both, but Sam caught her blush and winked at his dad. She waved her hand at the both of them. “Crazy.”
“Ma, she’s Ben and Niki’s summer nanny. Monica-mamitold you, remember? I see her every day at your brother’s house.” And he hoped he would still be able to after Maya spoke to her mother.
Hema frowned. “That baker’s daughter?”
Sam ignored the frown and managed to smile at his mother. “She’s been to culinary school, and she’s going to be a pastry chef,” he said, pleased with himself.
John chortled and looked back at his wife. “Oh, yeah. He’s done for.”
Sam considered again the wisdom of going back to see Maya tonight. No, he’d be better off waiting until work tomorrow. She had to go to work, right? The thought of losing what he only just gained prevented him from noticing his mother’s continued frown as she put her glasses back on and returned to her book.
SAMARRIVEDEARLYto his uncle’s house to wait for Maya. He hadn’t really slept, so getting there early was easy. He brewed coffee and worked on the tiling while he waited. He kept checking his watch, but the minutes passed slowly.
“Sam?” Sudhir-mama called out to him.
“In the bathroom.” Sam stepped down from the ladder as Sudhir-mama entered. He’d been working for an hour that felt like a whole day and had successfully placed all of two tiles.
“Maya just called.”
Sam’s stomach plummeted. “Yeah?”
“She’s running late. Can you hold down the fort with the kids until she gets here? I have a meeting in half an hour, and Monica left already. They won’t be up for a while.”
“Yeah, sure. No problem.” Sam started back up the ladder.
“Is everything okay, Sammy?” His uncle glanced at the two tiles.
Sam shrugged, ignoring his uncle’s gaze. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.”
“Okay.” Sudhir-mama furrowed his brow. “You just seem... I’ve never seen you like this before.”
You mean you’ve never seen a man wait to find out whether the love of his life might leave him because her mother was making her?
“I’m good.” Sam picked up a random tool and had no idea what to do with it.
