“Lucky that Ravi was so persistent, eh?” Annika teased.
“Can’t fight true love.” Naya flushed.
“Too bad you didn’t believe that a few months ago. We would’ve had more time to plan this.” Annika studied her cousin.
“It’s part of the compromise with his parents. We go to the Peace Corps, but we get married first.” Naya shrugged. “Ravi and I had already wanted to be married, so pushing it up a few months seemed reasonable.”
“To everyone but those of us who are planning.”
“Stop complaining! You love this.”
“I was talking about your mom.”
“Yeah,” Naya conceded. “She’s going crazy.” She shrugged. “She’ll be fine.”
Annika fidgeted with Naya’s sari for another moment. “You should wear it like this, mermaid-style. It’s super flattering.”
“Whatever you say.” Naya caught her reflection in the mirror and made eye contact with Annika. “What about you?”
“What about me?” Annika asked, distracted, as she slowly started to remove the sari.
“Heard you went on a date with Sajan.” Naya raised her eyebrows.
Honestly, how did everyone know everyone else’s business? “It wasn’t a date.” Well, it hadn’t ended up as one. Even though Sajan had footed the bill no matter how hard she’d insisted on at least splitting it. She smiled. He’d make some woman happy one day. It just wasn’t going to be her.
“Well, what was it?”
“Friends. Having dinner. It happens.”
“Have you talked to Daniel?”
Annika stopped for a moment at the mention of his name. “No.” She continued her task.
“Aren’t you even going to fight for him?”
“I can’t fight for him if he won’t fight for himself.” Annika tried to ignore the burn of tears by focusing on folding Naya’s sari.Would the tears ever stop?“When I miscarried, it was awful. And when we heard those aunties talking like I should be grateful—” She stopped before the tears broke through. She swallowed hard. “But still, I had you and my parents and Daniel to support me. I had a counselor come to see me in the ER whom I turned to a few times for help. Daniel didn’t have that support, nor did he seek counseling to help heal. He’s buried the pain and simply functions. He’s not living. He needs to want toliveand not simply exist. When and if he wants that, he’ll get help.”
“So, what, you’re just going to let him go?”
“Looks that way. It’s been over a month and I haven’t heard from him, except for the updates I get from Nilay. And those have stopped now Nilay is home.”
“Actually...” Naya looked at her with sad eyes. “Nilay told me they FaceTime almost every day.”
Of course they did. A fist wrapped itself around her heart. Daniel would not let Nilay go until he was well. He felt responsible. And he cared for Nilay.
Which was part of why she loved him. Caring about Nilay, loving her—these were proof that Daniel was perfectly capable of living and not simply existing. He just didn’t think he deserved it. And she didn’t know how to convince him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
DANIEL
DANIELCHECKEDTHEaddress on the card against the building number. It was the right place. It had taken him only thirty-five minutes to get to Columbia from his apartment. He dismounted his bike. No need to go in. At least he knew where the place was. He could always come back later.
What did that mean,get help? Did that mean that he would forget Sara? Because no way that could happen. He thought about the number of times he had counseled patients on getting help with any of their issues. Many would come back and thank him—though their problems never went away, they simply found a way to cope. He leaned against his bike. The little voice in his head that held all of his professional information finally spoke up.Get in there. Give it a chance.But it was the daydream of a life with Annika that he held in the front of his mind that gave him momentum.
He locked his bike, grabbed his helmet and went into the building before he could change his mind. His father’s voice sprang into his head.“Men take care of business. Talking about things never did anyone any good. Let it go. Put it behind you.”Daniel pushed forward. He’d tried that. It wasn’t working for him.
The floors of the building were still wet from being mopped, and the familiar antiseptic scent of the cleaner reminded him of the ER, and oddly calmed his heartbeat. The suite was the first one in the building, and a few men passed him as he peeked in the door. Seemed like a typical setup, with chairs in a circle and simple refreshments on the side.
