“Think about it.” He looked her in the eye. The spark was still there: she wanted her job more than ever.
“Hey!” Roshni opened the window. “If you two are done making googly eyes at each other, I’m having a baby.”
Riya turned to her cousin. “We know you’re pregnant! Did you even say hello to Dhillon?”
“Hello to Dhillon,” Roshni mocked. “I know how bad you two have it for each other, and if it was anything else, I’d keep my mouth shut. But my goddamn water broke, and if you don’t start driving right now, I’m going to have this baby in this car!”
“What? Are you serious?” Dhillon stepped up to her window.
“I’m coming.” Riya moved with purpose over to the driver’s side, still the picture of composure as she assessed the now-moving traffic. She got in the car, then popped her head back out, smiling at him. “Thanks, Dhillon. Really.”
“Can we go?” demanded Roshni from inside the car.
forty
RIYA
Baby Diya was as gorgeous as her mom, and if her cry was any indication, she was also just as forceful as Roshni as well.
Traffic had opened up, and Riya had made it to the hospital inplentyof time for Roshni to give birth to a gorgeous baby girl, Sebastian by her side. Riya made sure mom and baby and dad were properly settled by the time Varsha Masi showed up with her bags of food and home remedies for postpartum recovery.
“I heard you went on a date with Namrata Mehta’s son?” Varsha Masi said to Riya by way of greeting.
“You mean Akash?” Riya couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Made sense, though, that her date was the awful mandir auntie’s son.
“Yes.” Her masi cocked an eyebrow.
“Well, that explains a lot. He’s not a nice boy, Varsha Masi. Not at all,” Riya said.
Her masi shrugged. “Okay. Next boy, then. Who is next?”
“Hey! You made it to the hospital on time?” Dhillon entered the room with a laugh and a smile, his hands full of balloons and a small stuffed dog.
Roshni grinned at Dhillon. “Riya drove like a maniac.”
Varsha Masi raised an eyebrow. Riya had no idea what her face looked like, but from her masi’s expression, she could only guess. She shook her head at her: no way. Her masi smirked at her and turned to Dhillon, who was fawning over Diya and making little goo-goo noises.
Just when she thought he couldn’t possibly get any sexier.
Varsha Masi turned to Dhillon. “Dhillon, so good to see you. Sorry about your clinic and about Hetal. How is she?”
“She’s recovering just fine, Auntie, thanks. We all are, thanks to Riya.” He met her eyes.
Riya’s heart thudded in her chest.
Varsha Masi looked from Riya to Dhillon. “Uh-huh.” She cut her eyes to Riya, a knowing smirk on her face. “And your office? What will you do?”
“Well, right now, I’m doing some house calls, and I’ll work from the veterinary ER for a time. But I have full coverage from insurance, so I’m going to rebuild the office and design it to my preferences. I had been talking about doing that for a while. Here’s my chance.” He threw another glance at Riya.
Riya was impressed. Dhillon, putting everything out there. God, she loved him.Wait—what?
“Anyway, Auntie, I should go. I had an appointment that was derailed by—well, many things.” He glanced at Riya again, sending zings through her body. “Can I see you out in the hall?”
Riya nodded, purposefully not making eye contact with anyone as she followed Dhillon out of the room.
Dhillon stood close enough for her to catch his fresh-from-a-shower scent. “Lucky’s ashes came.”
“Okay.” She nodded her head as she processed this, trying to hide the sadness that washed over her. “Yeah. So whenever works for you.”
