“I know you can. But you probably have a ton of things to do before Auntie comes home tomorrow.” And damn if he didn’t fold a perfect fitted sheet. They sat on the sofa, the laundry basket between them.
She nodded and kept folding. T-shirts next. “I’ll be on shift, but Papa can handle it.”
“What about Scout?” He picked up one of her navy blue firefighter T-shirts and folded it, glancing at the emblem. But he made no comment.
“What about her?” She continued folding, her mind racing. She had already cooked enough food for a couple of days, her mom’s room was ready for her, and now the laundry would soon be done.
“She’s a puppy. That’s a lot for your dad while he’s trying to bring your mom home from rehab.”
She paused in her folding. He was right. She knew she’d been forgetting something. Whatever her expression was, Dhillon grinned.
He reached into the laundry basket, his eyes on her. “Don’t worry. I can take her for one night. Mom’s not on shift until the evening, so she’ll be home with her.”
Riya sighed in relief. Of course he would take Scout. Her relief was short-lived as she noticed that the last garment Dhillon had grabbed from the basket was her underwear. Her lacy, powder blue thong.
“Um... I’ll just take that.” She reached out just as his eyes widened and he realized what he was holding. She snatched it from him and balled it up in her fist as if trying to make it disappear. Heat made its way up her neck and into her face. She couldn’t even look at him, afraid that he’d see that embarrassment wasn’t exactly what she was feeling.
Silence seemed to float endlessly between them. “Well,” she finally managed, “that was a bit awkward, but it’s just laundry. Clean laundry.” She was babbling. She needed to stop before—“It’s not like I was wearing it or anything.” Oh, God. Did she just say that out loud? She closed her eyes. She’d just given him a visual of her in nothing but a powder blue thong. Not really where she’d wanted to go.
Or was it?
He cleared his throat, and she opened her eyes to find him watching her, his mouth open and his eyes more than a bit glazed over. “I should go.” He nearly jumped up to standing. “You seem to havethe laundryall under control.”
“Yep. Uh-huh.”
Dhillon walked to the door. “Just drop Scout off on your way to work.”
Riya bobbed her head. “Will do.”
But Dhillon left without his shoes and then had to come back and get them. Would awkwardness never end? Even now, Riya flushed as she recalled the incident.
Her father’s footsteps brought her back to reality. He let his gaze sweep over the kitchen as he filled a glass with water. “Smells wonderful, beta.”
“Thanks.” She scooped some of the potato-and-pea shak next to the khichdi. “I’ll bring some up for Mom. Just get her to walk in the hallway a bit first.”
“Making her work for her meal, are you?” he said, joking.
“It’s good for her,” Riya insisted.
“I know.” He paused. “Beta, it is good to have you here.” He kissed her forehead like he used to when she was a child, and Riya felt secure and warm in her father’s love once again. How long had it been since she had felt this way? Too long. “You keep working hard at the station. Those men won’t know what hit them.”
Tears filled her eyes at his support. She had hardly expected it, but now that she had it, she realized how much she had missed it. Her heart was filled with gratitude. “Thanks, Papa. Now, go. Mom needs those meds.” She shooed him from the kitchen, wiping her eyes when he turned his back.
Riya was just adding a scant half spoon of ghee to her parents’ khichdi when she heard her name being shouted from the door.
“Riya Didi!” Hetal came running into the house. “Riya Didi!”
“In the kitchen,” she called out.
“Riya Didi! You have to come.” The girl’s breath came hard, and her voice shook.
Riya spun around to face Hetal. Her eyes were glassy, and her lip trembled. “What’s going on? Is someone hurt?”
“It’s...it’s Lucky.” Hetal’s voice caught.
A pit hollowed out Riya’s belly. She knew Lucky was on borrowed time, though there was a part of her that had believed he would live forever. She washed her hands, made sure everything was turned off as she nodded at Hetal. She followed Hetal to the door and called up to her father.
“Papa, I’m going next door. Something’s wrong with Lucky.”
