Roshan’s jaw dropped. “She took you on a blind date? With the mom and the guy and didn’t even tell you?”
“Yes.”
“No way.”
“Way.” At least Roshan seemed to understand the complete and absolute ridiculousness of the situation. “I was pissed.” Her voice rose as if it were all happening in front of her. “I don’t even know how we got through the meal. I did not hold back, so I wasextrarude and unhelpful, which made Mom livid. We started arguing as soon as we got into the car.” Nimita paused. “She was horrified at my behavior, though what did she think I would do? She remained adamant that I get married andsoonbecause I was, after all,thirty! Of course I couldn’t believe she had tricked me like this. And, I don’t know, Mom and I didn’t always…mesh…and I had thought we were having this great mother-daughter day, and then it turned out she’d had an agenda the whole time.” Nimita paused. “We fought, and we didn’t stop until—” Neither of them had seen the car because they were arguing.
Because Nimita could not keep her mouth shut.
Tears flowed freely down her face. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands in shame. She couldn’t even look Roshan in the face.
“I could have given her the silent treatment. I could have waited to come home and argue. I could have—”
Cool, soft hands touched hers, gently pulling them away from her face. These were not Roshan’s hands. She screwed up her face, and more tears came as realization hit. She shook her head. “Reena. I didn’t want you to know,” she squeaked out.
Then Reena was there, sitting next to Nimita, enveloping her in her embrace, pulling her close. She smelled of something lightly floral and baby spit-up. “Didi. The accident was anaccident. Not your fault, not Mom’s.” Nimita turned and sobbed into her sister’s arms. Three years of pent-up sorrow, guilt, and self-hatred poured itself out into a sea of tears. She didn’t feel she deserved to be called Didi.
“I am so sorry I left you. For whatever it’s worth, I wasn’t leavingyou. I just couldn’t stay, Reena. How could I stay and face you every day knowing,knowingthat if Mom and I hadn’t been arguing, maybe she would be alive?”
Reena shook her head. “Shh. It’s not your fault.”
Nimita looked at her sister’s face. No anger, no blame, just love. Just her sister. Her baby sister who’d had the cutest little fingers and most adorable little mouth and didn’t need a charge or battery. Her baby sister who had grown up as her best friend. Relief like she hadn’t felt for three years overcame her, and she was exhausted.
In the background, she heard a door close.
Roshan had left.
Chapter Twenty-four
Roshan had been pretty bad at painting. He hoped he was better at pottery. He parked his car and his heart thudded when he saw Nimita standing at the entrance of the pottery class. After everything that she’d told him yesterday, he wasn’t sure she’d want to see him again.
“Hey.” He could not help the smile on his face.
A small grin wobbled to her face. “I had to see you throw pottery.”
She looked like she’d shed a few more tears, but she was smiling now. He inhaled and opened the door. “At least someone will be entertained.”
They followed everything the instructor said. Yet his “simple” bowl had uneven thicknesses, and no matter how many times he threw it, didn’t improve. Nimita excelled, producing a beautiful bowl by the end of the session.
“You’ve done this before,” he accused as they walked out.
“In Italy,” she confessed, though her voice was dull, not laced with the animated satisfaction she usually had when she bested him. “A few times.”
Roshan groaned and looked skyward. Tonight, Taurus was visible next to Orion. Huh. “Need a ride?” he asked.
“Sure.”
They drove in silence for a while, and then Nimita said, “Maybe you skip the other art-related activities?” A small bit of humor colored her words.
He nodded. “This is harder than I had expected it to be,” he confessed.
“There’s no timeline here,” Nimita assured him. “Mali just wants you to have something outside of her.”
“It still sort of feels like I’m doing something for her. It’s not part of my identity, you know? I don’t know how to find a passion that’s about me and not about fulfilling a promise to her.”
“Take some time, think about things you liked as a child, things you liked studying in school. Maybe you want to be a soccer player again or find a book club that Malini isn’t in.”
He understood the assignment. He just didn’t like it. Though after what Nimita had confessed the day before, he felt he should put some real effort into this mission. He parked in her driveway and got out. He opened her door and walked her to the house. “How’s the job search going?”
