“But driving this road seems—”
“Challenging?” She smirked at him. “It is. Relax. I’m a really good driver.”
Roshan stared at her. He thought about what his sister would do if he perished on this island. She’d have their parents, but she’d be alone.
“Seriously. My dad took me driving everywhere in the six months leading up to my driver’s exam. Rain, I drove. Blizzard? I drove. Fog, yep. He took me on every sort of terrain possible and made sure we knew how to handle it before we took our license exams. And I did the same for Reena.”
“Oh?” he asked her profile.
Nimita shrugged one shoulder. “I taught her how to drive.” She calmly moved to the side to allow the oncoming car more room. But there was a change in the air, and her expression had hardened. He noticed that the smile was gone from her face.
“Why was that?”
She pressed her lips together like she regretted saying anything. “My dad was…sick,” she stated, matter-of-fact.
“What happened to him?”
She sighed, flicking a quick glance his way. “You don’t have to make conversation with me just because you apologized and I’m showing you all around. We don’t have to be friends.”
He frowned. “I wasn’t trying to be friends. I was… I’m a doctor. I’m just curious.” Though he was curious to know what the deal was with her dad. But she didn’t seem open to it, so he just smiled and mock-shuddered. “Wouldn’t want us to become friends.”
“As long as we’re on the same page.” She cracked a small smile. Silence floated between them again. “What about you, who taught you how to drive?” she asked as they hit a rare patch of wide road.
“I thought we weren’t going to be friends.”
“We’re not, but conversation helps my concentration. And those two are asleep.” She nodded toward the back seat. He turned to see Vishal and Karan sleeping again, their heads tilted toward each other. He grinned and took a picture.
“Those two have always slept like that.” He chuckled. He literally had twenty years of photos to prove it.
“You guys have known each other forever, huh?”
He grinned at the photo. “Since Montessori school. We were four, and all in the same class.” He shrugged. “You know how kids are. They sit next to each other, they don’t have fears yet. I remember Vishal coming up to me at snack time. He sat down in the chair across from me. He opened his applesauce and started eating. Then he looked at me and said, ‘I am going to play with you.’ I nodded, and that was that. We played together at recess. A month or so later, Karan started school in our class. Vishal and I found him alone on the playground. We went up to him, and Vishal said, ‘You will play with us.’ We’ve all been best friends ever since.” He rolled his eyes and took a peek at the back seat. “Vishal never lets us forget that he was the one who brought us together.”
“That’s a very sweet story. You guys are lucky,” she said quietly, her eyes still on the road. “I remember how close you all were even in high school.”
He nodded at the memories. They’d all been on the soccer team, which he had captained. More than once, Roshan had had to put Vishal on the bench for being reckless. Vishal was never happy about it, but whatever anger he might have had always dissipated quickly.
“Yes. Well, sometimes you have to find your true family,” he murmured.
Nimita tensed. It was subtle given that her gaze never left the road. It was the slight straightening of her neck, the minute lift of her chin and clenching of her jaw, but it was there to see. Even if Nimita did not think she was displaying her pain.
Silence settled between them. Not as tense, not as uncomfortable as before. “I taught myself how to drive,” he said finally.
She made a small noise, perhaps confusion or an invitation to continue.
“My dad took me out one day and showed me the basics of driving in thirty minutes.” He shrugged. “I did the rest.” He knew that other parents took their kids out driving, made sure they understood everything. But there had been no time for that. His father was a lawyer, and his mother was in finance. They’d both worked full-time, and Malini was sick. She took up whatever time they had left. It had never even occurred to him to ask either parent for more time, for moreanything. Malini was always the priority. For all three of them.
“Wow,” she said softly.
“Have I finally impressed you?” he joked. The air was too serious. He didn’t want to her ask the next question, which would surely bewhy?
“Against everything I believe about you, yes. I am impressed.” She glanced at him and chuckled. But something in her face told him that she knew he was holding back and that he wasn’t ready to answer the why.
* * *
“Isn’t that the turnoff for Hamoa?” Roshan asked, and she tutted at him for passenger-seat driving.
“We’re skipping Hamoa Beach for now.” She’d made the decision on the fly. Backtracking to Hamoa later in the day would be better for their drive home. “We’ll go to the Seven Sacred Pools first, have lunch there. There’s some great hiking, then we’ll hit Hamoa on the way home. Sound good?”
