“You were having such a great time swimming.” He shrugged. “The guys wouldn’t let me disturb you.”
She bugged her eyes out at the back of his head. “This is your vacation.”
They reached the car, where Vishal and Karan had started packing up. “Is it true?” she asked, looking at them, still on Roshan’s back.
They looked at her, blank expressions on their faces.
“Is it true that you wouldn’t let Roshan get me out of the water to leave?”
Vishal’s gaze flicked to Roshan’s, then he nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. That’s true. Roshan was eager to leave, but we couldn’t do that to you. Right, Karan?”
“Um yes. Correct. So-taka!” Karan said, avoiding her eyes and with an enthusiasm she hadn’t yet seen.
She raised her eyebrows at him. “We’re using Gujarati now?”
“Duh. One hundred percent sounds better in Gujarati, don’t you think?” he insisted. “It’s faster, in any case.”
She gently smacked Roshan’s shoulder. “Let me down.”
He gently set her down, being careful to let her put her weight on her right leg first, before turning to face her. She studied his face for an answer.
She eyed all three men with suspicion. It was obvious that letting her swim longer was Roshan’s idea, but she couldn’t imagine why he would do that. Her stomach gave a loud growl. She put her hand over it. “I may need a snack.”
Vishal grinned. “Get in the car. We have my mom’s tepla.”
“Seriously?” Nimita asked as a smile spread across her face. “And you’re just now telling me? I’m wounded.” She shook her head. “Well. We’ll need to head back to the hotel now, since the winding roads become that much more difficult in the dark,” she said.
Roshan shrugged. “How hard could it be?”
* * *
Famous last words. He shook his head as the tow truck they were all crammed into arrived at the car rental. Honestly, he knew what everyone—including Nimita—had told him, but he hadn’t quite understood until the sun had set and darkness had fallen upon them.
To be fair, watching the sunset was incredible, and they had made good time, going back the way they’d come. They were about an hour away from the resort when it happened.
They’d been sideswiped and had ended up in a ditch. Luckily they weren’t going that fast, so it was more of a slide into the ditch, but the car wasn’t going anywhere on its own. The other driver had stopped, and they exchanged information before calling for a tow.
At least they’d had a whole stack of the spicy tepla that Auntie had made to hold their hunger while they waited for the tow truck. No self-respecting Indian went traveling without the flatbread staple.
He and Nimi had devoured a few each. Vishal and Karan had refused, claiming they weren’t hungry. Karan not being hungry seemed like a problem, but maybe they were shook up from the accident.
Nimita had been a trouper. She had to have been in extra pain from all the swerving. She hadn’t complained once, though she was currently glaring at him as he helped her out of the cab of the tow truck. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she reached for Karan’s arm so he could help her into the Uber that Vishal had called.
Karan looked at him and shrugged.
Her body and her actions screamedI told you so, even if she hadn’t said a word. The Uber back to the hotel was just as silent as the tow truck drive. And when they pulled into the hotel’s driveway and Roshan reached for her, she ignored him and grabbed Vishal’s arm.
The four of them made their way back to their rooms.
“I’m really sorry I let this happen,” Roshan said for the fiftieth time as he fumbled for his key card.
Vishal and Karan mumbled something, but Nimita let out a “hmph.” It was the most she’d said all evening.
“What does that mean?” Roshan asked. “Besides ‘I told you so’?”
She stopped abruptly in front of her door and turned to him, eyes blazing. “Is that what you think I’m saying? ‘I told you so,’ like I’m some teenager who needs to be right? No. I am pissed off because you could not be bothered to think that someone else might know a little something more than you. We planned the whole day around returning before dark. And yet, somehow, you didn’t think it really meant anything to return before dark. To drive more carefully in the dark.”
“It was an accident,” he said, firing up.
