“Ha. No, thank you. I’m good.” She turned a blank face to him.
Karan was looking at the itinerary over Vishal’s shoulder. “Detailed and specific. Even Roshan will be impressed.”
Roshan sipped his coffee and wrenched his gaze away from her. He had always been impressed by her. There didn’t seem any reason why that might have changed now.
* * *
Nimita walked away as Vishal and Karan discussed the list she had made. Bickered was more like it.
“We should kayak first,” Vishal stated. Talk about bossy.
“No. Surfing—it’s right here at the hotel.” Karan was the more diplomatic of the three of them.
“What about that hike? That looks amazing,” Vishal noted.
“We might need to rent a car for that.”
Her phone buzzed, and she paused to look at it. Reena. There was no avoiding it; her sister would simply continue to call and text until she answered. Not that Nimita blamed her. She had dropped a bomb in her last text.
“Hey.” Nimita tried to sound casual as she moved farther away from the guys. They didn’t need to overhear any of this.
“Hey, yourself. Where are you, and what is this text that you no longer have a job?” Reena was on high alert, as always.
Nimita sighed. “There was—it was a whole thing. They let me off in Hawaii. As soon as I get a flight, I’m coming to San Diego.” She let that hang between them.
“You’re coming home?”
Well, San Diego was not her home, not really. She had never lived there, but when Reena and her husband, Hiral, bought a house there, they’d designated one of the rooms as hers. Nimita needed it now. And not just because she was out of a job. She had plans she needed to set in motion. She almost said something more, something about wanting to build some bridges, but Reena’s curt tone stopped her. “I’m coming to San Diego,” Namita repeated instead.
She heard her sister’s heavy sigh. “Your room is ready for you.” She paused. “You have to help with Dad.”
“Of course.” Nimita said it like she hadn’t simply run off three years ago.
“Like it’s that easy.” Reena’s irritated sarcasm came through the phone clearly. Nimita could picture the disappointment in her eyes. Her baby sister was not going to make this easy.
Nimita bit back her retort. Mostly because in her heart, she knew Reena was right. She hadn’t been around for more than a few days here and there to help with their father.
Reena continued, “When will you be here?”
Instead of relief, Nimita was filled with dread. “I’m not sure,” she said, and then kicked herself. She wanted to see her family, to start setting things right. But she was also anxious about it.
“Whatever. Text me your flight info when you figure it out.” A baby cried in the background.
Nimita cringed as she realized she hadn’t even seen her niece, who would turn one in just over a month. A proper masi would show up bearing gifts. It was just one more thing she was failing at. She’d grab some things before she left. Too bad a few baubles wouldn’t fix things between her and Reena. She’d failed Reena and her father too deeply.
“I have to go.” Reena disconnected without a goodbye.
Nimita stared at her phone. She needed a minute before she went to San Diego, before she got into it with her sister. She glanced at the guys. They had said she could have the room as long as she needed this week…
She watched them for a moment, in intense debate over where to go and what to do first.
In the last three years, Nimita had been to Hawaii many times. She knew it inside out. She could most definitely spend a few days taking them around. Though Roshan might already be finding something wrong with her plan, in addition to being irritated by her presence. She smirked to herself. That was just a bonus.
She wandered back to them, staying cool. “Surfing is not a bad way to start.”
Vishal looked up at her. “We’ve never surfed before.”
“In my experience, lessons really help.” She shrugged as if it made no difference to her what they did.
