She turned to him. He still looked pale, but with the pacemaker working properly now, he should be feeling better soon.
“Oh, I don’t know about that.”
“I do. You always loved taking things apart to see how they worked. Then you figured out how to get it back together.”
He was right, of course. She had really loved her job as a biomedical engineer. Every day was a new challenge, and she had thrived on it. “Well, I applied for jobs in the area, Papa.”
Her father beamed. “Fantastic. Tell me where you applied and who got back to you.”
She sat down next to him and told him everything. “Once I get a job, I’m going to buy my own place,” she told him. “And I was thinking, Reena got to have you all this time, maybe it’s my turn now. Would you maybe want to come live with me?”
“Have you discussed this with Reena?”
“No. I wanted to see if that was something you wanted first. If it is, I’ll talk to her,” Nimita said.
“I would like that very much, Beti,” he said.
Her phone rang. Reena. She tapped it on and put it on speaker. “All is well,” she said.
“I’m okay, thanks to your sister,” her father said. “You should have seen her, telling the technician how to fix my pacemaker.”
“Okay,” Reena sighed. “I have some calls this morning—”
“Take your time, Reena,” Nimita said. “I’m here.”
There was a pause and then Reena spoke. “Yes. Yes, you are.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Roshan had been studying the same notes for the past half hour. He couldn’t make sense of them. Likely because he was thinking about Malini’s request. His gaze drifted to the moonrise shell he and Nimita had found on the beach. The colors were a beautiful mix.
They gave him an idea. He picked up his phone and texted Nimita before he changed his mind.
Want to go to a painting class with me?
He waited. Then, finally, he saw just:?
Malini wants me to have something to do that doesn’t involve her. I got the idea from the colors in the moonrise shell.
The three dots hovered. He watched intently. Willing her to forgive him and come.
Can’t make it.
He stared at his phone, willing the dots to reappear.
They did not.
He was on his own.
* * *
Roshan found a painting class for the next night. He hadn’t had the first idea how to find a passion like Malini wanted him to, so he’d looked up hobby suggestions online. Easy enough, he’d just try them until one clicked.
The process was not difficult. Mix the colors, follow the instructor as she painted strokes. He followed her directions to a T. The project was a sunrise over the ocean. Of course it was, because why not make his heart ache the whole time? He had the colors, he had the sun and the ocean. But something was off. He could not pin it down.
Roshan stepped out into the cool evening. A night chill had set in, but the sky was clear. He glanced up and immediately identified the Orion constellation. No matter where he was in the world, he could always find the constellations in the night sky. He opened the trunk of his car and placed his painting in there.
That had not gone quite as planned. He knew he did not need to excel to enjoy an activity, but the thing was, he hadn’t really enjoyed this at all. Maybe because he couldn’t look at even a painted sunset without longing for Nimita.
