“I’m sorry—I can’t stay,” Kamila said, taking one of the Indian cookies and eating it in two bites. She needed to leave soon before more talk of Jana put her on edge. She grabbed Darcy’s new backpack and her denim jacket, then switched her own cardigan for a matching denim jacket and added lipstick in the exact color of her dress. Her hair was a bit disappointing for Instagram selfies with Darcy, but whatever. She chose the purple leash to finish the look. “I’m meeting Rohan at the dog park to go over some of the details for the Aim High party.”

“I don’t know how he finds the time,” Rashida Aunty said as she put the kettle on. “He works such long hours. At dinner last night he said he—”

Kamila stepped into the kitchen. “You had dinner with Rohan last night?”

Rashida Aunty spooned some chai masala into a pot of water for tea. “He was taking Jana out for coffee, and I insisted he have dinner with us first. I don’t think he eats when he’s alone. It’s so great you three are still so close. If only Shelina and Zayan lived in Toronto, too! Who would have thought when we used to go on vacations all together that you would still be friends twenty years later?”

Dad called out from the living room that a baker was laminating dough, whatever that meant, so Rashida rushed back to finish watching British people make fancy French pastries with him.

Kamila stood near the door, watching them a moment, irritated that she was so rattled about Rohan seeing Jana alone the night before. There was nothing going on between them. Kamila knew that. She had no right to object to their friendship. She took a deep breath and headed to the door. “Okay, I’m leaving. Call me if you need anything.”

“Have fun, beti,” Dad said.

Kamila didn’t see Rohan when she got to the park. He was probably still at his climbing gym, which was fine. She was in no hurry to have this conversation. Might as well get some pictures of Darcy before he got there.

But she was a bit too anxious to get any decent shots. Or maybe Darcy wasn’t being accommodating. Every picture ended up being Darcy’s backside—which might have been workable since the point here was pictures of her backpack, but it would have been nice to get Darcy’s sweet face, too. Ah well. She shouldn’t try to force it. She could come back another day.

She left Darcy to wander alone in the off-leash and sat on one of the benches—now was a good time to plan what she would say to Rohan. She needed a script so she wouldn’t freeze up again.