Anu followed her into the kitchen. Until she saw that kitchen, she had not believed that working kitchens could be so neat and organized. She thought only the model kitchens looked good.

‘Are you leaving today evening?’ asked her mother-in-law. Suma was her name. Very befitting because it meant a flower and she always had a flowery fragrance about her. Well, she was also soft natured.

‘Yes, aunty. After lunch. Sanju said he can’t come today. Some emergency call.’ Anu wanted to roll her eyes even as she spoke because she did not believe in techies having emergencies. Not like they were life-saving surgeons.

‘He told me so. I hope his crisis resolves soon. He must be so stressed.’ Anu wondered how she could be so empathetic. Her mother would have yelled and asked her to haul herself to visit them. Anu smiled at the thought. Sanju was so shocked the first time they had stayed over at her mother’s house. The noise, the non-stop food and coffee, the blaring TV, a parade of visitors—he was not exposed to any such hazards in his house.

‘Shall we sit on the terrace? The garden is thriving now.’ Her mother-in-law offered.

Anu nodded and followed her with the tea tray. How does she remain so slim, Anu wondered watching her mother-in-law’s slender frame.

It was a slice of heaven up in the terrace. Blooming flowers, vegetables and herbs, hanging pots—that place was verdant green! Anu breathed deeply. No wonder her tardiness got to Sanju.

‘You look a little pale, Anu. Is the house too big to manage?’

‘I guess so, aunty. Also, too many changes too quickly,’ Anu took a sip of her tea.

They generally chatted for a while and then stayed silent for some. Anu had never really gotten close to her mother-in-law. They were friendly and civil like good neighbours. But that evening Anu decided to ask her a few hard questions.

‘Aunty, why does Padz …’—she corrected herself quickly—‘Padma aunty dislike me so much?’

Anu’s mother-in-law almost spilt a few drops of tea on her immaculate white and pink cotton saree. ‘She does not dislike you. It is just that she likes Sanju a lot.’ Anu smiled, nodded and waited for more explanation.

‘Padma is overprotective of Sanju and his father. So she does not trust anyone, including you and me, to do right by them! But she is not a bad person.’

Anu nodded more while her mother-in-law continued softly. ‘For a long time, she was not happy with the way I took care of your father-in-law. She even cooked a special breakfast for him! But that is her love for her brother.’ The mother-in-law trailed off a little but regained her composure quickly. ‘But now we are friendly…’

Anu narrowed her eyes. ‘How recent is now? Because you and uncle have been married for over thirty-five years.’