“That’s the nicest compliment anyone has given me,” he says. “I have a partner. He knows how lucky he is to have me.”

There, it’s said. Now an uncomfortable silence settles as you both readjust to this new intimacy.

You cough. Fiaz clears his throat and wonders aloud: Why isn’t Seema back yet? And where is your other daughter?

You say Tahera is still on the rooftop. And Seema and Leigh should be back soon.

You peer out the window, as if expecting to see them from up here. And having taken one plunge, you’re primed for the next: “Are Seema and Leigh partners?” you ask.

The alarmed look on Fiaz’s face is sufficient confirmation. You feel guilty for putting him on the spot, but how much longer could you have held back, after your suspicions were aroused by the way Seema and Leigh sat primly sipping their chai, like the many times you’ve witnessed Seema and Tahera put on a show of innocence after having concocted some mischief? The air around them had crackled with some shared secret.

“Seema didn’t tell you,” Fiaz replies, half question, half statement.

You’re grateful again to Fiaz for not evading you. “I guessed.”

He comes and stands beside you. “What are you thinking, feeling?”

“I’m glad,” you say. But it’s only a half-truth. You’re sad, too. It explains what happened between Seema and Bill, but you don’t understand it any more than you did years ago. “If it makes her happy. And it’ll be better for the baby.”

How challenging your promise from last night is turning out to be: to try to understand Seema. “Please don’t say anything. I’ll talk to her later, when we’re alone.”

You wipe your eyes and turn away from Fiaz: “Are you hungry? Maybe I should start heating the food.”

Luckily, Seema and Leigh trip in, with apologies for being late: the sunset was so breathtaking they couldn’t drag themselves away. Both of them glow, as though they’ve bottled up the last rays of the sun and brought it in with them.

“You said you were going for a short walk,” you chide Seema.

You chide Leigh, too, for breaking her promise to bring Seema back early. She listens meekly, and you feel like a fretful mother-in-law.

After helping Seema to the futon, Leigh takes the chair opposite. They continue their pretense of being only friends, carefully monitoring their behavior for any slips.

You want to tell them: I know, so you don’t have to hide any longer.

You want to say: Leigh, you should sit next to Seema.

You want to see them together, so you can reassure yourself of the value of what they have together—love, if that’s what it is. But Grandmother, you don’t, because—

“Where’s Tahera?” Seema asks, looking around.

30

It’s a while before Tahera returns to the apartment.

Nafeesa says, “What were you doing on the rooftop for so long? I even sent Fiaz to call you. You look chilled, dressed so lightly.”