“Since we’re supposed to go to dinner in the city, we thought we’d surprise you and stop by early for a drink.” Ashna held up a bottle of wine.

“Oh.” Nisha slapped her forehead. “I forgot my cell phone in the car. I’ll run out and get it while Ashna opens the wine. Vansh, want to join me?”

Not even a little bit, he wanted to say. But he’d had enough of Nisha and it was time for them to have this conversation.

He followed her down to the lobby. “What is wrong with you, Nisha? You know perfectly well your phone is in that big-ass handbag hanging on your shoulder.”

“What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you, Vansh? You never talked to me like this before.”

“I always talk to you like this.” But she was right, he’d always pacified everyone around him. Stayed upbeat and kept the focus off himself, or at least off things that mattered. The way Naina had tiptoed around their mothers made a slow accusatory spin in his head. “I’m your brother. I shouldn’t have everything I say weighed on some scale of preconceived judgments that you’ve suddenly decided to bring to all our conversations.”

“Not all of them.”

“Great. So this is about Naina. You’re admitting to judging her unnecessarily.”

“No! I’m admitting to judging her very necessarily. You’ve been spending every minute with her. It’s weird.”

Were his sisters always like this with Naina? He remembered their always being fond and respectful of her.

“I thought you loved Naina. You’ve been friends all your life.”

“First, we did love her, then she lied to us. Second, she was only ever really friends with Yash. It makes sense now why she kept her distance from the rest of us. And third, she tied our brother up in an arrangement that almost caused him to lose his mind, not to mention the election.”

“You want to think about what you’re saying? It’s the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard. Yash also did all of that and you aren’t treating him like he’s a contagious leper. Nice going, Nisha!”

“Oh my God.” She made a very Nisha face. One that said she had her big-sister-knows-best blinders on.

“I don’t want to hear the rest of that thought.” Pointing a finger at her face, he headed back to the stairs.

“You cannot possibly be serious.” Of course she followed him.

He didn’t turn around. “Not having this conversation with you. Whatever this conversation even is. Whatever you’re thinking. Stop. And stop being rude to Naina.”

“She dated Yash for ten years!”