Her father had his jaw clenched, and a vein was popping at his temple, whereas her mother’s mouth went from gaping to tight-lipped. Neither one of them could tear their gaze away from Daniel.

Daniel, to his credit, did not try to brush off the fact that he had just been making out with their daughter. Instead, he stepped away from her as he brought his hands together and bowed his head slightly in the namaste greeting.

Her parents returned the greeting like robots, out of habit. It was clear they had no idea that they were even doing that. Annika swore she could see steam coming out her dad’s ears.

“This is why you won’t consider Sajan? This?” Her father spoke not only as if Daniel weren’t there but as if he were nothing better than something stuck to his shoe. “He’s a nurse, Annika. And he’s divorced!” He said these things as if they were contagious incurable diseases.

Annika hazarded a glance at Daniel and found that he was looking at her. But if he was at all insulted by her father, he didn’t show it. Concern for her settled onto his face, and it was in that moment, in the middle of all that chaos, with her father yelling at them, insulting him, her mother’s disapproval mounting, that she knew she loved him. She had been falling for him all this time. For this man who, in the midst of this storm around them, was calm and supporting and oblivious of everything but her. There was no other man for her. Emboldened, she turned to her parents and said the first thing she thought of.

“Papa, his grandmother is Indian. And he’s a nurse practitioner.”

Anil seemed to swell up with anger. “Is that what you think? That I care if he is Indian? There are plenty of Indian idiots out there.” His hands were flailing about as he tried to emphasize his point. “No! What I care about is that he did not have the ambition to become a doctor and instead chose to be a nurse. As a result, he has to moonlight on the helicopter to make ends meet. What kind of life is that? And being divorced shows lack of commitment.”

Annika felt Daniel tense, and she risked another glance at him. His lips were pressed tight, jaw clenched, but he met her gaze with warning. He gave the slightest shake of his head. I’m not worth it.

He was wrong. Annika stepped in front of Daniel and faced her father. “You don’t even know him.”

“I know enough. Sajan is in a position to support you while you go to medical school.” He said it like it was a done deal.

“I’m not going to medical school!”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m good at teaching. No, I’m great at teaching—and I love those children.”