“Why haven’t you seen Charlie for a while?” Annika was puzzled, but the atmosphere in the room had again gone from jovial to something hard yet delicate. No eyes met hers, and certainly no one looked at Daniel. No one except his father, who scowled and shook his head. What didn’t she know?

A car door slammed, and it seemed to break the trance. “That’s Michael with the replacement cake.” Emma nodded at the smashed cake next to the sink. She smiled widely, as if to remind everyone that they were at a birthday party.

The family jumped on her suggestion with more than a little bit of gusto. Everyone, it seemed, needed to be involved with getting the cake ready for cutting. Even Ba rolled farther into the kitchen and started looking for candles. Everyone except for Daniel. He kept his distance. Still with his family, but just at the edge.

Annika sidled over. She’d find out about the nephew later. She had a more pressing question. “So, one-quarter Indian, huh?” She raised an eyebrow. “And Gujarati at that? Daniel Bliant, you’ve been holding out.” She nudged him with her shoulder.

Thankfully, his tension seemed to slip away, and he pursed his lips at her, amusement replacing the pain in his eyes. “No one ever believed I was part Indian. Especially other Indians. But Ba lived next door my whole life, and I was raised by her as much as my own parents.” He shrugged. “I would tell people, but they wouldn’t believe me. It used to piss me off, until my grandparents told me that maybe I should show people who I was instead of telling them. So I did.” He caught her eye. “I still do.”

“So you decided to show me who you are?”

“Well, I don’t hide who I am. It’s just...people know you’re Indian when they look at you. For me, they have to investigate further.” He met her eyes. “The opportunity presented itself, so...”

She held his gaze, while something definitely more than friendship passed between them. Daniel Bliant was trouble.

“There’s more, Annika. I want... I need to be honest with you.” His words and the look on his face set something churning in her belly. “What my family keeps dancing around...” Before she could think too much about it, the moment was broken by the sound of Daniel’s phone chirping.

Daniel sighed and reluctantly reached into his pocket for the phone. Whatever he saw there caused him to furrow his brow.

“Everything okay?” What more? What did he need to be honest about?

He shook his head. “Probably not. It’s my ex-wife. She wants to see me. Says it’s important.”