Ex-wife? Daniel had been married? What else didn’t she know? Was that what the bourbon was about? She looked around and watched as Emma cut a piece of cake. She might as well have been cutting another piece of the puzzle that was Daniel’s life. Was this the more? She forced her face into a neutral expression. She did not, after all, have any real claim over him. “You were married?” She couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice.

“Yes.” He nodded and looked back at her, apprehension in his eyes. “I wasn’t trying to keep that from you, I swear—and we’ve been divorced for three years.”

“Does she ask to see you often?”

He frowned. “Last time she got in touch, she wanted to tell me she was getting married. So, no.” He glanced at his watch. “We have time for cake. No big hurry.”

Annika’s heart sank. She was getting more questions than answers here. And she wanted answers. All of them.

SHE AND DANIEL talked nonstop on the way back to her apartment. She learned about his experiences growing up, and how they were similar yet different from her own experiences. He was proud of his Indian roots and felt a great deal of frustration having to prove his heritage to Indians and non-Indians alike. He could have just let everyone believe he was white. It would have been easier.

“But I couldn’t have done that. It was like hiding a part of myself—as if I was ashamed of that part of me. I wasn’t. I’m not.” He sighed. “I just got tired of the arguments. And I found that seeing was believing. So now I show.” He grinned, clearly proud of himself.

“Yeah, you do,” Annika chuckled. “Meanwhile, I was always just trying to fit in. I wasn’t trying to ignore being Indian, but keeping my Indian side separate so I could be like the other kids.”

“Did you? Fit in?”

Annika shrugged. It was the classic immigrant story of straddling two cultures. Speaking Gujarati at home, learning how to make Indian food, going to temple, studying. But at school she spoke English, played soccer, and ate peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

“I tried. But I was different, and I loved being Indian. I loved garba and being able to speak two languages. It took me a while, but I found a balance.” But now that she had some distance, she saw how she’d hidden the Indian side of her from Steven. More reason she was better off without him. “Although sometimes, I have the issue of people looking at me and seeing only the Indian part of me.” She rolled her eyes. “Shocked that I’m not a doctor or a lawyer. Kind of the opposite of you.”

Daniel glanced at her and smiled that smile that she swore was just for her. “You have to get to know us.”