Cover

Also by Saumya Dave

Well-Behaved Indian Women

Dedication

To my family: Samir, Sahil, Akshay, Maansi, Dad, and Mom

To all families

One

Natasha

Any second now, Natasha’s going to freak out in the exact way her therapist told her not to. She looks around the brunch table. Everyone’s still in a good mood, a mood she’ll definitely ruin after she makes her big announcement.

Maybe she should wait.

No, she’s already put it off too long. And she should be able to handle everyone’s reactions. Isn’t that what being an adult is about—handling things?

Her boyfriend, Karan, is next to her, laughing at something his mom, Anita Auntie, just said. Anita Auntie tells another joke with a mixture of English and Gujarati words.

“And then,” Anita Auntie says as she transitions from jokes to more general gossip, “instead of letting her parents look at her horoscope, she swiped left or right or in some God-knows-what direction on her phone. That’s how they really met! The we-saw-each-other-on-the-beach-in-Jamaica-tale is just a cover story. Her mom told me at Patel Brothers.”

Anita Auntie always uses a combination of charm and curiosity to learn everyone’s business. In another life, she could have been a CIA agent. All Natasha’s favorite aunties share an endearing and sometimes scary blend of ruthlessness and tenderness.

“She’s smart, I tell you,” Anita Auntie continues as Karan shakes his head in disbelief. “And so lucky to find someone when she’s thirty-eight years old! Ever since I heard about how Meghan Markle started dating Prince Harry, I’ve told my kids that most people aren’t that lucky, okay? Meghan may have gotten a fairy tale in her thirties, but everyone else, when they find someone good enough early on, they need to just seal the deal, like they say here. Otherwise, all the good ones get taken up and then you’re left with nothing!”

“I should sew that onto a throw pillow.” Natasha scoffs. “Attention, single people everywhere! Go after good enough . . . or else!”

“I’d get one for my dorm room.” Her brother, Anuj, runs a hand through his thick, wavy hair, which he hasn’t cut since he started his first year at Cornell. The combination of his hair and his boyish face reminds Natasha of Dev Patel.

“Cheers to that.” Natasha raises her champagne glass in his direction. She can always count on him to back her up.

“Oh, Natasha!” Mom shakes her head. “Anita made a good point. You girls today don’t have the same pressure we did, and sometimes it’s important to make sure that, you know, you don’t miss out on opportunities.”

“Actually, we girls have a lot of pressure, from every possible direction, and don’t need more,” Natasha says.