Chapters (40)
- Cover
- Also by Saumya Dave
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Acknowledgments
- Readers Guide
- Discussion Questions
- About the Author
- What’s next onyour reading list?
Dr. Eze clears her throat. “You’re all breaking the patterns of the generations before you by being here.”
“You’ve showed us a lot, too, Dad,” Natasha says.
“We just wanted you all to be happy.” Dad’s eyes are red.
Within seconds, Mom and Dad envelop Natasha in a tight hug. Hot tears stream down her face. Nothing compares to the safety and warmth that comes from her parents’ embrace.
“I know.” Natasha says it over and over again. “I know.”
Thirty
Suhani
Roshan started changing months into our relationship. But it was so subtle at first that I thought I was overreacting whenever he did things.”
Suhani rips off a piece of garlic bread from the warm loaf and dips it into marinara sauce. The impending conversation and her long day has her craving comfort food.
“What kind of things?” Zack folds his hands together and stares at her with intense focus.
Suhani’s pulse throbs in her head. Where does she start in telling Zack about what happened? For a second, she wonders if her hesitation means she isn’t ready. But then she pictures Zack during family therapy, the crestfallen look on his face when he talked about his dad. Keeping things to themselves is what got them to this point.
They’re sitting across from each other at their tiny round dining table, the only one they could find that fit in the space between their kitchen and living room. Suhani’s initial idea was for them to go to Nuevo Laredo tonight and talk everything out over jalapeño margaritas and enchiladas. But she’s relieved they opted for the quiet of the apartment. Their apartment. She heated up spaghetti and thawed garlic bread from Trader Joe’s, a meal that would make both of their mothers shake their heads with vehement disapproval. Three candles flicker in the middle of the table.
“It’s okay, honey. You can tell me anything.” Zack squeezes her hand. “Everything.”
Her breathing slows down. Suhani is reminded of how, from their very first conversation, Zack instilled a sense of safety in her. She could be herself with this man—her true, flawed self. Somewhere along the way, she lost sight of that. Instead of telling him everything years ago, she tucked her past inside herself and hoped it would shrink with time. But pain was a seed and burying it only helped it grow.