His heart seized, and he couldn’t catch his breath. His mouth moved to form her name, but nothing came out. Yes, he thought. Yes, absolutely. Without question. From the moment he saw her at Phataka Grill. Through every conversation, every fight, every second since her birthday.
Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh god . . .”
Prem’s heart pounded, thudding like a stampede in his ears. He was losing her. He could tell that he was losing her. “I’m sorry, I can’t . . .”
“No, you won’t.” She wiped the tears off her cheeks, ignoring the burning and blurriness from her contacts. “I know you have the capacity to love. You loved Gori, so is it just me?”
He jerked back like she’d slapped him. “Gori and I were arranged to be married. We were compatible.”
“You changed your entire life for her!” Kareena shouted. “You changed your entire life for that woman, and you think you didn’t love her? That community center is in her memory!”
No. No, he didn’t. She didn’t understand. What he felt for Gori was special, but for Kareena? It was so much more. “Gori needed me, and I wasn’t there for her—”
“Bullshit,” Kareena said. “People don’t spend three years raising money for a community center and dedicating their entire future to a person’s memory because of guilt.”
“Kareena, you can’t decide how I feel about a person.” If he could just take her away, whisk her far from the crowd that was forming behind them in front of the banquet hall doors. Then they could talk in private.
“I’m asking you to tell me yourself,” she cried. Tears spilled down her cheeks now. She looked so beautiful, but unlike the Kareena that he . . . that he wanted. Without her glasses, and with a full face of makeup, she was ethereal, and that was unnerving on its own.
“Why can’t I just show you how I feel about you?” he burst out. His heart pounded hard and fast, and this time, he couldn’t fix it. “That means so much more, doesn’t it?” He gripped her shoulders, then ran his hands over her arms. “Every day. I promise you, I’ll be here for you. Isn’t that better than words? So many arranged marriages are built on—”
“Stop it!” Kareena pulled away from him. “You said it yourself, this has nothing to do with arranged marriages. Even if we were arranged, I’d expect the words. I need the words, because sometimes, the words are more powerful than anything you can give me or do for me. Come on, Dr. Dil. You’re smart enough to know that.”
“Kareena, I can’t give you what you want.”
The sound of her sob almost brought him to his knees.
“What the hell is going on?” A Barbie princess voice roared from behind the crowd. Kareena’s family and friends parted like the Ganges to reveal a fuming Bindu. She stood frothing at the mouth. “Why isn’t everyone inside for my big entrance?” she shrieked.
When she spotted Kareena, her eyes widened. “You!”
“Okay, time to go,” Bobbi called out. Like a football player making his way to the goalpost, she weaved through Loken’s family and rushed across the lot to Kareena. Prem was still so stunned, so scared that she’d go, he didn’t realize that her friends had already planned her getaway before he could intercept.
Kareena took the small black bag from Bobbi, spun on her heels, and ran toward a Subaru crossover vehicle at the corner of the lot.
“Wait!” Prem called out, ready to run after her, when a viselike grip on his arm pulled him to a stop.
“Not so fast there, Dr. Dick,” Bobbi said. “You know the magic words you need to say to see her again.”
What the hell did this woman think he was going to do? Sit around while one of the most important people in his life got away? “She’s upset.”
“And you’re not going to help her. Trust me when I say that you should let her have her room before you grovel.”
“She ruined everything!” Bindu shrieked, interrupting their conversation.
Kareena’s grandmother and father appeared to be trying to console Bindu, but nothing looked like it was working.
“Looks like Bridezilla is blaming her sister again. Excuse me, I have to fix this.”
“I’m in the mood to fight,” Prem muttered. He was sick and tired of this pipsqueak running rampant on Kareena’s family. If he had to take care of her first before going after Kareena, he’d do that. “Bobbi, move.”
“Oh boy.”
Prem stormed over to where Bindu was yelling at her fiancé for not intervening.
When Bindu turned to face Prem, her expression became murderous. “You. You’re to blame for this, too!”
“Nope, you’re the only one to blame, honey. You’re the one who recorded the video, who tried to monetize off your sister’s pain, and then guilt-tripped her into helping with your engagement party for the last four months.”
The entire crowd hushed.
“What, you think because you’re spoiled, you can treat people like garbage? Your sister is twice as beautiful as you’ll ever be, and she isn’t a bitch.”
There were gasps and oohs from the crowd. Someone muttered, “That’s the truth.”
Bindu propped her fists on her hips. Her all-sequined outfit from bralette to lehenga skirt glittered. “If she’s so great, why aren’t you with her? Oh, that’s right, because she tossed you out on your ass.”
“I’m going to ask her to forgive me,” Prem said. “And honestly you should, too. She’s always tried to take care of you, and it’s easy to use her for a punching bag because you know she’s always there, but one day she may not be.”
“Prem, beta, let it go,” Dadi said, stepping between them. Her Hindi was soft and apologetic. “Bindu has every right to be upset. You know how Kareena is. She just can’t keep her mouth closed. A trait from her mother.”
“A trait I’m thankful for,” Prem interjected. He threw up his hands. Were these people really that dense? “Do you still honestly believe that Kareena should always stay quiet to keep the peace, even though she’s telling the truth? One of the best things about Kareena is that she doesn’t let people get away with anything! Other than you three, apparently.”
He whirled to face Kareena’s father. “I don’t get why you treat your daughter like shit, either. Seriously? You decide to sell the house and talk to your youngest brat and your mom, but leave out the one sensible person in your family?”
Kareena’s father turned thunderous. His accent thickened as if he’d just come from India the day before instead of thirty-three years ago. “Get out! You bloody rascal, get out of this place!” He pointed a finger at the parking lot. “You can go to hell!”
Bindu started crying at that moment, and Loken looked like he had no idea what to do. The guy was a well-groomed idiot with absolutely no personality.
“Mommy?” he whispered.
Before Prem could go off on the spineless fool, Veera tugged on his sleeve.
“Time to go,” she said. “Seriously, Kareena’s father is Punjabi. He will punch you if you egg him on.”
Prem shrugged her off. “One last thing,” he said. He turned to Loken. “I hope you know what you’re getting into, because when Kareena and I get married—”
Before Prem could finish the sentence, Kareena’s father roared. He charged forward, and the older man swung a fist and connected with Prem’s face.
Chapter Thirty-One
Kareena
Prem: Kareena, I am so sorry I hurt you. You’re it for me. You KNOW that.
Kareena: That’s not enough. I need to know you love me.
Prem: I don’t want to lie to you.
Kareena: Sometimes I wish you did. Please don’t text me right now. I need some time.
Thank god for her friends, Kareena thought. She sipped her venti hot chocolate in the empty shed as she looked up at her mother’s house. It was awash in a soft glow from the outside lights.
Some of her tension was finally slipping away, but that could be because her best friends helped her take off all her jewelry and remove the hairpins while she sobbed in their arms. Then they waited for her while she showered and tossed the contacts, and took her to a late-night Starbucks.
Her eyes were still gritty from crying, but Kareena felt better now that she was wearing one of Prem’s old sweatshirts she’d taken the last time she was over his place, paired with leggings.