It had to be one or two in the morning. She didn’t know. She left her phone in the house.
“I’m so sorry, Mama,” Kareena whispered. She tried so hard to hold on to the house, and she was so desperate to find love, that she forgot to protect her heart. And she’d fallen harder than she thought. If she took a deep breath, the fissures in her chest burned.
Kareena closed her eyes to the gentle summer breeze that blew through the open doors. The sound of crickets made a beautiful melody. She lay back on the seat creeper and must’ve dozed off, because the next minute, she heard the sound of a chair scraping against the concrete slab floor.
Kareena bolted up, barely juggling her half-empty hot chocolate cup at the same time. A dim light cast a shadow over her father’s face as he lowered himself onto the chair. He still wore the suit pants and the button-down shirt from the party, except his tie was gone and his collar was unbuttoned.
“Kareena,” he said running his fingers through his thinning salt-and-pepper hair. “It’s late. Why aren’t you sleeping inside?”
“I feel better out here,” she said.
He looked around at the empty garage, taking in her tools and the discarded parts barely visible in the dim lighting. “Where is the car?”
“Body work,” she mumbled. “Last weekend.”
He looked startled. “Last weekend? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Kareena took a sip from her cooling hot chocolate. “Maybe because I haven’t spoken to you since before last weekend. You’re always at work avoiding wedding planning, and you and I aren’t exactly seeing eye to eye right now. But don’t worry, once I have my car back, I’ll drive right on out of here.”
He watched her, flexing one hand as if he’d hurt it. “Where will you go when you can finally drive that old clunker?” he asked, completely disregarding her comment.
“I’m not sure. Probably to get some food.”
The corner of his mouth curved. “Sometimes, in the summer, we’d take a drive to Taco Bell. You and your mother loved the Mexican pizzas. Bindu and I preferred the quesadillas.”
Kareena didn’t think she had any tears left in her, but her eyes began to water again. “Are you rubbing salt in the wound? That I’m like her and she’s not here?”
“No,” he said. He let out a short laugh. “The last time we went for Taco Bell, it was after we had a big fight. Your mother and I. She was so mad at me that she wanted to go back to India for a while. Just to get a break.”
Kareena’s jaw dropped. Her parents never fought. At least she didn’t think they did. “I don’t understand why you’re telling me this.”
Her father rubbed the back of his neck, then slouched back in his seat. “I think because you’re old enough now to know that your mother and I didn’t argue in front of you girls. We loved each other, but even we had our differences.”
Kareena put the pieces together of his cryptic message. She took a sip of her Starbucks and leaned back in her chair. “Things with Prem are complicated, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Life is complicated,” he said. He rubbed his knuckles. “He said you were getting married.”
“I-I can’t go through with it.”
“Is it because he didn’t come and meet me formally? Or because I haven’t been introduced to his parents properly?”
She rolled her eyes. “And you wonder why I’m such a smart-ass,” she said. “No, it’s because Prem doesn’t love me. Doesn’t think that love is anything more than an illusion.”
“But you love him?”
Kareena nodded, swallowing hard. “Enough to almost go through with the engagement.”
Her father made a humming noise, as if to say han, samajh gaya. Yes, I understand. “This didn’t have anything to do with your mother’s house, did it?”
“Dadi asked that question, too.” Kareena debated telling him the truth and figured there was no harm in it now. He was going to list it regardless. “At first, Prem and I talked about a fake engagement. He needed to repair his reputation to get his community center, and I needed you to give me the down payment money for the house.”
Instead of an angry retort, her father chuckled. “That son of a bitch. Smart idea.”
“Daddy,” Kareena chided.
“What? It is. Better than what that Loken can come up with. At least your sister scares him. I never have to worry about her.”