Incense and Sensibility (The Rajes #3) - Sonali Dev Page 0,116

raised.

A sense of disbelief had been nudging at her ever since Yash had told her that he wanted her in his life, that he wanted to be a part of hers. For all the skepticism mixed in with her hope, she didn’t doubt that he meant it, no matter the cost. What scared her was the cost.

Abdul just woke up, she told herself. Yash has a lot going on. He’ll call as soon as he can.

Her phone sat silent despite her hundredth demand that it give her something, anything. The front door sounded and Chutney’s tail started to thud against her lap. Lifting her puppy up, she tore down the stairs and stopped short.

“China?”

Her sister stood by the door, her glittery pink suitcase standing forlornly by her side. Her always impeccable hair was a mess. Her puffy eyes were shadowed with smudged liner and mascara. She looked completely and utterly devastated.

“Oh, sweetheart.” India put Chutney down and went to her, even as Chutney raced past her to get to China first.

Ignoring India completely, China dropped to her knees and let Chutney smother her with kisses. India dropped down next to them. As she let herself drown in Chutney’s frantic love, not a word came out of China. India knew she would say nothing. China tended to lose her words when she was hurting.

Chutney, for her part, was out of control, her whining loud and indignant. How dare you leave me for so long? their puppy communicated using every skill at her disposal.

A smile stretched China’s lips even as tears started streaming down her face. She fell back on the wooden floor and let Chutney have at her.

“China? Honey?” Tara came down the stairs, face lined with worry. Chutney’s wailing, dialed all the way up, had to have sounded concerning upstairs.

China sprang up to sitting at their mother’s voice. Tara rushed to her and they wrapped their arms around each other and China broke into sobs in earnest.

India brought her a glass of water. For a very long time, the three of them sat together in a tangle of wrapped arms, Chutney sitting atop their mess, distributing kisses as she deemed fit.

“She didn’t want me there,” China said finally.

Tara looked at India, eyes helpless with anger. India was going to wring Song’s neck.

“Then she should have told you not to come,” Tara said.

This made China cry harder. Dear Lord, Song had told her not to come.

“She tried to tell me. I didn’t listen. I didn’t understand how she could stand to be apart from me when I couldn’t stand it even for a moment. I can’t breathe without her, Mom, I can’t.”

Tara stroked her back.

India rubbed her arm.

“She introduced me to her team as a fan. As a fan!” China’s pitch grew shrill. “As a fan who had chased after her all the way from America. One of them sat me down and gave me a talking-to about stalking laws. Song was right there and she said nothing.” She slid her head into Tara’s lap. “But the pain in her eyes . . . it was terrible. I thought I could be strong enough for both of us. But then she said . . . she said she couldn’t risk everything for me. She’d worked too hard. It would disappoint too many people. Her fans . . . her fans were more important to her than me. America was just a break. I was just a break. When I begged, she just left me there and told her staff to take me to the airport.”

“It’s her loss, honey,” Tara said, sounding much calmer than India felt. “Her loss.”

“Then why does it feel like I’ve lost everything, like I’m going to die from the pain? Why does it feel like she needs me to help her, but I just don’t know how?”

“It has to be her choice,” Tara said. “It’s not help if she doesn’t want it.”

Before China could respond, the doorknob jiggled and the door flew open.

Brandy’s tall muscular form filled up the turquoise doorframe. She took in the scene for a stunned second, then spun around as though she’d walked in on them changing their clothes. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude.”

China got off Tara’s lap and sat up, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. She tried to look stoic, which only made her look even more miserable.

India stood and pulled Tara and China to their feet. “It’s okay, Brandy. China just came home, you can turn around