She is very stubborn.”
“Yes, she always has been.” Kushi’s loud, theatrical sigh made Samira want to giggle.
Manny had a killer sense of humor, and he was playing up to her mom at her expense. She’d make him pay for it another time.
“On that note, I have rounds to do.” Manish gave a mock bow. “Ladies, if you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to contact me.”
He glanced at Samira, and this time, his gaze held concern rather than teasing. “Seriously, if you need anything, call me.”
“Thanks, Manny.” Samira waved while her mom rushed after him. She couldn’t hear what they said at the door, but she guessed it had something to do with inviting Manny to a family dinner for three, where Kushi would proceed to find something to do, leaving the two of them alone.
When the door closed, Samira held up her hand before Kushi could say a word. “He was joking when he asked me to marry him. He has a good sense of humor, and we’re friends, that’s it, as I’ve told you countless times before.”
“But, betee, he is so wonderful. What man would offer to raise another man’s child?”
“Exactly.” Samira snapped her fingers. “Don’t you think it’s strange we hardly know each other yet he’d offer to do that? He must have an ulterior motive.”
Kushi rolled her eyes, where the kohl had smudged from their shared tears of relief last night. “Why can’t you take him at face value?”
“Because I’m older and wiser, Mom, and not the naive, stars-in-her-eyes girl I was years ago.”
Kushi made a disapproving clucking noise in the back of her throat. “I think you are still being naive if you think it’s easy to raise a child on your own. This man is being noble and chivalrous. Why can’t you take a chance on him? Love may grow—”
“We’ve discussed this, and I’m not going down the traditional route again.”
Though a small part of her knew her mom was right. Love had grown with Avi once she’d opened herself up to the possibility.
And look how that had turned out.
But Manish wasn’t like Avi, and while he may have offered to marry her in jest, and she wondered at his motivation for doing so, she allowed herself to daydream for a moment what it would be like to be married to him.
Culturally, she’d be accepted back into the fold of the extended Indian community. She wouldn’t be judged or gossiped about, which was exactly what would happen when they discovered she was pregnant. Her child would grow up with a stable, respectable father figure. She would have help and support and many laughs.
But her baby already had a father, and she didn’t love Manish. Which meant she had to introduce Rory into her mom’s network to soften the blow of her pregnancy news and let the aunties do their worst.
“Mom, I’d like you to meet Rory.”
Kushi rolled her eyes again. “This Ro-ry. Where was he last night when you needed him, huh?” She threw her arms wide. “Not here. What kind of father will he make? What kind of partner to you if he can’t be here when you need him the most?”
Samira glimpsed fear in her mom’s eyes, and she knew her concern came from the right place. But she wouldn’t let her malign Rory, not when he didn’t deserve it.
“He’s away for work, Mom, in far north Queensland, so please don’t cast aspersions on him when you don’t know him.”
Affronted, Kushi tilted her nose in the air. “Fine, you tell me when he’s back and I will arrange a party.”
That’s what Samira had been afraid of, but there was no easy way to do this: Rory would be thrown into the deep end of endless speculation because of his age and nationality, and once the aunties learned of her pregnancy, he’d be scrutinized even more.
Besides, she wanted to see how he handled himself with her extended family network, because with her moving back to Melbourne, she’d be reabsorbed into her culture whether she liked it or not.
“Thanks, Mom, but keep it low-key, okay?”
“Of course,” Kushi said, nodding, but Samira didn’t trust the calculated gleam in her mom’s eyes, not one bit.
Forty
Rory wasn’t a fan of flying, but he’d never been so glad to see the small Cessna at the end of the makeshift runway not far from the set.
The plane had made countless trips, flying in crew and supplies over the last eight weeks, getting everything prepared for filming. But today, it