The Sari Shop Widow (32 page)

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her she was hungry after all. She wondered if their food had arrived yet. A quick glance around the sitting room through the crack in the door showed no sign of it.

She turned around and went back to the bathroom to dry her hair and fix her face. After putting on her slightly rumpled pantsuit and sandals, she returned to the door and opened it fully this time. He was still on the phone. But he noticed her presence and motioned to her to sit on the couch. He joined her there and hooked an arm around her while he talked.

She knew it was his way of including her in his life. His conversation continued for several more minutes. She waited patiently—understood the pressures of work.

He handled work with the same calm efficiency he reserved for everything else. She had yet to see him go completely berserk over any situation. Even when his most valued employee had taken ill unexpectedly and Rishi had to rush to take care of the emergency, he’d gone about it in the most rational manner.

When the conversation finally ended, he put the phone on the coffee table and turned to her. “Sorry, love, but that was important.” He explained to her about the new consulting project in California. “I’ll have to fly out to the West Coast very soon. I’ll be gone for two or three days.”

“I completely understand.”

“That’s another reason why I think you’re so good for me. You understand the demands of business.” He nuzzled her neck. “Smells nice. It’s not your usual scent, but it’ll do for now.”

“I had to manage with the hotel’s supplies.”

“But you look just as beautiful.” He wiggled his brows at her. “Want to go back to bed?”

“You have a one-track mind, Rishi Shah.”

“That’s why you love me.” He grinned at her, the dimple appearing in his cheek. He was irresistible when he looked like that.

“You’re such a good bullshitter. No wonder you manage to charm the tusks off those Indian elephants.”

He laughed. “And those elephants aren’t exactly congenial, I’ll have you know.” In an instant his expression turned nostalgic. “That reminds me of something. I should take you on a safari to Gir Forest in Gujarat.”

“Safari?”

“Seeing the wild cats in their natural habitat is an extraordinary experience. There’s nothing like it in the world.”

“I can see you still love Gujarat very much.”

“It’s my childhood home. I go back to the farm and spend time with Jeevan-kaka and Chandrika-kaki whenever I get a chance. I know you’ll come to love it, too.” He studied her face. “Did you think about what I said earlier?”

“Hmm.”

“I had a feeling you wanted a little time to yourself. It’s the only reason I didn’t join you in the shower.”

“I’m still deliberating.”

In response he curled a hand around the nape of her neck and kissed her, thoroughly and competently. “That ought to help in making a decision,” he murmured against her mouth. “By the way, they say a Gir safari can be an incredible honeymoon adventure.”

She chuckled. “Lions and leopards wandering into the honeymoon suite.”

His cell phone started to ring, interrupting them. Rishi apologized to her again and picked it up.

His voice came out in a surprised murmur. “Samantha!”

Chapter 27

A
njali stiffened and pulled away from Rishi the instant she realized it was his girlfriend on the phone. It had the effect of ice cubes sliding down her back.

His expression told her Samantha’s call was important. He’d told Anjali he had made a clean break, and yet his girlfriend was calling him at this hour of the night?

Rishi rose to his feet and paced in his usual fashion as he listened and spoke into the phone by turns. “So you got over your temper tantrum…I’m glad…No, Samantha, I mean that…I understand that part as well…” He paused. “Where are you now?” He waited to let Samantha speak. “Don’t be silly. Of course I care,” he said at one point.

Ah, so Samantha had thrown an angry fit, had she? Anjali mused. Interesting. Rishi had made it sound casual, like he and Samantha had separated on amicable terms. And he’d just admitted he cared.

“How critical, Samantha?” he asked. He listened for a long minute to Samantha’s explanation of whatever it was.

Wishing she could hear both ends of the conversation, Anjali sat in her corner, watching Rishi’s expression—knitted brows, eyes on the floor, as he walked up and down again and again. That was the look he usually had when he was on a business call. And yet something in his concerned, soothing tone told Anjali this was personal. Very personal.

The call lasted over ten minutes. It obviously had something to do with money. And Anjali began to wonder about it. If Rishi had truly broken off with his girlfriend like he claimed, why was he discussing her private finances? Why was he so solicitous in his attitude?

The jolt of jealousy that ripped through her was startling. She’d never considered herself the catty type. She’d had plenty of doubts for sure. What normal woman in love wouldn’t? But corrosive jealousy? Was she capable of it?

“I’ll ask my accountant and solicitor to look into it,” he told Samantha. “You’ll probably hear from them in a day or two.”

Finally he shut off the phone and turned to Anjali. “Sorry, sweetheart. I had to take the call.”

“Of course you did,” she said. “It’s your girlfriend.”

He gave her a measured look. “Ex-girlfriend.”

“Same thing.”

“Definitely not.”

“Former girlfriends don’t usually call at nearly two in the morning.”

“It’s nearly seven in London,” he reminded her.

“Still a bit early to call an ex-boyfriend, don’t you think?” Anjali’s eyebrows rose. “Unless of course she called to say she’s missing you.”

His silence said it all.

“Are you missing her, too?”

“Don’t tell me you’re—” His eyes widened. “Are you actually…jealous, Anju?”

“What do you think?”

“But you have no reason to be,” he insisted.

“Oh yeah? Here you are, supposedly proposing marriage to me, and your girlfriend from London calls with some cockamamie excuse just so she can hear your voice first thing in the morning.”

“That’s absurd. It was a business call.”

Anger replaced jealousy in an instant. “Don’t insult my intelligence, Rishi.”

“She’s having some cash flow problems because a few of her large accounts went to her competition recently. She asked if I could help her with her predicament.”

“Predicament,” she repeated blandly. “Sure.”

“All right, damn it! Yes, she said she missed me. Is that what you want me to admit? It was just a friendly remark. A friend missing a friend.”

“I also asked you if
you
missed
her
, Rishi.”

“Not in the least.”

Anjali pulled in a breath, trying to bring her simmering emotions under control. “Assuming she’s genuinely in financial trouble, can’t she go to a bank for help?”

“She could, but banks take an awful lot of time to process loans. With me she can get help quicker.”

“How convenient.” She angled a snide glance at him. “Do you specialize in rescuing women in dire financial straits?”

He gave a deep sigh. “Look, Anju, you’re exhausted and hungry. You’ll see this differently after you’ve eaten something.” He sat on the couch again and reached for her. “Come here, darling. Let’s talk this over rationally.”

She scooted away to the far end of the couch. “All this time, while I was considering your proposal, I was pondering mainly whether your work and travel could ever mesh with mine. I certainly spent some time thinking about Samantha as well. But I was more concerned about my responsibilities here in New Jersey.”

“As you should be,” he allowed.

“But now I’m beginning to wonder more about your personal life. Every time your former girlfriends call, you’re probably going to run to them?”

“You’re jumping to conclusions once again. This is an unusual circumstance.”

“Sure it is.”

“I can’t just ignore a plea for help from Samantha. We did stay together for a while.”

“As if I need reminding,” Anjali sniffed. “From what I gather, Samantha is a beautiful, successful woman—”

“So are you,” he interjected.

“—and yet you’re asking a plain woman like me to marry you. It makes me wonder.”

“About what?”

“If you want a real marriage. I could just be the convenient little Indian wife who could give you a child and be a mild asset to you in the merchandising area, while you go around the world and…”

“Sleep with every attractive woman I come across?” His eyes turned to ice as he completed her sentence. “Is that what you were going to say?”

She didn’t respond.

“I’m amazed at you, Anju. Don’t you know me a little better than that by now?”

“I’ve known you all of four months. During that time, you’ve had one trip back to London. I don’t exactly know what happened between Samantha and you then. As far as I know she’s still shacked up in that townhouse of yours.”

His jaw tightened visibly, a mark of suppressed anger. “She moved out of the house while I was still in London—right after I told her we had no future together. I didn’t even know where she’d disappeared to until now. She just now informed me she’s staying with a friend while she’s looking for another flat.”

“Then why is she still calling you?”

“Like I said, it’s business. She handles all my advertising and public relations.” He leaned back against the sofa cushion and shut his eyes briefly, like he was too tired to argue. “She means nothing to me anymore, Anju.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“I assure you she and I will simply be two individuals who work with each other occasionally.”

Anjali gave it some thought. Something about Samantha’s call was very troubling. Why had the woman called about business when she knew Rishi would be sleeping, unless she suspected something and had deliberately timed it that way?

But despite her reservations Anjali wanted to believe him. Earlier, while in the shower, she’d tried to banish the tiny, niggling doubts. Until that phone call she’d almost succeeded, too. But now, Samantha encroaching on their lives had gone from a possibility to a certainty. Instinct told her Samantha wasn’t going to let go of him easily. It wasn’t something Anjali was sure she could handle. And with the kind of magnetic man Rishi was, there would likely be other women in the future.

All at once she was plagued with doubts. It had been one shock after another on top of a very exhausting and emotional day. Was she simply overreacting?

After a quiet minute he glanced at her. “Are you still angry with me?”

She rose to her feet. “I don’t know.”

“Does that mean you don’t even want to consider my proposal?”

“I said I don’t know. It’s a lot to think about.” She picked up her purse. “I want to go home, Rishi.”

“At least eat what you ordered before you go. You’re going to collapse from starvation, Anju.”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “I thrive on adrenaline.”

“As you wish.” He rose to his feet. “I’ll drive you home, then.”

“No need. I’ll call a cab.”

His annoyance seemed to return. “Stop acting childish, Anju. I’m going to drive you home.” He must have noticed her expression. “Don’t argue.” He picked up the phone and instructed room service to leave the food outside his door.

During the drive home Anju remained silent. She could sense the coiled tension humming inside Rishi. He drove without a word, but she could tell he was fuming. He was a man of action, a pragmatic and organized man who planned and plotted and executed his ideas with flawless precision. This time around, precision and timing weren’t cooperating, and he didn’t like it. Well, too bad.

For once, why couldn’t he understand
her
feelings? He wanted everything his way. He wanted her to give up her life in the U.S. and move to London. His life was to remain the same while hers would turn topsy-turvy. On top of that he wanted to maintain contact with his ex-girlfriend, and yet he expected Anju to understand and accept it. Exactly how reasonable was that?

Maybe despite her American ways she was still an old-fashioned Indian woman who looked on total fidelity and trust as the cornerstones of marriage. Even if he wasn’t going to sleep with his ex, it still wasn’t right. How would he feel if she continued in “a friend missing a friend” relationship with Kip? Surely he’d have a problem with that?

He couldn’t have it both ways. If he wanted to marry her, he’d have to cut off all ties with Samantha. It was the only way she could accept his proposal. And if he refused to give up Samantha? Then what? He’d break Anjali’s heart, that’s what.

Oh well…everything about his proposal had been too good to be true anyway. She’d known there had to be a catch. And now she’d found it.

When they arrived at her house, he walked her to the front door like he’d done the other night. Except this time she didn’t wait for him to kiss her.

“I’ll ring you to make sure you eat and get some rest.”

“No need for that.” She was in no mood for caring gestures.

“I’ll ring, anyway.”

She bid him a terse good night, let herself into the house, and went directly upstairs to her room.

She could feel her heart beginning to splinter already.

Chapter 28

A
njali lay on her bed and fumed and wept alternately. When the tears and rage receded she was still undecided about her feelings, and what she should do. Meanwhile she’d developed a tension headache. And nausea. Rishi was right. She was just about ready to collapse from hunger and exhaustion.

At the moment she needed some aspirin, but if she took it on an empty stomach it would only aggravate the nausea. She had to eat something first. Changing into comfortable pajamas and bedroom slippers, she took the aspirin in her fist and padded downstairs to the kitchen to look for food.

She found the café’s leftovers in a foil-wrapped platter in the fridge. Carefully she lifted some of Anwar’s grilled vegetable finger sandwiches onto a plate. After filling a glass with apple juice, she took the meal to the table and sat down to eat.