Secrets & Saris by Narayanan Shoma

Author:Narayanan, Shoma [Narayanan, Shoma]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 9780373207183
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

TEN

The engagement party came and went in a flurry of activity. Neil’s parents and sister came down to Jabalpur for it, and so did Shefali’s parents. Shefali’s mother was the only one who didn’t seem entirely pleased, and Shefali heaved a sigh of relief after she’d seen her parents off at the airport.

‘My mum drives me bananas,’ she confided to Neil over a cup of coffee at their favourite café. ‘She seems to think that if I’d only gone back to Delhi she’d have got me a maharajah to marry at the very least.’

Neil laughed. ‘I can’t blame her for thinking I’m not a very good catch,’ he said. ‘She’ll probably resent my existence for the next twenty years.’

‘Oh, she’ll come around once we have kids,’ Shefali said. ‘She’s nuts about my nephew, and she was trying to hide it but she took quite a fancy to Nina as well.’

Neil hardly heard the last part of the sentence. Once we have kids. He felt as if she’d punched him in the stomach. And she’d said it so casually, as if it was a perfectly natural thing—which, to be fair, it was. God, he’d been so stupid and short-sighted, rushing into an engagement without clearly spelling things out to Shefali.

He looked away for a few seconds, and when he turned back to her his face had a steely expression on it that made Shefali’s heart sink all the way down to her stilettos.

‘Shefali, I thought you knew,’ he said. ‘I don’t want any more kids.’

Shefali stared at him in dismay.

‘You mean...?’

‘I mean no more children,’ he said heavily. ‘I don’t think I can go through the experience all over again. At least it’s not something I’m ready for right now.’

‘And you thought I’d be OK with that?’

‘I told you,’ he said, though he realised now that it hadn’t registered. ‘The night we had that argument—before Bela broke her leg.’

‘That was aeons ago!’ Shefali said in disbelief. ‘You also said that you’d never remarry—how was I supposed to know you meant part of it and not the whole thing?’

‘I realise that,’ Neil said. ‘And I’m sorry. But I don’t want more children. I should have talked to you about it again before—’

‘But I want kids!’ she interrupted, her voice shaking in her agitation. ‘I love Nina, but I want to have children of my own as well. Not right away, but in a few years. And you won’t be bringing up a child alone this time. It isn’t the same thing at all!’

‘That’s not the only reason,’ Neil said. ‘It wouldn’t be fair to Nina. She’s used to being the centre of my life. If we have a child together it would make her feel excluded—as if she’s being sidelined out of my life. And there’d be a huge age-gap between her and any child we had. It’d be like a whole new family that she’s not a part of.’

Holding on to her temper with difficulty, Shefali said, ‘It would probably do her good, having a sibling.

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