Singapore Fling by Alexia Adams

Author:Alexia Adams [Adams, Alexia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

***

Lalita’s head was fuzzy, like she’d just woken from a deep sleep and had no idea what day it was. She’d never even considered the possibility that her father had been unfaithful. Julia had always been a force to be reckoned with; Lalita had just never considered that Julia would separate a mother from her child. If she hadn’t though, would Lalita have grown up on the streets of Mumbai, begging or worse?

Whatever else Aisha was about to add was forgotten when Mohan entered the house. He stopped dead in his tracks as he caught sight of Lalita, his eyes flicked to his wife. He recovered and extended a hand in greeting.

“Welcome to our home, Miss Evans,” Mohan said.

Lalita shook hands with the older man. He had kind eyes and a warm smile. Some of the tension left her body. “Please, call me Lalita. And this is my friend, Jeremy Lakewood.”

The two men shook hands. Mohan moved to sit beside his wife.

“We have often dreamed of welcoming you into our home,” Mohan said. He took Aisha’s hand in his and gazed into her eyes. Lalita had often seen her father look the same way at her mother—no, not her mother, at Julia, his wife.

“You will stay for something to eat,” Aisha declared. “You have a younger half-brother, Arun. He will be home in a few hours; he’s gone out with a few of his friends. Our oldest daughter, Mohan’s baby girl by his first wife, is married. She has two children and lives in Delhi now. Maybe next time you visit you can meet her also.”

Lalita put a hand to her forehead. It was all too much. She needed time to adjust to this realignment of ideas, to sort out all the new relationships. She grasped for an excuse to get some needed thinking space. “Jeremy has a flight to the UK in a few hours.” Her heart stalled at the thought of him leaving. “And I have to get home to Singapore.”

“You can at least stay a few more minutes. I want to show you something.” Aisha didn’t give them a chance to object. She stood up and strode out of the room.

Mohan watched his wife leave then turned back to Lalita. “She has thought and prayed about you every day; she never forgot you. I would have married her and cared for you both, but Julia insisted. And I am sure you are aware that once Julia Evans gets an idea in her mind, there is no changing it.”

That brought a faint smile to her lips. “Yes, we call it her ‘resistance is futile’ voice. Even Daddy stops what he’s doing and listens when she uses it.”

Aisha returned to the room with a large box. On top was an ornate album with what appeared to be gold leaf writing.

“Mohan, move over, please. Lalita, come sit beside me,” Aisha directed.

Mohan stood and changed places with Lalita. “You should come and see also, Jeremy.” Aisha patted the sofa beside her. Jeremy’s eyes caught Lalita’s as he moved as directed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.