“I don’t know about that.” She made a disgusted face. “Ugh, how was I so easily fooled.”
“Please stop blaming yourself. I only spotted it because they were my lines. I have a rather good memory.” He wouldn’t tell her that he’d written those lines, and probably any other that she’d gotten. That was more personal.
She resumed walking, and he fell into step. “When I think this whole thing can’t get more absurd,” she muttered, then set her shoulders. “Okay. Let’s get back to the Dixit family history lesson while I process this.”
For once, talking about his family didn’t seem impossible. “It’s fairly common knowledge my grandparents virtually disowned my father when he married my mother, though I think that scandal’s not as fresh for the younger generations.”
“I saw something about that when I first looked you up. Because she was Muslim?”
“That was what the press believed, but their actual objection was that she was poor. You can imagine how much class mattered then, especially for the son of a couple who was so in the public eye.” He tried to control his sneer, but he couldn’t quite manage it, he feared. His wonderful memories of his mother were punctuated by her sadness over them not having any extended family nearby. “My father was just getting into a screenwriting career, but my parents moved to Dubai. I was raised there until I was sixteen. I never met anyone on my dad’s side of the family. My folks did fine without my grandparents. Dad actually started teaching eventually, and my mother became a nurse. We were raised without cameras following us or anyone wanting anything from us. It was a good childhood.” It had been a perfectly normal life, actually, away from the Dixit fame. That was probably why he didn’t feel too much fear at losing his grandfather’s money or not relying on the family fortune. So long as he and his little family were taken care of, he’d be fine.
“But when I was sixteen, my parents died in a car accident and my brother and I were shipped back to my grandparents’ home. They took us in, because what would it look like if they didn’t?” Dev shrugged. “Besides, my brother was very handsome even at thirteen; he was the spitting image of my grandfather. The world could forget who his mother was. My grandfather was less interested in me. I was still so angry about how he’d treated my parents, and I was a reminder to him about his own loss, I imagine. I only lived with them for a year or so before I left.”
Jia’s step faltered. “You were so young. Where did you go?”
“I tried my hand at a couple careers. Acting was the easiest paycheck. I got a flat in Mumbai, as far as I could get from them in the same city.” He didn’t like to think about those early years too much. He’d still been grieving the upheaval of what had been a good life, and missing his brother something fierce.
A few years later, Dev had tried to get Rohan to come live with him, but it was too late. His brother had already been sucked into the Bollywood film star machine, filled with all the debauchery and wealth that came with it. Another regret to add to his shoulders, that he hadn’t taken over Rohan’s guardianship when the boy was a minor.
“I’m sorry. Your family has had so many losses.”
“Some people say there’s a curse. My parents and uncle were young, and my brother was as well. Then my grandfather. I think that Rohan’s death took too much of a toll on him.” He paused. “It’s quite odd to mourn your family members when a whole nation is also mourning them.”
“I can’t imagine,” Jia murmured.
What had been in those pancakes to make him confess his darkest secrets? “Apologies, I don’t know why I’m talking so much. Obviously, none of this is common knowledge. I would prefer you not share it with anyone, including your family.”
She mimed locking her lips. “I have that kind of face. People tell me things.”
“That must be it.”
They walked quietly for a moment. “You have a nice little family now.”
“Yes. I’m glad Adil Uncle could come live with us. I didn’t see him much when I was growing up. I think there was some question of him taking custody of Rohan and me when we were young, but I believe my grandparents convinced him we were better off with them.” More over-sharing. “It’s been good to have help with Luna, too.” He’d been surprised Luna hadn’t seemed overly enthused to meet or spend time with Jia earlier tonight, but he supposed that could be chalked up to shyness.
“Is Luna’s mother—?”
“Out of the picture. I don’t even know who she is. I think Rohan must have bought her off.” He didn’t know the ins and outs of what had happened when Luna was born, just that one day Rohan had been a carefree bachelor, and the next, the newspapers had proclaimed him a father. When Dev had called him, he’d refused to speak of it, merely said, Congratulations on being a kaka, Bhai, and hung up.
He didn’t know how his grandparents had felt about Rohan’s illegitimate child initially, but his grandmother at least had seemed to come around quickly. In the end, their family name had squelched the worst of the gossip.
Jia switched her purse to her other shoulder. “Luna seems to be healthy and happy, and you clearly adore her. You’ve made up for missed time, it appears.”
“Can you make up for such a thing?”
“I think so.” Her feet slowed, and he met her pace. “My roommate, Katrina, she likes to say that people come in and out of our lives, and we have to enjoy the parts in the middle. But I think it’s okay to not enjoy all the parts, you know? Things change, life changes, you change. I definitely feel like my relationship with various family members has ebbed and flowed.”
He filled his lungs with air. She was wise, but he already knew that from watching her deceptively simple videos. “Are your feet hurting? Those are very high heels.”
Jia gave him a chiding look. “Please, I can travel up a mountain in these. It’s a nice night for a walk.”
“It is.” They walked in silence for a moment. At some point, he’d have to walk them back to the garage they’d parked in. “Now that I have given you my family’s darkest secrets, tell me something about you,” he said instead.
“I’m an open book. I post my whole life online.”
“Do you? I don’t think you do. You’re different in real life.” She already knew he’d watched her videos. There was no harm in admitting that.
Her smile was faint. “I suppose my online persona is authentically real, just not all of me.”
“So what are the other parts of you?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “It’s a blurry line, where online ends and real life begins.”
Dev nodded. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Pink.”
“Favorite animal?”
“Giraffes.”
He straightened to his full height. Giraffe had been the nickname classmates had teased him with since puberty, but if she liked giraffes . . . “Favorite sibling.”
She glanced around. “Did one of my sisters put you up to this? Are they going to jump out and yell at me?”
Dev chuckled. “No.”