“What does that mean, ‘make things right’?” Faroz lifted an inquisitive brow.
“It means . . .” She twisted her hands together, considering. She’d been so focused on getting rid of the lawsuit, she hadn’t thought through exactly how she would fix things with Jay. “I want things to go back to the way they were.”
“That’s the problem with the past.” Faroz shrugged. “You can’t go back. You have to move forward.”
“I don’t know how to do that. I liked what we had and then he ruined it by telling me he loved me. I thought if I apologized, we could pick up where we left off.”
“Except now all the shit that’s gone down between you is still out there.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “It can never be the same, but it can be something new. You just have to be brave enough to embrace it.”
* * *
• • •
As far as baraats went—and Jay had attended dozens of them over the years—Avi’s groom’s procession put all others to shame. Tarun had hired a cable car to transport him to his ceremony. Rishi had arrived in a horse-drawn carriage. But Avi drove up to the wedding venue in a 2016 McLaren 650S Spider.
Jay had never thought about his wedding before, but if he ever did marry, the Spider was definitely the way to go.
With his focus on his duties as part of the wedding party, he wasn’t tempted to look for Zara but part of him was still hyperaware of the slightest disturbance in the colorful crowd. Was that her spinning around a pole in a blur of blue and red? Or over by the entrance in a splash of teal and gold?
“Let’s get a beat!” Tarun jumped on a low wall to amp up the crowd and a musician started a rhythm on his dhol drum.
“I thought you’d be the first one dancing,” Tarun said, coming up beside him. “I heard you got your funding for your international expansion. Congratulations!”
Jay nodded his thanks. He still couldn’t believe that the lawsuit had vanished as quickly as it had appeared—Lucia had phoned with the good news—and that Thomas had pushed through the funding. He hadn’t been prepared for the bank to move so quickly, nor to have them insist that someone accompany Brittany to London the very next day to start making arrangements for the opening of their first international office.
They followed the crowd to the ceremony, and then returned to keep an eye on the Spider until the rental company came to collect it.
“Kinda wish I’d gone for something like this instead of the cable car.” Tarun ran his hand over the gleaming red hood. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Jay laughed. “You were thinking quirky. Nothing wrong with that.”
“If you and Zara got hitched, what would you have for your baraat? It better not be something like this. I won’t be able to handle the jealousy.”
“I don’t know what’s happening between us,” he admitted. “I’ve got some stuff I need to work out and I guess she does, too. She’s better off with someone else.”
“Sorry, man.” Tarun clapped him on the back. “After I saw you two together at Rishi’s wedding I thought you had something that was going to last.”
“So did I.” The lawsuit was gone, and with it the sense of betrayal. Elias was right. Backstabbing wasn’t Zara’s style, and he couldn’t believe she’d resort to something like that simply because he’d told her he loved her.
“She would love this car.” He opened the door and peered inside at the sleek black leather interior. He could imagine Zara in the driver’s seat, windows down, hair blowing in the wind, pedal to the floor. Just the thought brought a smile to his lips. He missed her. He missed her laughter and her energy. He missed her crazy stories and her impulsiveness. His life wasn’t the same without her in it.
He checked his watch and gave Tarun a nod. “I’m heading to the airport. Let Avi know I’ve gone.”
* * *
• • •
The entire day had been a disaster.
First, Parvati had forgotten to tell Zara that she’d been called into work. Since it was her job to wake Zara in time to get ready for the baraat, Zara didn’t wake until the baraat was over. And that meant she’d missed a chance to see Jay. By the time she got to the scenic golf club where the wedding was taking place, the ceremony had already started and she had to stay in her seat, which made it almost impossible to find him among a crowd of hundreds. In the hours that followed, she’d wandered through the garden hilltop, and in and out of the golf club restaurant, wondering if he had come to the wedding at all.
“Beta!” Taara Auntie waved her over to the parking lot, where a group of aunties were gathered around a silver minivan. “I have something to show you.”
“Is it drugs? You all look very suspicious. Are you dealing out here?”
“It’s better.” She opened the hatch. “Here you go,” she said, pointing to boxes filled with security cameras. “You said you needed more plaintiffs. These are just from local people. Bushra has a spreadsheet of names from all over the country. One thousand of them.”
Speechless, Zara picked up one of the cameras—the same brand of camera she’d found in the club. “You collected all these?”
“After I told people what had happened to me, they didn’t want them, so I sent some of the young people to pick them all up. Each one has the name and address of the purchaser on it, and I’ve told our family in other states to send them to your firm and do the same. Is this enough to save your job, beta? And to start the case?”
“It’s more than enough.” She threw her arms around Taara Auntie. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” Taara Auntie said. “I was the one who told them to buy the cameras in the first place. Once I spread the word on social media about the hacker, everyone wanted to help.”
“Has anyone seen Jay?” she asked. “I’ve been looking for him everywhere. I need to tell him about this and talk to him. There are things I need to say.”
“Tarun’s unloading equipment just over there.” Bushra pointed him out. “He might know.”
Zara chatted briefly with Tarun about Maria and his honeymoon and his life as a newlywed before she lost her patience and cut to the chase. “I’m looking for Jay.”
Tarun leaned against the door. “He said you were suing his company. Is that right?”
Her heart skipped a beat. How had Jay found out? “Yes. No. It’s complicated. We’re not suing his company anymore. But, oh no, Tarun. If he thinks I am . . . I didn’t think he would find out. I need to find him right away.”