Chapter Eleven #3
Her cries of heel and stop and whatever else came to mind fell on deaf dog ears as Finn beelined for the ocean.
He didn’t stop at the ocean. He went straight into the water, taking Nimita along with him.
He was swimming, and she was simply trying to keep her head above water.
She was a strong swimmer, but swimming with a dog on a leash was a whole other thing.
And it only got worse when she went under and lost the leash.
Oh no!
She surfaced and found Finn happily paddling away from her. She focused on him and swam toward him, but he was faster. She kept going and somehow got close enough to grab his leash. She couldn’t feel the ground beneath her, so they were going to have to swim for the shore.
She was managing, even with Finn tugging on the leash as he tried to swim in the opposite direction.
“It’s okay, miss,” a deep voice called. “I got you.”
She looked up to see the lifeguard swimming toward her.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he reached them.
She nodded. “Just…trying…to keep the dog…from taking off,” she panted as she swam.
“Want me to hold him?” the lifeguard asked.
“No,” she said. “I’m good.”
“Okay.” But he swam next to her until they reached the beach and she and Finn could stand.
They walked out of the water, and she collapsed on the sand, Finn beside her, panting heavily.
“He’s a beautiful animal,” the lifeguard said. He couldn’t be more than twenty-five years old.
“Thanks. I’m dog sitting.”
“Well. That’s great. But you should know, this end of the beach is not pet friendly. You and…”
“Finn.”
“Finn need to head to the other end. That’s the dog park end. I won’t cite you this time, because he clearly dragged you into the water, but…”
Wait. Was she being yelled at by this child?
She nodded, still catching her breath. Whatever.
“The current down here is dangerous for you and your dog.”
Now he was lecturing her? She’d finished the one hundred meter in a very fast time. Back in high school, but still.
Thoughts of high school brought memories of Roshan to the surface. Though her memories were not of Roshan in high school but of Roshan wrapping her ankle, getting her a snorkel board, laughing with her. Kissing her. She shook her head of the memories.
She nodded at the child lifeguard with the six-pack abs, and he left. She got up on one elbow and looked at Finn, lying next to her, panting, a huge smile on his face.
“I’m soaked through, buddy. Jean shorts, T-shirt, underwear.
And I have sand all over me. Not to mention, I just got yelled at by a child.
” Finn lifted his head and then rested it on her leg.
She sighed and shook her head as she pet his head.
“And of course, you are also soaking wet and covered in sand.” She wrinkled her nose. “And you smell like wet dog.”
He snuggled closer.
She stood. “Come on. Let’s get cleaned up.”
She took Finn back to the house and into the back yard. If she was right, there was a hose…yep. She started hosing down the dog first. Then she opened the back sliding door to find her father in the kitchen.
“Papa.”
He looked up from his phone and laughed. “You look like a drowned rat.”
“Close,” she said. “Can you hand me some soap and a sponge?”
It took him a few minutes to do so as he navigated around with his cane, but he managed it.
“Thanks. Can you grab a few towels?”
He smiled. “You get to work. I’ll get the towels.”
She thoroughly scrubbed and washed Finn and managed to get the sand off herself in the process. Her father produced a few beach towels so she dried Finn and herself as best she could, too. The jeans shorts needed to come off, but she had to drop off Finn first.
“What happened?” Neha asked, her eyes wide, as Nimita and Finn approached.
“He wanted to swim. In the ocean.”
“Oooh, I forgot to tell you about that.” Neha looked chagrined.
Nimita glared at her cousin. “Did you?”
“Sorry. I’ll find someone else to walk him.”
“Why? I’ll be back in the evening,” Nimita said. “I’ll just be better prepared. And we won’t go near that beach.” If she was going to fix things, the least she could do was walk a dog properly.
Nimita went home and freshened up. There didn’t seem to be anything that needed doing, so she grabbed her laptop and researched dog training. When she heard the tap of a cane approaching, she found her dad and asked him if he’d like a game of chess.
Later, Reena’s husband, Hiral, arrived home and set to the task of feeding little Naya her dinner.
He was making airplane sounds to try to get her to eat, and the little girl was loving it.
Toddler giggles filled the silence as Nimita helped—or tried to help—Reena get food on the table for the rest of the family.
Reena insisted that she could manage and didn’t let Nimita do much of anything.
Nimita kept her mouth shut, though she didn’t understand why Reena wouldn’t let her help.
Nimita watched her brother-in-law feed his daughter. Hiral had been part of their family long before Reena married him. As far as Nimita knew, there hadn’t been a time in Hiral’s life that he hadn’t loved Reena.
For that alone, he held a special spot in Nimita’s heart. Not to mention, he was just an all-around great guy and loved their father like his own. Which, considering the amount of time Hiral had spent at their house growing up, was not too far from the truth.
“So then, Nimita asked me to get towels.” Papa was reciting the day’s events, his face lit up.
Reena froze while making rotli. “She what?” She turned to glare at Nimita.
“I was soaked through; the dog was soaked through. I was not about to bring sand and sea into your home. Papa was there.”
“You can’t ask him to do those kind of things.” Reena flipped the rotli onto the flat pan for roasting.
“Why?”
Reena started rolling out another flatbread. Perfectly round and thin, like their mom used to make.
“Your sister thinks I am too frail to do those things,” Papa sighed.
“You are,” Reena said without looking up. “The doctor has warned you about falling.”
“I didn’t fall.”
“But you could have,” Reena insisted. Nimita moved her hand to flip over the rotli on the pan, but Reena reached it first. Nimita drew her hand back. She caught Hiral’s eye.
Nimita pressed her lips together. “He was fine. I mean, he took his time—”
“You don’t know anything about it,” Reena snapped. She picked up the hot rotli with her fingers and dropped it on the open flame. It puffed up perfectly.
Of course it did.
“Then tell me,” Nimita said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Reena said.
“Of course it matters,” Nimita countered.
“We have to be careful he doesn’t fall,” Reena muttered.
“He was going at his own pace.”
Reena leaned into her and whispered so no one else could hear. “If he falls, I need time off work, and I can’t afford that right now. I am finally getting the bigger cases even though I work from home.”
“I’m here,” Nimita said.
“For now.”
“What does that mean?” Nimita reached to flip over the rotli, but Reena beat her to it again. She caught Hiral watching them again.
“It means exactly that. I have no idea how long you’ll stick around.” Reena went back to vigorously rolling out perfect rotli, her bangles clanking in time on the counter.
Nimita opened her mouth to refute that but then shut it, because her sister was right. She’d never stayed long before.
“Put ghee on the rotli,” Reena instructed.
Nimita sighed and spooned ghee on the fresh, hot flatbread. A child’s job.
“Well, I’m here now. And Papa was fine bringing me a few towels. Look how happy he is. He felt…useful.” Nimita paused. “You know he used to help Mom cook. He can do the ghee.”
“You know he can hear you,” their father chimed in with laugh.
“Hmph.” Reena shook her head. “Trying to pass off even the ghee duties to your dad.” She grunted and continued with her rotli.
“Reena.” Hiral stood and grabbed Naya from the high chair. He took her to the sink to wash up. “Naya is ready for her book.”
“I’m cooking,” Reena responded without looking up.
Hiral walked over, Naya on his hip, and placed his hand at the small of Reena’s back, then kissed her cheek. He whispered something to her. Whatever it was, it made Reena put down the valen and wash her hands.
She took her daughter and headed out of the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, “If it’s not too much, Nimita, can you finish the rotli?”
Nimita caught Hiral’s eye. “It’s the best I can do,” he said. “You two need to work this out.”
Nimita nodded. “Come on, Papa.” She nodded with a small smile in her father’s direction. “You can do the ghee.”