The Candid Life of Meena Dave(13)

“Did she live alone?” Meena wondered if Sam knew Neha’s husband or why he had left.

“She didn’t have use for a lot of people,” Sam said. “Not even me, unless it was on her terms. She had her limits as to how much time she spent away from her work and her books.”

“She has a massive collection.”

He nodded and focused his attention on Wally. Sam gently tugged away a fallen branch that was three times the dog’s size.

Meena sensed Sam was done talking about Neha. “You bought the apartment from your parents?”

There was hesitation in Sam’s voice. “No. It became mine. The apartments in the Engineer’s House are entailed, meaning they can’t be sold on the market. The eldest child inherits the unit when they turn twenty-five.”

“But the other women, the aunties, they still live in their units.”

“It’s a technicality. It’s up to the kids as to when they want to take it over.”

“Not a firm rule.”

“Are you making conversation or interviewing me?”

Meena smiled. “Habit. I ask a lot of questions.”

“You’ll fit right in with the aunties,” Sam said. “Wally, no.” He tugged a crumpled napkin out of Wally’s mouth.

“Did Neha have any siblings or children?”

Sam glanced at her and then looked away. “No.”

Meena pushed a little more. “Do you think Neha left the apartment to me on a whim? Or by accident?”

Sam kept quiet and focused on teaching Wally how to walk on a leash.

Meena sensed he was holding back and tried again. “If the apartments are entailed . . .”

“She didn’t have anyone to pass it on to,” Sam said. “Her parents are in Africa, and she had no other family.”

He sounded so definitive, it made Meena question her assumptions about her ties to Neha. If she and Neha weren’t biologically connected, why would Neha leave her actual home to Meena? A sliver of something snagged her mind. Petty. Was Meena ammo? Like a dog that wasn’t allowed but had been gifted posthumously?

As they turned right and approached their building, Wally did loops around her, and Meena became entangled with his leash. Sam caught her with one arm to steady her. For a few seconds embarrassment, comfort, and attraction swirled around her. She glanced into his dark-brown eyes. There was gentle humor in them that made her feel as if she knew him much better than she did. Meena disentangled herself from the leash.

“When is puppy school?” she asked.

“Not soon enough,” Sam said. “We need to learn a lot of things, don’t we, beast?”

Meena increased her pace to distract herself from the weird tingles on her arm where Sam had held her steady. As they came up to the front steps, Tanvi called out to them. “There you two are. Have you been out for a walk? Isn’t fall romantic?”





CHAPTER SEVEN


Tanvi held conical candleholders, and Uma stepped out the front doors with more.

“Here, Auntie. Meena, can you hold Wally’s leash for a second?” Sam thrust the loop of the leash into her hand as he ran up the stairs to take the items from the aunties and place them on each step, next to the pumpkins.

“Thank you, Sameer.” Sabina stepped out with a box. “We looked for you, but you were out.”

“Wally needed a walk,” Sam said.

At the sound of his name, Wally barked and tried to climb up on the step to nibble on a pumpkin. “No.” Meena gently tugged him back, his harness straining with his effort to get to the others. She knelt and scratched under his chin until he sat down on the cold path.

“We knocked on your door too, Meena.” Tanvi pointed to the two of them. “I didn’t realize you were together.”

“We aren’t, weren’t,” Meena explained.

Tanvi and Uma raised their eyebrows while Sabina dragged out a bin full of decorations.

“It’s just that we met. Ran into each other. I was walking and he was walking.” Meena shut her mouth. It was unusual for her to be tongue-tied or awkward, but these women seemed to imply and assume there was something between her and Sam, and it made her wary.

“Don’t be so shy about it, there is nothing wrong with a shared walk,” Tanvi said. “More people should do it. Especially on a beautiful day like today. I love the colors and the crunch of leaves under my feet. They say spring is the perfect time for lovers. I disagree. There is something about prewinter coziness that makes you want to cuddle up with someone.”

Refusing to pick up what Tanvi was putting down, Meena gave Wally extra belly rubs. Sam stayed silent too and busied himself with the box of decorations.

“Ay, poet,” Uma said. “Less prattle, more spiders.”

Tanvi sighed and grabbed a few decorations.

“Sam”—Uma held up glittery ceramic ghosts—“can you hang these up next to the doors? I don’t have your height.”

Sam hooked them to the iron lanterns on either side of the front doors.

The pup was getting tired and flopped his chin on Meena’s feet. She sat on the ground, shuddered with the shock of the cold concrete, and stroked Wally as his little black eyes slowly closed in sleep. She’d never taken care of anyone or anything this small, and Sam had entrusted her with this tiny little fur ball. She smiled; it was nice being asked to help. Especially with such an easy and pleasurable task. Meena pulled him into her lap. He nipped a bit before settling down.