Page 53

‘I’m afraid I lost you after roku…’ Still his thumb moved, focussing her attention on a few square inches of skin.

‘Roka,’ she corrected gently. ‘It’s OK. I don’t expect you to know all the terms.’

‘I’d like to learn them.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah.’ He smiled and squeezed her fingers again. ‘It’s part of who you are, which means it’s something I want to know more about.’

The warmth hit again, a sweet and easy certainty – unlike anything she’d experienced with anyone else before. Reassuring and calming. ‘The Roka is the formal engagement, but it’s more than just a party, because it’s also where both families officially agree to the union. Then there’s the Maiyan, which is a lot more intimate and personal. That’s about blessing the bride, and a time when her most loved people gather around her and cover her in turmeric⁠—’

‘Like the spice?’

‘Exactly like the spice.’ Amrita giggled. ‘I know it probably seems a little strange to you – but it’s about purifying and cleansing the bride to prepare her for her next stage in life. One where she’s less focussed on being a daughter, and more on being a wife. And turmeric is great for the skin. The Maiyan can be chaotic and fun and wonderful. Then there’s the Choora ceremony, where the bride will be given special bangles – that will be the night before the wedding, but that still leaves the Mendhi, which Kiranpreet wants to do ahead of the wedding weekend.’

‘Mendhi?’

‘Do you remember the day we met?’

‘Vividly.’ He said the word with such conviction that she found herself blushing a bit.

‘I was wearing mendhi then. The patterns over my hands.’

‘They were beautiful.’

‘Thank you. My nani’s eightieth birthday. She loves any excuse for it. But wedding mehndi is a lot more intricate.’

‘I can’t wait to see it.’ His thumb had resumed its movements, tracing out invisible patterns that reached a lot further than the small patch of skin he was touching.

* * *

‘I’m so sorry, I can’t make it back in time to take you to dinner,’ Jamie apologised again, on yet another evening with another missed opportunity. ‘I really did try.’

‘I believe you,’ Amrita replied.

‘I feel awful. Yet another week and we’ve not been able to see each other.’

‘It’s my fault too.’

‘No, today’s definitely mine.’ He sighed, irritated. ‘This project has turned into a living, breathing nightmare. The type that grows legs and claws and creeps up on you and strikes just when you think you’ve got it sorted!’

‘Sounds awful.’

‘And do you know what it is this time?’

‘I’m going to guess at foundations?’

‘Nope. Windows.’

‘I thought you said you’d resolved that problem last week?’ Amrita had remembered – filling Jamie with a flush of warmth. He loved that she listened when he talked about things that she probably didn’t care all that much about, and paid attention because they were a part of his life.

‘That’s what I thought.’ He laughed. ‘But, like I said, this beast of a build sprouts talons and attacks when you’re not looking. This time with the help of the local preservation society, who decided the colour wasn’t right any more. But that’s more than enough of my woes. How has your day been? Are you really rehearsing dances for the wedding? I wasn’t sure if you were teasing me in that message.’

‘I wasn’t teasing.’ She giggled. ‘We really have been rehearsing all day.’

‘How many dances are there?’

‘A few. And different outfits to be fitted for.’