Running Away with the Bride--An opposites attract romance with a twist

by Sophia Singh Sasson

  “Oh my God, I love it.” She twirled in front of the phone’s camera for Sameer to see.

  “I asked Ma to contact your tailor in India to send your measurements to the New York boutique. I think she’s ready to forgive you.”

  Divya ignored his comment. “This dress is way too tasteful for something you would pick out and way too risqué for Ma’s tastes.”

  “I had help,” he said slyly.

  She narrowed her eyes. “Sameer, are you already dating? You know what the therapist said about taking time to be by yourself.”

  He rolled his eyes. “She’s just a friend. Relax.” Then his voice became serious. “You don’t have to worry about me, Div. I’m really good this time.” She believed him. He sounded different—stronger, more confident. “Arjun and Rani have been amazing in supporting me, and Karishma’s really stepped up with the India office. She’s way better than you were.”

  Divya smiled. She hadn’t given her younger sister enough credit for being ready to step up. She’d always see her as the little girl who pulled her pigtails and stole her toys.

  “Karishma is so good, she actually got the family jet for her and Naina to come to New York for your launch party.”

  Divya’s heart filled with love for her siblings. They’d banded together to support her, and yet it felt like a piece of her soul was missing.

  “Have you invited him?”

  Sameer didn’t have to say who he meant. They both knew. She shook her head.

  “Want me to invite him?”

  “Don’t you dare. I’ve tried contacting him. If he wanted to talk to me, he knows how to get hold of me.”

  “Have you ever thought about the fact that he was right in running away? You didn’t exactly stand up for him with Ma and Dad. Even I wasn’t sure that you really wanted to be with him. You seemed to be unsure of what you wanted.”

  “It’s what he does, Sam. He decides to take something on full steam ahead and when it gets real, he runs away. It’s best I forget about him.”

  “You don’t seem okay,” Sameer said.

  She pasted a smile on her face. “Of course I am. I’m just jittery getting ready for the record launch.” After she hung up the phone, she ran her hands over the guitar. She wasn’t okay. Her parachute hadn’t opened and she didn’t know what to do. She was hurtling toward the ground, and Ethan wasn’t there to pull the cord.

  Twenty-One

  Ethan stared at the phone, unwilling to believe what his mother had just said.

  “Divya’s mother specifically said Matt, Heather and the kids are included in the invitation to Divya’s record launch.”

  Divya’s mother had called his? He rubbed his neck, looking out at the view of the Hudson River from his Upper West Side condo.

  “The kids are really excited to go. They’ve been asking about Divya.”

  “You can use my plane,” he said flatly.

  “Hon, there’s got to be a way to patch things up,” his mother said.

  No, there isn’t. He had changed his cell phone number and email address, closed all his social media accounts. He didn’t want to weaken and answer Divya’s call. Yet not an hour went by when he didn’t think about her, when he didn’t worry about her, when he didn’t miss her. He had consoled himself with the knowledge that she’d be happier without him in the long term.

  “Mom, you weren’t there that night. You should’ve seen her face when I stood up to her parents. Her heart broke right in front of me. If we stayed together, our love would be a constant battle in her house. It would ruin the amazing relationship she has with her family. She’d feel like a part of her was missing. I don’t want that life for her. Marrying an Indian woman means marrying her family.”

  “Mrs. Singh invited you too.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I think it’s her way of reaching out to you.”

  He still couldn’t believe that Divya’s mother had called to invite his family to her launch party. Six months had gone by. He was sure by now they’d have found her another Vivek to marry.

  “If you ask me, I think she sounded incredibly sad. We talked for over an hour. She asked me a lot of questions about you and about our family. She sounded really nice.”

  “That’s why I’m wondering if it was really her,” Ethan said.

  Marilyn chuckled. “You know, Ethan, ever since middle school, I’ve watched you crush on one girl after another. You always cancel the relationship before it really begins, because you’re so afraid the girl will break up with you.”

  He looked at the picture sitting on his kitchen counter. It was the only personal item in his otherwise sterile condo. A picture of him and Divya and Allie and Jake on a giant teddy bear. It was exactly what he wanted.

  He remembered what Divya had told him the first day they met. She wanted to be independent; she didn’t want to get saddled down with a husband and children. Now that she was on the way to achieving her dream, he wouldn’t be the one to hold her back. She deserved to get everything she wanted in life.

  Out of habit, he touched the little box in his pocket. It was the ring he’d bought for Divya when they’d arrived in Vegas on the day he was scheduled to meet her parents. He carried it with him everywhere he went, unable to let it go.

  “You should all attend, but I won’t be coming,” he said to his mother, a note of finality in his voice. “Tell Divya I wish her well.”

  * * *

  It was her night. She looked amazing. She stood backstage, waiting for her cue to make a grand entrance. She should feel nervous, excited, maybe even scared, but all she felt was empty. What was the point of this success if she couldn’t share it with the people she loved? Maybe she had been too stubborn. She should have called her parents. She should have called Ethan.

  “There she is.”

  Divya turned to see Arjun making his way toward her with Karishma, Naina, Rani and Sameer right behind him. Sameer stretched out his arms to pull her into a hug, but Karishma slapped him away. “Do not ruin her makeup or hair right before she goes onstage. Look how perfect she looks.”

  “You do clean up nice, sis,” Sameer quipped.

  It had been four months since she’d left home and seen all her siblings together and her heart swelled. “Did Ma and—?”

  “We came.”

  Divya turned to see her parents step toward her from the shadows.

  “How could we miss this?” her father said.

  Divya didn’t hesitate. She ran into her father’s outstretched arms and buried her face in his chest, not caring whether her hair and makeup were ruined. He put his hand on her head. “Beti, we are not going to agree with all the decisions you make, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love you. And it does not give you the right to cut us out of your life.”

  She turned to her mother, who looked brilliant in a royal blue saree with silver thread woven through it. Diamond solitaires glittered in her ears. She held out her hand and Divya took it, squeezing it tightly.

  “Ma, our family means the world to me. But I don’t want the life you’ve chosen for me. It’s okay if you don’t accept Ethan. We aren’t together anyway. But I need you to support me in my career. You have to trust that you raised me right, and I wouldn’t do anything to embarrass myself and or my family.”

  Her mother dabbed at her eyes. “You know, your father went directly to your grandfather and asked to marry me, and my father said yes. I was so angry that he made this decision without asking me that I ran away.”

  Divya’s eyes widened. Her mother was always so proper; she’d never imagined her doing something so rebellious.

  “Someone reminded me what it’s like to be forced to give up something you love to do.” Her mother’s voice cracked, and she pointed to her feet. Divya looked down and her mother lifted her saree. She was wearing the ghunghuru, the little be
lls Divya had bought her right before she’d moved to New York.

  Tears prickled Divya’s eyes. “I never told you this, Ma, but my love of music started when I listened to the sounds of your ghunghuru. I used to watch you from the crack in the bedroom door and sing to the sounds of the bells on your feet.”

  Her mother wiped a tear from her cheek. “I guess I’m to blame for this whole singing thing, then.”

  Divya smiled. “And also the running-away thing.”

  “If you guys are all done being sentimental, we should head out to the party and let Divya get ready for her big performance,” Sameer said.

  They all wished her well. When her mother was out of earshot her father turned to her. “You know, Divya, there was someone I loved before I married your mother.”

  She looked at her father. It wasn’t a secret, but he never talked about it. “Arjun’s mother,” she whispered.

  He nodded. “I know what it’s like to fall in love with someone your parents don’t approve of, and I know how it can rip your heart into pieces. When Arjun wanted to marry Rani, we stood in his way because I thought she would tear this family apart. Instead, she’s helped us see that it isn’t the worst thing in the world to have an American son-in-law. The worst thing is losing you. You don’t have to give up your music, and you don’t have to give up Ethan.”

  She smiled for her father’s benefit. She hadn’t given up Ethan. He’d given up on her.

  * * *

  Ethan stood outside the ballroom, listening to the sounds of the party inside, knowing that Divya was just beyond the doors. Allie texted him every few minutes, giving him a play-by-play of what was going on inside. They’d met Divya’s parents, whom Allie described as totally cool.

  He hadn’t intended to come. Wasn’t even dressed for the occasion. But he hadn’t been able to resist. All he wanted was one look at her. A last look.

  “Ethan!”

  He looked up to see Rani emerge from the ballroom. “What’re you doing out here?”

  He smiled, but his throat was so tight he couldn’t speak. She looked at him kindly, then motioned to the armchairs in the hallway. He took a seat and she sat next to him.

  “You know, when Arjun and I first got together, his mother convinced me that our relationship was doomed to fail. I almost didn’t marry Arjun because of his parents.”

  Ethan looked up in surprise. Rani seemed to fit in so well with the family.

  “They’re not bad people, it just takes a while to open their minds. They’re like ice cream when you first take it out of the freezer, cold and hard and unyielding. But give it enough time, and they melt into sweetness.”

  “Thank you, Rani. But it’s not about your in-laws. I don’t want to hold her back. She ran away from her wedding because she didn’t want to get saddled with marital obligations. She’s finally found her freedom and voice. It’s time for her to live her dream. I don’t fit into her plans.”

  “But you fit with Divya, and that’s all that matters.” She put her hand on his. “I’m not saying it all works out, but when you love someone, it’s worth the sacrifices.”

  “I don’t want to hold her back.”

  She looked toward the ballroom doors where the CEO of the record company had just started speaking. “When Divya wants to do something, I’ve never known her to let anything stop her. Don’t you think you’re holding her back by making decisions for her?”

  He sighed. What was the right answer here?

  Rani put her hand on his and he looked up at her. “Do you love her?”

  He didn’t hesitate. “More than anything.”

  “Then, tell her.”

  He smiled. “Would you help me with something?”

  Twenty-Two

  Divya stood on the stage in her beautiful gown as East Side Records’s CEO introduced her. She ran her hands over the wood of her guitar. She didn’t need the guitar—there was a quartet of musicians onstage to provide the instrumentation for her song. She needed to feel the wood beneath her fingers, to remember Ethan’s faith in her.

  The ballroom had been decorated with sarees and lanterns to celebrate her Hinglish songs. Sameer waved from the front of the crowd, and her heart soared as her mother blew her a kiss.

  She searched frantically for Ethan. He has to be here, he has to be here. She mouthed Ethan’s name when she caught Sameer’s eye, but he shook his head and her heart sank into her toes. He really isn’t coming.

  When it was time to sing, she stepped up to the microphone. Her stomach churned and her legs felt like wooden posts. A sea of people stared at her. Cameras flashed and bright lights shone down on her. She knew her performance was being broadcast live. It wasn’t just the people in the room who’d be watching her.

  The musicians started the instrumental introduction to her song. There was no voice in her throat. I can’t do this.

  Then the ballroom door opened and Ethan entered, his eyes focused on her.

  Her breath released from her chest. He raised his thumb, and she began to sing the song she’d written for him. She sung her heart out, needing him to feel her voice, to understand that she loved him with every fiber of her being.

  People burst into applause and she performed two more songs. She lost track of Ethan in the crowd, but she knew he was there. She could feel his presence and that was all that mattered.

  When she was finished, the roar of the crowd was deafening. The CEO was back onstage. It was her cue to leave so he could make his closing speech, but he motioned for her to stay. “Before you leave, Divya, we have a special presentation.”

  She looked in surprise as her parents and Ethan walked onto the stage. He stood in front of her and looked at her with such longing that her legs threatened to buckle underneath her. He dropped to one knee and a hush fell over the crowd.

  “I’m sorry I was such an ass and didn’t realize how much you meant to me.”

  They were the same words he’d said when he’d crashed her wedding.

  “Must you always show up in such a dramatic fashion?” Tears stung her eyes, and her heart felt like it would burst if he didn’t touch her soon.

  “I’ve been an idiot.”

  “Yes, you have.”

  “I don’t need a house. I don’t need children. All I need is you.”

  She shook her head. “I need at least three-point-four children, but not now, in a few years.”

  He pulled out a ring box and opened it. “I bought you the biggest ring I could find in Vegas.”

  Vegas? He’d bought the ring months ago? Tears streamed down her cheeks. She didn’t know whether she wanted to kiss him or punch him.

  “I’m a poor musician now. I’m going to sell that ring for cash.”

  He held his hand out and she placed hers on top of it.

  “Will you marry me for my money?”

  She shook her head. “I can make my own money.”

  He stayed on his knee, his eyes so impossibly blue, so full of love that her heart burst in her chest.

  “I love you, Divya. You make me a better man, you give me strength and I want to spend the rest of my life becoming the man you deserve. Will you marry me?” He’d said the words in perfect Hindi.

  She couldn’t speak through the lump in her throat, so she nodded as hard as she could. He slipped the ring onto her finger.

  He stood and she fell into his arms.

  “Kiss! Kiss!” the crowd chanted, and he obliged. She drank him in, her knees suddenly unable to hold her up, but she knew she wouldn’t fall. He’d hold on to her for the rest of their lives.

  Her mother stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. Divya looked at her, silently pleading with her not to ruin the moment. “Ethan, welcome to the family.”

  Her mother joined her hands together in silent apology. Then Divya was hugging her parents, and
before she knew it, her father and her siblings and Matt and Heather and the kids were all onstage, and she and Ethan were in the center of a giant group hug.

  “Run away with me?” she asked.

  “My jet is waiting.”

  * * *

  Make sure not to miss Arjun and Rani’s story,

  Marriage by Arrangement,

  and more Nights at the Mahal novels coming soon,

  by Sophia Singh Sasson.

  Available from Harlequin Desire.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from No Holding Back by Lori Foster.

  SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM

  Read on for a sneak peek of No Holding Back, book one in New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster’s exciting new contemporary romance series, The McKenzies of Ridge Trail.

  Available February 2021 from HQN Books!

  No Holding Back

  by Lori Foster

  SHIVERS WRACKED HER body as she watched him drink. Curled in the corner, waiting, dreading the inevitable—even breathing was difficult with so much fear crowding in around her. She wanted to cry but knew it wouldn’t help. She wanted to let in the hysteria, but she hadn’t quite accepted her fate...not yet.

  She couldn’t.

  Outside the room, two other men stood guard. They’d told her she’d be forced to do this up to ten times a night, and she wasn’t sure she’d even survive this first time.

  She wanted to go home.

  She wanted to curl up and die.

  Mostly she wanted to fight—but how?

  Amused by her fear, the man watched her while tossing back another shot. He enjoyed her terror—and that amplified everything she felt.

  What to do, what to do, what to do?

  Her gaze frantically searched the second-story room. One small window, opened to let in a breeze, led to a sheer drop onto a gravel lot. Would she survive going out that window? At the moment, did it really matter?