She was heading toward them, and she was hard to miss because she was now wearing an electric green Christmas sweater emblazoned with all eight reindeer and a giant red sleigh.
“What do you think? Just my style?” She twirled in the snow and curtsied, and they all laughed. But then Saima lifted her face to the falling snowflakes and let out a desolate sigh. “This snow is never going to let up, is it? We might be stuck here all winter. If only I had a reindeer and sleigh to carry us away.”
“Oh,beti, I am sure we will not be stuck hereallwinter,” Mr. Dadu offered as they set off for the inn—but Anna could only imagine how frustrated Saima was feeling. Today was supposed to be hermehndi. Anna felt like she could stay in Snow Falls forever because she and Nick weren’t speaking—there’d been no messages for her from Nick when she checked with Deb and Kath—and Anna no longer had any holiday plans. But Saima was another story.
“Come on, let’s hurry,” Maryam said. “Iftaris in an hour, and we have a surprise for you that might cheer you up.”
Saima perked up at this. “Oooh, what surprise?”
“You’ll see,” Maryam said mysteriously as they approached the front door of the inn. “Be at the foyer at eight p.m.... and wear your greenlengha.”
Saima shrieked. “Are you throwing me amehndiparty?!”
Maryam shrugged, but her sister ran up the stairs of the inn, radiating excitement.
“Saima has always loved parties,” Maryam said.
“Especially whensheis the center of attention,” Saif added, and winked. “See you two later—and have fun tonight, ladies.”
Anna watched as the handsome Saif murmured a quiet goodbye in Maryam’s ear and walked away.
“Sooooo... what’s going on there?” Anna asked.
She was sure Maryam was blushing as she said, “We had a really nice time together. We talked a lot and I think...” She looked up at Maryam—but instead of happiness, Maryam looked afraid.
“And you look absolutely terrified because?”
Now Maryam’s expression changed even more, as if a door were swinging shut. “It’s complicated” was all she said. “Now,we have a lot of work to do. You’re sure it’s okay I’m throwing this on you last minute?”
Anna waved her words away. “Of course. I love decorating. It’s my thing!”
“Even with very little to work with?”
“Especially that! My favorite kind of decorating—it’s the most rewarding. Besides, I have lots to work with! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have party decor to set up, and I can’t wait.”
—
When Anna was on set that day, she had found out the producers stored extra textiles and furniture from the film in various places around town—including in the basement of the inn. Unbeknownst to Maryam, she had managed to clear it with sets and staging to borrow a few pieces for the party. She was going with a maharani theme—which she hoped Maryam wouldn’t think was too on-the-nose for an Indian wedding, but had a feeling Saima would be thrilled about.
After aniftarof leftovers, which Anna was invited to join—Maryam and Saif really had ordered way too much food yesterday—everyone retired to their rooms to prepare for the henna party. The men had decided to make themselves scarce, Maryam explained to Anna, and planned to attend the late-nighttaraweehprayers at the tiny Topkapi Café and mosque, while the ladies-onlymehnditook place in the lobby.
When Maryam made her way downstairs, she gasped at the transformation Anna had performed in only a few short hours. “How did youdothis?”
Anna beamed proudly. She had managed to source half a dozen large screen dividers to section off the open space andprovide the women with some privacy for the party. And then she had transformed the sectioned-off space. Luxurious fabric in bright colors was laid on the ground, and the room dividers had been decorated with bright saris, which Anna had borrowed from Maryam’s mother and some of the other older ladies from town. She had folded them in pleats, and they hung like streamers. Anna had even cobbled together a small raised platform using various construction materials she found around the inn, creating a place of honor for Saima to sit with colorful decorative pillows and silk flowers. Deb and Kath had also provided candles and strings of holiday lights—Anna tried not to look shocked that even after stringing every available surface with them, indoors and out, Deb and Kath still seemed to have more holiday lights available—and this completed the look.
Soft sitar instrumental music played in the background, and silver trays were heaped with finger foods (Deb and Kath had insisted on taking on the food): cocktail samosas, finger sandwiches, tea in the pretty glass cups they had borrowed from the Turkish café, a decadent chocolate Yule log Kath had baked, with “Merry Mehndi!” piped across the length in brilliant red and green frosting.
Maryam could barely believe her eyes. “This is too much!” she said, looking around. “I can’t believe how fast you put this together. Anna, you’re a miracle worker!”
Anna ducked her head, shy at the praise. “I thought if it was private, you could take off your hijab and let your hair down without worrying about anybody disturbing us,” she said, motioning at the dividers. “Deb and Kath promised no one would bother us for a few hours. I invited Sarah from the café, as well as Muriel from the Hakka restaurant. I hope you don’t mind.”
Anna was surprised to see Maryam’s eyes welling up with tears. “I’m so touched by this,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “All the little details... it’s just perfect.”
“I honestly loved it so much. I adore doing stuff like this.”
“Well, you’re good at it! You should do this for a living. Oh, speaking of which... before I forget—” Maryam subtly wiped the tears at the corners of her eyes and smiled. “Saif talked me into helping out with the holiday pageant earlier. They needed a writer and they weren’t too picky about lack of experience. I’m helping to organize the Holiday Hoopla, the annual town pageant. Seeing how great you are at all this, do you think you’d like to help out with set design? I think you have a natural talent for it,” Maryam said, gesturing around her. She loosened her hijab and shook out her hair.
“That sounds likesomuch fun,” Anna said, feeling a surge of excitement. Having more to do would make it a lot easier not to focus on her worries—and possibly distract her from checking, yet again, to see if Nick had tried to reach her. She was upset with him, but the cold way he had cut off their phone call and his lack of regard for her predicament still stung. Being on set all day, then setting up for themehndiparty, had been a nice diversion—and now she would have another rewarding task to occupy her time. A high-pitched squeal announced Saima’s arrival. Dressed in the elegant pale greenlenghashe had packed for the now canceledmehndiin Toronto, she bounded directly into Anna’s arms.
