“Definitely. Tom is way too cool for you.” He laughed again, and she made to punch him again but thought better of it and scowled.
“Not helpful.”
“You stopped crying, so I disagree.” He pointed at himself. “Very helpful.”
Her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know what to do about Andy.”
She had never asked her brother for help before, she realized. They had drifted during the estrangement, and never quite found their way back after her family reconciled. For her part, she had been so busy feeling guilty about not reaching out, she hadn’t known how to handle his coldness. But the Esa who sat next to her right now reminded her of the little boy he had once been, the one who used to crawl into bed with her after he’d had a nightmare. Softer, kinder, more like their dad. Impulsively, she put her arms around him in a hug. He seemed surprised but hugged her back.
“Why are almost-billionaires so hopelessly predictable?” Esa asked now. “Andy asking you to help him betray his friend and buy up a small town is the most cartoon villain thing I’ve ever heard.”
“To be fair, I think it’s Cooke Place he wants, not Wolf Run,” Sameera said.
Esa snorted. “Cooke PlaceisWolf Run. This town and Rob are totally codependent. And Andy will want everything Rob owns: the stores and businesses, the prestige, all of it. Which would be fine if it was for sale, but it’s not. This is just sus.”
Sameera agreed that Andy’s plan was suspicious and reiterated that she didn’t know what to do.
Esa shrugged his shoulders. “The only reason Andy asked you is because he thinks you have some sway over Tom. I think he’s right about that. You two give me the ick. In a good way,” he hastened to add, noting her frown. “My advice is to find your man and just lay it all out. What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like he’s really your boyfriend. If he gets pissed and never talks to you again, then at least you warned him.”
Sameera stared at her brother, surprised by his insight. He wasn’t just a goofball who liked to play pranks—Esa was growing up to be a wise young man, someone who could get to the heart of things. In this case, he was also right. The easy, cowardly way out was to try to work both angles. But in this situation, there was only one way forward, and that was to tell Tom the truth.
“Thanks for listening,” Sameera said.
Esa jumped up, his cheerful expression instantly back in place. “Anytime. I can’t believe old people have problems, too.”
“I’m not that old!” Sameera protested.
Esa looked solemn. “You’re almostthirty,” he said. “One foot in the grave.” He danced away before she could pinch him, calling over his shoulder, “Cal got us a dozen doughnuts, but he’s already eaten half. Hurry up!”
Grinning, she followed him. They both had a sweet tooth, and she knew that if she didn’t hurry, he would eat the other half dozen doughnuts immediately. As she walked, she reflected how good it felt to be close to her younger sibling again. When they returned to Atlanta, maybe they could hang out, on their own or even with their parents.
At the thought of Tahsin and Naveed, Sameera stumbled for a second. As good as it felt to get close to Esa again, she knew that it wasn’t enough. She needed to talk to her parents, too. Doing anything else would be a betrayal of the person she was trying desperately hard to become.
The rest of their party had gathered around the food stalls by the time she joined them, and the doughnuts were indeed as delicious as Cal had promised, though as she feared, the boys had claimed the box for themselves. Luckily, Andy ordered another dozen, along with a tray of coffee to distribute. As they ate, Naveed shared that he had bumped into Abu Isra at the market.
“He invited us for dinner tonight at his restaurant,” Naveed said. “I accepted, of course. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
While their group shared plans for the rest of the day, Andy bumped against Sameera. She felt him press a folded piece of paper into her palm. While her parents asked Tom for other food stall suggestions, she surreptitiously looked at Andy’s note.
He had written an astronomical number, and her eyes widened. Beside the number, he had written:Starting salary, not including bonuses.
She shoved the note in her pocket. It felt as if it were burning her hands. That was a lot of money, more than enough for her to pay off all her debts and buy out her mortgage, with some left over for a proper vacation. She wanted to be the sort of person who wasn’t tempted by a bunch of zeroes, but ... She met Andy’s gaze, then interrupted her parents’ conversation.
“Tom, you promised we could check out that stall you were telling me about,” she said. From the corner of her eye, she saw Andy smile to himself. He really was a ruthlessly charming man, and she hated that he always seemed to get what he wanted.
Tom appeared momentarily confused, but then caught on. “Right, of course. Shall we?” He offered her his arm. They all made plans to meet at Abu Isra’s restaurant in a few hours for dinner.
“Have fun, you two,” Andy said, smiling broadly at Sameera.
“Watch your back, bruh.” Esa’s comment was bland, but Sameera noticed him narrowing his eyes at Andy. Clearly, he no longer thought of Andy as a friend or mentor. Part of Sameera was relieved. At least her little brother wasn’t as easily won over. Then again, Esa still lived at home and hadn’t had his heart, and finances, destroyed by a dishonest ex. She hoped he never would be forced to weigh his moral integrity against making his mortgage payments.
They walked back in the direction of Main Street, which by now felt almost as familiar to Sameera as her own neighborhood.
“Couldn’t wait to get me alone, huh?” he asked, breaking her reverie. Charming Tom was back, and for a moment, she was distracted from her dark thoughts.
“You know it,” she said weakly. “Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“You’re not leaving me for Andy, are you?” he joked, but there was a thread of worry in his voice. She stared at him, and he continued, “Your mom seems quite keen. I know it would be easier, since Andy is Muslim, or at least he was raised in a Muslim family. He’s not observant, either, which might work in your favor, I guess.”
