Husband For Hire

39. You're Reckless

39. You're Reckless
He made me forget every single plan Jhanvi was making to make the guys regret.

* * *

Ashar's father thought Jhanvi and I were intrigued by the stunning tractor. He told one of his employees to give us a ride around the farmland. For some reason, I had an inkling he wanted to discuss something with his sons privately. In fact, an elderly man had also come in to join the new guests from America. We had been introduced as the "lovely" wives of his sons before we were sent to explore the property.

Ashar tried to tag along with us. "Baba, I'll go with them."

Jhanvi raised an eyebrow before scratching her nose to hide her smile.

"No, I have something else to discuss with you," said his father. "Beta, you go enjoy. You won't enjoy the conversation I need to have with my sons."

That got everyone's attention except my cousin and I politely followed the old man's request.

Jhanvi and I perched on one side of the tractor, clinging to each other arms. It wouldn't take much for us to slide off.

As we pulled out on the dirt road, a few rocks flew around and we saw a group of children run away in laughter.

"Bibi ji (madam), beware of these devil's kids," the driver said in agitated Punjabi. "They find it amusing to place rocks on the road and see them fly when cars or tractors drive over them."

I nodded in understanding. The kids were at a farther distance from us though we were headed in the same direction.

"How much land is ours?" Jhanvi asked him.

He didn't seem to understand so I translated it in Hindi for him. He relaxed, possibly thanking heavens above that one of us could speak a language he understood.

"Bibi ji (madam), starting from the gate all the way to the end of the road all belongs to your family."

Jhanvi and I exchanged a look. Ashar's father owned acres and acres of land and we didn't even know how far it extended in the back.

"Did they recently buy this land?" I asked.

He drove down the dirt street slowly, so we could stare in amazement.

"No," he said almost surprised. "This land has been passed down three generations. Gurnaam bhaji received it from his ancestors and he has been taking good care of it since he was a young man. I have been working here all my life. He came back from America because he missed this land incredibly."

Ashar's baba must've treated this man kindly for him to be speaking highly of man who abandoned his family in America for land and a new wife. No wonder Ashar had nothing polite to say about his father.

Imagine being an heir to this amount of property only to wait tables at a restaurant.

Poor Ashar.

The man kept driving slowly and informing us that Gurnaam bhaji aka Ashar's baba also owned some land on the other side of the road. That, he had purchased upon returning from the US.

We were listening intently until he took a u-turn and the tractor jerked to a stop.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Let me check." He jumped off to resolve the issue.

Jhanvi was sweating profusely even though the temperature had dropped with the sun. I leaned in close to her.

"Everything okay?" I inquired.

"It's the dust, I think," she said making a queasy face. "I don't know the motion sickness or—"