“Is he single?” Salena asked.

“Who’s single?”

“This man. He’s an engineer.”

“No, he’s a doctor.”

“A doctor engineer? Does he have a Ph.D.?”

“Does he know Dagesh Gupta? He’s an engineer in Florida.”

The conversation flew thick and fast around him. With so many people talking, Sam couldn’t keep up.

“My boys are going to be doctors. Their teacher says they are rascals, but it’s because they are so intelligent they are bored at school.”

“Someone get him a plate of food. He’s too thin.”

“Who is his family?”

“Stay strong,” Daisy whispered. “Here comes Jana Auntie, Layla’s mom.”

Layla’s relatives parted like a tidal wave to reveal a woman in a worn red apron, her long, dark hair braided and pulled through the back of a bright orange Giants cap. He could see Layla in the shape of her face, but her eyes, when he met her gaze, were cold and hard.

“So, you’re the one,” she sniffed.

Sam didn’t know if she meant he was the one who had evicted the family, or the one who had steered Layla away from an arranged marriage, or the one who had distracted everyone in the kitchen, but in any event, it clearly wasn’t meant kindly.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Patel.” He swallowed hard. “I’m looking for Layla.”

“She’s at Oracle Park for the game.” She tapped the Giants hat. “First game I ever missed.”

Hope swelled in his chest. “So she’s not getting married?”

“Sam!” Nasir’s voice boomed through the kitchen. “Nice to see you again. Everyone, leave him alone. Get back to work. He’s not on the market. Put your photos of nieces and daughters away. Stop taking pictures. Who tied that rope around his ankle?” He made a dismissive gesture with his hand and instantly the crowd melted away, the rope sliding off his foot as someone pulled it into the crowd.

“Layla . . .” Sam made a helpless gesture with his hands. “I messed up, Mr. Patel. I love her. She can’t marry someone else.”

He heard a collective sigh, but when he looked over his shoulder, everyone was busy with their cooking.

“Sam.” Nasir sighed and shook his head. “It’s too late. She picked someone from my list. The family has already met him”—he looked around the busy kitchen, one eyebrow slightly quirked—“and they approve. We’re expecting a big proposal at the ball park—something spectacular, maybe on the big screen or that kissing camera.”

Sam’s eyes widened in dismay. “I have to stop him. Tell me where they’re sitting and I’ll go—”

“I don’t know . . .” Nasir drummed his fingers against his lips. “I think she really loves this boy.”

“She doesn’t know him!”

“I think she knows him very well.” He patted Sam’s shoulder. “Well, it was nice seeing you. I believe your sister is out in the restaurant with John. We’re having a little going-away party this afternoon and invited our friends from the law firm upstairs. You and your partner are welcome to join us. Maybe Layla and her new fiancé will be back to celebrate, too.”

Sweat trickled down Sam’s back. Why did nothing go the way he planned? He scrambled for something that would change Nasir’s mind. “Wait! The kiss cam. He can’t propose to her like that. She would hate it. She wouldn’t want her personal life splashed all over a big screen for a stadium full of people to see. She had a terrible experience being filmed in New York, and then there was an incident here at a sports bar . . . If he doesn’t know that about her, he shouldn’t be marrying her.”

“Hmmm.” Nasir turned to Jana. “What do you think? Should we tell him where they’re sitting? I don’t want to ruin her big day.”

Jana shrugged. “He’s right that she wouldn’t want it to be so public. But the game already started. He would have to drive very fast.”

God. It was just one obstacle after another. “I ran into a deer and my car is still being assessed by the insurers.” He pulled out his phone. “I’ll call an Uber.”

“An Uber?” Nasir stared at him in horror. “You would leave something so important to a stranger? This is my daughter’s future. Arun can drive the big van we use for picking up supplies. We can all fit in.”

“All?” Sam frowned. “You don’t all need to come.”

“We’re family,” Nasir said. “Of course we do.”

* * *

• • •

“CAN he drive any slower?” Sam muttered as old chef Arun inched the van along the I-80.

“It’s the traffic. Calm down.” Daisy patted Sam’s arm. “Do you want to hold Max? He can give you some emotional support.”

“Thanks, but I want to get there with all my fingers intact.”

“Don’t throw shade on Max. He’s gotten me through some hard times.” She patted the dog’s fluffy head. “Like now. It’s emotionally trying to sit beside you listening to you mutter and grumble like an old man. We’ll get there when we get there.”

“What if we’re too late?” Sam’s hands clenched into fists. “What if it’s kiss cam time, and he proposes, and she’s humiliated but she’s forced to say yes because tens of thousands of people are watching her, but she really doesn’t love him, and she can’t back down because it was so public, and she marries him and lives an unhappy life . . .” He paused for breath, and Daisy gently placed Max in his lap.

“Work your magic, Maxy.”

Max looked up at Sam and curled up in his lap, his razor-sharp teeth nowhere in sight. With a sigh, Sam patted Max’s head, his tension easing despite the fact that they were almost at a standstill.

“Do you want to eat something?” Taara Auntie handed him a Tupperware container. He’d been given a quick introduction to the relatives who had joined them in the van, and thanks to Layla’s briefing the afternoon before he was supposed to have met them, he’d been able to remember them all.

“Thank you, but I’m not hungry right now.”

“Layla told me never to eat anything in a Tupperware container,” he whispered to Daisy.

“Very wise. Taara Auntie made candy crab trout cream surprise. Anything that ends in surprise will send you to the restroom for at least three days. Not what you want when you’re trying to rescue the woman you love from marrying the wrong guy.”