by Jessica Gray
Her heart did a looping and she said, “Love definitely can move mountains.” They laid together in comfortable silence, until she asked, “Are you hungry?”
“Not anymore,” he said with a wink and a wicked smile.
Joanna felt heat rushing to her face. “I meant for food?”
“Food I could handle. The rest will have to wait a bit until I have time to recover.”
Joanna rolled her eyes and left to inspect his fridge. She returned a few minutes later with a bottle of juice and a piece of toast. “Your fridge is almost empty.”
“Yeah, I’m not much of a cook,” Rowan said with closed eyes, visibly exhausted.
“I’m going to go do some shopping while you rest. When I get back, we can decorate for the New Year and I’ll make you a strengthening chicken broth – with real chicken, not that instant stuff.”
Rowan opened his eyes and his wicked gaze confused her. “Going like this?”
She stared down at herself, stark naked. An intense heat flushed her system. How could she have forgotten to get dressed when leaving his bed for the kitchen? She hastily gathered her clothes and dressed.
“I’m coming with you,” he said, making an effort to leave the bed.
“No way. You stay here and rest. You’re still not fully recovered,” she said with her best doctor’s voice.
“You’re not going to budge on this, right?” He sighed at her nod. “At least take the money from my wallet there on the counter.” When she started to protest, he smirked and said, “Either take the money or I’m going with you. Naked.”
“Stubborn as a mule. I’d heard Americans could be stubborn but I didn’t think it was true.” Joanna put her hands at her hips.
“Better believe it.”
Joanna walked to a grocery store around the corner to buy food and she stopped at one of the shops selling New Year’s decorations. She selected a handful of lamps, red paper, a door god, and several red envelopes.
Then she returned to Hai Run complex and the adorable man waiting for her. It looked like New Year’s wouldn’t be so sad this year, after all.
Chapter 27
Rowan remained on sick leave for the rest of the week and he and Joanna spent every single minute together, with the exception of the afternoons when she had to work at the clinic.
Under her guidance, his impersonal rented apartment transformed into a cozy home with all the New Year’s decorations they crafted together. It was a thing he hadn’t done since his childhood. Crafting.
“We need more decorations?” he asked, eyeing the shopping bags sitting on the floor.
“Yes. Tomorrow is New Year’s and there are still a few things we need to do to be prepared. Do you have a broom?”
Rowan nodded and indicated the small closet behind the front door saying, “Another amenity that came with the apartment.”
“Here, take this and sweep always from left to right. It’ll sweep away any ill-fortune that has collected here during the last year and make way for the incoming good luck.”
Rowan did as he was told, biting his tongue at the sharp comment about superstitious traditions. Whether he believed in that stuff or not didn’t matter. As long as it wouldn’t do harm, he’d please her with his compliance.
When they were done, she pulled out a roll of red paper and then passed him a pair of scissors. “You can make some of the cutouts.”
“Cutouts?”
“I’ll show you.” Joanna neatly folded the paper numerous times and then took small cuts from the corners, side and middle. When she opened it up his eyes lit up.
“It looks like a snowflake.” He couldn’t help but steal a kiss before sitting down to imitate her.
“A red snowflake.” Joanna giggled.
Rowan got to work and she took the finished cutouts and taped them to the windows and the doors. While he snipped, she used a small jar of gold paint to draw Chinese characters for good fortune, happiness, wealth, and longevity on additional pieces of red paper. These she taped to the living room wall, then looked around the room critically. Rowan watched her and smiled, “What’s missing?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” She smiled at him and he dropped down his scissors and folded her into his arms.
“I’m sorry we have to leave in a few minutes,” he said. Tomorrow was New Year and weeks ago he’d volunteered for a forty-eight hour shift.
“Are you sure you’re up to it?” Joanna asked against his chest.
“I was on sick leave all week. I can’t wait to get back to work. Except that I don’t want to be without you for such a long time.” He smoothed his hand across her silky hair. “Will you be fine?”
Joanna nodded and gazed up into his eyes. “There’s a reunion dinner at the university for all students who can’t travel home. My roommate Lin will be there and a few others from my class.” She swallowed. “But I’ll still miss you, I wish…”
“Shush.” He put a finger on her lips. “I will miss you, too. If I have some down time, I’ll send you a message. We might meet at the canteen for breakfast, lunch or dinner.” Her dormitory was only a five minute walk to the hospital.
Since most everyone had left the capital to visit family, the traffic was a breeze and they arrived at the hospital in half the time it usually took. The shift was an easy one with plenty of downtime and he managed to sneak out into the courtyard to meet with Joanna at midnight.
“Happy New Year,” she whispered to him and then they sunk into a long kiss.
“Happy New Year,” Rowan repeated, clearing his throat. “Joanna…this may seem too soon, but I’ve been thinking about this all day long.”
“Just say it.” Joanna’s dark eyes gave him an encouraging smile.
He cupped her chin. “I love you. I’ve never felt this way about another woman, that’s how I know it’s real.”
“Happy New Year,” Nelson’s voice interrupted them and Rowan couldn’t help but chuckle at the shocked expression on Nelson’s face when he recognized Joanna. “You’re not serious, are you?”
“In fact, I’m very serious about her. I love her.” Rowan put an arm around Joanna’s shoulders. Then they watched in awe the stunning fireworks set off all over the city of Beijing.
Fireworks seemed to be the favorite part of New Year for many Chinese and the ones Rowan had seen for sale on the streets had the explosive power of flak. In the States you needed a special permit to get your hands on that stuff, but here every five-year-old was allowed to blast his arms and head off. Which unfortunately happened much too frequently. Rowan’s beeper sounded and he muttered a curse.
“Sorry, sweetheart. Work calls. I’ll see you when I’m done.” He gave her a last, sweet kiss and sped away to try and save his next patient’s life.
When his shift was over, he rushed back home to find a sleeping Joanna waiting for him in his bed. His kissed her warm and soft body until she opened her eyes and pulled him onto her, firing off their very own set of fireworks. Much later, she lay spent in his arms.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” He kissed her nose.
“Would you be game to visit a temple fair?” she asked, wrapping her arms around him with an expectant look.
“What’s a temple fair?” he asked, stifling a yawn.
“It’s like a festival. There will be food vendors, dances and other performances by local people. You’ll like it.”
Rowan stretched, his heart filling with joy. If he could spend the day with her, he didn’t mind what they did or where they went. “Let me catch a few hours of sleep and then we can grab lunch on the way there?”
“Fine. I’ll use the time to study in the other room.” Joanna pressed her soft body against him. How he loved holding her, feeling skin against skin.
“Go.” He slapped her on the butt and turned around to grab some much needed sleep.
After his nap, they took a cab to the Changdian temple fair, which according to Joanna was the biggest and most colorful one in the capit
al. They arrived just in time to see the lion dances, eight pairs of people hidden beneath an oversized lion costume, performing a dance. The entire festival was a happy occasion with children screaming and laughing, thousands of red lanterns bouncing in the wind, and booths selling a wide variety of arts, calligraphy, and traditional handcrafts.
Rowan’s grumbling stomach pointed him in the direction of the delicious smells coming from the food stalls, dragging Joanna behind. She laughed when she noticed his proposed destination.
“Hungry much?”
“Yes. This time for real food.” He smiled at how she still blushed at his lewd remarks. It stoked his desire for her every time. But as the day wore on, Joanna became more introverted and he knew she missed her family. He led her over to a small clearing.
“Joanna, thank you for sharing Chinese New Year and your traditions with me. I have something for you.” He withdrew a red envelope and handed it to her.
“What is this?” Her eyes glittered with surprise and anticipation.
“A gift. From me to you. Open it.” He watched as she carefully slid her finger beneath the flap and then withdrew the two sheets of paper folded up inside.
“Oh my god! Rowan!” Tears fell from her eyes. “Plane tickets to Sichuan. My home.”
“It breaks my heart to see you so nostalgic, and I managed to organize two plane tickets for Lantern Day, to go visit your parents.” A frightening thought stabbed at him. “I hope you don’t mind, but I want to come with you. I have arranged to sleep in a hotel nearby and if you don’t want me to meet your parents…”
“Of course you will meet them.” Joanna flung herself into his arms, kissing him everywhere she could reach and laughing joyously. “Thank you! Thank you!”
Chapter 28
A jolt of nervous energy wreaked havoc with Joanna as she stepped out of the airport in Sichuan. For the last two weeks, she and Rowan had spent every moment possible with one another, and the love between them had grown every day. She couldn’t fathom a life without him anymore. What if her parents refused to accept him?
“All set?” Rowan asked, having retrieved their luggage from the carousel. Joanna nodded and followed him out to where taxis lined up waiting for fares. He helped the driver put their luggage in the trunk and then sat with Joanna in the back seat, waiting for her to give the address to the driver.
What if he’s appalled by our modest home? Rowan, sensing her nervousness, kept hold of her hand throughout the drive until they were alighting from the taxi in front of her parent’s small home. Joanna’s palms turned moist and clammy. She’d prepped her parents that she was bringing someone home with her. She’d even told her mother Rowan was American, but she’d failed to mention that she was in love with him.
Her parents gave him a reserved welcome, but when he greeted them with some Chinese words, only partially butchered, their eyes lit up and they soon warmed to the foreign visitor.
“Come inside,” her mother urged them. In the living room, Rowan sat down right next to Joanna and then took possession of her hand between his own, drawing glances and frowns from both of her parents.
Joanna hurried to step in and smooth things over saying, “Mom. Dad. I wanted to wait until we were here in person to tell you…Rowan and I…well, we’ve been dating for a while and we love each other.”
Her mother and father shared a look and then they both started talking to her in rapid fire Chinese.
“When does he plan to marry you?” her father asked.
Joanna shook her head. “We haven’t…”
“Why not? At your age, you should be happy to find a man willing to take you,” her mother said.
Joanna’s ears sizzled underneath the heat of the inquiry, and Rowan’s questioning glance, expecting her to translate for him, didn’t make it any better. How would he feel when her parents assailed him like this?
The impulsive words the morning after they’d made love the first time came back to haunt her. I won’t marry you! They sounded so final now, how could she explain?
“Joanna? Whatever they said can’t be all that bad. Tell me,” he urged her.
“What is his answer, daughter? Is he willing to marry you? And when?” her father inquired in his native tongue.
“I haven’t...I have to translate it first, father.” She slightly bowed her head.
“Then translate. Your mother and I need to know whether he is serious about you,” her father said with final authority.
“Yes, father.” She turned to Rowan her burning ears felt like they would go up in flames any moment. “My parents…they are wondering when you are going to marry me.”
Rowan didn’t flinch. He took her hand, locked eyes with her and said, “Tell your parents that I’ll marry you the moment you’re willing to become my wife.”
Joanna’s jaw dropped to the floor and it took her a moment to process his words. Everything about him looked serious. He really means it.
“Joanna, tell them.” He looked at her with love shining from his eyes. “Do it.”
She felt tears spring to her eyes as she repeated his words to her parents. Her mother and father smiled with delight and bowed in Rowan’s direction to show that they accepted his wish to marry their daughter. Her father even went so far as to go on his tiptoes and pat Rowan on the shoulder, welcoming him into the family. Despite Rowan’s very limited mastery of Mandarin he seemed to understand and even said a few words of thanks.
Joanna couldn’t believe what was happening. If someone had told her a month ago that she would become engaged on Lantern Day, she’d have run away in dismay. But now happiness radiated from every recess of her body, even ones she’d never known she possessed.
Rowan sidled up to her and whispered for her ears only, “I know that you want to finish your studies first, and I’m perfectly okay with that. I will wait for you as long as it takes.”
Joanna flung herself into his arms, kissing him and listening to the happy sounds of her parents behind them. What a Happy New Year!
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About the Author
Jessica Gray is a true romantic. She writes heartwarming and sexy contemporary romance full of true love. Her characters are normal, lovable people with all their flaws and challenges, who never take themselves too serious.
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