“Brain,” Caleb lied.
“Oh, God, honey.” She placed her hand on his bare chest.
“When we have kids … I swear, I’ll be a better father than he was,” he said, his voice wavering.
“I know that,” she soothed. “Right now you need to know you can trust me.”
He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.
“Justin gets here tomorrow and we leave on Saturday. You going to be okay to go to Shanghai?”
“I’ll be fine.”
She lay back down, pulling at his arm to lie down beside her.
“The drinking,” he started.
“I understand. It has to be hard.”
“It’s over,” Caleb said, and meant it.
He felt guilty lying to her, and prayed to God she wouldn’t call his mother and ask about his dad. But then, neither Ling nor Caleb had talked with his parents since the wedding.
“I’m so sorry,” Ling whispered and laced her fingers through his. “I’ll always be here for you.”
He spooned into her, feeling the warmth of her body and smelling her sweet fragrance. He had to protect Ling from finding out what Weber had done. Like he’d told Sam, it was a husband’s job to protect his wife.
aleb was still asleep when Ling rolled out of bed. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, she saw it was five-thirty. Between Caleb’s nightmare, and the stress he must have gone through finding out about his father, he needed his sleep. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have a parent who was dying, especially one who’d never once told his son that he loved him. Ling’s own father had never shown her anything but love.
She dressed quietly, and picked up the basket of dirty clothes in the bathroom. On her way out of the bedroom, she grabbed Caleb’s shorts and shirt on the chair.
The house was quiet when she turned on the light in the kitchen. Jenee was probably exhausted from the flight and wouldn’t be up for awhile.
She carried the basket into the laundry room off the kitchen. When she’d lived above her father’s laundromat, she only had to drop her clothes off downstairs. But now, it felt good to do the things regular housewives do.
She sprayed the collar of Caleb’s shirt with a stain remover and tossed it into the washer. After she picked up the shorts on top of the pile, Ling checked the pockets. Her hand caught on a piece of paper and she took it out. When she realized the scribbled hand-written receipt with a date of yesterday was from a hotel, she froze. Caleb had been in a motel last night? And what kind of a motel had hand-written receipts? What in the world was going … oh, God, he was having an affair.
She stumbled backward a few steps and sat down on the combination ladder/ stool in the corner, still staring at the paper. He’d told her he’d met a friend. Had he lied to her?
“Ling?” she heard Caleb call.
Quickly stuffing the receipt into her pocket, she smoothed back her hair and hurried to the washer. “In here,” she called back. She wasn’t going to confront him. Not yet. She’d give him the opportunity to tell her what this was all about.
“Hey,” Caleb said, and walked to her, the morning paper sandwiched under his arm. Barefoot, in jeans and a short-sleeved undershirt, his hair was mussed and dark circles rimmed his eyes. “Why didn’t you wake me up?” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
She tossed more clothes into the washer, not looking at him. “Thought you could use the sleep.”
“You washing what I wore last night?”
Her stomach did a flip-flop. “Yes.” She paused. “By the way, how was your friend?” she asked, as she poured Tide into the washer.
He turned and started into the kitchen. “Fine.”
“Where’d you meet him?” she asked, following him.
He turned and gave her confused look. “Bar.”
She felt sick to her stomach and madder than hell. Jenee would be down any minute and the last thing Ling wanted her to see was a confrontation.
She walked to the coffee pot and pushed the switch. Mei always put in the water and coffee grounds the night before, so all Ling had to do was push the button. “So what was the business he wanted to talk to you about?”
“Huh?” Caleb looked up from the paper. “Oh … one of those multi-level marketing things.” He looked back down at the paper. “Totally not interested.”
It took all of her willpower not to pull out the hotel slip and wave it in his face. Instead, she poured two cups of coffee and walked one of the mugs to him.
He pulled out a chair at the table and sat down. “What’s up for today?” Caleb asked, and unfolded the newspaper.
“Going to take Jenee to Chinatown.” She was boiling inside. If Jenee wasn’t staying with them, Ling had no idea what she’d do. Maybe he did meet a friend, but then what?
“Good morning.” Ling turned, and saw Jenee in the doorway, her hair still wet from a shower.
“Good morning,” Ling said, trying to sound cheerful. “How’d you sleep?”
“Amazing.” Jenee walked to the table. “That mattress was like sleeping on air.”
“Coffee?” Ling turned, opened a cupboard and took out a mug.
“You don’t have to wait on me.”
“Oh, like you didn’t wait on me when I was in Kansas?” Ling teased.
“Morning, Caleb,” Jenee said, and sat down across from him.
Caleb glanced up. “Glad you slept well.” He went back to reading his paper.
Ling put the steaming cup of brew in front of Jenee. “How about we have breakfast in Chinatown?” she asked Jenee. If she didn’t get away from Caleb, she might say something she’d regret.
“Want me to escort you two?” Caleb grinned.
Ling shook her head. “It’s girls’ day out.”
An hour later, Jenee and Ling were dressed and in the cab. “I have to stop somewhere first. It’ll just take a sec,” Ling told Jenee. She’d put the receipt in her purse, remembering the address. She couldn’t believe she was really doing this; she never thought she’d have to check on Caleb. She wanted to trust him, but he was hiding something.
She’d looked up the address of the Bay Hotel on the computer and found it was on Eddy Street. Wasn’t that in the Tenderloin? Caleb was in the Tenderloin?
When the driver pulled up in front of the hotel, Ling couldn’t believe her eyes. The dilapidated building looked like a place for druggies and prostitutes. The sign above the door was crooked, garbage surrounded the entrance, and a couple of heavily made-up women wearing next-to-nothing were huddled together a few feet away from the door.
God, had he hired a hooker? What if he’d caught a disease? And just how long had this been going on?
“You going in there?” Jenee’s voice interrupted Ling’s thoughts. “Looks like kind of a scary place. You want me to come with you?”
Ling shook her head. “I’ll just be a sec.” Jenee had to be wondering what was going on. Why did this have to happen now?
She stepped inside, walking across the worn carpet. Standing at the high-topped reservation desk that looked like it was going to crumble any minute, Ling suddenly had second thoughts. Maybe she should leave. No … she was already here. She hit the bell. A few seconds later, a disheveled man in overalls and a gray T-shirt sauntered out from the back room, yawning.
“Yeah,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I was wondering if you were working last night.” Ling asked timidly, taking out her billfold and opening it.
“Who wants to know?”
His eyes were watering, his pupils dilated, but he wasn’t going to intimidate her. “I want to know,” she said, and then quickly realized she was at his mercy. She took out a fifty-dollar bill, put in on the counter, and slapped her hand over it. “I want to know if you recognize someone.”
Staring down at the money, an almost toothless grin came over his face. “For that, I’ll recognize two people.”
She pushed the bill toward him and ope
ned her billfold, flipped through the plastic-covered photos until she found one of herself with Caleb. “Was this man here last night?” Ling pointed at Caleb’s face.
He stared at the picture for a long time, scratching his head. “I … don’t know for sure.”
She took out another twenty and laid it on the desk.
He winked. “No, ma’am, can’t say that he was.” His snatched up both bills greedily.
“You’re sure?” If Caleb hadn’t been here, why did he have a receipt?
“Positive. I’m here day and night, even sleep here, and I’ve never seen that man before.”
“Thanks.” She closed her billfold and stuffed it into her purse.
“But if you ever want to stay here,” he slurred, his eyes taking in every inch of her, “I think we can work something out.”
She marched to the door, opened it, and slid into the backseat of the cab.
“Everything okay?” Jenee asked with a concerned look on her face.
Ling nodded and turned toward the window.
After breakfast on the wharf, they walked to Chinatown, stopping in all of the shops. It was fun for Ling to see Jenee so excited and taking in everything the quaint suburb had to offer. She bought a T-shirt for Baileigh that said, “My mommy was in Chinatown,” and picked up a silk scarf for her mother.
Ling stopped in front of the dry cleaning business her father had owned. “This is the business my dad started,” Ling said proudly, looking up. “That’s where I lived until Caleb and I got married.”
“Are there apartments up there?” Jenee asked.
“Two. My parents lived in one, I lived across the hall.”
“Do you miss it?” Jenee asked, as they continued on down the street.
“Incredibly.”
When they came to Hunan Homes Chinese Restaurant, Ling stopped. “We have to have lunch here.”
The restaurant was an icon in Chinatown, and the long narrow eatery was packed. With booths that hugged two walls, and a few tables crowded together in the middle, the kitchen was in the back.
“Anything you want to talk about?” Jenee asked over lunch.
Ling took a bite of the sweet and sour soup and then rested her spoon in the bowl. She stared across the table at Jenee for a few seconds, wondering if she should tell her. “You mean the stop at the hotel?”
“I can tell something’s bothering you.” Jenee put her elbows on the table and intertwined her fingers together. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Ling wiped her mouth with a white cloth napkin. She didn’t want to burden Jenee with her problems, especially since this trip was supposed to be an exciting adventure for Jenee and Justin.
“You’ve hardly eaten anything,” Jenee said.
Ling wanted to tell someone, and felt Jenee could be trusted. Waiting until a waitress passed by, Ling leaned over the table toward Jenee. “I found something in Caleb’s pocket this morning.” She paused, trying to hold back tears. “A receipt from that hotel we stopped at.”
Jenee wrinkled up her nose. “But what would Caleb be doing at a place like that?”
Ling shook her head. “I don’t know. I showed the guy behind the desk Caleb’s picture, but he said never seen him before.”
“Think he was telling the truth?”
Ling nodded. “Yes, I think so.”
“There has to be an explanation.”
“But how do I find out what it is?”
Jenee reached over the plate of egg rolls for Ling’s hand. “You have to ask him, hon. No one has blind trust, believe me. When Justin plays with the band, I nail him big time if he even looks at another woman.”
“I don’t want Caleb to think I don’t trust him.”
“After finding that receipt, do you?” Jenee asked, her blue eyes peering into Ling’s. “Trust him?”
“I feel guilty that I’m hunting down information like a private investigator.”
“Then, as we Kansans say,” Jenee said, “find out from the horse’s mouth.”
Ling watched through the open window of her office as Jenee ran toward the limo when it pulled into the drive.
It had only been yesterday that Ling had found the receipt, but it was getting more and more difficult not to confront Caleb. She kept thinking he might start to feel guilty and confess what had really happened. But then, if he was having an affair, or had hired a hooker, why would he admit it?
“Hey, baby.” She heard Justin say and watched him pick up Jenee and twirl her around. “I missed you.”
Ling was a bit envious of Jenee and Justin’s relationship. If she were truthful, she hadn’t been excited to see Caleb when she’d come back from the trip to Kansas. For the past few months, he’d been irritable and was either drunk or smelled like booze. And now finding the receipt just added to her not being able to trust him.
Ling walked to the foyer and opened the door. “Welcome, Justin.” Ling gave him a quick hug at the door, then turned and found Caleb standing behind her. “This is my husband,” Ling introduced.
Caleb shook Justin’s hand. “Glad you could make it.”
On the patio over wine, cheese and smoked salmon, they talked until almost one in the morning, discussing what time they needed to be at the airport the next day, and how long it would take to reach Shanghai. Justin seemed just as excited as Jenee.
Caleb had been gracious, and he and Justin seemed to be hitting if off, talking about everything from finances to sports.
“Okay, kids.” Ling stood and picked up the empty wine bottle. “We’d better hit the sack so we can be ready to go by noon tomorrow.”
After the two couples said goodnight on the second floor landing, Caleb followed Ling into their bedroom.
Although the house was over a century old, whoever had designed the home had spared no expense. In the sizeable master bedroom, the windows that ran the length of two walls were covered in white plantation shutters. The see-through rock fireplace could be enjoyed from both inside the bathroom or the bedroom. The separate his and hers walk-in closets had a fifteen-foot wall of continuous built-in drawers and shelves.
Ling walked across the white plush carpeting and into the marble tiled bathroom. After she changed into a nightgown, she flipped off the bathroom light and slipped in beside Caleb, pulling the silk sheet up over her.
“I’m bushed,” Caleb said, and leaned his head back into his pillow. “I like Justin. Seems like a great guy.”
“Everything packed you want to take?”
“What I don’t have, I’ll buy in Shanghai,” Caleb said.
If she didn’t ask now, she never would. Ling rolled on her side facing him, propping her head up with her hand. Her stomach was tied in knots. “I … I want to ask you something.”
He rolled toward her.
“I wasn’t snooping, but I … I found a receipt.”
“For?”
“A hotel.”
“Whoa!” Weber stated loudly. “Better get your shit together, O’Toole.”
Ling flinched when Caleb shot up to a sitting position. “You went through my pockets?”
She wasn’t about to let him turn it around and make this her fault. “I always go through your pockets when I wash your pants.”
“I can’t believe this, Caleb said enraged. “What’d you think? That I took a woman there or something?”
She felt her blood pressure rising and sprang up beside him. “What the hell would you think if you found a receipt in my purse from a hotel?” She would never tell him that she’d gone to the hotel and showed his picture to the clerk.
He glared at her. “I suppose you told Jenee.”
“No.” She felt ashamed she was lying, but it might jeopardize Caleb’s relationship with Jenee and Justin.
“First of all, I wouldn’t go through your purse, and—”
“Then do your own damn laundry,” she said flippantly. “And then I won’t find any of your dirty little secrets.”
“Wait a minute, let me finish.”
“This better be good,” Weber warned Caleb.
“The friend I was with just got a divorce. Doesn’t have a dime. He wanted to go somewhere to get lucky.”
She balled up her face in a confused expression, glaring at him. “Lucky?”
“Like in getting laid,” Caleb said. “I didn’t know where a hotel was that might have these kinds of … services, so we walked around until we found one. I gave him some money, he went inside, and he brought me out the receipt.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Ling crossed her arms over her chest. “Tell me that you did not pay for a hotel room so he could get screwed?”
“Hey” Caleb said curtly, “don’t pull the judgmental crap on me. You women deal with your stuff differently than we men do.”
“What a bunch of bullshit.” She lay back down and rolled away from him.
After a few seconds, he reached over and tenderly stroked her hair. “I have nothing to hide. Next time, just ask.”
“Next time, just tell.”
Feeling his left eye start to twitch, he leaned over, pushed her hair back and kissed her neck. “Let’s get some sleep so we can have some fun in Shanghai.”
Caleb cradled his chest into her back and wrapped an arm over her. Ling wanted to believe him. Should she ask him for the name and phone number of the guy he supposedly met and call him? Maybe rummage through his phone to see if she could find his number? Oh, sure, the man he’d given money to buy a prostitute would tell her everything.
The clerk at the hotel hadn’t recognized Caleb. Maybe guys did do things like this for each other. And Caleb hadn’t batted an eye when he’d told her what had happened. Or was she being naïve?
If only for Jenee and Justin’s sake, Ling needed to let it go—at least for now.
hen they stepped off their flight, it was seven p.m. California time, but given the eighteen hour time difference it was ten a.m. Monday morning in China.
The airport was wall-to-wall people and the sidewalks outside the baggage claim were jammed with travelers. August was the hottest month of the year in Shanghai and the humidity matched the ninety-some degree weather. Caleb had insisted they take a cab so Jenee and Justin could see some of the city, not telling them that when they’d taken the Maglev Train, he’d almost hurled. Using their plane tickets to fan themselves, they waited on the sidewalk for forty-five minutes before Jenee, Justin, Ling, and Caleb crowded into a van.
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