“Not at all. We just met her the other evening. Auntie Lil found out about this trip in one of her magazines and booked us on it.”
“Without knowing anyone?” He looked puzzled.
“Is that so odd?”
“It’s just very brave.”
“Well, what about you? You don’t know anyone either. Oh, I forgot. You know Yan Mei.” Stupid stupid.
“Of course I know her. And she was supposed to take this portion of the trip as well, but Lee is substituting for her. She had to take care of business back in Xi’an.”
My heart sank a bit. He is only still with us because she would have been with us.
“I ... I ... need to speak with Auntie Lil.” I moved quickly from him to my aunt, leaving him with what I was sure was a stumped look on his face.
I wasn’t sure that I could stay away from him throughout the day, but I managed to do so because it turned out that he was in great demand for his translation skills. I concentrated on the wonders and sights as we moved slowly but surely throughout the 180 acres of splendor that was the collection of palaces in the Forbidden City. Wall after wall, gate after gate led to palace after palace, and each one was dazzling and beautiful.
Not being a student of Chinese history, I had to pay close attention as Lee explained the city’s past along with the complex rules for living in the households of each successive emperor. Those households included hundreds of concubines.
“Hmm. You might figure that a man would need hundreds of women to take care of him,” sniffed Katherine.
“Oh, Kat!” her sister shook her head.
As we moved closer to the center, we marveled at the different facts we heard, like there were 980 buildings in the entire Forbidden City with almost 10,000 rooms.
”My gosh! Who cleaned them all?” whispered Georgiann.
“Don’t worry, Georgie, I’m sure they had staff back then,” her husband wisely pointed out.
We moved slowly but surely through each successive gate, viewing each palace and building, taking photos along the way, until finally our little group of green-capped tourists was in the exact center of the city.
“This is beautiful!” Auntie Lil snapped photo after photo of the colorful trees and flowers in the Imperial Garden surrounding the Hall of Imperial Peace. The 12,000-square-foot area served as the most private retreat for the imperial family. “Oh! Annalise, please stand in the center of that tree!”
“It’s actually two trees that have grown toward one another, Miss Fontana.” Eli stepped toward us, finally shaking off my intricate dance of avoiding him on the walk.
“Really?” Auntie Lil was intrigued.
“Yes. The legend is that they are two lovers that were cursed to be rooted as trees, but even in their curse, they managed to find one another.”
“That’s lovely!” Auntie Lil smiled. “Annalise, step inside. Oh, and you step inside, too, just to show how large it is.” She gestured to Eli.
I shot her a look.
“I’m sure he doesn’t need to be in this picture, Auntie Lil.”
“No! It’s a fabulous idea!” Great. Colette Ehlers was now involved. We would never get out of it.
I stepped reluctantly into the opening between the two gnarled trees, and Eli stepped in beside me.
“No. You step behind her with your arms around her like this.” Colette posed us. What was this? A prom picture?
As soon as we were posed—with my heart beating wildly, I might add—several cameras snapped, then others joined in. Others who weren’t even from our green-hatted crew.
“Relax,” Eli whispered in my ear. “You’ll never see these people again. What’s the problem?”
Was he kidding me?
I turned slightly, and we were nose to nose, his arms holding me tightly. I wanted to tell him exactly what the problem was, but for a moment, I was lost in the depths of his inky black eyes ... and then his cheeky grin turned serious. The moment was broken with a guffaw.
“Hey, you kids, save something for the honeymoon suite!”
I broke out of his embrace and ran, scouting for cover. I found a nearby ladies room.
I knew I could only stay in there for so long, so after washing my hands a number of times, to the curious stare of the elderly attendant, I walked out.
I scanned the area for our crew but didn’t see one green cap in sight. Surely they hadn’t all left me behind? Had my own aunt abandoned me? I was one instant short of panic when I spied a familiar figure sitting on a bench behind a huge tree, twirling a green cap aimlessly in his hands. I took a deep breath and walked over to join him.
“Where did everyone go?” I asked timidly.
“They’re in the outbuilding over there. I told your aunt that I would wait for you and we would meet them.” Eli pointed to his left.
“Sorry I took so long.”
“No problem.”
He sat and I stood in uncomfortable silence.
“Shouldn’t we go?” I turned to walk, but he pulled me down beside him on the bench.
“Are you still angry with me about Singapore?” he asked quietly.
I shook my head.
“Have I done something else to make you angry?”
My head shook again.
“Well, what is it then?”
I concentrated on the pebble I was kicking back and forth. How was I going to get out of this? How do you tell someone that you are attracted to him when you know they belong to someone else? Not exactly the conversation you want to start so that you can get the “oh we can be really good friends” speech. I hate that speech. Better to get it over with, though, so that we could get through the rest of this tour. I sat, took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and began.
“It’s not that you’ve made me angry, Eli. It’s just that I, um, have developed, um, feelings for you. I know that you probably think I’m silly and that you have women falling for you all the time. So now is your cue to give me that sympathetic look and tell me all about how you’re already spoken for by Yan Mei and how you’ll be happy to have me as a friend and all.”
I stopped babbling, scrunched my eyes closed further as I turned toward him, bracing for the worst.
Nothing happened.
I opened one eye slightly to see that he was ... gone?
With both eyes wide open, I swiveled back and forth.
What in the world?
I jumped up and looked around.
“Eli?”
Hey. I just laid my soul bare, and he didn’t even have the decency to let me down moderately easily.
He popped from around the tree.
“Are you finished?”
“Am I finished? Am I FINISHED?” Now I WAS angry. “I just poured out my soul to you and you ask me if I am FINISHED? What kind of cruel, mean-spirited—”
I grabbed his hat from his hand and punctuated my words with distinct swats.
“Hey, hey, hey—” He sheltered himself from the blows. “I wasn’t trying to be mean. I was trying to avoid you hear me laughing.”
“THAT’S WORSE!”
“No. Oh, I can see I’m making a hash of this. Please sit down and let me explain.”
I looked him in the eye suspiciously but sat down at the very edge of the bench. I handed him his crumpled hat as he sat beside me.
“Annalise. I wasn’t laughing at YOU, I was laughing at MYSELF.”
“Not making this any better,” I said.
“I was laughing because, well, you think I have women falling for me all the time.”
Seriously?
“I’ve always been a geek, Annalise. The nerdy kid who studied science and computers and played video games. Not exactly the hot stuff that the girls chased.”
“But you’re a ‘visible bachelor on the social scene,’” I clapped my hand over my mouth.
“I see you read the article in Business Today.” He grinned. “That’s my PR crew. They’ve been trying to change my image from a geeky mama’s boy who collects antiques and c
ars to a man about town.”
“But ... look at you!”
He shook his head and twirled his hat. Gosh, he needed his PR crew to work on getting him to believe in what he looked like.
“Sorry to burst your bubble. But, like I said, when you said those things, I couldn’t believe you meant me, and I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“So you left me here alone?” I pursed my lips.
“Well, I thought you had a lot more to say. You were kind of on a roll.”
My annoyance began to rise again, then I remembered.
“What about Yan Mei?”
“What about her?”
“Well, you said that women don’t chase you. Evidently she did, or you chased her.”
He threw back his head and laughed.
“Yan Mei? She’s my cousin! You thought she was—” He laughed again.
His cousin?
“But you seem so close!”
“We are. As COUSINS. Aren’t you close to your relatives?”
“Well, sure, but she’s from here, right? You can’t be that close to someone from around the globe.”
“She lived with us when she came to do her studies at Berkeley.”
Oh.
Oh no. That made it worse. He wasn’t going to give me The Speech because he was taken; he was just not interested in me at all. I blew out a sigh and braced myself.
“Annalise?”
There it was. The Serious Voice.
“Annalise. I was hoping you weren’t angry, because I needed to tell you something.”
“What?” I turned toward him.
“This.”
He took my face between his hands and put his lips on mine, gently at first, then more insistent as his hands moved downward to pull me closer by encircling my waist. My arms moved on their own and entwined around his neck.
After a few moments, we broke apart, breathless.
“You sure know how to choose your words,” I whispered looking up into those deep eyes framed with such serious eyebrows.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“I thought it was important that I got the phrasing just right.” He brushed my bangs from my forehead and placed delicate kisses there as well.
“Do you know how lovely you are?” he whispered, holding me tightly.
My head was reeling. I didn’t have a response. I closed my eyes and reached up for another delicious kiss and felt as if I could have stayed that way, entranced, forever, when the peaceful silence was brought to an end by the equivalent of a needle scratching across a record.
“Now I know they can’t be too far from here.”
Katherine Flynn.
Eli and I sprang apart. All we needed was for her sharp, feline eyes to spy us in an embrace.
“Kat, don’t you think they’re okay?” came the whispery voice of her sister, Vivienne.
“Nonsense, Vivienne. We’re in a foreign country. Anything can happen.”
“Her aunt doesn’t seem worried,” Vivienne mourned.
“Well, she’s distracted by that Genio fellow. Probably doesn’t know what day it is.”
Hey! No one talks about my aunt like that. I sprung up, but Eli pulled me back down on the bench. Not a moment too soon because around the giant bush came Katherine.
“Here they are! Don’t you two know you are delaying the tour?” She eyed us suspiciously.
“Goodness, what is the time? Totally my fault, ladies. You see, Annalise and I thought we spotted a red-billed blue magpie in this tree, and we were sitting quietly hoping to hear it sing. You are familiar with the magpies in Beijing, aren’t you?”
Quick on his feet. Charming. A man of many facets was this Eli Chamberlain.
He stood and gallantly took one sister by each arm and led them toward the rest of the group. I shook my head and followed. The advantage of a life of introversion and study probably gave Eli a wealth of information. I was willing to bet that he didn’t make up that bird at all.
After we reached the group, they all became curious about our avian pursuits.
“I didn’t know you were so interested in bird-watching,” Auntie Lil said with a wry smile.
“Just recently took up the hobby.” I avoided her eye.
“Well, you should look up the Disheveled Canoodler. I’m sure the rest of the group would find that an interesting sight.”
“What?” I glanced down and saw that I needed to adjust my jacket and sweater. I stuck my tongue out at her and turned to fix my appearance. As I did, I caught Eli’s eye. He gave me a naughty wink, and I had to turn again before my face became red. This time I was face-to-face with Father John.
I just couldn’t win.
Fortunately, Lee saved me from any line of inquisition.
“We will walk out of the Forbidden City through the back gate and travel to one of Beijing’s hutongs for a special treat.
Eli was held captive by the Flynn sisters, who apparently were knowledgeable bird-watchers, so I walked along with my aunt and Genio.
“So, Annalise,” Auntie Lil began in a tone that implied that questions were to follow.
“Stop it right there, Lilliana. I do not care to engage in whatever you are about to discuss.”
“She’s right, Lil.” Thanks, Genio.
He continued, “She might want to practice her ... bird-watching ... a bit more before she’s ready to discuss it.” His snowy eyebrows raised and lowered as he grinned in mischief.
“Et tu, Genio?”
“Oh come on, Annalise. We’re just teasing.” Auntie Lil put her arm around my shoulders.
“You both think you’re clever, do you? Well, how clever would you be if I dropped a note to Pop about your own little ... situation?” I pulled my phone from my bag.
“Are you threatening to tell on me?” Auntie Lil laughed. “I think I can hold my own with my baby brother, dear.”
“Ha! You’re safe now, but picture him showing up at the airport after a few days of stewing on information that I could drop.”
“I’d buy a new video camera just to shoot the excitement,” Auntie Lil grinned.
I rolled my eyes.
We reached the corner of the hutong we were to visit. Originally, a hutong was an alley that joined courtyards near water wells; eventually, these alleys all joined together in a neighborhood that was also called a hutong.
As we reached the corner, we noted a string of pedicabs.
“Ladies and gentleman, these are your drivers who will drive you on a guided tour. At the end of the tour, you will have lunch with a family in the hutong. This is your surprise for today,” said Lee.
Exclamations and chatter filled the air as we each claimed a driver and cab.
“Can you handle driving me around?” Bear asked as he helped his wife into a cab, then hefted his bulk into it.
“Many years of driving gives strong legs,” smiled the driver as he slapped his thigh.
“Will the three of us fit?” I looked dubiously at a cab and at Auntie Lil and Genio.
“Not to worry, Miss. You go with young mister,” said one driver as he coaxed Eli and me into his cab.
Eli grinned and said something to the driver in Mandarin. The driver responded with a thumbs-up.
“What did you just say?” I asked.
“Nothing. I just asked him to give us a smooth ride.” His not-so-innocent eyes were not convincing.
I had a feeling that not understanding the language was putting me at a serious disadvantage.
As soon as we were all settled, we headed off in a long line. Eli secretly grabbed my hand and smiled as our driver began pointing out the sights on either side of the tiny alleyways we were driving through.
Eventually, we arrived in the center of the hutong, and the lead driver encouraged us all out of our cabs. He quickly assigned us to one of several small homes. Eli and I were crowded together around a table with Auntie Lil, Genio, the Perinis, and the Willems. The host, who told us to call him Mr. Yeo, greeted us i
n English, but asked Eli a question in Mandarin when he noticed his non-Caucasian features. They chattered for a moment, then Eli translated.
“They are serving traditional dishes, but not very spicy. He asked if I would like anything spicy, and I said I would see if you would as well.”
We all immediately agreed, and Mr. Yeo clapped his hands and smiled.
“I am so happy! Many of our English-speaking guests are afraid of spice. We will make this very special for you!”
He bustled off, and we could hear a rush of Mandarin as cooking noises and smells began to emanate from the kitchen.
“I’m surprised,” I said to Eli.
“Why?”
“Well, in Singapore, you didn’t have the spicy chili crab.”
“No, I didn’t order the spicy chili crab. If you recall, though, I had it. I had it all over my shirt.” He grinned.
“I meant, you didn’t choose it. I thought you didn’t like spicy.”
“I’m just not fond of crab. I love all kinds of spicy things—food, people ...” Our eyes met, and I turned away. For a self-professed geek, he sure was a smooth talker.
Our host and his wife soon placed steaming, family-style plates of tempting entrees in the center of our table and small bowls of rice in front of each of us.
“Chopsticks?” he asked hopefully.
We all nodded. He explained the correct method of moving the rice from the bowl directly into our mouths and then described the entrees.
“Beef in chili oil, very spicy for young mister. Chicken with vegetables. Jiaozi—dumplings. Cabbage.”
“We needn’t have worried about authentic,” Auntie Lil commented.
“Not today!” I agreed, slurping up a long slice of cabbage.
Conversation around the table centered on how delicious the food was. Many cups of delicious green tea accompanied our meal. Throughout, our hosts stood with smiling faces. A tiny elderly woman stepped out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on the towel wrapped around her waist.
I turned to her to give her a compliment, but the shake of her head let me know that she did not understand English. She turned to our host, who translated my comment and translated her whispered response.
“My mother is grateful that you enjoy your meal. She asks, do you cook for your young husband there?” He pointed to Eli.
Passports and Plum Blossoms Page 18